Do producer organizations improve trading practices and negotiation power for dairy farms? Evidence from selected EU countries

Abstract

This article analyzes the impact of producer organizations (POs) on dairy farm-ers’ self-assessed experiences of unfair trading practices (UTPs) and negotiationpower.Weemployanendogenousswitchingregression(ESR)modelusingcross-sectional survey data collected in four EU countries: France, Germany, Spain,andPoland.TheresultsshowrathermixedimpactsofPOmembership.POmem-bership reduces the likelihood of farmers reporting UTPs. On the other hand, POmembership is found to reduce the self-assessed negotiation power of PO mem-bers. The estimated impact of PO membership is found to be largest for smallerfarms.