MARKETING COOPERATIVES IN MIXED DUOPOLIES

This paper analyses a market in which agents with different ownership structures compete with each other by simultaneously choosing quantities. In the first part of the paper, the government can choose to support the formation of a marketing cooperative by a group of farmers, or to establish a public marketing firm. The resulting market structures will thus be a duopoly of one marketing cooperative and one private wholesaler, or a mixed duopoly including a public firm. The equilibrium outcomes of the two market arrangements are analysed and the welfare implications compared. It is shown that both consumers' surplus and total welfare are higher in a mixed duopoly with public firm than in a mixed duopoly with cooperative, which is in turn socially superior to a pure private duopoly. In the second part, agents' incentives with regard to choice of ownership structure are discussed and analysed in a two-stage game.     

La Participation des Adhérents Dans Leurs Coopératives Agricoles: Une Étude Exploratoire du Secteur Céréalier Français

When a farmer joins an agricultural cooperative, he or she undertakes to participate in the cooperative economically, as a co‐operator, and also in its administration, as an associate. Yet, today, researchers and directors of cooperatives are observing a drop in member participation in both spheres. The goal of this paper is to build a typology of the members of grain farmer agricultural co‐operatives in France, based on the members’ participation, and then use a multinomial probit model to identify the factors that come into play and result in a member belonging to a given category in the typology. We make the hypothesis that attitudes with respect to organizational involvement and the member's confidence in his or her co‐operative can explain these differences in behavior, along with individual variables tied to the member and his or her farm business, and variables associated with the co‐operative to which the member belongs. Following the analysis of the participation behavior of the 290 members in the sample, the members can be grouped into three distinct categories: “individualists,” “good soldiers,” and “engaged.” The results of the multinomial probit model on these three categories show, in particular, that attitude toward organizational involvement has a significant effect, as do the presence of storage on the farm and the size of the cooperative on the probability of being an “individualist” rather than a “good soldier” or “engaged.”     

The Impact of Organizational Form on Producer Contracting Decisions

A variable that has not yet been considered in the contracting literature is the impact of agribusiness organizational form on the producer's contracting decision. Contracts with cooperatives are more complicated decisions for producers than a standard marketing contract with noncooperatives because of the requisite membership capital investment in the firm. Contracting with cooperatives requires producers to make a dual supply and investment decision. Individual membership equity holdings in all agricultural cooperatives are increasing, but they are generally most substantial in the value-added, new-generation cooperatives. Portfolio theory is used to analyze the producer's decision to contract with three alternatively structured value-added processing organizations in an uncertain environment: a traditional cooperative, a new-generation cooperative and an investor-oriented firm. In the cooperative cases, the contract requires both supply and equity investment.     

永安市集体林权制度改革的绩效分析

在全面推行、深化集体林权制度改革的背景下,前期改革的实施情况和成效日益成为研究的热点。本文依托国家林业局集体林权制度改革跟踪监测课题的调查情况,以福建省永安市为研究对象,从林地经营的投入、产出,林地的流转,林改的满意度和政策需求等方面,探讨集体林权制度改革的成效。研究结果发现:集体林权制度改革增加了林农的林业生产收入,拓宽了林业融资渠道;同时也导致林业投入的增加,林业合作组织的出现和加强。最后指出提高永安市集体林权制度改革绩效的政策方向。     

坚持社会主义农村土地集体所有的大方向——评析土地私有化的四个错误观点

本文以习近平总书记多次强调坚持农村土地农民集体所有、坚持“统分结合”发展集体经济与合作经济的重要讲话为指导,客观评析了主张土地私有化或变相私有化的四个错误观点:评析了“农村土地集体所有制产权不清”的观点,认为法律对土地集体所有权作出了非常清晰的界定;评析了“土地私有制是农村土地改革方向”的观点,认为这种主张的实质是通过永久性地固化原有的家庭土地承包关系来搞农村土地私有化,无视和否定了习近平总书记所强调的壮大农村集体经济应注重“统分结合”双层经营的思想;评析了“农村土地私有化会使农民更为富裕”的观点,认为私有土地的自由买卖并不能使农民实现权利与结果的公平,绝大多数农民也不可能通过农村土地私有化实现全面小康和共富共享;评析了“‘一田两主’制度是农村土地改革有效途径”的观点,认为这一论断是通过实际架空农村土地的集体所有权来变相主张农村土地私有化。     

