ASSESSMENT OF EMBEDDING RELATIONSHIPS OF AGRICULTURE HOLDINGS` WITH INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS

Abstract

The aim of the research was to assess the relationship of farms with industry organizations (IOs) in terms of the phenomenon of embedding (industry and geographical). The occurrence of the embedding features of relations was considered in the context of obtained economic features of farms, such as (sales, direct costs, percentage of contracting). Using an interview questionnaire, the research was conducted on a purposive sample of 145 holdings keeping breeding animals of conservation breeds (cattle, pigs, and sheep) and the industry organisations cooperating with them in south-eastern Poland. The quality of the relationships that shape the embeddedness was assessed using multiple step regression in groups by industry and geographic location. The results indicate the potential for increased economic efficiency with industry embeddedness of pig farms. The most important feature of the industry setting influencing the increase in sales contracting was the power of dependence in the relationship (the greater the dependence in the relationships, the greater the sales contracting). In the analyzes of the relationships representing the geographical setting, the most significant positive impact was the high rating of the “quality of communication” feature, the presence of which contributed to the reduction of direct costs of farms. Relationships between farms and industry organizations can be industry-specific and geographically embedded, and "rooting effects" should always be critically analyzed and not treated as a unique, distinguishing feature.