Economic Objectives of Farmers' Cooperatives

Excerpts from the report: Americans have traditionally resisted monopolies. Nevertheless, technological development, mass production, and improved transportation and communication have favored their formation and growth. Three principal methods have been employed to curb them: (1) legislation and regulation; (2) State ownership and operation; and (3) cooperative competition. The antitrust laws were enacted in the early stages of our industrial history; likewise, laws regulating public utilities were soon formulated. State, Federal, or municipal ownership has been undertaken in some situations. At the same time cooperative competition grew out of many individual and separate situations where monopolies, sometimes small in scope but nevertheless real, exacted too large a return for the services rendered. The aims and purposes of cooperatives are primarily economic. To understand and appraise them, however, a knowledge of their specific economic objectives is essential. Some are simple and easily understood, others are complex and only apparent after a careful analysis of price theory. The purpose of this discussion is to present and analyze the economic objectives of farmers' cooperatives and the means by which they are attained. The possibilities and limitations involved are mentioned, but the reader is asked to make his own appraisal of this phase of cooperative undertakings.