Impacts of Organizing Agricultural Production Cooperatives on the Improvement of Social, Cultural and Economic Development Indices of Members: A Case Study of Rural Areas in Zanjan County

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Abstract

       Received: 31 August, 2009 Accepted: 29 August, 2010     The main objective of this study is to examine the impacts of organizing production cooperatives on improving social, economic and cultural indices of the members in rural areas of Zanjan county. The study used random sampling technique and the sample size was equal to 900. The data were collected by field study and questionnaires and analyzed by SPSS and parametric and non parametric statistics. The results indicated that cooperatives were effective in improvement of development indices, consumption pattern, income, prevention of migration to cities, empowering people subsistence capacity, utilization of facilities and credit to improve quality of life, interaction, and trust between the members. The relationship between indicators was significant at 99%.   

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