IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nip/nipewp/09-2016.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Are cooperatives more productive than investor-owned firms? Cross-industry evidence from Portugal

Author

Abstract

We analyse empirically whether cooperatives and investor-owned fims differ in terms of productive efficiency. Using rich Portuguese panel data covering a wide range of industries, we apply two different empirical approaches to estimate potential diffferences in total factor productivity between the two groups of fi rms. The results from our benchmark random-effects model show that cooperatives are signi cantly less productive, on average, than investor-owned fi rms. This conclusion is to a large extent confi rmed by the results from System-GMM estimations. The lower productivity of cooperatives applies to a wide spectrum of industries. In six out of thirteen industries, cooperatives are outperformed by investor-owned firms in all empirical speci cations considered, while there is no industry in which cooperatives are consistently found to be the more productive type of firm.

Suggested Citation

  • Natália P. Monteiro & Odd Rune Straume, 2016. "Are cooperatives more productive than investor-owned firms? Cross-industry evidence from Portugal," NIPE Working Papers 9/2016, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    • Handle: RePEc:nip:nipewp:09/2016
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nipe.eeg.uminho.pt/Uploads/WP_2016/NIPE%20WP_09_2016.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sexton, Richard J. & Wilson, Brooks M. & Wann, Joyce J., 1989. "Some Tests Of The Economic Theory Of Cooperatives: Methodology And Application To Cotton Ginning," Western Journal of Agricultural Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, July.
    2. Natália Monteiro & Geoff Stewart, 2015. "Scale, Scope and Survival: A Comparison of Cooperative and Capitalist Modes of Production," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 47(1), pages 91-118, August.
    3. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    4. David Roodman, 2009. "How to do xtabond2: An introduction to difference and system GMM in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 9(1), pages 86-136, March.
    5. Chad Syverson, 2011. "What Determines Productivity?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(2), pages 326-365, June.
    6. Richard Harris & Donald S. Siegel & Mike Wright, 2005. "Assessing the Impact of Management Buyouts on Economic Efficiency: Plant-Level Evidence from the United Kingdom," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(1), pages 148-153, February.
    7. Joachim Wagner, 2016. "Exports and Productivity: A Survey of the Evidence from Firm Level Data," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Microeconometrics of International Trade, chapter 1, pages 3-41, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    8. Satbir Singh & Tim Coelli & Euan Fleming, 2001. "Performance of Dairy Plants in the Cooperative and Private Sectors in India," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(4), pages 453-479, December.
    9. Sexton, Richard J. & Iskow, Julie, 1993. "What Do We Know About the Economic Efficiency of Cooperatives: An Evaluative Survey," Journal of Agricultural Cooperation, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, vol. 8, pages 1-13.
    10. Nilsson, Jerker, 2001. "Organisational principles for co-operative firms," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 329-356, September.
    11. Doucouliagos, Hristos & Hone, Phillip, 2000. "The efficiency of the Australian dairy processing industry," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 44(3), pages 1-16.
    12. Rafat Soboh & Alfons Oude Lansink & Gert Van Dijk, 2012. "Efficiency of Cooperatives and Investor Owned Firms Revisited," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(1), pages 142-157, February.
    13. Akridge, Jay T. & Hertel, Thomas W., 1992. "Cooperative and Investor-Oriented Firm Efficiency: A Multiproduct Analysis," Journal of Agricultural Cooperation, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, vol. 7, pages 1-14.
    14. Michael L. Cook, 1995. "The Future of U.S. Agricultural Cooperatives: A Neo-Institutional Approach," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 77(5), pages 1153-1159.
    15. Ferrantino Michael J. & Ferrier Gary D. & Linvill Carl B., 1995. "Organizational Form and Efficiency: Evidence from Indian Sugar Manufacturing," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 29-53, August.
