Morfi, Chrysoula
- Department of Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Research article2018Peer reviewed
Morfi, Chrysoula; Nilsson, Jerker; Österberg, Hanna
This study finds that selective incentives induce district council members and chairpersons to work for the collective best of a co-operative membership. Being the lowest echelon of a co-operative's internal governance hierarchy, district councils constitute a link between the membership and the board of directors. Previous research indicates that district council members are often driven by a co-operative conviction and social concerns. The present study challenges this view. On the basis of a survey of all 191 district council members and council chairpersons of a large Swedish agricultural co-operative, it is found that the elected representatives rank low in terms of co-operative conviction and social concerns. They involve themselves mainly in order to get personal benefits; they want to gain access to information, mature personally and obtain inputs to develop their farm enterprises. The financial compensation is of limited importance.
Agriculture; co-operative; internal governance
Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics
2018, Volume: 89, number: 4, pages: 581-598
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Business Administration
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/apce.12206
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/98930