城市化进程中的股份合作制：对广州市石牌村的观察

本文对广州市天河区石牌村在城市化进程中股份合作制形成、发展的历程进行了梳理，提出在当前阶段，股份合作制所面临的根本问题是，土地不能改变其所有权性质，不能作为资产进入到股份合作制企业的所有者权益体系中，只能以集体所有共同开发的形式存在。在这种情况下股权一旦流动，便代表对集体土地所有权和收益权的流失，因此股权的封闭和内部流转也就不可避免。这使得股份合作制的发展面t临着诸多限制。进行下一步改革的重点在于明晰产权，逐步向外开放，同时创新经营管理体制。     

新中国70年集体林权制度的变迁历程与内在逻辑

基于新中国70年来林权制度改革的政策文本及历史实践,运用产权和市场交易制度的演进理论作为理论工具对集体林权制度的源起、变迁历程及其内在逻辑进行分析。结果表明:中国林权制度的形成和变迁大致经历了林权初始设置、集体林权的形成与发展、集体林权"分与统"的两难抉择、集体林权制度的基本确定与深化改革4个阶段,过程虽然曲折但总体是成功的。由于森林功能多样性及经营长周期性的特点,林权制度变迁选择与农地制度变迁不同的路径。改革的经验启示主要有:信念和认知的力量能够决定制度变迁的方向;政府主导、各界人士广泛参与是改革成功的基因;面临不确定性采取"摸着石头过河"的改革方式。在生态文明全面深化时期,解决林业问题,制度是重要的,改革是不可间断的事业。     

我国关于林木物权的规定及其完善

对林木物权的含义进行了界定,指出林木物权的主要内容包括林木所有权、林木使用权、林木采伐权和林木抵押权,分析了我国现有林木物权法律保护制度的不足,并提出加强林木物权人利益保护的法律对策。     

Behavioral determinants of supply chain integration and coexistence

Economic theory considers physical production characteristics and related property rights as key determinants of the organization of an industry. Yet, we frequently observe coexisting governance modes within industries and firms, even when the transaction attributes of a commodity are homogenous. We test whether risk and time preferences, price expectations, and trust in supply chain types can explain variations and coexistence in governance. Specifically, we experimentally elicit economic preferences of forest managers in the Swiss wood sector. We find that all behavioral dimensions are related to the choice of sales channel. Most importantly, trust and expectations are key determinants in transferring property rights, while risk aversion, patience, and ownership structure explain the existence of plural forms at the firm level.     

论土地制度的公私矛盾

研究目的：梳理土地制度的公私关系,探讨土地制度运行的内在规律。研究方法：归纳与演绎、文献研究法、比较分析法。研究结果：土地制度是人类进入文明社会（出现国家及法律）以后的基础性制度,并交替存在着公有制、私有制等制度形态;无论是实践中还是在理论上,土地公有制与私有制选择始终是一对矛盾,但产权是否清晰与土地公有私有无关,财产权神圣不可侵犯应同等保护公私财产,平等保护财产权并非追求财产平等。研究结论：土地作为自然资源的本质属性决定了其产权制度的基本特征,土地所有制度属于政治范畴,土地产权制度与财富分配机制属于经济问题,土地制度规则应遵循公权与私权均衡,公利与私利分野。     

Situating community forestry enterprises within New Institutional Economic theory: What are the implications for their organization?

Community forestry enterprises (CFEs) have gained considerable traction with rural development and forestry practitioners as models for community development, poverty alleviation, and conservation. This paper uses New Institutional Economic theory to identify the key organizational features and potential inherent weaknesses of CFEs. NIE theory focuses on arguments of economic efficiency, specifically transaction cost reductions that serve as incentives for collective action by groups of owners. Examples are given to show how the organization of CFEs reduced transaction costs stemming from interactions with industrial loggers and service providers. However, the creation of these community enterprises goes beyond simple transaction cost reductions and economic justifications. Additional unquantifiable benefits, such as self-determination, control over resources that communities have historically used, application of acquired skills, political representation, and application of acquired skills to name a few, are also secured through community ownership. These benefits however do not come without a cost. As enterprises where ownership rights are incomplete or ill-defined and which do not operate with the incentives of investor-owned firms, CFEs have little to no initial capital pool and experience considerable investment limitations due to limited wealth, horizon problems, and unsolved issues with moral hazard vis-à-vis banks. CFEs also face important management and collective decision-making challenges. In spite of their institutional weaknesses, it is apparent that many societies have decided that the benefits of community ownership far outweigh their ownership costs. State intervention and policy have played an important role in building the necessary supportive framework for the development of these enterprises. NIE as a dominant model for understanding alternative entrepreneurial forms was useful for identifying some important aspects of CFEs that, in a profit-driven economy, can constitute weaknesses that place them at a disadvantage with investor-owned firms. This analysis informs where policy should be targeted if CFEs are to be supported and fostered.     

