FACTORS AFFECTING THE PERFORMANCE OF GRAIN COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN LATVIA

Abstract

The present research continues and complements previous research by the authors on the performance of grain cooperative societies in Latvia.

The research aim is to identify and assess the factors affecting the performance of grain cooperative societies in Latvia.

The research results revealed that the main endogenous factor hindering the performance of grain cooperatives was technological – underdeveloped grain processing –, as the cooperatives did not own processing enterprises, which was mainly due to an unclear situation in the sales market. The industry experts referred to the socio-economic factor as the key opportunity for improving the performance of cooperative societies – cooperation between small cooperative societies and large ones within the industry –, as well as the promotion of cooperation with scientists, technological progress and the positive effects on industry development in the country and the region. The research results revealed that the main threat to the development of cooperative societies was the political factor – possible sudden and significant changes in the national agricultural policy, which might be affected by the turnover of policy makers and the priorities set for the industry, as well as the economic situation in the country.

The research employed the following methods: monographic, induction and deduction, graphical, comparison, a sociological research method – structured expert surveying –, SWOT analysis, pairwise analysis and statistical analysis.