Heterogeneous impacts and transmission mechanisms of perceived development barriers on cooperative management performance: micro evidence from Shaanxi, China

Abstract

Abstract

Introduction Farmer cooperatives are key to linking smallholders with modern agriculture, yet how different development barriers affect their management performance remains unclear, as prior studies focus mainly on classifying barriers. Methods Using survey data from 1,130 cooperatives in Shaanxi Province, China, this study applies ordinal logistic regression to examine the heterogeneous effects of perceived development barriers on management performance, with stepwise regression and Sobel tests identifying the mediating role of three management practices (strategic planning, resource investment, operational management). Two-period-lagged operating endowments are controlled to address reverse causality. Results The overall effect of barriers is insignificant, but dimensions differ markedly: resource and institutional barriers significantly reduce performance, whereas product-market and human-resource barriers show no overall effect. Management practices act as a channel—resource and institutional barriers exert a negative full mediating effect, product-market barriers a positive suppression effect, and human-resource barriers no effective pathway. Discussion Resource and institutional barriers are hierarchical: members’ insufficient willingness to contribute capital is the primary performance constraint, followed by land-transfer difficulties, while other policy constraints are common baseline conditions rather than core explanatory factors. Endogeneity and robustness tests support these findings.