Competitividad de las cooperativas hortofrutícolas: análisis del impacto económico de las acciones de calidad y medioambientales en las OPFH andaluzas

The objective of this study is to determine the impact of environmental practices and improved quality on business competition variables such as efficiency, profitability and market share among the Andalucian fresh fruit and vegetable co-operative sector. The study takes as a reference the Andalucian Co-operative Societies and Agricultural Producer Companies (currently known as Fruit and Vegetable Producer Associations–FVPA-) and the programme of incentives applied to development of this type of producer and commercial practice, considered a priority objective in the Common Market Organisations of the CAP. In the first place, we propose an analysis of the production function including the aforesaid actions as part of the productive input to determine their effect on business value-added; and secondly, an analysis through estimating simultaneous equations, beginning from the differentiating effect of investment in quality-environmental actions, and taking into account possible problems of endogeneity between variables. Results show, on one hand, a positive effect on value-added, though this (including the subsidies item) does not entirely offset the possible costs of innovation; while on the other hand, a positive correlation is observed between quality-environmental actions and sector competitiveness variables, which perhaps, up to now, represents the main incentive for this type of practice.