Influencing factors of performance of agricultural cooperatives in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta

The study identifies the influencing factors of the performance of agricultural cooperatives (ACs) in the Mekong Delta (MD) of Vietnam. The study used a disproportionate stratified sampling method, with 308 valid samples collected from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in the districts and the Management Boards of ACs in 9 provinces in MD. Performance of AC is measured against five indicators, namely return on sales (ROS), return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), responsiveness to cooperative members’ needs, and generation of jobs. Multivariate regression method was used for data analysis. The estimated results identified four factors that are positively correlated with cooperatives’ performance (namely management competency; contributed capital; membership size; and members’ participation) while indicating interaction between independent variables (management competency and contributed capital; management competency and membership size) in the relationship to performance of cooperatives. The study findings showed that the degree of influence of management competency on performance of cooperatives in fruit tree farming is always higher compared with those in rice farming. In addition, a number of recommendations are proposed to help the ACs' management boards make appropriate improvements to the support policy and performance evaluation indicators of the cooperatives. Cooperatives should also innovate in the use and optimization of resources.