| Abstract |
North Dakota and Minnesota are currently witnessing a renewal in the
growth of cooperative enterprises. At the heart of this renewal lies the
so-called New Generation Cooperative (NGC), a term that has been applied
to the dozens of value-added processing, selected membership cooperatives
that have recently formed in the region's agricultural sector. A key organizational
feature of NGCs is the linking of producer capital contributions and product
delivery rights. This paper describes the organizational features of NGCs
and positions them in the broader context of cooperative incentive structures,
governance structures, and the cooperative development process. More generally,
the paper uses NGCs as a lens through which important elements of cooperative
theory can be reviewed. |
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