    16. Rafat A. M. E. Soboh & Alfons Oude Lansink & Gerard Giesen & Gert van Dijk, 2009. "Performance Measurement of the Agricultural Marketing Cooperatives: The Gap between Theory and Practice," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 31(3), pages 446-469, September.
    17. R. Carson, 1977. "A Theory of Co-operatives," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 10(4), pages 565-589, November.
    18. Rafat A. M. E. Soboh & Alfons Oude Lansink & Gerard Giesen & Gert van Dijk, 2009. "Performance Measurement of the Agricultural Marketing Cooperatives: The Gap between Theory and Practice," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 31(3), pages 446-469.
    19. Ortmann, Gerald F. & King, Robert P., 2007. "Agricultural Cooperatives I: History, Theory and Problems," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 46(1), pages 1-29, March.
    20. G.E. Boyle, 2004. "The economic efficiency of Irish dairy marketing co-operatives," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(2), pages 143-153.
    21. Chris Doucouliagos, 1997. "The Comparative Efficiency and Productivity of Labor-Managed and Capital-Managed Firms," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 29(2), pages 45-69, June.
    22. Will Bartlett & John Cable & Saul Estrin & Derek C. Jones & Stephen C. Smith, 1992. "Labor-Managed Cooperatives and Private Firms in North Central Italy: An Empirical Comparison," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 46(1), pages 103-118, October.
    23. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    24. Estrin, Saul, 1991. "Some reflections on self-management, social choice, and reform in eastern europe," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 349-366, June.
    25. Arando, Saioa & Gago, Monica & Jones, Derek C. & Kato, Takao, 2011. "Efficiency in Employee-Owned Enterprises: An Econometric Case Study of Mondragon," IZA Discussion Papers 5711, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zsuzsanna Kispál-Vitai & Yann Regnard & Klara Kövesi & Claude-André Guillotte, 2019. "Cooperative case studies from three countries: Is membership a problem or a solution in the 21st century?," Society and Economy, Akadémiai Kiadó, Hungary, vol. 41(4), pages 467-485, December.
    2. Pablo Blanchard & Gabriel Burdín & Andrés Dean, 2023. "Property Rights and Effort Supply," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 23-01, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    3. Andreea Preluca & Karin Hakelius & Cecilia Mark-Herbert, 2022. "Sustainability of Worker Co-Operatives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-20, September.
    4. Correa Mautz, Felipe, 2022. "Productividad comparada de las empresas de la economía social en Chile," Documentos de Proyectos 48386, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    5. Carmen GUZMAN & Francisco J. SANTOS & María de la O BARROSO, 2020. "Cooperative Essence And Entrepreneurial Quality: A Comparative Contextual Analysis," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 91(1), pages 95-118, March.
    6. Elena Meliá-Martí & Guillermina Tormo-Carbó & Juan Francisco Juliá-Igual, 2020. "Does Gender Diversity Affect Performance in Agri-Food Cooperatives? A Moderated Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-27, August.
    7. Zsuzsanna Kispál-Vitai & Yann Regnard & Klara Kövesi & Claude-André Guillotte, 2019. "Cooperative case studies from three countries: Is membership a problem or a solution in the 21 st century?," Post-Print hal-02351404, HAL.
    8. Marcelo Ferreira & Clea Macagnan & Daniel Vancin & Ana Toaldo, 2021. "Technical assistance: A determinant of cooperative member loyalty," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 92(4), pages 649-668, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Theo Benos & Nikos Kalogeras & Martin Wetzels & Ko De Ruyter & Joost M. E. Pennings, 2018. "Harnessing a ‘Currency Matrix’ for Performance Measurement in Cooperatives: A Multi-Phased Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-38, December.
    2. Caetano Luiz Beber & Sebastian Lakner & Ioannis Skevas, 2021. "Organizational forms and technical efficiency of the dairy processing industry in Southern Brazil," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 9(1), pages 1-22, December.
