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The adoption, diffusion, and evolution of organizational form: insights from the agrifood sector
Author(s) -
James Harvey S.,
Klein Peter G.,
Sykuta Michael E.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
managerial and decision economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.288
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1099-1468
pISSN - 0143-6570
DOI - 10.1002/mde.1531
Subject(s) - stylized fact , agriculture , industrial organization , production (economics) , business , vertical integration , diffusion , organizational structure , diffusion of innovations , economics , microeconomics , marketing , management , physics , thermodynamics , ecology , macroeconomics , biology
The adoption and diffusion of contract farming and vertical integration in modern agriculture has varied widely across regions, commodities, or farm types. This paper lays out a framework for understanding the evolution of organizational practices in U.S. agriculture by drawing on theories of the diffusion of technology and organizational complementarities. Using recent trends as stylized facts, with case studies from various agricultural industries, we argue that research identifying complementarities within specific sectors of the agrifood system will greatly improve our understanding of the organizational structure of agricultural production, and we identify several specific lines of inquiry. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.