Investigating the Consequences of Exchange Costs on the Behavior of Producers of Agricultural Products in Hamadan Province

The exchange cost of agricultural business units is an influential factor in the final price of the product, the net prices received by farmers and their participation pattern in the market. The current survey research was conducted with the aim of the effect of transaction costs on the behavior and participation of producers in the potato market in Hamadan province. The statistical population of this study is the producers of agricultural products in Hamadan province in the crop year of 2020-2021. The required sample was obtained using multi-stage simple random sampling. In this way, the sample size was determined to be 65 potato growers in Hamadan province. The necessary statistical information was collected through a questionnaire. The results showed that improving the access roads to the market and increasing the membership of farmers in agricultural unions have a negative effect on the possibility of farmers participating as sellers, and increasing the distance has a positive effect. In the presence of exchange cost, only 13.84% of farmers have participated in the market as buyers, and reducing the amount of exchange cost can increase farmers' market participation.