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Organizational structure, redistribution and the endogeneity of cost: Cooperatives, investor-owned firms and the cost of procurement

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  • Bontems, Philippe
  • Fulton, Murray

Abstract

As an organizational type, cooperatives are in general not the dominant form of enterprise. Nevertheless, cooperatives and cooperative-like organizations do play important roles in a number of sectors, suggesting that in some circumstances they are more efficient than other business forms. This paper explores the importance of membership goals on the relative efficiency of the cooperative form of organization. The cooperative cost (and hence production efficiency) advantage is directly linked to the goal alignment between the cooperative and its members, and is influenced by the extent of income redistribution between members and the degree of rent seeking that takes place in the organization. When there is no aversion to income inequality, the members produce at their first best levels. However, as aversion to inequality rises, the production profile of the members converges to the production profile generated when the members face an IOF. Regarding rent seeking, if the more (less) efficient members are able to get their profits valued more, total output is increased (decreased). As a consequence, consumers may benefit from the lobbying that occurs inside a cooperative where the powerful members are the most efficient agents.

Suggested Citation

  • Bontems, Philippe & Fulton, Murray, 2009. "Organizational structure, redistribution and the endogeneity of cost: Cooperatives, investor-owned firms and the cost of procurement," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 322-343, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:72:y:2009:i:1:p:322-343
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    Cited by:

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    2. Yun Shen & Jinmin Wang & Luyao Wang & Bin Wu & Xuelan Ye & Yang Han & Rui Wang & Abbas Ali Chandio, 2022. "How Do Cooperatives Alleviate Poverty of Farmers? Evidence from Rural China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-23, October.
    3. D’Amato Marcello & Di Pietro Christian & Pietroluongo Mariafortuna & Sorge Marco M., 2021. "Good Co(o)p or Bad Co(o)p? Redistribution Concerns and Competition in Credit Markets with Imperfect Information," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 21(2), pages 657-694, April.
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    6. Benmehaia, Mohamed Amine & Brabez, Fatima, 2016. "The Propensity To Cooperate Among Peasant Farmers In Algeria: An Analysis From Bivariate Approach," International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics (IJFAEC), Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Department of Economics and Finance, vol. 4(4), pages 1-14, October.
    7. Ahmet Candemir & Sabine Duvaleix & Laure Latruffe, 2021. "Agricultural Cooperatives And Farm Sustainability – A Literature Review," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 1118-1144, September.
    8. Axelle Poizat & Sabine Duvaleix-Treguer & Florence Bonnet-Beaugrand, 2018. "Vertical integration and health control measures in the French young beef bull sector," Working Papers SMART 18-04, INRAE UMR SMART.
    9. Agbo, Maxime & Rousselière, Damien & Salanié, Julien, 2015. "Agricultural marketing cooperatives with direct selling: A cooperative–non-cooperative game," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 56-71.
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    11. Marcello D'Amato & Christian Di Pietro & Marco M. Sorge, 2019. "Serving the (Un)Deserving? The Allocation of Credit in Markets with Asymmetrically Informed Lenders," CSEF Working Papers 539, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy.
    12. Xiaoyan Qian & Tava Lennon Olsen, 2020. "Operational and Financial Decisions Within Proportional Investment Cooperatives," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 22(3), pages 545-561, May.
    13. Julien Cadot, 2015. "Agency costs of vertical integration—the case of family firms, investor-owned firms and cooperatives in the French wine industry," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 46(2), pages 187-194, March.
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    17. Cadot, Julien, 2014. "Agency costs of vertical integration: the case of wine business in France," 2014 International Congress, August 26-29, 2014, Ljubljana, Slovenia 182671, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    18. Fakhrul Anwar Zainol & Zainudin Awang & Hardayanna Abd Rahman & Norazlina Abdullah & Zaharah Dzulkifli, 2015. "A Conceptual Analysis on Co-operative Enterprise (KOSISWA) at Institute of Higher Learning (IHLs) in Malaysia: Transformation of Malays Economies Agenda," International Journal of Management Sciences, Research Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 5(5), pages 372-383.
    19. Poizat, Axelle & Duvaleix-Treguer, Sabine & Bonnet-Beaugrand, Florence, 2018. "Vertical integration and health control measures in the French young bull sector," Working Papers 273145, Institut National de la recherche Agronomique (INRA), Departement Sciences Sociales, Agriculture et Alimentation, Espace et Environnement (SAE2).
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    23. Tschöpel, Michael, 2012. "Die Wirkungskanäle der genossenschaftlichen Eigentümermerkmale: Implikationen für das mitgliederorientierte Management in Genossenschaftsbanken," Arbeitspapiere 127, University of Münster, Institute for Cooperatives.
    24. Miguel Hernández‐Espallardo & Narciso Arcas‐Lario & Jorge L. Sánchez‐Navarro & Gustavo Marcos‐Matás, 2022. "Curbing members' opportunism in first‐tier and federated agricultural marketing cooperatives," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(1), pages 195-219, January.
    25. Brent Hueth & Philippe Marcoul, 2015. "Agents Monitoring Their Manager: A Hard‐Times Theory of Producer Cooperation," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(1), pages 92-109, March.

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