财产权利权能理论新拓展:理论框架及其对中国当前集体农地权利体系的合理解释

研究目的:提出权能支的新概念,建立一个新的财产权利权能结构理论框架,对当前中国集体农地权利体系进行解释。研究方法:逻辑推理法,法学分析方法。研究结果:所有权权能结构包括占有、使用、收益和处分四项基本权能,而这四项基本权能由若干更小的基本单元——权能支构成;权能支是财产权利的基本单元,每一个权能支意味着权利人可以依法实施一类行为的可能性,四项基本权能是由若干权能支组成的权能束;基本权能或权能支的分离、重组和耦合形成新的财产权利类型。研究结论:权能支概念的引入,拓宽了既有权能理论的解释能力,可以较好地解释新出现的财产权利的权能结构,也能合理解释权能分离后的所有权和他物权的内涵;基于权能支的概念和新的财产权利权能结构,本文解释了当前中国集体农地权利体系,并就现阶段土地承包经营权权能完善和拓展提出了政策建议。     

From Agrarian Reform to Ethnodevelopment in the Highlands of Ecuador

Through an examination of interventions in the agrarian structures and rural society of the Ecuadorian Andes over the past 40 years, this article explores the gradual imposition of a particular line of action that separates rural development from the unresolved question of the concentration of land ownership and wealth among the very few. This imposition has been the consequence, it is argued, of the new development paradigms implemented in Andean peasant communities since the end of land reform in the 1970s. The new paradigms emphasize identity and organizational aspects of indigenous populations at the expense of anything connected with the class‐based campesinista agenda, which was still operational in the indigenous movement in the early 1990s. The essay concludes with some thoughts on the remarkable parallels between the 1990s neoliberal and counter‐reformist models of action, and the pre‐reformist indigenist policies of the period that ended in the 1960s.     

Cooperative pricing and scale efficiency: The case of Korean rice processing complexes

Unlike most investor‐owned enterprises, cooperatives often have freedom to choose among a variety of firm objectives. Using 2002–2008 plant‐ and province‐level data, we ask in the present article which of several alternative maximands a Korean cooperative rice processing firm pursues. In contrast to earlier studies, farmer‐member supply functions are incorporated into the cooperative's optimization framework. We show that only large cooperative firms have operated at efficient scale, while small and medium‐sized ones have been scale‐inefficient. Because the latter operate where scale returns are increasing, mergers of small and medium‐sized cooperatives likely would be cost‐reducing and member‐return‐enhancing.     

Power,capital, and the poverty of farmers’ land rights in China

This article is intended to conduct a three-dimensional examination of China’s rural land rights and the complex dynamic among political power, economic capital, and farmers’ rights during the past seventy years. First, the study takes a close look at the historical changes in the nature, scope, and ownership of land property in rural China during four significant time periods from 1949 to 2019. Second, it uses Ronald Coase’s theory on property rights in dissecting the four paradoxes and dilemmas in China’s rural land ownership, including the extent of clarity and stability of land property rights, the “three rights system” (the rights to ownership, contracting and operation of land) and three stagnations in defining and exercising such three rights, the simultaneous shortage and waste of land resources, as well as the restrictions on land transactions and the requirement to protect collective property. With examples derived from selected evidence, the article documents how both political power and economic capital have worked together to deprive farmers’ land rights. It concludes with a critical analysis of the current status of China’s rural economy, the problem of applying Western economic theories to China’s reality, as well as the theoretical definition, legal protection and policy parameters of land property rights in China.     

