Contractual arrangements between farmer cooperatives and buyers in China

The agrofood market in China is dominated by spot market exchanges of small farmers and various small traders, with only minor penetration of the modern supply chain at the farmgate. The emerging Farmer Professional Cooperatives (FPCs) are expected to facilitate vertical coordination. The overall goal of this study is to investigate the contractual arrangements between the FPCs and the buyers. Based on a national representative survey of 157 FPCs in China, this study shows that 32% of FPCs introduced written contracts in the primary marketing channel. Contracts are more likely to be adopted in the livestock sector and are positively related to the scale of production. While branding promotes contracts between FPCs and buyers, public certification of quality and food safety often substitutes for contracts. Furthermore, the membership heterogeneity of FPCs affects an FPC’s decision to use contractual arrangements with the buyer.     

Contractual arrangements and enforcement in transition agriculture: Theory and evidence from China

This paper empirically investigates the relationship between contractual arrangements and their enforcement in Chinese agriculture. Based on an analysis of a survey of 100 agribusiness firms engaged in contract farming in Zhejiang province of China, we find that private contract enforcement mechanisms play an important role in influencing smallholders’ decisions to breach or fulfill contracts. Contract arrangements such as floor pricing, or requiring smallholders to make specific investments facilitate self-enforcement and significantly improve the smallholder’s contract fulfillment rate. This is particularly important in Chinese agriculture since the business environment is characterized by an absence of effective public enforcement institutions.     

The effects of workers' participation on enterprise performance: Empirical evidence from French cooperatives

The results of estimating production functions augmented by various measures of workers' participation on a large enterprise level data set of French cooperatives are reported. Value added is found to be an increasing function of participation in profits, in collective membership and in ownership, even when a wide assortment of enterprise specific and environmental factors are taken into account. This finding is very robust, surviving tests between alternative specifications of technology, for reverse causality, for simultaneous equation bias and for multicollinearity. The typical productivity effect from participation, however, is small, around 5% of output. The results suggest that Western policymakers should investigate ways to increase workers' participation in capital stakes and profit shares.     

The effects of government policies on agricultural input markets

Agricultural policies in most developed countries involve elements of price support. The primary objective appears to be the support of farm incomes, but effects of the policies are more wide ranging than this. The impact of price support on agricultural input markets in the UK is highlighted in this article and it is shown that the main effects of raising farm prices are to increase the wealth of landowners, increase capital intensity and reduce employment and wages of hired labour. These are not generally recognized as primary goals of the CAP. It is suggested that the British government might offset some of these effects through judicious reduction of capital grant rates.     

Labor market participation of Chinese agricultural households: Empirical evidence from Zhejiang province

This work is devoted to the analysis of the different labor market participation regimes of Chinese farm households over the reform process in the 1980s and 1990s. Using household data over the period 1986–2002 from the province Zhejiang, we apply a multinomial logit model to empirically examine household, farm, and regional characteristics affecting the probability that farmers participate in one of four alternative labor market regimes. As generally accepted, off-farm participation is the dominant form of farm households’ labor market participation. But rural households show additionally a significant impact on rural employment mainly linked with non-agricultural household business. Results suggest that labor market decisions are significantly related to several family, farm, and village characteristics. In particular, we find education to be a key determinant of participation. Furthermore, results point to a higher probability of female household members to take up off-farm work.     

The impact of trust and contract on innovation performance: The moderating role of environmental uncertainty

Research into two important control mechanisms for managing the supply chain relationship - contracts and trust - is on the rise. However, our understanding of how they influence innovation in a firm remains rather unclear. Thus, the primary objective of this study is to examine the individual and interactive effects of contracts and trust on firms' innovation performance and the contingent effects of environmental uncertainty on those relationships in China. The empirical results from a survey of Chinese manufacturing firms indicate that there is a positive relationship between trust and firms' innovation performance, an inverted U-shaped relationship between the use of contracts and firms' innovation performance, and that contracts and trust are substitutes. Moreover, we find that environmental uncertainty enhances the effects of trust, but does not influence the impact of contracts on innovation performance.     

Economic environment and agricultural development: The importance of macroeconomic policy

This article explores the ways in which the macroeconomic balance of the economy, and related policies, impinge on agriculture in developing countries, and considers implications for the design of policies. It argues that the extent of macroeconomic balance, and the quality of the policies influencing that balance, to a large extent define the scope for effective agricultural policies. The avoidance of severe balance-of-payments deficits and rapid inflation are seen as a necessary condition for the promotion of agricultural growth. They also have an important influence on the nature and range of agricultural policy options available to governments.     

Matching demand and supply in the agricultural knowledge infrastructure: Experiences with innovation intermediaries

The privatization of agricultural research and extension establishments worldwide has led to the development of a market for services designed to support agricultural innovation. However, due to market and systemic failures, both supply side and demand side parties in this market have experienced constraints in effecting transactions and establishing the necessary relationships to engage in demand-driven innovation processes. To mitigate these constraints, a field of intermediary organizations has emerged to assist agricultural entrepreneurs to articulate demand, forge linkages with those that can provide innovation support services, and manage innovation processes. This article aims to give an overview of the different kinds of the so-called innovation intermediaries that have emerged in The Netherlands and to report on their contributions and the tensions that are being experienced with regard to their functioning. The article concludes with a discussion in which it is argued that the state should play a role as a ‘market facilitator’, by funding such innovation intermediaries.     

