Farmers’ self-reported value of cooperative membership: evidence from heterogeneous business and organization structures

Agricultural and Food Economics

Table 5 Differences in the significance of membership benefits according to producer size

Statement on the benefits		Milk small	Milk large	Pig small	Pig large
The cooperative offers a stable market channel		% of producers
	Significant	87^a	98^b	85^a	76^a
	Chi-squared	9.86***		1.03
The cooperative is obliged to collect all of my production 1)
	Significant	89^a	99^b	81^a	88^a
	Chi-squared	9.42***		1.40
Better possibilities to expand my agricultural production
	Significant	64^a	82^b	52^a	36^a
	Chi-squared	10.58***		2.81
The cooperative operates in the nearby region
	Significant	68^a	74^a	46^a	50^a
	Chi-squared	1.94		1.95
The cooperative offers good services to the members
	Significant	71^a	80^a	48^a	33^a
	Chi-squared	3.08		3.27
The cooperative pays a competitive producer price
	Significant	87^a	94^a	61^a	29^b
	Chi-squared	3.17		8.53**
I gain other, non-pecuniary benefits from the cooperative
	Significant	57^a	69^b	47^a	46^a
	Chi-squared	4.71*		2.58
Benefit from a good bargaining position through the cooperative
	Significant	65^a	76^b	48^a	29^a
	Chi-squared	4.92*		4.99*
Cooperative capital is an attractive investment instrument
	Significant	56^a	60^a	63^a	54^a
	Chi-squared	0.52		1.46
Membership provides me taxation gains
	Significant	44^a	59^b	61^a	50^a
	Chi-squared	6.73**		1.39
Control in the governance of the cooperative
	Significant	39^a	45^a	48^a	25^a
	Chi-squared	1.20		3.62
Influence in decisions that promote my own business
	Significant	47^a	57^a	52^a	29^a
	Chi-squared	2.71		4.85*
Opportunity to carry out work that supports the community
	Significant	43^a	47^a	48^a	29^a
	Chi-squared	0.52		3.55

Membership secures the marketing of all of my production. Superscripts a and b denote the results of the z-test, which compares the column proportions. Different letters indicate differences and the level of significance is tested with Chi-squared test. Chi-squared test between large and small separately for milk and pig samples. Responses ‘indifferent’ and ‘insignificant’ are omitted for clarity ***(p < 0.01), **(p < 0.05), *(p < 0.1)