Agricultural Economics 4972
Agri-Food Business & Cooperative Management
University of Missouri

Assignments

Week 1 - January 20 and 22, 2009

• Introduction to:  Ownership Structures and Collective Entrepreneurship

• Discussion of Reading Assignment 1

• Take Home Quiz - Due January 29  (75 points)

• Work Assignment 1 (125 points) explained
      Part 1 Due January 29; complete assignment due February 19.

• Reading Assignment 1
     -   Henry Hansman, The Ownership of Enterprise, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1996
             pp     1-8       Part I:  The Theory of Enterprise Ownership:  Introduction
             pp 11-23       Part I:  Chapter 1, An Analytic Framework

Week 2 - January 27 and 29

• Reading Assignment -   Henry Hansman, The Ownership of Enterprise, pp. 24-29 (Dominate these 6 pages.)

• Finish first interview of Work Assignment 1 on Jan. 29

• Hand in Quiz 1 - on January 29th  (75 points)

• Discussion:  Finish discussion of
      - Chapter 1 (Hansman)
      - First part of Chapter 2 (Hansman)
      - Methodology aspects of work assignment

Week 3 - February 3 and 5

• Reading Assignment: 
      - "Factors Critical to the Success or Failure of Emerging Agricultural Cooperatives," Sexton & Iskow, pp 1-18 (Gianini Foundation Information Series, No. 88-3)
      - Hansman - Reread Chapter 2
      - Interviews for Work Assignment 1

Week 4 - February 10 and 12

• Reread Sexton and Iskow, pp 1-81

• Discuss and compare Sexton/Iskow with Hansman, Chapter 2

• Quiz 2:  Market Failure and Cost of Contracting

Week 5 - February 17 and 19

• Read Hansman Chapter 3:  The Costs of Ownership, pp 35-49.

• Continue Work Assignment 1

• Hand in Work Assignment 1, "Residual Claims and Residual Control Rights" on February 19.

• Dominate the concepts of Agency Costs, Collective Decision Making Costs, and Risk Bearing Costs. 

Week 6 - February 24 and 26

• Quiz on Cost of Ownership Chapter - Feb. 24.

• Read Hansman Chapter 4, "Investor-Owned Firms", pp 53-65.

• Dominate Costs of Contracting and Costs of Ownership for an IOF. 

Week 7 - March 3 and 5

• Reread Hansman, Chapter 4, "Investor Owned Firms", pp53-65.

• Confirm Organizational Profile assignment

Week 8 - March 10 and 12

• Introduction to Cooperative Profile

• Identify Hansman reading relevant to specific organizational profile

• Introduction to Cooperative Life Cycle

Week 9 - March 17 and 19

• Read Lawless et al., "Cooperative Ownership Compared to Other Business Arrangements for Multi-Family Dairy Operations", UCC Occasional Paper No. 11, April 1996 and the accompanying table "Comparison of Five Business Structure Alternatives for Closely-Held Joint Ventures". 

• Complete understanding of "Core" questions in the Cooperative Profile. 

• Introduction to Industry Analysis

March 20 — 30

• Enjoy Spring Break

• Continue Background Work on Cooperative Profile - attempt to acquire organization's financials. 

Week 10 - March 31 and April 2

• Introduction to entire Cooperative Profile Outline

• Review the dynamics of the Life Cycle

• Read Michael L. Cook, 1995.  "The Future of U.S. Agricultural Cooperatives:  A Neo-Institutional Approach", Amer. J. Agr. Econ 77, pp 1153-1159. 

April 20

• Read Daryl Oldvader's bio (an Adobe pdf file). 

April 21

• Read "The Quiet Coup" by Simon Johnson, The Atlantic, May 2009, p47. (available on the web; click on the link). 

Last edited   08/25/2009