IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/annpce/v96y2025i2p225-256.html

Failure of cooperative self‐regulation: An exploration of cooperative regulatory violations

Author

Listed:
  • Caleb M. Houston
  • Jennifer D. Hamrick

Abstract

Cooperative organizations are built on strong principles and values rooted in equity and social responsibility. However, we observe a group of cooperatives that have become embroiled in material legal violations. They egregiously commit 602 violations over 20 years related to the safety and just treatment of their members, employees, community, customers and the environment, with penalties for misconduct totalling $2.3 billion. This directly opposes the ideals espoused by cooperatives, and their susceptibility to misconduct challenges the assumption that cooperatives are immune to the ethical failures seen in public firms. We find that when government agencies bring enforcement actions against misconduct, it reduces future negative behaviour. We also find that some cooperatives make changes to the leaders who are present at the time of wrongdoing, and these cooperatives have a decrease in the severity of misconduct in the future. Collectively, these findings suggest that a number of cooperatives harm the groups they claim to serve but that government enforcement and cooperative disciplining carried out in response to regulatory violations can mitigate future misconduct.

Suggested Citation

  • Caleb M. Houston & Jennifer D. Hamrick, 2025. "Failure of cooperative self‐regulation: An exploration of cooperative regulatory violations," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 96(2), pages 225-256, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:annpce:v:96:y:2025:i:2:p:225-256
    DOI: 10.1111/apce.12498
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/apce.12498
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/apce.12498?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Utpal Bhattacharya & Hazem Daouk, 2002. "The World Price of Insider Trading," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 75-108, February.
    2. Michael C. Jensen, 2010. "The Modern Industrial Revolution, Exit, and the Failure of Internal Control Systems," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 22(1), pages 43-58, January.
    3. Cumming, Douglas & Peter Groh, Alexander & Johan, Sofia, 2018. "Same rules, different enforcement: Market abuse in Europe," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 130-151.
    4. Roger Spear, 2004. "Governance in Democratic Member‐Based Organisations," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(1), pages 33-60, March.
    5. Zuhui Huang & Yuzhi Fu & Qiao Liang & Yu Song & Xuchu Xu, 2013. "The Efficiency of Agricultural Marketing Cooperatives in China's Zhejiang Province," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(3-5), pages 272-282, April.
    6. Novkovic, Sonja & Power, Natasha, 2005. "Agricultural and Rural Cooperative Viability: A Management Strategy Based on Cooperative Principles and Values," Journal of Rural Cooperation, Hebrew University, Center for Agricultural Economic Research, vol. 33(01), pages 1-12.
    7. Levitt, Steven D, 1997. "Using Electoral Cycles in Police Hiring to Estimate the Effect of Police on Crime," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(3), pages 270-290, June.
    8. Jerker NILSSON, 1996. "The Nature Of Cooperative Values And Principles," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(4), pages 633-653, December.
    9. Chris Cornforth, 2004. "The Governance of cooperatives and mutual associations: a paradox perspective," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(1), pages 11-32, March.
    10. Yermack, David, 1996. "Higher market valuation of companies with a small board of directors," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 185-211, February.
    11. Melinda Muth & Lex Donaldson, 1998. "Stewardship Theory and Board Structure: a contingency approach," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(1), pages 5-28, January.
    12. Gerald Callan Hunt, 1992. "Division of Labour, Life Cycle and Democracy in Worker Co-operatives," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 13(1), pages 9-43, February.
    13. John, Kose & Senbet, Lemma W., 1998. "Corporate governance and board effectiveness1," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 371-403, May.
    14. Imanol Basterretxea & Chris Cornforth & Iñaki Heras-Saizarbitoria, 2022. "Corporate governance as a key aspect in the failure of worker cooperatives," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(1), pages 362-387, February.
    15. Lin, Ming-Jen, 2009. "More police, less crime: Evidence from US state data," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 73-80, June.
