Comparative performance of cooperatives and investor-owned firms in US food industries

Zvi Lerman () and Claudia Parliament
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Claudia Parliament: Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, Postal: Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN

Agribusiness, 1990, vol. 6, issue 6, 527-540

Abstract: The comparative financial performance of cooperatives and investor-owned firms (IOFs) in the fruit and vegetable processing and the dairy industries was analyzed for the years 1976 through 1987. Contrary to theoretical expectations, the cooperatives in both industries were found to perform as well as or better than the comparable IOFs by profitability, leverage, and interest coverage measures. No clear evidence was found of the hypothesized overinvestment in fixed assets or pronounced moral hazard behavior in cooperatives. The lack of significant differences in profitability between the two types of firms suggests that cooperatives may be following goals similar to IOFs.

Date: 1990
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wly:agribz:v:6:y:1990:i:6:p:527-540

DOI: 10.1002/1520-6297(199011)6:6<527::AID-AGR2720060602>3.0.CO;2-R

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