Behavioral determinants of trust and commitment in horticultural cooperatives: Experimental evidence from Rwanda

The Rwandan government emphasizes the role of cooperatives in transforming rural economies from subsistence farming to diversified commercial agriculture, including high-value export horticultural crops. The success of these cooperatives depends significantly on farmers' willingness to join and rema...

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Main Authors: Ihli, Hanna Julia, Mausch, Kai, Fuchs, Lisa
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Elsevier 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/152458
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author Ihli, Hanna Julia
Mausch, Kai
Fuchs, Lisa
author_browse Fuchs, Lisa
Ihli, Hanna Julia
Mausch, Kai
author_facet Ihli, Hanna Julia
Mausch, Kai
Fuchs, Lisa
author_sort Ihli, Hanna Julia
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The Rwandan government emphasizes the role of cooperatives in transforming rural economies from subsistence farming to diversified commercial agriculture, including high-value export horticultural crops. The success of these cooperatives depends significantly on farmers' willingness to join and remain committed members. Previous research indicates that Rwandan cooperatives often follow a top-down approach, which can lead to dissatisfaction, disagreement, and distrust among members. This dissatisfaction can undermine the cooperatives' goals of improving farmer welfare, thereby adversely affecting their capacity to transform local livelihoods and economies. This study measures the trust and commitment levels of Rwandan smallholder farmers towards horticultural cooperatives using surveys and experiments. It provides empirical evidence on the extent, role, and determinants of trust and commitment, with a particular focus on behavioral determinants such as risk and time preferences. The findings show that while trust levels are relatively high, commitment levels are relatively low. Probit model estimations indicate that risk and time preferences influence farmers' trust and commitment. Specifically, risk aversion decreases the predicted probability of trust and commitment, while greater patience increases the predicted probability of trust. No statistically significant relationship was found between behavior in an experimental trust game and survey responses regarding trust and commitment. The study's findings suggest several policy and practice implications, particularly the need to identify and implement strategies to enhance farmers' commitment to cooperatives.
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spelling CGSpace1524582025-11-11T17:46:00Z Behavioral determinants of trust and commitment in horticultural cooperatives: Experimental evidence from Rwanda Ihli, Hanna Julia Mausch, Kai Fuchs, Lisa agriculture farmers probit analysis The Rwandan government emphasizes the role of cooperatives in transforming rural economies from subsistence farming to diversified commercial agriculture, including high-value export horticultural crops. The success of these cooperatives depends significantly on farmers' willingness to join and remain committed members. Previous research indicates that Rwandan cooperatives often follow a top-down approach, which can lead to dissatisfaction, disagreement, and distrust among members. This dissatisfaction can undermine the cooperatives' goals of improving farmer welfare, thereby adversely affecting their capacity to transform local livelihoods and economies. This study measures the trust and commitment levels of Rwandan smallholder farmers towards horticultural cooperatives using surveys and experiments. It provides empirical evidence on the extent, role, and determinants of trust and commitment, with a particular focus on behavioral determinants such as risk and time preferences. The findings show that while trust levels are relatively high, commitment levels are relatively low. Probit model estimations indicate that risk and time preferences influence farmers' trust and commitment. Specifically, risk aversion decreases the predicted probability of trust and commitment, while greater patience increases the predicted probability of trust. No statistically significant relationship was found between behavior in an experimental trust game and survey responses regarding trust and commitment. The study's findings suggest several policy and practice implications, particularly the need to identify and implement strategies to enhance farmers' commitment to cooperatives. 2024-12 2024-09-29T20:33:14Z 2024-09-29T20:33:14Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/152458 en Open Access application/pdf Elsevier Ihli, H.J.; Mausch, K.; Fuchs, L. (2024) Behavioral determinants of trust and commitment in horticultural cooperatives: Experimental evidence from Rwanda. World Development Sustainability 5: 100176. ISSN: 2772-655X
spellingShingle agriculture
farmers
probit analysis
Ihli, Hanna Julia
Mausch, Kai
Fuchs, Lisa
Behavioral determinants of trust and commitment in horticultural cooperatives: Experimental evidence from Rwanda
title Behavioral determinants of trust and commitment in horticultural cooperatives: Experimental evidence from Rwanda
title_full Behavioral determinants of trust and commitment in horticultural cooperatives: Experimental evidence from Rwanda
title_fullStr Behavioral determinants of trust and commitment in horticultural cooperatives: Experimental evidence from Rwanda
title_full_unstemmed Behavioral determinants of trust and commitment in horticultural cooperatives: Experimental evidence from Rwanda
title_short Behavioral determinants of trust and commitment in horticultural cooperatives: Experimental evidence from Rwanda
title_sort behavioral determinants of trust and commitment in horticultural cooperatives experimental evidence from rwanda
topic agriculture
farmers
probit analysis
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/152458
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AT mauschkai behavioraldeterminantsoftrustandcommitmentinhorticulturalcooperativesexperimentalevidencefromrwanda
AT fuchslisa behavioraldeterminantsoftrustandcommitmentinhorticulturalcooperativesexperimentalevidencefromrwanda