NETWORK EFFECTS AS A FACTOR IN INCREASING THE SCALE OF ACTIVITY OF AGRICULTURAL CONSUMER COOPERATIVES

Issue № 1, 2025, article № 14, pages 151-159

Section:

Language: Russian

Original language title: СЕТЕВЫЕ ЭФФЕКТЫ КАК ФАКТОР УВЕЛИЧЕНИЯ МАСШТАБОВ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ СЕЛЬСКОХОЗЯЙСТВЕННЫХ ПОТРЕБИТЕЛЬСКИХ КООПЕРАТИВОВ

Keywords: NETWORK EFFECTS, AGRICULTURAL CONSUMER COOPERATIVE, FARMS, DIGITAL PLATFORM, COOPERATIVE MEMBERS, COOPERATIVE SIZES, COOPERATIVE CLUSTERS, COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

Abstract: The low level of involvement of farmers and personal subsidiary farms in cooperative activities can now be considered both as a reason and as a consequence of the fact that cooperatives are small, have insufficient material and technical resources, and do not play a significant role in agri-food value chains. The article discusses possible ways to solve the problem of small agricultural consumer cooperatives. The task is to find growth points, identify mechanisms that stimulate the growth of the cooperative's membership base. To solve this problem, a methodology for selecting cooperatives is proposed in order to organize a system of interaction between the cooperatives themselves and their members using the capabilities of digital platforms. The development of such links will contribute to the emergence of network effects – an increase in benefits for network participants due to an increase in the number of such participants. Cooperation between cooperatives and direct links between their members can be considered as a hybrid form of the second level of cooperation. The formalization of informal cooperative ties through digital platforms administered by cooperatives should lead to the actual expansion of their membership base. The method of selecting cooperatives involves their spatial clustering, taking into account the main type of activity and subsequent assessment of financial indicators. The proposed method is implemented using the example of the Penza region

Authors: Uriadov Artem Dmitrievich