Abstract
Subject and purpose of work
Cooperatives offer significant opportunities for economic empowerment of people in difficult economic climates. However, concerns exist in literature on the efficiency level of these organisations in relation to members’ deposits and financial-related factors. This study analysed the influence of members’ deposits and related financial factors on the efficiency level of cooperative organisations.
Materials and methods
Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and the Tobit regression model were used to analyse the secondary data collected from 99 cooperative organisations over 7 years.
Results
Empirical results indicate a low level of efficiency below 50%. Further evidence from Tobit regression identified the significant effect of loan (β = 2.05, t = 3.41, p < 0.01), interest rate (β = 1.07, t = 2.16, p < 0.05), surplus (p < 0.05), expenses (p < 0.01), cooperative age (p < 0.01) and saving deposits (p < 0.10) on cooperative efficiency.
Conclusions
The efficiency level of cooperatives is low, and the contribution of deposits is also negative, but potential to raise the level of efficiency exists with organisational management of loans and interest rates. Increasing cooperative efficiency is imperative to achieve the expected economic support from organisations.