The impact of agricultural policy distortions on the productivity gap: Evidence from rice production

This article explores how production and trade policy distortions affected rice productivity in 33 rice-producing countries. A rice-productivity index is constructed, and a model linking the productivity gap with policy distortions is presented. After controlling for the differences in infrastructure, access to inputs and equipment, openness, and human capital, this article shows that high levels of rice subsidies and protection in rich countries combined with taxation of rice farming in poor countries widened the gap in rice productivity between rich and poor rice countries.     

US and EEC agricultural trade policies: A long-run view of the present conflict

This paper traces post-war agricultural policy in the USA and compares it with the developing policies of the EEC. It examines the reasons for, and the results of, the protectionist policies which have been adopted in each case, and how the present conflict between the two trading blocs were inevitable, due to the foundations laid in the 1950s. The grain sector is used to illustrate the dominant tendencies in US agricultural policies, which include a programme of food aid used as an outlet for US agricultural capacity. The conclusion outlines how the EEC, with its potential for further growth in grain exports, can learn from the US experience in this, and other, aspects of agricultural trade.     

ICT-based market information and adoption of agricultural seed technologies: Insights from Uganda

Access to ICT-based market information is crucial to the adoption of agricultural seed technologies for maize, beans and groundnut and to improve smallholder farmer yields and income. This ICT-based market information is provided by FM radio stations and by market information centers through media such as mobile phones and internet facilities, etc. Factors that positively affect the probability of access to ICT-based market information include access to microfinance loans, membership in a farmer association, government awareness campaigns, and wealth. Distance to the trading centers or district capital negatively affects this access. The likelihood of access to ICT-based market information declines with female-headed households. Access to market information has a positive and significant impact on the intensity of adopting improved seed for all crops. Adoption of improved seed has a positive and significant effect on farm yields and gross farm returns. This research shows that in order to generate meaningful improvements in food security and farm incomes, there must be commensurate efforts to promote ICT-based market information along with yield-augmenting agricultural seed technologies.     

The impact of agricultural research on productivity and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa

While it is widely recognized that agricultural research is a key driver of broad-based technological change in agriculture that benefits the poor in many different ways, little is known about its aggregate impacts on productivity growth and poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Using a polynomial distributed lag structure for agricultural research within a simultaneous system of equations framework, this paper first demonstrates that agricultural research contributes significantly to productivity growth in SSA. Productivity growth is again shown to raise per capita incomes, with income increases finally having significant poverty-reducing effects. With an aggregate rate of return of 55%, the payoffs to agricultural research are also impressive. Agricultural research currently reduces the number of poor by 2.3 million or 0.8% annually. While the actual impacts are not large enough to more than offset the poverty-increasing effects of population growth and environmental degradation, the potential impacts of agricultural research are far greater. Apart from low research investments, SSA faces several constraints outside the research system that hinder realization of potential research benefits. The results show that doubling research investments in SSA would reduce poverty by 9% annually. However, this would not be realized without more efficient extension, credit, and input supply systems.     

Land constraints and agricultural intensification in Ethiopia: A village-level analysis of high-potential areas

Highland Ethiopia is one of the most densely populated regions of Africa and has long been associated with both Malthusian disasters and Boserupian agricultural intensification. This paper explores the race between these two countervailing forces, with the goal of inform two important policy questions. First, how do rural Ethiopians adapt to land constraints? And second, do land constraints significantly influence welfare outcomes in rural Ethiopia? To answer these questions we use a recent household survey of high-potential areas. We first show that farm sizes are generally very small in the Ethiopian highlands and declining over time, with young rural households facing particularly severe land constraints. We then ask whether smaller and declining farm sizes are inducing agricultural intensification, and if so, how. We find strong evidence in favor of the Boserupian hypothesis that land-constrained villages typically use significantly more purchased input costs per hectare and more family labor, and achieve higher maize and teff yields and higher gross income per hectare. However, although these higher inputs raise gross revenue, we find no substantial impact of greater land constraints on net farm income per hectare once family labor costs are accounted for. Moreover, farm sizes are strongly positively correlated with net farm income, suggesting that land constraints are an important cause of rural poverty. We conclude with some broad policy implications of our results.     

The effects of customer and supplier involvement on competitive advantage: An empirical study in China

The focus of this paper is on the effects of customer and supplier involvement on competitive advantage in the firm. Using the resource-based view and knowledge-based view of the firm, hypotheses are developed concerning customer involvement, supplier involvement, and competitive advantage. Hierarchical multiple regressions are employed to test the hypothesized relationships. The data used was collected from 139 Chinese manufacturing firms across different industries. Each variable except control variables in the model is measured by a number of scale items. Both reliability and validity (content validity, convergent validity, and discriminate validity) are demonstrated. The results of the regression analysis show that (1) customer involvement has positive impact on product quality, delivery reliability, process flexibility, and customer service; and (2) supplier involvement leads to decreased cost. These findings are interpreted in the context of Chinese manufacturing setting and enhance the understanding of the roles of customer and supplier involvement in China's business environment.     

