CONTRACTUAL MECHANISMS AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF INSTITUTIONS OF TRUST IN THE DIGITALIZATION OF FARM PRODUCTS SALES

Abstract

When peasant (farm) enterprises move from traditional sales channels (fairs, local intermediaries) to digital platforms, contractual relations undergo a fundamental shift. Informal agreements resting on personal trust give way to formalized, algorithmically controlled rules. This transition creates high adaptation costs and erodes the social capital of small agricultural communities, making digitalization of sales inefficient without intermediary institutions that preserve the value of trust. The study aims to trace how contractual relations and the role of trust change when farm products are sold through digital channels, and to propose contractual mechanisms that allow trust to be used in the formalized platform environment. Using contract analysis, a comparative institutional approach, and case studies of Russian cooperatives and platforms, a typology of contractual ties in agri-food chains at different stages of digitalization is constructed. It is shown that an agricultural consumer cooperative can act as a “contractual translator”: inside the cooperative, relational contracts with high interpersonal trust remain, while outside, formal contracts meeting marketplace requirements are generated. A hybrid model, “cooperative as a translator of trust,” previously undescribed in the context of Russian agri-food chains, is substantiated. The scientific novelty lies in demonstrating that digitalization need not crowd out informal relations; instead, through cooperative mechanisms, these relations can be preserved and capitalized, reducing transaction costs without sacrificing the economic independence of small agricultural entrepreneurs.