AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES AND FARM SUSTAINABILITY – A LITERATURE REVIEW

• Published in: IDEAS Working Paper Series from RePEc Vol. 35; no. 4; pp. 1118 - 1144
• Main Authors: Candemir, Ahmet, Duvaleix, Sabine, Latruffe, Laure
• Format: Journal Article Paper
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.09.2021; Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; Wiley
• Subjects: Agricultural cooperatives; Cooperative behaviour; Cooperatives; Developed countries; Farm sustainability; Literature reviews; Member heterogeneity; Quantitative Finance; Sustainability; Cooperative behaviour; Farm sustainability; Member heterogeneity; Agricultural cooperatives
• ISSN: 0950-0804; 1467-6419
• DOI: 10.1111/joes.12417

We present a literature review of the role played by agricultural cooperatives in influencing farm sustainability. We first focus on the theoretical literature to highlight the various economic behaviours of cooperatives. Then we investigate all three dimensions of sustainability in developing and developed countries. We aim at linking the empirical findings to the theoretical understanding of cooperatives, in particular members’ heterogeneity. This paper shows that cooperatives play a non‐negligible role in farm economic sustainability and in the adoption of environmentally friendly practices, suggesting that both public policies and private initiatives in cooperatives may be complementary. As regards social sustainability, there are only a few studies existing on the role of agricultural cooperatives. The trade‐off between economic and environmental sustainability in cooperatives would need to be further investigated.