David Barton, Michael Boland, Fabio Chaddad, and Eldon Eversull
A review of JSTOR, an online system for archiving academic journals, reveals 1,921 unique citations—articles, proceedings papers, book reviews—for the word “cooperatives” in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics and Review of Agricultural Economics. Of these 1,921 citations, 620 are in the area of finance, more than any other category. This body of research suggests that cooperative finance is a critical challenge for agricultural cooperatives’ survival and growth. Our engagement with industry cooperative leaders also suggests that the income distribution decision and the equity management decision, including equity investment and redemption, and the balance sheet management decision continue to be on their priority list. This article summarizes the results from a survey of cooperative leaders to better understand current challenges in financing agricultural cooperatives. To read more