Choice of Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Channel and Economic Returns among Members: Evidence from Rice Farmers in Vietnam

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the impact of using agricultural cooperative channel for output sale on the economic returns of members’ farms in Vietnam’s Mekong River Delta. The primary data were gathered from 293 members of agricultural cooperatives, including 113 members using a cooperative channel for output sale and 180 members not using the cooperative channel. Propensity score matching was employed to adjust the possible selection bias generated by systematically different observable and unobservable attributes between cooperative channel users and non-users. The results showed that using the cooperative channel for paddy sale had a statistically significant impact on economic performances, such as selling price, gross margin, and return on investment, which suggests that agricultural cooperatives could serve as an effiective marketing channel for rice farmers in Vietnam.