Building Better Boards

The objective of this proposed study is to inform good governance recommendations specific to cooperatives.  The aim is to test whether insights from the corporate governance literature apply to the cooperative sector and determine how board characteristics impact the financial performance of agricultural cooperatives. This study is presently carried out among US cooperatives and this application concerns an identical survey in Sweden, where results could be compared and interesting conclusions drawn.  In particular, the study will 1) identify board characteristics that impact financial performance of cooperatives, 2) compare these characteristics to findings from corporate governance, and 3) investigate whether different types of cooperatives may differ with respect to board characteristics impacting performance.