Members’ perceptions of governance in agricultural cooperatives: Evidence from Spain

Abstract

This article examines some aspects related to perceptions of agricultural cooperative members. Most arguments employed are based on agency and property rights theories. The sample consists of 196 satisfaction surveys completed by agricultural cooperative members and accounting information from Spanish cooperatives. The results show that when members do not perceive any serious agency problems, the performance of the firm is higher. We also find that members are not discouraged from investing by awareness of the free-rider problem, and the less risk averse members are, the higher is the long-term debt ratio. Finally, members’ perceptions of the time horizon problem have no impact on the time frame for investment