ABSTRACT：EUGENE CLARK specifies divergent objectives for cooperative and private enterprise and works through the effects of the different policies on resource allocation.1 There is a great deal of economic analysis embodied in this work but the conclusions reached are marred by serious defects. The conclusions are dependent upon the management policy im- posed on the cooperatives by Clark. This analysis is open to question on the grounds that this rule of policy was inadvisably chosen and does not represent cooperative objectives. There also is a question of welfare theory involved. This paper will point out the main areas where disagreement may occur and indicate the implications on the conclusions drawn. The terminology used here may be somewhat different from that used in Clark's article. Consumer and purchasing cooperatives will be treated as the same and producer and marketing cooperatives are regarded as identical. The major emphasis will be on consumer cooperation. Reference to producer cooperation will be specified.

Source: Journal of Farm Economics, Vol. 34, No. 4 (Nov., 1952), pp. 558-563
Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1233237