Essays on Agricultural Co-operatives; Governance Structure in Fruit and Vegetable Chains Defended on Thursday, 13 June 2002

This thesis studies the efficiency of the marketing co-operative for carrying out transactions with farm products. A co-operative is a special type of governance structure, characterised by collective ownership and forward vertical integration. These characteristics influence investment decisions by farmers and other firms in the agrifood chain. As vertical co-ordination has become more important in agrifood markets, investments in production and marketing become co-specialised. The main question is whether the farmerowned co-operative induces optimal incentives for complementary investments in two (or more) stages of the chain. The empirical research focuses on the Dutch fruit and vegetable industry.

Keywords

agricultural co-operatives, Ownership and Governance structures, agrifood chains, contracts, transactions, ownership structures, vertical integration, marketing, co-operative firm, producer organizations, incentives, agrifood markets, retailers, farmer owned, efficiency


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