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International Journal of Food Science and Agriculture

ISSN Print: 2578-3467 Downloads: 196286 Total View: 2837424
Frequency: quarterly ISSN Online: 2578-3475 CODEN: IJFSJ3
Email: ijfsa@hillpublisher.com
Article Open Access http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/ijfsa.2023.06.022

Transactions Costs Approach and Application to Vertical Coordination Arrangements in Moroccan Apple Marketing

El Houssain Bouichou1,2,*, Aziz Fadlaoui2, Abdelghani Bouayad3, Khalil Allali1

1Department of Economic and Social Sciences Applied to Agriculture, Agronomic and Veterinary Institute Hassan II, Madinat Al Irfane, Morocco.

2Management of Natural Resources, Economics and Sociology and Quality Research Unit, Regional Agricultural Research Center of Meknes, National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRA), Morocco.

3Laboratory for Social Sciences and Economics, Faculty of Economic and Social Legal Sciences, Moulay Ismail University, Morocco.

*Corresponding author: El Houssain Bouichou

Published: July 30,2023

Abstract

In Morocco, agricultural aggregation projects (AAP) have been launched since a decade as being a form of vertical coordination aimed at correcting the marketing failure associated with spot markets arising due to information asymmetry as being behind the risks in marketing decision-making. AAP is considered to be the keystone of national agriculture, making it possible to overcome the diffi-culties linked to the size of farms. However, the scale of the transaction costs in agricultural aggregation projects (AAP) of the local apple producers remains so far less understood. The objective of this study is to investigate whether ex-ante costs of negotiating an AAP and the expost costs influence the adoption of relational transactions in Moroccan agricultural marketing and measure the social costs that are not common in previous studies, thus contributing to the development of literature. The study revealed that the transaction costs of this project total approximately 1207600 MAD. In this study, the abovementioned issues were investigated using a propensity score matching technique through a binary probit model to examine the transaction costs faced by apple producers members in agricultural aggregation projects and non-aggregated members, and therefore investigate the role of contract arrangements in reducing the aforementioned costs using a questionnaire-based survey in Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Results showed that the cost of negotiation and enforcement costs were revealed as the main variables which impede apple producers’ participation in aggregation marketing, while the costs related to information search, harvesting, and transportation were the main obstacles to the participation of the non-aggregated members in the traditional spot market. Results also highlighted that the large-scale producers would be highly advantageous in aggregation projects compared to smallholder farmers.

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How to cite this paper

Transactions Costs Approach and Application to Vertical Coordination Arrangements in Moroccan Apple Marketing

How to cite this paper: El Houssain Bouichou, Aziz Fadlaoui, Abdelghani Bouayad, Khalil Allali(2023) Transactions Costs Approach and Application to Vertical Coordination Arrangements in Moroccan Apple Marketing. International Journal of Food Science and Agriculture7(2), 311-325.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/ijfsa.2023.06.022