Building on the transaction cost theory of the for-profit firm, the article argues that the transaction cost-economizing role of the nonprofit firm has two distinct dimensions. One of them consists of reducing the cost of searching for, processing, and communicating information and the other...

The economic nature of agricultural cooperatives is explained by means of a logical continuation of the organizational economics rationale for family farms. The traditional explanations of the importance of family farms is discussed, and embedded in a broader framework which considers their...