AgEcon Search

AgEcon Search >
       European Association of Agricultural Economists >
          2008 International Congress, August 26-29, 2008, Ghent, Belgium >

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://purl.umn.edu/44397

Title: New Producer Strategies: The Emergence of Patron-Driven Entrepreneurship
Authors: Cook, Michael L.
Burress, Molly J.
Iliopoulos, Constantine
Keywords: Collective entrepreneurship
Agribusiness
Property Rights
Issue Date: 2008
Abstract: Abstract—Existing research treats the cooperative structure as relatively homogeneous. The proposed paper argues that all cooperatives are not created equal – and consideration of organizational structure is critical when analyzing the economic impact of cooperation. In recent empirical work, we observe cooperatives forming as single- or multi-purpose; generating equity capital passively, quasi-passively, or proactively; vertically integrating in a centralized, federated, or a hybrid fashion; governing through fixed or proportional control rights; and instituting open, closed or class-varying membership criteria. The emergence of multiple-level rent-seeking cooperatives challenges our traditional rent dispersion models of collective action. We call these multi-level, patron, rent-seeking entities a form of collective entrepreneurship. This paper develops a set of criteria enabling us to distinguish between traditional forms of cooperation and collective entrepreneurship. We employ these characteristics to analyze and contrast these two extreme forms of collective action. We propose a continuum from single-level rent seeking, traditional, patron, user-driven cooperative forms; through forms of hybrids and macrohierarchies; to multiple-level rent seeking, patron, user-investor-driven collective entrepreneurship.
URI: http://purl.umn.edu/44397
Institution/Association: European Association of Agricultural Economists>2008 International Congress, August 26-29, 2008, Ghent, Belgium
Total Pages: 10
Collections:2008 International Congress, August 26-29, 2008, Ghent, Belgium

Files in This Item:

File Description SizeFormat
122.pdf177KbPDFView/Open
Recommend this item

All items in AgEcon Search are protected by copyright.

 

 

Brought to you by the University of Minnesota Department of Applied Economics and the University of Minnesota Libraries with cooperation from the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

All papers are in Acrobat (.pdf) format. Get Adobe Reader

Contact Us

Powered by: