Analysis of the Performance of Agricultural Service Cooperatives in Ukraine

Abstract

The aim of the study is to analyze the efficiency of functioning of agricultural service cooperatives in Ukraine and to improve the methodological approach to its assessment. The activity of agricultural service cooperatives in 2023–2025 is analyzed, the dynamics of their development is examined, and the efficiency of using labor, material-technical, and financial resources is evaluated. Labor productivity, return on assets, and return on share capital are analyzed as key indicators of the cooperatives’ economic performance. A heterogeneous dynamics of the indicators is identified, namely a decline in labor productivity and return on assets in 2024 followed by partial recovery in 2025, along with a simultaneous increase in return on share capital. An author’s indicator—the cooperative activity coefficient — is proposed, which characterizes the level of members’ involvement in cooperative economic activity.

The methodological approach to comprehensive efficiency assessment is improved through the development of an integrated efficiency index, which combines key economic and organizational indicators. The results of the integrated assessment show a decline in overall efficiency in 2024 and its recovery in 2025 to a level slightly exceeding the base value. It is additionally found that labor productivity and return on assets are the most sensitive to changes in external conditions, while return on share capital demonstrates relative stability. The obtained results confirm the feasibility of applying an integrated approach to evaluating the efficiency of cooperative activities. The practical significance of the study lies in the possibility of using the proposed methodological toolkit to substantiate managerial decisions aimed at improving the efficiency of cooperative functioning. The scientific novelty lies in the improvement of the methodological approach to comprehensive efficiency assessment of agricultural service cooperatives through the development of an integrated index, which, compared to existing approaches, allows for simultaneous consideration of economic and organizational components of their functioning, providing a more substantiated evaluation of resource utilization effectiveness.