Contracts and cooperation: the relative failure of the Irish dairy industry in the late nineteenth century reconsidered

Ingrid Henriksen; Eoin McLaughlin; Paul Sharp

doi:10.1093/ereh/hev012

Contracts and cooperation: the relative failure of the Irish dairy industry in the late nineteenth century reconsidered

Ingrid Henriksen, Eoin McLaughlin, Paul Sharp

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14 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

Why did the establishment of cooperative creameries in late nineteenth century Ireland fail to halt the relative decline of her dairy industry compared to other emerging producers? This paper compares the Irish experience with that of the market leader, Denmark, and shows how each adopted the cooperative organizational form, but highlights that an important difference was institutional: specifically regarding the enforcement of vertically binding contracts. We argue that this failure, combined with a strong proprietary sector which was opposed to cooperation, reinforced the already difficult conditions for dairying in Ireland due to poor social capital.

Original language	English
Journal	European Review of Economic History
Volume	Advance access
Early online date	22 Jul 2015
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/ereh/hev012
Publication status	Published - 2015

Keywords

Contracts
Cooperation
Dairying
Denmark
Ireland

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10.1093/ereh/hev012

EREH_Contracts and cooperation_final_revision_May_2015_with_tables
© The Authors 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Historical Economics Society. All rights reserved. This work is made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ereh/hev012
Accepted author manuscript, 711 KB

A Messy Divorce? Irish Debt and Default: A Messy Divorce? Irish Debt and Default, 1891-1938
McLaughlin, E. (PI)
The Leverhulme Trust
1/09/14 → 31/12/15
Project: Fellowship

Cite this

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abstract = "Why did the establishment of cooperative creameries in late nineteenth century Ireland fail to halt the relative decline of her dairy industry compared to other emerging producers? This paper compares the Irish experience with that of the market leader, Denmark, and shows how each adopted the cooperative organizational form, but highlights that an important difference was institutional: specifically regarding the enforcement of vertically binding contracts. We argue that this failure, combined with a strong proprietary sector which was opposed to cooperation, reinforced the already difficult conditions for dairying in Ireland due to poor social capital.",

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author = "Ingrid Henriksen and Eoin McLaughlin and Paul Sharp",

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AU - Sharp, Paul

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N2 - Why did the establishment of cooperative creameries in late nineteenth century Ireland fail to halt the relative decline of her dairy industry compared to other emerging producers? This paper compares the Irish experience with that of the market leader, Denmark, and shows how each adopted the cooperative organizational form, but highlights that an important difference was institutional: specifically regarding the enforcement of vertically binding contracts. We argue that this failure, combined with a strong proprietary sector which was opposed to cooperation, reinforced the already difficult conditions for dairying in Ireland due to poor social capital.

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ER -

Contracts and cooperation: the relative failure of the Irish dairy industry in the late nineteenth century reconsidered

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Keywords

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A Messy Divorce? Irish Debt and Default: A Messy Divorce? Irish Debt and Default, 1891-1938

Cite this