This article explores the cross-fertilization potential that exists between the economic theory of agricultural cooperatives and that of nonprofit organizations. A number of central ideas in the agricultural cooperative theory are shown to generate two novel insights pertaining to the nonprofit economics literature. First, as with agricultural cooperatives, nonprofit organizations can be conceptualized not only as firms but also as service agencies and stakeholder coalitions. Second, the demand-side economic justification of nonprofit organizations, like that of agricultural cooperatives, likely includes reasons other than market failure. The article concludes by calling for research on how nonprofit economics can inform the theory of agricultural cooperatives.

Economic theories of nonprofits and agricultural cooperatives compared: New perspectives for nonprofit scholars

Entrepreneurship education is growing worldwide, but key educational and didactical issues remain. What are we talking about when we talk about entrepreneurship education? What are we really doing when we teach or educate people in entrepreneurship, in terms of the nature and the impact of our interventions? What do we know about the appropriateness, the relevancy, the coherency, the social usefulness and the efficiency of our initiatives and practices in entrepreneurship education? Addressing these issues and challenges, this article suggests that at least two major evolutions might reinforce the future of entrepreneurship education. First, we need strong intellectual and conceptual foundations, drawing from the fields of entrepreneurship and education, to strengthen our entrepreneurship courses. And finally, we also need to deeply reflect on our practices, as researchers and educators, taking a more critical stance toward a too often adopted “taken for granted” position.

Personal views on the future of entrepreneurship education

The global debate on food security and the kinds of farming systems that could prove economically and ecologically sustainable has focused overwhelmingly on small family farms versus large commercial farms, with little attention being given to alternative models based on farmer cooperation. France offers a significant but under-researched and internationally little-recognized model of group farming – the GAEC (Groupement Agricole d'Exploitation en Commun) – based on farmers pooling land, labour and capital. This model is of considerable contemporary interest for both France and other countries. Catalysed by a 1962 law, GAECs accounted for 7.6% of farms and 15% of agricultural adult work units in 2010, but their incidence varied greatly across regions. Using data from the French agricultural census and other sources, this paper identifies the factors – economic, ecological, social and demographic – underlying this regionally uneven development of GAECs (and comparatively of EARLs – Exploitations Agricoles a Responsabilite Limitee – another type of group farm introduced in 1985). Regions with a higher incidence of group farms are found to be those that were historically dominated by middle-sized farms, had a local ecology favouring labour-intensive animal breeding, especially pastures, a higher proportion of agricultural graduates, greater economic equality and social institutions that promote community cohesion, among other factors. These results illuminate not only the conditions favourable to the emergence of group farming in France, but also the conditions under which such farmer cooperation could take root in other (including developing) countries, subject to context-specific modifications of the French model.

Group farming in France: Why do some regions have more cooperative ventures than others? [L'agriculture de groupe en France: pourquoi coopère-t-on plus dans certaines régions que d'autres?]

Jde: twenty years of service to the profession

This paper aims to provide a critical overview of the drivers that the relevant theoretical and empirical literature suggests being crucial in dealing with the challenges an emerging country may encounter in its attempts to further catch-up a higher income status, with a particular focus devoted to the implications for the domestic labor market. In the first part of the paper, attention will be focused on structural change, capability building and technological progress, trying to map - using different taxonomies put forward by the innovation literature - the concrete ways through which an emerging country can engage a successful catching-up, having in mind that developing countries are deeply involved into globalized markets where domestic innovation has to be complemented by the role played by international technology transfer. In the second part of the paper, the focus will be moved to the possible consequences of this road to catching-up in terms of employment and skills. In particular, the prescriptions by the conventional trade theory will be contrasted with a view taking into account technology transfer, labor-saving technological progress and skill-enhancing trade.

Globalization, Structural Change and Innovation in Emerging Economies: The Impact on Employment and Skills

The purposes of this study are: first, to conceptualize entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education in agriculture; second, to highlight the role and necessity of entrepreneurship education in enhancing entrepreneurship; and third, to formulate relevant research proposals.,The quantitative data were collected through a survey (structured questionnaire) distributed to 412 agricultural enterprises in the region of Aitoloakarnania in Greece. The responses were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistical methods.,The findings of the study indicate that farmers/landowners have low levels of entrepreneurship education (only 30.6% have received relevant education) and thus have higher needs. The 50.2% of respondents declare that they are willing to pay in order to attend an entrepreneurship education program.,Existing entrepreneurship education research is useful in delineating the body of knowledge of what, when and how farmers need it, giving policymakers and researchers the opportunity to evaluate and build on research findings.,Given the shortage of identified research data, particularly at national level, on the role of education in agricultural entrepreneurship, this study contributes significantly to this research field, as the recognition of educational needs that affect the effectiveness of “agri-business” appears to be a crucial event for the future of agricultural entrepreneurship.

