Drivers of participation in collective arrangements in the agri‐food supply chain. Evidence from Italy using a transaction costs economics perspective

The analysis of institutions in the agro-food sector is gaining momentum since it represents a complex and relevant area of study as concerns intermediate-product markets. Traditionally there has been a problem of organization among farmers mainly due to the reluctance to pool decisional and property rights on input and/or output. Following the Transaction Costs Economics framework, the paper aims to investigate which are the main drivers of the collective forms of organization in the Italian agro-food system, paying particular attention to transaction costs’ attributes and to the increasing role played by the institutional environment as well. The choice to join a cooperative or producer organization is therefore conceptualized as a governance structure choice. In this regard, based on the Italian version of the Farm Accountancy Data Network, econometric models are estimated in order to account for the two organizational alternatives under investigation.