Abstract

Agricultural cooperatives in post-socialistic countries often fail to justify their purpose. Lack of trust and social capital are plausible reasons. In this paper we map the relationship structure of farmers that seek information about rural development programs, in a region where cooperatives operate. The Social network analysis demonstrates low levels of social capital, however, the cooperative acts as valuable information provider for its members, serving as information mediator to the rural development program’s resources, required for farmers’ investment initiatives. This is a positive evidence of small-scale farmers' attitudes towards cooperatives and a step forward towards cooperation and re-establishment of agricultural cooperatives in post-socialist countries.

Keywords

Cooperatives; Networks; Rural development program; Social capital; Post-socialist countries; North Macedonia

Published in

Journal of Co-operative Organization and Management
2021, Volume: 9, number: 1, article number: 100134

SLU Authors

• Karantininis, Konstantinos

  • Department of People and Society, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Social Sciences Interdisciplinary
Business Administration


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcom.2021.100134

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/111689