Member Willingness to Invest in Agricultural Cooperatives in Shaanxi Province, China

摘要

This study analyzes some fundamental factors that influence member willingness to invest in an agricultural cooperative. The relationship between the selected factors and willingness to invest (a binary variable) is investigated by probit regression using data from a survey of 122 members in 9 apple-marketing cooperatives in Shaanxi Province in north-central China. The investment regression identifies five factors that have a statistically significant positive effect on members' willingness to investin the cooperative. These factors are members' perception of self-importance in the cooperative, the subjective evaluation of difficulties faced in farming operations and sales, the evaluation of the cooperative's economic performance, the evaluation ofthe cooperative's ability to deliver services, and the availability of government support to the cooperative.