Abstract
The paper identifies the phenomenon of cooperative beehiving. Members de-associate themselves from large cooperatives and form smaller entities, just as bees swarm out of the old crowded beehive in search for a new one. We show in the framework of transaction cost theory that the exiting farmers are those who have experience and advantages in organizing cooperatives and are willing to take risks as entrepreneurs. The new beehives, organized also as cooperatives, rely heavily on outsourcing and start-up assistance plans. Two cases from the Swedish agrifood industry illustrate our claims.
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- 1.
As can be seen in Table 2, however, two cooperatives (i.e., NNP and Norrmejerier) were both active in dairy and slaughter, mainly due to that these two cooperatives were active in the North of Sweden where the farm density is low.
- 2.
Today, the LRF has 29 cooperative organizations and 170,000 individuals as members. In addition, the LRF has eight subsidiaries, for example working with insurance, financial consulting services, and media. Source: LRFs homepage.
- 3.
AB = IOF, or joint-stock company/corporation.
- 4.
See homepage for Sju Gårdar and Upplandsbondens in Swedish.
- 5.
1 SEK is about 0.15 USD, or 0.11 EUR (April 5, 2012).
- 6.
- 7.
Hendrikse and Bijman (2002) propose slightly different results. However, according to our definition Type I farmers are farmers efficient in organization technology and not in producing higher quality product like the Hendrikse-Bijman Grower 1.
- 8.
See homepage for Sju Gårdar and Upplandsbondens in Swedish.
- 9.
In the course “Cooperatives and Other Agri-Food Systems”, held at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU).
- 10.
The Dairy Association of Gävle (i.e., a city north of Stockholm, on the east coast).
- 11.
Inger even sat on the board of Arla during the time she was an active dairy farmer.
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LRFs homepage: www.lrf.se
Sju Gårdar (Sju gårdars) homepage: www.sjugardar.se
Upplandsbondens (Upplandsbondens) homepage: www.upplandsbondens.se
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Carlsson I (2011) Interview, October 5
Gauffin E (2011a) Lecture, January 31
Gauffin E (2011b) Interview, April 6
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Hakelius, K., Karantininis, K., Feng, L. (2013). The Resilience of the Cooperative Form: Cooperative Beehiving by Swedish Cooperatives. In: Ehrmann, T., Windsperger, J., Cliquet, G., Hendrikse, G. (eds) Network Governance. Contributions to Management Science. Physica, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7908-2867-2_8
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