2026-09-26T02:32:52Z https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/129290 2025-10-20 col_2142_5131 col_2142_13851 com_2142_5130 com_2142_684 com_2142_397

application/pdf en text Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-10-19 without embargo terms The student, Ziad Sabbah Alian, accepted the attached license on 2025-04-30 at 16:07. The student, Ziad Sabbah Alian, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2025-04-30 at 16:10. This Thesis was approved for publication on 2025-05-07 at 10:02. DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #22126 on 2025-10-19 at 18:11:24 Cooperative formation and immigration: The case of cow-testing associations in the US dairy industry Alian, Ziad Sabbah 2025-05-07 Hutchins, Jared McNamara, Paul Osman, Adam Economics History Agriculture Cow-testing Associations Cooperatives Institutions Dairy Dhia Cta eng We study how European immigrants influenced the formation of a productivity-enhancing cooperative – cow-testing associations (CTAs) – in the early 20th century US. Institutions are important for economic development and agriculture in specific, so understanding why they form is important. CTAs, farmer cooperatives which tested the butterfat of dairy cows, were brought to the US from Denmark by a Danish immigrant, Helmer Rabild. We hypothesize that Danish and Dutch immigrant communities were important to their formation because of knowledge transfers and a willingness to “stick” with new organizations. Using novel data on these cooperatives combined with micro-census data, we find evidence that counties with higher influxes of Danes– who came between 1880 and 1900 – had a higher chance of forming CTAs. There are positive effects for the Dutch too, albeit imprecise. We also find suggestive evidence that testers were more likely to have Danish surnames – suggesting that Danes transferred knowledge of CTAs. 2025-05 Text https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129290 Copyright 2025 Ziad Sabbah Alian Agr & Consumer Economics Agricultural & Applied Econ University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign M.S. Thesis