Agricultural cooperation as a phenomenon of the market economy: problems of formation and development in the conditions of modern Ukraine

Abstract

The study aims to substantiate the market priorities for developing agricultural cooperation in Ukraine in current socio-economic conditions. To achieve the set goal, the methodology of the agricultural economy and the theoretical principles of the neoclassical economic scientific school regarding the development of market mechanisms for stimulating various spheres of economic activity were used during the research. In addition, conceptual approaches proposed by representatives of institutionalism and developed along the lines of the paradigm of neoclassical synthesis were used to identify the priority directions for stimulating agricultural cooperation. At the same time, several general scientific and unique methods of scientific research were used: monographic, historical analysis and synthesis, scientific generalization, and comparative analysis. Scientific methods such as abstraction and generalization were used to summarize the research results and formulate the author's proposals. The historical aspects of the formation of cooperation in the agricultural sector of the world's developed countries were analyzed, which made it possible to single out the main factors of development and the mechanisms of the evolution of agricultural cooperatives. It was revealed that the main prerequisite for the unification of farms into cooperatives is the presence of open market competition, which encourages farmers to increase the efficiency of their business based on the reduction of transaction and production costs. Proposals have been formulated for Ukraine's state authorities and local self-governments to stimulate agricultural cooperation on a market basis. It is proposed to give priority to limiting the cartel influence of agricultural holdings, which will make it possible to increase the economic potential of farming as the main driving force of agricultural cooperation, as well as to normalize the institutional aspects of the functioning of cooperatives in the agrarian sector of the economy and related areas of economic activity to eliminate existing institutional barriers for the development of the cooperative movement in the countryside. The conceptual foundations of the formation and development of the market economy in agriculture have been developed. It has been proven that the actual development of agricultural cooperation is possible only in a civilized agricultural market and open competition between agricultural producers, which stimulates farms to join cooperatives to increase their efficiency and competitiveness. The market mechanisms of the development of cooperation in the agricultural sector of the economy are substantiated, which became the basis for the development of proposals regarding the priority areas of its activation in modern socio-economic conditions. The theoretical, methodological, and applied developments presented in the article aim to improve regulatory mechanisms to stimulate agricultural cooperation. The author's recommendations can be used both in the work of state authorities at the central and regional levels and in the activities of local self-government bodies of rural territorial communities in the conditions of deepening administrative-territorial reform and further decentralization of power.