Share:


A study on the determinants of financial performance of U.S. agricultural cooperatives

    Kuldeep Singh   Affiliation
    ; Madhvendra Misra Affiliation
    ; Mohit Kumar Affiliation
    ; Vineet Tiwari Affiliation

Abstract

A significant number of studies have been made in the area of agricultural economics; however, there is a paucity of work that investigates factors or determinants which influence the financial performance of agro cooperatives. This paper investigates determinants of financial performance for the United States (U.S.) agricultural cooperatives for the period 2009–2017. By using the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) database, we created a sample of 37 U.S. agro cooperatives. For analysis, we used panel regression analysis as it is suitable to deal with fixed effect or random effect error component presented in the model. Finding states that the U.S. agro cooperatives are found highly sensitive to economic policy uncertainty. The results provide evidence of a negative relationship between size and profitability. Moreover, the impact of growth and capital intensity is also reflected in the return on asset (ROA). In this study, we considered ROA as a proxy for firm performance. Implications and suggestions for further new research are also discussed.

Keyword : agricultural cooperatives, financial performance, economic policy uncertainty, return on asset (ROA), United States (U.S.), capital intensity

How to Cite
Singh, K., Misra, M., Kumar, M., & Tiwari, V. (2019). A study on the determinants of financial performance of U.S. agricultural cooperatives. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 20(4), 633-647. https://doi.org/10.3846/jbem.2019.9858
Published in Issue
May 13, 2019
Abstract Views
3916
PDF Downloads
2440
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

References

Acharya, V. V., Almeida, H., & Campello, M. (2013). Aggregate risk and the choice between cash and lines of credit. The Journal of Finance, 68(5), 2059-2116. https://doi.org/10.1111/jofi.12056

Amat, O., & Perramon, J. (2011). High-growth cooperatives: Financial profile and key factors for competitiveness. Retrieved from https://repositori.upf.edu/bitstream/handle/10230/19904/1289.pdf?sequence=1

Antonakakis, N., Chatziantoniou, I., & Filis, G. (2013). Dynamic co-movements of stock market returns, implied volatility and policy uncertainty. Economics Letters, 120(1), 87-92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2013.04.004

Arai, M. (2003). Wages, profits, and capital intensity: Evidence from matched worker-firm data. Journal of Labor Economics, 21(3), 593-618. https://doi.org/10.1086/374960

Baker, S. R., Bloom, N., & Davis, S. J. (2016). Measuring economic policy uncertainty. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 131(4), 1593-1636. https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjw024

Barbee Jr, W. C., Mukherji, S., & Raines, G. A. (1996). Do sales-price and debt-equity explain stock returns better than book-market and firm size? Financial Analysts Journal, 52(2), 56-60. https://doi.org/10.2469/faj.v52.n2.1980

Bates, T. W., Kahle, K. M., & Stulz, R. M. (2009). Why do US firms hold so much more cash than they used to?. The Journal of Finance, 64(5), 1985-2021. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.2009.01492.x

Belderbos, R., Carree, M., & Lokshin, B. (2004). Cooperative R&D and firm performance. Research policy, 33(10), 1477-1492. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2004.07.003

Beranová, M., & Basovníková, M. (2014). Components of the financial performance of agricultural enterprises. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, 59(7), 57-68. https://doi.org/10.11118/actaun201159070057

Bhandari, L. C. (1988). Debt/equity ratio and expected common stock returns: Empirical evidence. The Journal of Finance, 43(2), 507-528. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.1988.tb03952.x

Birchall, J., & Ketilson, L. H. (2009). Resilience of the cooperative business model in times of crisis. International Labour Office, Sustainable Enterprise Programme. Geneva: ILO.

Birley, S., & Westhead, P. (1990). Growth and performance contrasts between ‘types’ of small firms. Strategic Management Journal, 11(7), 535-557. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250110705

Bonus, H. (1986). The cooperative association as a business enterprise: a study in the economics of transactions. Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE)/Zeitschrift für die gesamte Staatswissenschaft, 142(2), 310-339.

