Essays on Organizational Form and Function in Agricultural Production Alliances

This dissertation examines three firm-level issues related to the industrialization of agriculture. The first issue involves the conceptual choice of organizational form for industrialized swine production. Using models derived from various theories of the firm an integrated organizational form is shown to be more efficient in the long run relative to network (alliance) production. Secondly, system dynamics models are used to model different organizational forms. The dynamic empirical models demonstrate that properly structured networks may be competitive with integrated operations as well as offering producers a viable alternative to contract production. Thirdly, it is shown that organizational function is particularly important in terms of planning for and managing both committed and uncommitted slack resources in a network of swine production firms.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Agricultural Economics

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Cozzarin, Brian Paul

Contributors dc:contributor

• Westgren, Randall E.

• Economics, Agricultural

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI9904424

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/83018