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Law and Peace: Contracts and the Success of the Danish Dairy Cooperatives

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  • HENRIKSEN, INGRID
  • HVIID, MORTEN
  • SHARP, PAUL

Abstract

We consider the successful early emergence of cooperative creameries in Denmark in the late nineteenth century within the framework of the “new institutional economics” presented by Oliver Williamson. Previous work focused on the social cohesion of the Danes, but we demonstrate that this was not sufficient for their success. The Danish legal system, which we compare to that of other countries, was also of crucial importance, along with the way in which rules were monitored and enforced. Of particular interest is the Danish cooperatives’ use of contracts, which we explore with evidence from a variety of primary and secondary sources.

Suggested Citation

  • Henriksen, Ingrid & Hviid, Morten & Sharp, Paul, 2012. "Law and Peace: Contracts and the Success of the Danish Dairy Cooperatives," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 72(1), pages 197-224, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:72:y:2012:i:01:p:197-224_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Qiao Liang & George Hendrikse & Zuhui Huang & Xuchu Xu, 2015. "Governance Structure of Chinese Farmer Cooperatives: Evidence From Zhejiang Province," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(2), pages 198-214, April.
    2. Sofia Teives Henriques & Paul Sharp, 2016. "The Danish agricultural revolution in an energy perspective: a case of development with few domestic energy sources," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 69(3), pages 844-869, August.
    3. Sofia Henriques & Eoin McLaughlin & Paul Sharp & Xanthi Tsoukli & Christian Veddel, 2020. "Opening the Black Box of the Danish Dairy Cooperatives: A Productivity Analysis," Working Papers 0203, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    4. Ingrid Henriksen & Eoin McLaughlin & Paul Sharp, 2015. "Contracts and cooperation: the relative failure of the Irish dairy industry in the late nineteenth century reconsidered," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 19(4), pages 412-431.
    5. Bentzen, Jeanet & Boberg-Fazlic, Nina & Sharp, Paul & Skovsgaard, Christian & Vedel, Christian, 2023. "Holy Cows and Spilt Milk: The Impact of Religious Conflict on Firm-Level Productivity," CEPR Discussion Papers 18679, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Yi Qu & Jing Zhang & Zhenning Wang & Xinning Ma & Guangcheng Wei & Xiangzhi Kong, 2023. "The Future of Agriculture: Obstacles and Improvement Measures for Chinese Cooperatives to Achieve Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-22, January.
    7. Samuel Garrido, 2022. "The Fruit of Regulation: Wine, Regulations, Subsidies, Quality and Cooperatives in Franco's Spain and Beyond," Documentos de Trabajo (DT-AEHE) 2204, Asociación Española de Historia Económica.
    8. Albert Folch & Jordi Planas, 2019. "Cooperation, Fair Trade, and the Development of Organic Coffee Growing in Chiapas (1980–2015)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-22, January.
    9. Markus Lampe & Paul Sharp, 2015. "Just add milk: a productivity analysis of the revolutionary changes in nineteenth-century Danish dairying," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 68(4), pages 1132-1153, November.
    10. Eva Fernández, 2014. "Trust, religion, and cooperation in western agriculture, 1880–1930," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 67(3), pages 678-698, August.
    11. Samuel Garrido, 2022. "Buffer stocks, wine quality, and wine cooperatives in Franco’s Spain and beyond," Working Papers 2022/11, Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón (Spain).
    12. Francisco J. Medina-Albaladejo & José L. Martínez-González, 2025. "Management Skills or Economic Context? The Performance of Spanish Consumer Cooperatives in the First Third of the Twentieth Century," Documentos de Trabajo (DT-AEHE) 2501, Asociación Española de Historia Económica.
    13. Samuel Garrido, 2018. "Why the first cooperative wineries produced poor quality wine, why they were so scarce and why they were set up: evidence from Spain," Documentos de Trabajo (DT-AEHE) 1807, Asociación Española de Historia Económica.
    14. Markus Lampe & Paul Sharp, 2014. "Greasing the wheels of rural transformation? Margarine and the competition for the British butter market," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 67(3), pages 769-792, August.
    15. Frida Hastrup & Nathalia Brichet & Liza Rosenbaum Nielsen, 2022. "Sustainable Animal Production in Denmark: Anthropological Interventions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-15, May.
    16. Ingrid Henriksen, 2013. "The 19th-century value chain in dairying: from milk pail to breakfast table," Working Papers 13014, Economic History Society.
    17. Eoin McLaughlin & Paul Sharp, 2021. "Competition between organisational forms in Danish and Irish dairying around the turn of the twentieth century," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 63(2), pages 314-341, February.
    18. Eoin McLaughlin & Paul Sharp & Xanthi Tsoukli & Christian Vedel, 2021. "Ireland in a Danish mirror: A microlevel comparison of the productivity of Danish and Irish creameries before the First World War," Working Papers 0219, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • K12 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Contract Law
    • L31 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Nonprofit Institutions; NGOs; Social Entrepreneurship
    • N43 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N53 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • Q13 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Markets and Marketing; Cooperatives; Agribusiness

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