    16. Jasper GRASHUIS & Ye SU, 2019. "A Review Of The Empirical Literature On Farmer Cooperatives: Performance, Ownership And Governance, Finance, And Member Attitude," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 90(1), pages 77-102, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Salim Chahine & Assem Safieddine, 2011. "Is corporate governance different for the Lebanese banking system?," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 15(2), pages 207-226, May.
    2. Martin Kyere & Marcel Ausloos, 2021. "Corporate governance and firms financial performance in the United Kingdom," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(2), pages 1871-1885, April.
    3. Chiraz Ben Ali & Frederic Teulon, 2014. "CEO Monitoring and board effectiveness: Resolving CEO compensation issue," Working Papers 2014-45, Department of Research, Ipag Business School.
    4. Mouna Mrad & Slaheddine Hallara, 2014. "The Relationship Between the Board of Directors and the Performance/Value Creation in a Context of Privatization: The Case of French Companies," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 83-108, March.
    5. John R. Graham & Sonali Hazarika & Krishnamoorthy Narasimhan, 2011. "Corporate Governance, Debt, and Investment Policy During the Great Depression," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 57(12), pages 2083-2100, December.
    6. Phillip C. James, 2020. "Understanding the Impact of Board Structure on Firm Performance: AComprehensive Literature Review," International Journal of Business and Social Research, LAR Center Press, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, January.
    7. M. Ameziane Lasfer, 2006. "The Interrelationship Between Managerial Ownership and Board Structure," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(7‐8), pages 1006-1033, September.
    8. Lel, Ugur, 2012. "Currency hedging and corporate governance: A cross-country analysis," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 221-237.
    9. Ivan Brick & N. Chidambaran, 2008. "Board monitoring, firm risk, and external regulation," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 87-116, February.
    10. Iwasaki, Ichiro & 岩﨑, 一郎 & イワサキ, イチロウ, 2007. "Endogenous board formation and its determinants in a transition economy: evidence from Russia," CEI Working Paper Series 2007-1, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    11. Hahn, Peter D. & Lasfer, Meziane, 2016. "Impact of foreign directors on board meeting frequency," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 295-308.
    12. Amitava Roy, 2014. "Corporate Governance and Firm Performance: An Exploratory Analysis of Indian Listed Companies," Jindal Journal of Business Research, , vol. 3(1-2), pages 93-120, June.
    13. Chidiebele Innocent Onyali & Chinedu Uchenna Okerekeoti, 2018. "Board Heterogeneity and Corporate Performance of Firms in Nigeria," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 8(3), pages 103-117, July.
    14. Dato, Muluneh Hideto & Mersland, Roy & Mori, Neema, 2018. "Board committees and performance in microfinance institutions: Evidence from Ethiopia," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 13(2), pages 350-370.
    15. Levrau, A. & Van den Berghe, L., 2007. "Identifying key determinants of effective boards of directors," Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School Working Paper Series 2007-11, Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School.
    16. Sabrina Pisano & Luigi Lepore & Rocco Agrifoglio, 2015. "Corporate governance and information asymmetry between shareholders and lenders: an analysis of Italian listed companies," FINANCIAL REPORTING, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2015(2), pages 27-53.
    17. Pascal Nguyen & Nahid Rahman & Ruoyun Zhao, 2018. "CEO characteristics and firm valuation: a quantile regression analysis," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 22(1), pages 133-151, March.
    18. Cheng, Eugene C.M. & Courtenay, Stephen M., 2006. "Board composition, regulatory regime and voluntary disclosure," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 262-289.
    19. Premepeh, kwadwo Boateng & Odartei-Mills, Eugene, 2015. "Corporate governance structure and shareholder wealth maximisation," MPRA Paper 68087, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Phillip C. James, 2020. "Understanding the Impact of Board Structure on Firm Performance: AComprehensive Literature Review," International Journal of Business and Social Research, MIR Center for Socio-Economic Research, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:annpce:v:96:y:2025:i:2:p:225-256. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=1370-4788 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.