    3. Yu, L. & Huang, W., 2018. "Non-economic societal impact or economic revenue? Performance and efficiency analysis of farmer cooperatives in China," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277512, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    4. Li, Ziran & Jacobs, Keri L. & Artz, Georgeanne M., 2012. "The Relative Capital Structure of U.S. Agricultural Grain and Supply Cooperatives and Investor Owned Firms," 2012 Annual Meeting, August 12-14, 2012, Seattle, Washington 124755, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Anne Musson & Damien Rousselière, 2020. "Exploring the effect of crisis on cooperatives: a Bayesian performance analysis of French craftsmen cooperatives," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(25), pages 2657-2678, May.
    6. Kuhle Prudence Mnisi & Abdul Latif Alhassan, 2021. "Financial structure and cooperative efficiency: A pecking‐order evidence from sugarcane farmers in Eswatini," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 92(2), pages 261-281, June.
    7. Damien Rousselière, 2019. "A Flexible Approach to Age Dependence in Organizational Mortality: Comparing the Life Duration for Cooperative and Non-Cooperative Enterprises Using a Bayesian Generalized Additive Discrete Time Survi," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 17(4), pages 829-855, December.
    8. Rycx, François & Saks, Yves & Tojerow, Ilan, 2016. "Misalignment of Productivity and Wages across Regions? Evidence from Belgian Matched Panel Data," IZA Discussion Papers 10336, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Justine Valette & Paul Amadieu & Patrick Sentis, 2018. "Les coopératives résistent-elles mieux ? Une analyse de survie des coopératives agricoles françaises," Post-Print hal-01990418, HAL.
    10. Martin Andersson & Hans Lööf, 2011. "Agglomeration and productivity: evidence from firm-level data," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 46(3), pages 601-620, June.
    11. François Rycx & Yves Saks & Ilan Tojerow, 2015. "Does Education Raise Productivity and Wages Equally? The Moderating Roles of Age, Gender and Industry," Working Paper Research 281, National Bank of Belgium.
    12. Kampelmann, Stephan & Mahy, Benoît & Rycx, François & Vermeylen, Guillaume, 2016. "Who Is Your Perfect Match? Educational Norms, Educational Mismatch and Firm Profitability," IZA Discussion Papers 10399, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Ahmet Candemir & Sabine Duvaleix & Laure Latruffe, 2021. "Agricultural Cooperatives And Farm Sustainability – A Literature Review," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 1118-1144, September.
    14. Evans, Lewis & Meade, Richard, 2005. "The Role and Significance of Cooperatives in New Zealand Agriculture, A Comparative Institutional Analysis," Working Paper Series 18942, Victoria University of Wellington, The New Zealand Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation.
    15. Thomas Strobel, 2014. "Directed technological change, skill complementarities and sectoral productivity growth: evidence from industrialized countries during the new economy," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 255-275, December.
    16. Federici, Daniela & Parisi, Valentino & Ferrante, Francesco, 2020. "Heterogeneous firms, corporate taxes and export behavior: A firm-level investigation for Italy," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 98-112.
    17. Elena MELIÁ MARTÍ & Ma Pía CARNICER ANDRÉS, 2015. "Organizational models for the major agri-food cooperative groups in the European Union," CIRIEC Working Papers 1506, CIRIEC - Université de Liège.
    18. Agbo, Maxime & Rousselière, Damien & Salanié, Julien, 2015. "Agricultural marketing cooperatives with direct selling: A cooperative–non-cooperative game," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 56-71.
    19. Francisco J. Santos-Arteaga & Celia Torrecillas & Madjid Tavana, 2019. "Dynamic effects of learning on the innovative outputs and productivity in Spanish multinational enterprises," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 97-131, February.
    20. Martin Andersson & Hans Lööf, 2009. "Learning‐by‐Exporting Revisited: The Role of Intensity and Persistence," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 111(4), pages 893-916, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cooperatives; investor-owned fi rms; productive effiiciency;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • J54 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Producer Cooperatives; Labor Managed Firms
    • P12 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Enterprises
    • P13 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Cooperative Enterprises

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nip:nipewp:09/2016. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: NIPE (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nipampt.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.