Education in Agricultural Entrepreneurship: Training Needs and Learning Practices.

PurposeLiterature contributions to agricultural cooperative (AC) entrepreneurship model are fragmented and show some significant limitations. The purpose of this paper is to identify the existing important barriers to this entrepreneurship model as well as to group them into respective themes.Design/methodology/approachA systematic literature review (SLR) of peer reviewed journal articles was carried out by the authors in well-known databases, such as Scopus, Emerald, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, IDEAS/RePEc search and Web of Science. In total, 78 articles from 26 different countries during 2010–2019 were collected.FindingsA large number of important barriers are identified in the literature and meaningful dimensions of these barriers are also revealed.Practical implicationsThe study has important implications regarding the ways to improve the effectiveness of AC model. Researchers and practitioners can use the results presented in this study for further development of this model.Originality/valueThis study presents the important barriers in AC model in global scope analytically and groups them into meaningful themes, which significantly differentiate the present SLR study from those published so far.

Significant barriers to the adoption of the agricultural cooperative model of entrepreneurship: a literature review

The purpose of this paper is to explain the impact of locus of control (LOC) and motivations on entrepreneurial intentions (EIs) among agri-entrepreneurs in the region of Western Greece.,The study was conducted in 2019 in the Western Greece region. Primary data were collected through a survey. A researcher-administered questionnaire was the data collection instrument while the individual farmer was the unit of analysis. Many data analysis methods were applied: a validity and reliability test, exploratory factor analysis, regression analysis, Kruskal–Wallis test and correlations.,The results show that the proposed model explains almost 33% of the variance for the EI. Internal LOC and pull motivations have a positive relationship with the intention of entrepreneurship. EI in the agricultural sector is more dependent on LOC, motivations, age and level of education than gender and type of holding.,The findings of this study provide several theoretical and practical contributions, which can be useful for other researchers.,This research study adds to the existing literature of the EI by using a different type of sample compared to previous contributions. Mostly EI studies used student sample to measure intentions. The present study extends the antecedents of intention by using a sample of existing agri-entrepreneurs. Farmers are one of the best potential segments, and as a result, this research will help predicting how the intention process of existing entrepreneurs works, especially in the primary sector.

The impact of locus of control and motivations in predicting entrepreneurial intentions among farmers: a field research

The use of portable applications in the primary sector is undoubtedly an innovation that offers a truly important tool that helps farmers to utilize their farms and an approach to enhance agricultural entrepreneurship systematically and effectively. The chapter examined 10 agribusiness in the region of Western Greece and their owners were asked to manage their farms with the help of a “farm management” application for a period of 4-6 months. This case study focuses on assessment of mobile application usability. It examines the matter of evaluating the usability of mobile applications and is mainly aimed at evaluating a “proposal” to systematically record the technical and financial data of a farm using a farm management system. The results show that users find that the most important feature of mobile applications is the ease of use and utility.

Enhancing Agricultural Entrepreneurship Through Mobile Applications in Greece: The Case of a “Farm Management” Application

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the perceptions of Greeks-farmers regarding success and to investigate the factors that are considered as indicators to explain, predict, and determine perceptional entrepreneurial success. This research focuses on existing agricultural enterprises as more than 400 randomly selected agricultural enterprises compose the survey’s sample. The main research method is through structured questionnaires. A series of multivariate analyses were conducted to examine the data. A stepwise procedure was used to identify the relevant variable and the significant ones were identified based on the ‘F’ test. The results of a discriminant analysis indicate that seven predictors (internal LOC, pull motivation, push motivation, internal funding, innovativeness, entrepreneurial capacity, and educational background) have a significant impact on the dependent variable “perceived entrepreneurial success”. Pull motivation is the most important variable to discriminate the groups. The value of this study lies in the fact that it is an original attempt to assess the parameters that could explain the perceived entrepreneurial success of agripreneurs; a focus that is lacking in previous studies.

Alexandra Pliakoura

Papers

Education in Agricultural Entrepreneurship: Training Needs and Learning Practices.

Significant barriers to the adoption of the agricultural cooperative model of entrepreneurship: a literature review

The impact of locus of control and motivations in predicting entrepreneurial intentions among farmers: a field research

Enhancing Agricultural Entrepreneurship Through Mobile Applications in Greece: The Case of a “Farm Management” Application

Farmers’ Perception of Entrepreneurial Success: Evidence from the Greek Reality