Impact of agricultural cooperatives on smallholders' technical efficiency: empirical evidence from Ethiopia



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https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/apce.12035/abstract
DOI: 
10.1111/apce.12035
Provider: 
Licensing of resource: 
Not open / All rights reserved
Type: 
journal article
Journal: 
Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics
Number: 
2
Pages: 
257–286
Volume: 
85
Year: 
2014
Author(s): 
Abate G. T.
Francesconi G. N.
Getnet K.
Description: 

Using household survey data from Ethiopia, this paper evaluates the impact of agricultural cooperatives on smallholders’ technical efficiency. The authors used propensity score matching to compare the average difference in technical efficiency between cooperative member farmers and similar independent farmers. The results show that agricultural cooperatives are effective in providing support services that significantly contribute to members’ technical efficiency. These results are found to be insensitive to hidden bias and consistent with the idea that agricultural cooperatives enhance members’ efficiency by easing access to productive inputs and facilitating extension linkages. According to the findings, increased participation in agricultural cooperatives should further enhance efficiency gains among smallholder farmers.

Publication year: 
2014