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The Restructuring of the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool: Overconfidence and Agency

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  • Fulton, Murray E.
  • Larson, Kathy A.

Abstract

This paper examines how agency problems combined with overconfidence and hubris by coop management lead to financial failure in the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool. As a consequence of both of these problems, the Pool made poor investment decisions and ended up in severe financial difficulties. These problems were exacerbated by three additional factors: (1) ownership and control were separated via an A-B share structure, leading to a situation where neither farmer members nor investors had an incentive to monitor management activities; (2) the sheer volume of investment activity undertaken made it virtually impossible for the board to stay on top of what was happening; and (3) as a result of the change financial structure, senior management had available a large amount of debt capital that it could spend.

Suggested Citation

  • Fulton, Murray E. & Larson, Kathy A., 2009. "The Restructuring of the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool: Overconfidence and Agency," Journal of Cooperatives, NCERA-210, vol. 23, pages 1-20.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:jlcoop:56886
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.56886
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    Cited by:

    1. Hakelius, Karin & Hansson, Helena, 2016. "Members’ attitudes towards cooperatives and their perception of agency problems," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 19(4), October.
    2. Fulton, Murray & Giannakas, Konstantinos, 2012. "The Value of a Norm: Open Membership and the Horizon Problem in Cooperatives," Journal of Rural Cooperation, Hebrew University, Center for Agricultural Economic Research, vol. 40(2), pages 1-18.
    3. Constantine Iliopoulos & Vladislav Valentinov, 2018. "Member Heterogeneity in Agricultural Cooperatives: A Systems-Theoretic Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-22, April.
    4. Imanol Basterretxea & Chris Cornforth & Iñaki Heras-Saizarbitoria, 2022. "Corporate governance as a key aspect in the failure of worker cooperatives," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(1), pages 362-387, February.
    5. Olimov, Jafar, 2014. "Cooperatives and the Risk Aversion of Farmers," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 170833, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    6. Serfas, D., 2018. "an ex-post econometric analysis of the abolishment of the canadian wheat board," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277286, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    7. Fulton, Murray & Larson, Kathy A., 2009. "Overconfidence and Hubris: The Demise of Agricultural Co-operatives in Western Canada," Journal of Rural Cooperation, Hebrew University, Center for Agricultural Economic Research, vol. 37(2), pages 1-35.
    8. Iliopoulos, Constantine & Valentinov, Vladislav, 2018. "Member heterogeneity in agricultural cooperatives: A systems-theoretic perspective," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 10(4), pages 1-22.
    9. Hogeland, Julie A., 2013. "From Agrarian to Global Values: How 20th Century U.S. Agricultural Cooperatives Came to Terms with Agricultural Industrialization," Journal of Rural Cooperation, Hebrew University, Center for Agricultural Economic Research, vol. 41(2), pages 1-18.
    10. Lamprinakis, Lampros & Fulton, Murray E., 2011. "Mental Frames and Organizational Decision-making: Facing the Challenges of Change," 2011 International Congress, August 30-September 2, 2011, Zurich, Switzerland 114407, European Association of Agricultural Economists.

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    Keywords

    Agribusiness; Crop Production/Industries;

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