Does social capital foster the success of agrifood cooperatives?

Irene Martínez-López (), Marta Fernández-Barcala (), Manuel González-Díaz () and Constantine Iliopoulos ()
Additional contact information
Irene Martínez-López: University of Oviedo
Marta Fernández-Barcala: University of Oviedo
Manuel González-Díaz: University of Oviedo
Constantine Iliopoulos: Agricultural Economics Research Institute (AGR.E.R.I.)

Agricultural and Food Economics, 2025, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-25

Abstract: Abstract Agrifood cooperatives operate as hybrid organizations governed by members who simultaneously serve as users, owners, and decision-makers. These organizations must develop tailored governance mechanisms to manage interdependent relationships and reduce opportunism. This paper investigates the dimensionality of social capital and its role as a relational governance mechanism capable of reducing opportunistic behavior among cooperative members. We also explore how member heterogeneity—both in individual and farm characteristics and preferences—affects the composition and effectiveness of social capital. Based on survey data from 151 active members of a Spanish agrifood cooperative, we employ exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling to test our hypotheses. Results show, first, that social capital comprises two interrelated but distinct dimensions: network and cognitive. Second, both components work as effective mechanisms of governance for cooperatives. Third, while heterogeneity in preferences erodes cognitive social capital and fosters opportunism, heterogeneity in member and farm characteristics strengthens both dimensions of social capital. These findings have practical implications for cooperative governance, particularly in balancing diversity and cohesion among members.

Keywords: Social capital; Cooperatives; Governance mechanisms; Heterogeneity; Opportunism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1186/s40100-025-00399-x Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:agfoec:v:13:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1186_s40100-025-00399-x

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... nomics/journal/40100

DOI: 10.1186/s40100-025-00399-x

Access Statistics for this article

Agricultural and Food Economics is currently edited by Alessandro Banterle, Liesbeth Dries, Andrea Marchini and Carlo Russo

More articles in Agricultural and Food Economics from Springer, Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().