The Agricultural Cooperative as an Instrument for Economic Development: An Approach from Spanish Investors’ Preferences through a Choice Experiment

Abstract

The cooperative is one of the most important forms of business in the agricultural sector, due to its special characteristics for small farmers and livestock producers in order to gain access to greater comparative advantages. In addition, cooperatives are a driving force in the social economy, which means that investment in agricultural cooperatives can be seen as a sustainable investment. The aim of this paper is to analyse the preferences of investors in agricultural company cooperatives, looking in depth at the role of the cooperative as a business form. In order to achieve this objective, the choice experiment methodology was applied by carrying out a questionnaire to a total of 282 investors. Latent class models were also used to identify possible groups of investors. Two classes of investors have been identified based on their preferences: owners (return seeking) and workers (risk averse).

Keywords

• cooperatives
• choice experiment
• ownership
• agronomy