Application of marginal calculation in managing a cooperative company

• Main Author: Danuta Mierzwa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Life Sciences in Poznań 2011-01-01
• Series: Journal of Agribusiness and Rural Development
• Subjects: costs; microeconomics; economic and technical optimum; cooperative company; management
• Online Access: http://www.jard.edu.pl/tom21/zeszyt3/art_6_pl.pdf

In the market economy the basic subject is a private enterprise dealing with the production of goods and services in order to maximize profit. The neoclassical microeconomics focuses on examining only these enterprises on the market, which strive to maximize profit within certain limitations in a rational way. Acc. to the act of September 1982 on the co-operative law (The Journal of Laws 1982, no 30, pos. 2010), a cooperative company belongs to a group of private enterprises. However, it is called a non-profit enterprise. Nevertheless, cooperative companies on the market are seldom confronted with capital companies. In the market economy it is a rare situation for a company not to be threatened by competition. And even if such a situation does happen, it is always connected with limited demand. Thus the following question may be asked: can a co-operative company, if it wants to become rational, utilize the marginalization theory in order to determine its general balance? The author is trying to answer this question in her article, selecting an agricultural supply co-operative for her analysis. Using the graphical method, she determines various types of optimums, at the same time stating what importance it has for the members and what position the co-perative holds on the market. In the conclusion she emphasizes that the difficulties with applying the marginalization theory in the co-operative companies are brought about by the way decisions are taken and these subjects are managed, and may be the reason why many of these enterprises are closed down.