Breusch, T. S., & Pagan, A. R. (1980). The Lagrange multiplier test and its applications to model specification in econometrics. The Review of Economic Studies, 47(1), 239-253. https://doi.org/10.2307/2297111

Caves, R. E., & Petersen, B. C. (1986). Cooperatives’ tax “advantages”: Growth, retained earnings, and equity rotation. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 68(2), 207-213. https://doi.org/10.2307/1241422

Chaddad, F. R., Cook, M. L., & Heckelei, T. (2005). Testing for the presence of financial constraints in US agricultural cooperatives: an investment behaviour approach. Journal of Agricultural Economics, 56(3), 385-397. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-9552.2005.00027.x

Cole, M. A., & Elliott, R. J. (2005). FDI and the capital intensity of “dirty” sectors: a missing piece of the pollution haven puzzle. Review of Development Economics, 9(4), 530-548. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9361.2005.00292.x

Colombo, V. (2013). Economic policy uncertainty in the US: Does it matter for the Euro area? Economics Letters, 121(1), 39-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2013.06.024

Contractor, F. J., & Lorange, P. (1988). Why should firms cooperate? The strategy and economics basis for cooperative ventures. Cooperative Strategies in International Business, 1, 3-30.

Cook, M. L. (1995). The future of US agricultural cooperatives: A neo-institutional approach. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 77(5), 1153-1159. https://doi.org/10.2307/1243338

Cornett, M. M., Marcus, A. J., & Tehranian, H. (2008). Corporate governance and pay-for-performance: The impact of earnings management. Journal of Financial Economics, 87(2), 357-373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2007.03.003

Craine, R. (1989). Risky business: the allocation of capital. Journal of Monetary Economics, 23(2), 201-218. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3932(89)90048-2

Deininger, K. (1995). Collective agricultural production: A solution for transition economies?. World Development, 23(8), 1317-1334. https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-750X(95)00044-D

Duchin, R. (2010). Cash holdings and corporate diversification. The Journal of Finance, 65(3), 955-992. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.2010.01558.x

Duke, J. C., & Hunt III, H. G. (1990). An empirical examination of debt covenant restrictions and accounting-related debt proxies. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 12(1-3), 45-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/0165-4101(90)90041-2

Ferreira, M. A., & Vilela, A. S. (2004). Why do firms hold cash? Evidence from EMU countries. European Financial Management, 10(2), 295-319. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1354-7798.2004.00251.x

FitzRoy, F. R., & Kraft, K. (1987). Cooperation, productivity, and profit sharing. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 102(1), 23-35. https://doi.org/10.2307/1884678

Foley, C. F., Hartzell, J. C., Titman, S., & Twite, G. (2007). Why do firms hold so much cash? A tax-based explanation. Journal of Financial Economics, 86(3), 579-607. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2006.11.006

Franken, J. R., & Cook, M. L. (2015). Informing measurement of cooperative performance. In Interfirm Networks (pp. 209-226). Cham: Springer.

Frederick H. deB. Harris. (1988). Capital intensity and the firm’s cost of capital. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 70(4), 587-594. https://doi.org/10.2307/1935821

Gao, J., Grinstein, Y., & Wang, W. (2014). Cash holdings, precautionary motives, and systematic uncertainty. SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2478349

Gartenberg, C. M., Prat, A., & Serafeim, G. (2016). Corporate purpose and financial performance. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2840005

Ghosh, B., Basit, A., & Hassan, Z. (2017). Impact of corporate social responsibility on financial performance: A study on manufacturing companies listed in London Stock Exchange (LSE)-UK. International Journal of Accounting & Business Management, 5(2), 2289-4519.

Grashuis, J. (2018). A quantile regression analysis of farmer cooperative performance. Agricultural Finance Review, 78(1), 65-82. https://doi.org/10.1108/AFR-05-2017-0031

Greene, W. H. (1997). Econometric analysis (3rd ed.). New Yersey: Prentice-Hall International.

Griffin, J. J., & Mahon, J. F. (1997). The corporate social performance and corporate financial performance debate: Twenty-five years of incomparable research. Business & Society, 36(1), 5-31. https://doi.org/10.1177/000765039703600102

Gujarati, D. N. (2009). Basic econometrics (5th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Hansmann, H. (1988). Ownership of the Firm. Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization, 4(2), 267-304.

