Improving member satisfaction with cooperatives: The role of participation in governance

Abstract This paper estimates the impact of participation in governance on member satisfaction with cooperatives using survey data from 960 land cooperative members in the Yangtze River Delta. The instrumental variable approach is used to address potential endogeneity. We find that participation in governance increases member satisfaction with cooperatives by approximately 26.2%. In particular, the impact of participation in governance is much higher for elite members with political connections than for ordinary members. The recognition of member rights and duties increases the likelihood of member participation in governance. To achieve the long‐term development of cooperative organizations, policy‐makers should encourage cooperative members to actively participate in governance, for example, by increasing cooperative members’ understanding of their rights and responsibilities.