A tale of two tails: Explaining extreme events in financialized agricultural markets

The substantial booms and busts in agricultural prices marked by extreme events across commodities lead to heated debates about the effects of speculative trading on commodity price fluctuations. This study proposes a new approach to understanding extreme events and boom–bust processes in agricultural markets. Using weekly futures data for twelve indexed agricultural commodities during 2006 to 2016, we find that extreme price changes, located in the 10% tails of the distribution, cluster across agricultural markets. We then implement a multinomial logit model to investigate which factors are associated with the propagation of extreme events. Specifically, we disentangle three transmission conduits. (1) The macroeconomic conduit captures the possibility that the synchronized extreme price events are generated by business-cycle driven demand shifts mainly in emerging economies. (2) The financial conduit refers to potential links between extreme returns and the increasing flow of money from financial participants into agricultural futures markets. (3) Finally, the energy conduit accounts for possible spillover effects due to oil price shocks. Our results indicate an important role of managed money positions and oil prices while the real demand channel remains mostly insignificant.     

The evolution of hog production and potential sources for future growth in China

Following reforms to the market, China’s hog industry has developed rapidly, however, with social and economic transitions, China’s hog industry is facing challenges which might restrict long-term growth in production. This paper analyzes the changes in regional scale, organization, input factors, and technological progress for China’s hog production over the last few decades. The paper seeks to reveal the sources of hog production growth and provide some suggestions for future development of the hog industry. To achieve these aims, the paper uses stochastic frontier production functions and the Malmquist index to measure total factor productivity (TFP) in the hog industry and decompose TFP into technical efficiency; technological progress; scale efficiency; and allocative efficiency using data for 25 provinces from 1980 to 2008. The results show firstly that; the TFP of hog production increased by 64.3% from 1980 to 2008, and allocative efficiency and scale efficiency improvements played a key role in this TFP growth. In contrast, technical efficiency and technical progress have changed little over this period. Secondly, TFP’s contribution to output was 39.7%, it being less than that of factor inputs to output. Thirdly, the results suggest that the growth of China’s pork production depends mostly on the increase in the quantity of factor inputs, especially feed. As a consequence, the key to ensuring long-term and stable development of China’s hog production would seem to involve focusing on enhancing total factor productivity and changing the pattern of production growth.     

董事会治理对公司绩效累积效应的实证研究——基于中国上市公司的数据

论文基于2004年和2005年中国上市公司数据，用南开大学董事会治理指数衡量中国上市公司董事会治理水平．对上市公司董事会治理与公司绩效之间的关系进行了实证研究。研究结果表明．中国上市公司董事会治理指数与公司绩效的改善之间存在显著相关关系．即董事会治理对公司绩效的影响存在累积效应，董事会治理对公司绩效改善的影响主要来源于董事会组织结构建设和董事薪酬激励的作用，而董事权利与义务、董事会运作和独立董事制度对公司绩效的影响则不显著。进一步的研究还发现公司绩效的行业固定效应随董事会治理水平的提高而弱化．并且董事会治理对公司绩效影响的累积效应边际递增。     

E-logistics in China: basic problems, manageable concerns and intractable solutions

This paper examines the reality of issues surrounding e-commerce and logistics in China today. Interviews were conducted with government, business and academic leaders in a major Chinese coastal city. From these interviews, the magnitude of nine major e-commerce and logistics challenges was investigated. Based on the scope of the problems and the scale of potential solutions, the various issues are characterized as basic, manageable or intractable. Conclusions are made about the challenges to be found both today and in the future of e-commerce and logistics in China.     

Common waters and private lands: Distributional impacts of floodplain aquaculture in Bangladesh

Aquaculture continues to diversify and develop rapidly in Bangladesh. A major change has taken place in parts of Bangladesh due to the growth of floodplain aquaculture (FPA) projects. FPA involves the enclosure by the landholders of parts of the floodplain through the creation of embankments and sluice gates. The enclosed water body is stocked with fish seed and the benefits are distributed amongst those who own land in the impounded area. This study has found that FPA tends to exclude a large number of poor households and adversely affects them through the attenuation of their common property rights over the floodplains, besides skewing the distribution of benefits amongst those who directly benefit from it. They have been further marginalised in project institutions that are captured by rural elites. This paper suggests a more precautionary approach to the growth of the FPA and compensation to, or inclusion of the losers.     

Export intensity and marketing in transition economies: Evidence from China

Firms in transition economies face a common adaptation problem of having to compete within increasingly marketized environments. This creates a need for managers to learn skills associated with marketing, such as those pertaining to the development of new and better products. Although distance is usually a barrier to learning, we propose that in exchange situations involving transition economy firms, the benefits of long-distance trade may outweigh the costs of knowledge acquisition. We find support for this proposition in this study by establishing a link between the export intensity of Chinese exporters and their acquisition of marketing know-how. We also find evidence that the marketing knowledge of transition economy firms has a positive effect on overall performance.