Harris, F. H. D. (1994). Asset specificity, capital intensity and capital structure: an empirical test. Managerial and Decision Economics, 15(6), 563-576. https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.4090150604

Hart, O., & Moore, J. (1996). The governance of exchanges: members’ cooperatives versus outside ownership. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 12(4), 53-69. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxrep/12.4.53

Hausman, J. A. (1978). Specification tests in econometrics. Econometrica: Journal of the Econometric Society, 1251-1271. https://doi.org/10.2307/1913827

Hoechle, D. (2007). Robust standard errors for panel regressions with cross-sectional dependence. Stata Journal, 7(3), 281. https://doi.org/10.1177/1536867X0700700301

Hussain, M. A., & Hadi, A. R. (2017). Corporate governance and firm performance: Evidence from CIDB Malaysia. American Journal of Research Communication, 5(12), 1-21.

Im, H., Park, H., & Zhao, G. (2017). Uncertainty and the value of cash holdings. Economics Letters, 155, 43-48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2017.03.005

International Labor Organization (2014). The cooperative way of doing business. Sustainable enterprise programme, (pp.3-4). ILO.

Kang, W., & Ratti, R. A. (2013). Oil shocks, policy uncertainty and stock market return. Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, 26, 305-318. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intfin.2013.07.001

Karami, E., & Rezaei‐Moghaddam, K. (2005). Modeling determinants of agricultural production cooperatives’ performance in Iran. Agricultural Economics, 33(3), 305-314. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-0864.2005.00069.x

Khrawish, H. A. (2011). Determinants of commercial banks performance: Evidence from Jordan. International Research Journal of Finance and Economics, 5(5), 19-45.

Kim, C. S., Mauer, D. C., & Sherman, A. E. (1998). The determinants of corporate liquidity: Theory and evidence. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 33(3), 335-359. https://doi.org/10.2307/2331099

Kontogeorgos, A., Sergaki, P., Kosma, A., & Semou, V. (2018). Organizational models for agricultural cooperatives: empirical evidence for their performance. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 9(4), 1123-1137. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-016-0402-8

Lee Rodgers, J., & Nicewander, W. A. (1988). Thirteen ways to look at the correlation coefficient. The American Statistician, 42(1), 59-66. https://doi.org/10.2307/2685263

Lerman, Z., & Parliament, C. (1990). Comparative performance of cooperatives and investor‐owned firms in US food industries. Agribusiness, 6(6), 527-540. https://doi.org/10.1002/1520-6297(199011)6:6<527::AID-AGR2720060602>3.0.CO;2-R

Lerman, Z., & Parliament, C. (1991). Size and industry effects in the performance of agricultural cooperatives. Agricultural Economics, 6(1), 15-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/0169-5150(91)90013-B

Lev, B., Petrovits, C., & Radhakrishnan, S. (2010). Is doing good good for you? How corporate charitable contributions enhance revenue growth. Strategic Management Journal, 31(2), 182-200.

Levy, H., & Lerman, Z. (1985). Testing P/E rations filters with stochastic dominance. The Journal of Portfolio Management, 11(2), 31-40. https://doi.org/10.3905/jpm.1985.31

Liebrand, C. (2007). Measuring the performance of agricultural cooperatives. Retrieved from http://www.uwcc.wisc.edu/pdf/measuring%20ag%20coop%20performance.pdf

Liu, L., & Zhang, T. (2015): Economic policy uncertainty and stock market volatility. Finance Research Letters, 15, 99-105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2015.08.009

Martinkute-Kauliene, R. (2012). Exotic options: a chooser option and its pricing. Business, Management and Education, 10(2), 289-301. https://doi.org/10.3846/bme.2012.20

Martinkute-Kauliene, R. (2014). Risk factors in derivatives markets. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 2(4), 71-83. https://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2014.020405

McGee, J. E., Dowling, M. J., & Megginson, W. L. (1995). Cooperative strategy and new venture performance: The role of business strategy and management experience. Strategic Management Journal, 16(7), 565-580. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250160706

Mishra, A. K., & Morehart, M. J. (2001). Factors affecting returns to labor and management on US dairy farms. Agricultural Finance Review, 61(2), 123-140. https://doi.org/10.1108/00214790180001120