Ownership Structure in Agrifood Chains: The Marketing Cooperative

Globalization, technological developments, and consumer concerns press farmers and food producers to enhance product innovation and to seek more efficient production and distribution structures. These changes in agrifood markets shift the relative importance of the investments by different chain partners. It may therefore be necessary to change the allocation of ownership of essential assets to induce agents to make those investments that generate the chain optimum. This article analyzes the impact of ownership structure on investments in a three-tier supply chain from an incomplete contracting perspective. Circumstances are determined in which a marketing cooperative is the unique first-best ownership structure.     

Reasons for introducing 3D property in a legal system—Illustrated by the Swedish case

The use of three-dimensional (3D) property rights has for many years been a tool for providing secure and lasting rights for the use of land and its volume of space in complex situations involving land use in the urban society. The aim of this article is to investigate the reasons for introducing 3D property in a legal system. This is illustrated by using the Swedish system as an example. In general, without the possibility of forming 3D property units with direct ownership, other forms have to be used, such as indirect ownership or granted user rights. Benefits of ownership in comparison with different types of rights include a more secure way of guaranteeing the possession of real property and the possibility of mortgaging the property. There are lower transaction costs compared with user rights, arising from legally securing three-dimensionally delimited parts of real property. 3D property also enables an increase in the density of private ownership. 3D property is a useful way of solving problems related to the use of space by different parties with different needs. In the Swedish legislation the introduction of 3D property formation has increased the possibility of constructing and financing in particular large and more complex facilities. It has created more secure and clear ways of constructing infrastructure objects and separating them from other types of use within the space of the same traditional property.     

The transformation of the Indian agricultural input industry: has it increased agricultural R&D?

Indian agricultural input industries have gone through a major transformation in the last 40 years. State owned firms grew during the Green Revolution and then stagnated or declined. Indian corporations that were protected from foreign competition are now exporters of agricultural tractors and pesticides. Foreign multinational corporations are rapidly increasing their role in the seed, pesticide, and tractor industries. Entry by large Indian firms and multinationals has increased competition in the input industries. Private agribusiness R&D in India grew from $23 million in 1985 to $250 million in 2009 in 2005 US dollars. This is the same time period as a transformation in the agricultural input industry, rapid growth in demand for agricultural inputs, breakthroughs in information technology and biotechnology, and changes in intellectual property rights. An econometric model was used to test whether the transformation of agricultural input industry was a major factor in the growth of R&D expenditure or not. This article analyzes a unique, firm level sales and R&D data set from the seed, pesticide, tractor, and fertilizer industries in 2000–2009. The estimated model indicates that agribusiness firms' R&D expenditures from 2000 to 2009 were positively related to variables associated with industry transformation such as firm size, ownership by multinationals, and declining industry concentration. The model also indicates that strengthening patent policy as well as growth in the size of research‐intensive industries like the seed industry contributed to the growth of agribusiness R&D in India.     

日本森林组合制度发展沿革及其启示

对日本森林组合从战前、战时、战后、经济高度成长及经济不景气期至今5个阶段分析,阐明了森林组合的形成、设立条件、性质、地位和作用,系统组织构成,特别是作业班的形成及其作用,政府的扶植政策,面临的问题及其解决对策。指出森林组合制度性质和任务的明确、扶植政策和强化经营体制措施的制定、系统组织的构建和作业班的设立,对合作经济组织的完善有着重要的启示作用。     

农村土地承包经营权抵押贷款的实践与思考——以黑龙江省克山县为例

农村土地承包经营权抵押贷款是解决农民融资贷款缺乏有效抵押物、破解农民贷款难题的有效手段。2014年中央一号文件首次提出"在落实农村土地集体所有权的基础上,稳定农户承包权、放活土地经营权,允许承包土地经营权向金融机构贷款"。国务院下发了《关于金融服务"三农"发展的若干意见》,进一步细化和明确了鼓励发展农村土地承包经营权抵押贷款的一揽子政策措施。黑龙江省克山县作为国家级农村改革试验区从2010年起探索和实践了农村土地承包经营权抵押贷款,形成了一整套土地承包经营权抵押贷款的发展机制、管理模式和配套政策,打破了农贷资金"五户联保"等旧有的资金贷款模式,实现了银行、农民、新型经营主体的互利双赢。农村土地承包经营权抵押贷款问题是目前的热门课题,作者以黑龙江省克山县为例,剖析了农村土地承包经营权抵押贷款的一些做法、模式、问题,并针对问题提出了完善建议。论文对各地正在开展的农村土地承包经营权抵押贷款工作的示范推广具有一定的借鉴意义。