This study analyzes factors influencing farmer interest in marketing switchgrass through contracts and/or joining a cooperative that harvests, transports, stores, and markets their switchgrass. Data are from a survey of farmers in 12 southern states. A bivariate probit analysis is used to...

This study examines the price competitiveness of marketing and production contracts depending on whether contracts are with cooperatives or investorowned firms. A propensity score matching method is used to compare prices using contract data from a national farm-level survey. The results show...

The criterion for allocative efficiency is derived for a market system consisting of producers, a processor, and consumers and compared to the solution conditions for cooperative and profit-maximizing processors. A cooperative that maximizes total member returns will restrict output to less than...

Dairy farmers often rank the benefit from a secure market as a major reason for belonging to a milk-marketing cooperative. This paper proposes a technique for valuing this decreased market risk through development of a willingness-to-pay measure.

Delivery rights to a cooperative's marketing pool can take on a value independent of the members' equity share under certain conditions. Based on anecdotal information, transferable delivery rights become valuable when the pool is fixed in size (closed), members are protected from exploitation...

Strategic alliance and joint venture agreements are analyzed using the prisoners' dilemma and assurance problem models of game theory. Hypotheses regarding the factors contributing to the success/failure of the agreements are formulated. These hypotheses are confirmed with data from interviews...

Cooperatives comprise an important part of the American agricultural system. Key factors important to the success of agricultural marketing cooperatives were identified and statistically analyzed using data collected from fifty-two cooperatives. The research quantified the effects of several...

Recent empirical work suggests that cooperative presence in differentiated product markets lowers the consumer prices of all brands. This paper focuses on the theoretical basis for this competitive yardstick effect by cooperatives. It identifies two market structures where the competitive...

A survey instrument was developed to elicit information useful in characterizing the membership of hog marketing cooperatives and to identify benefits and costs expected and perceived by members. An empirical application investigates the role of marketing cooperatives in the Illinois pork...