Miyagiwa, K., & Ohno, Y. (2002). Uncertainty, spillovers, and cooperative R&D. International Journal of Industrial Organization, 20(6), 855-876. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-7187(01)00079-0

Nevill, A. M., & Holder, R. L. (1995). Scaling, normalizing, and per ratio standards: an allometric modeling approach. Journal of Applied Physiology, 79(3), 1027-1031. https://doi.org/10.1152/jappl.1995.79.3.1027

Odagiri, H. (1983). R & D expenditures, royalty payments, and sales growth in Japanese manufacturing corporations. The Journal of Industrial Economics, 32(1), 61-71. https://doi.org/10.2307/2097986

Ongore, V. O., & Kusa, G. B. (2013). Determinants of financial performance of commercial banks in Kenya. International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, 3(1), 237-252.

Opler, T., Pinkowitz, L., Stulz, R., & Williamson, R. (1999). The determinants and implications of corporate cash holdings. Journal of Financial Economics, 52(1), 3-46. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-405X(99)00003-3

Ozkan, A., & Ozkan, N. (2004). Corporate cash holdings: An empirical investigation of UK companies. Journal of Banking & Finance, 28(9), 2103-2134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbankfin.2003.08.003

Pinkowitz, L., & Williamson, R. (2001). Bank power and cash holdings: Evidence from Japan. The Review of Financial Studies, 14(4), 1059-1082. https://doi.org/10.1093/rfs/14.4.1059

Pinkowitz, L., Stulz, R. M., & Williamson, R. (2012). Multinationals and the high cash holdings puzzle (No. w18120). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w18120

Rakopoulos, T. (2014). The crisis seen from below, within, and against: from solidarity economy to food distribution cooperatives in Greece. Dialectical Anthropology, 38(2), 189-207. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10624-014-9342-5

Richard, O. C., Barnett, T., Dwyer, S., & Chadwick, K. (2004). Cultural diversity in management, firm performance, and the moderating role of entrepreneurial orientation dimensions. Academy of Management Journal, 47(2), 255-266.

Rothschild, J., & Whitt, J. A. (1989). The cooperative workplace: Potentials and dilemmas of organisational democracy and participation. CUP Archive.

Sawyerr, O. O., McGee, J., & Peterson, M. (2003). Perceived uncertainty and firm performance in SMEs: The role of personal networking activities. International Small Business Journal, 21(3), 269-290. https://doi.org/10.1177/02662426030213002

Schneiberg, M., King, M., & Smith, T. (2008). Social movements and organizational form: Cooperative alternatives to corporations in the American insurance, dairy, and grain industries. American Sociological Review, 73(4), 635-667. https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240807300406

Schuh, G. E. (1974). The exchange rate and US agriculture. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 56(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.2307/1239342

Shannon, F. A. (2017). The farmer’s last frontier: Agriculture, 1860–1897. Routledge.

Sisay, D. T., Verhees, F. J., & Van Trijp, H. C. (2017). The influence of market orientation on firm performance and members’ livelihood in Ethiopian seed producer cooperatives. Agrekon, 56(4), 366-382. https://doi.org/10.1080/03031853.2017.1409126

Staatz, J. M. (1987). Farmers’ incentives to take collective action via cooperatives: a transaction cost approach. Cooperative Theory: New Approaches, 18, 87-107.

Stickney, C. P., & McGee, V. E. (1982). Effective corporate tax rates the effect of size, capital intensity, leverage, and other factors. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 1(2), 125-152. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0278-4254(82)80004-5

USDA. (2011). Understanding cooperatives: Farmer cooperative statistics. Cooperative information report 45, Section 13. Retrieved from https://www.rd.usda.gov/files/CIR45-13.pdf

Waddock, S. A., & Graves, S. B. (1997). The corporate social performance-financial performance link. Strategic Management Journal, 18(4), 303-319. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0266(199704)18:4<303::AID-SMJ869>3.0.CO;2-G

Williamson, J. (1966). Profit, growth and sales maximization. Economica, 33(129), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.2307/2552269

Wooldridge, J. M. (2010). Econometric analysis of cross section and panel data. MIT press.

Zeira, J. (1990). Cost uncertainty and the rate of investment. Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 14(1), 53-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/0165-1889(90)90005-2