North American agricultural economists are beginning to reexamine fundamental issues in the theory of agricultural cooperation. Since 1980, a number of researchers have explored the basic nature of farmer cooperation; the theoretical benefits and limits to cooperative enterprise; and the...

Some critics of the cooperative farm supply system point to an erosion of member loyalty and suggest that it indicates that farm supply cooperatives are not currently meeting the needs of their farmer-members. This paper discusses the commitment problem within a transaction-cost-economics...