Does agricultural cooperative membership influence off-farm work decisions of farm couples?

Membership in agricultural cooperatives may influence intra-household decisions regarding the division of household labor. However, the linkages between cooperative membership and labor allocation remain unexplored. To fill this gap, we examine the impact of cooperative membership on off-farm work decisions of couples engaged in farming, using data collected from 595 banana farmers in China. The recursive bivariate probit model and endogenous-treatment Poisson regression model are employed to address the self-selection bias inherent in cooperative membership. The results show that cooperative membership increases the probability of participating in off-farm work by 38% for husbands and 31% for wives. Having large households reduces the probability of husbands but increases that of wives working off-farm. Cooperative membership is also associated with more time spent on off-farm work and higher earnings for both husbands and wives. Our findings point to the potential of agricultural cooperatives to increase farm couples’ off-farm employment, thus increasing household income and quality of life.     

How users’ Internet experience affects the adoption of mobile payment: a mediation model

Mobile payment becomes a convenient way to complete transactions due to the increasing popularity of mobile devices and the maturity of related technologies. Users’ experience of using computers and the Internet in financial activities largely affects their intention to use mobile payment. Combining the Technology Acceptance Model and Innovation Diffusion Theory, we examined the mediating effect of five factors, that is, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, compatibility, risk, and privacy concern, in the relationship between Internet experience and the adoption of mobile payment. Data from 922 mobile users supported the partial mediating effects of the five factors.     

Which type of producer organization is (more) inclusive? Dynamics of farmers’ membership and participation in the decision‐making process

Producer organizations (POs) provide benefits to smallholders by alleviating market access challenges. However, whether all farmers benefit from a PO is still a question. Limited evidence is available on whether POs are inclusive of poor farmers. Even if the poor join, do they participate in decision‐making? We conducted interviews with 595 smallholder dairy farmers in Kenya. We distinguish three groups; members of a bargaining PO, members of a processing PO and non‐members. We show that membership is related to the structural characteristics of the organization: processing POs favor membership of farmers that are wealthier, more educated and more innovative. As to participation in the decision‐making process: older, male and specialized farmers have a higher chance of being involved than poor farmers. Factors distinguishing farmer participation in decision‐making between bargaining and processing POs are highlighted. We find that a bargaining PO is more inclusive of all groups of farmers, while women and poor farmers are excluded from decision‐making in a processing PO. Our findings contribute to policymaking on inclusive development.     

The Optimal Timing of Adoption of a Green Technology

We study the optimal timing of adoption of a cleaner technology and its effects on the rate of growth of an economy in the context of an AK endogenous growth model. We show that the results depend upon the behavior of the marginal utility of environmental quality with respect to consumption. When it is increasing, we derive the capital level at the optimal timing of adoption. We show that this capital threshold is independent of the initial conditions on the stock of capital, implying that capital-poor countries tend to take longer to adopt. Also, country-specific characteristics, as the existence of high barriers to adoption, may lead to different capital thresholds for different countries. If the marginal utility of environmental quality decreases with consumption, a country should never delay adoption; the optimal policy is either to adopt immediately or, if adoption costs are “too high”, to never adopt. The policy implications of these results are discussed in the context of the international debate surrounding the environmental political agenda.      

中国发展家庭农场的困境及对策

家庭农场作为新型农业经营主体,对中国新型农业经营组织的构建起着重大的作用,弄清家庭农场在中国的内涵,分析中国家庭农场在发展过程中存在的问题,并提出相应的政策建议,对推进中国家庭农场的发展有着重要的意义。     

企业采用新技术的时点博弈分析

技术创新可以为企业带来超额利润,具有极大的经济价值,然而新技术的不确定性和风险性又使得企业不会立即采用。本文通过构建双寡头垄断博弈模型对企业采用新技术的时点进行研究,证明企业采用新技术时存在一个最佳时点,在这个最佳时点之前,企业应采取等待策略。     

中部生态脆弱地区农民对新技术采用意愿研究——基于中部六省生态脆弱地区582位农民的调查

通过对中部生态脆弱地区农民的调查,运用逻辑(Logistic)模型探讨农民采用农业新技术的影响因素.分析结果表明,中部生态脆弱地区农民已经深刻认识到农业科技对于脱贫致富的重要作用,但对农业新技术的采用意愿相对较低.通过进一步对农业新技术采用意愿的影响因素检验,结果发现,农民是否是科技示范户,是否是农业经营大户,是否可以便捷地获取农业科技信息,农民的性别、家庭人均收入、受教育程度,以及是否参加过农业科技培训等因素对农民采用新技术意愿有显著的影响,呈现正相关关系;年龄和外出务工时间对农民采用新技术也有显著的影响,呈现负相关关系;是否村干部,是否具有一定的专业技能对生态脆弱地区农民新技术的采用意愿影响不显著.在此基础上提出相关对策建议.     

我国现代农业组织形式创新的政策措施

发展家庭农场的现代农业组织创新是解决当前我国农业发展新阶段存在的矛盾和问题的根本途径。政府应从农村土地、农村金融、农业技术、农民的企业家能力和合作组织制度等五个方面采取政策措施,促进家庭农场发展,塑造我国现代农业发展主体。     

自助服务技术采纳的前因与模式:文献综述

通过系统梳理自助服务技术研究文献,总结了两类自助服务技术采纳前因——认知型前因和情感型前因,归纳出三种自助服务技术采纳模式——认知驱动模式、情感驱动模式及认知和情感综合驱动模式。研究表明:在自助服务技术采纳前因研究中,认知型前因所占比重很大,而情感型前因所占比重相对较小;三种采纳模式对自助服务技术采纳现象均起到了很好的理解和预测作用。最后,提出了自助服务技术采纳研究的发展方向。     

家族企业网络能力对合作绩效的影响——考虑知识获取和家族涉入的作用机制

利用浙江和重庆制造业家族企业的调查数据,实证检验了家族企业的网络能力对合作绩效的影响,以及知识获取在网络能力与合作绩效间的中介效应、家族涉入在网络能力与知识获取间的调节效应。结果表明:家族企业的网络能力对合作绩效有显著的倒U型影响;家族企业的网络能力对知识获取有显著的倒U型影响,知识获取在网络能力与合作绩效之间起部分中介作用;家族管理权负向调节网络能力与知识获取的关系,管理企业的家族代数正向调节网络能力与知识获取的关系。     

IT采纳作用下组织冗余与企业绩效的关系

研究了企业IT采纳作用下组织冗余与企业绩效的关系,考虑了IT采纳水平和IT采纳时间对该关系的调节效果。运用"中国企业信息化500强"中上市公司的面板数据进行验证,发现企业IT采纳实施后,在IT采纳时间和IT采纳水平的调节下,4种类型的组织冗余与企业绩效存在不同的关系。     

市场和技术对企业新技术采用最优时机的影响

基于古诺模型,研究了产品的可替代程度和技术的有效性对企业采用新技术的时机的影响。结果表明:率先采用新技术的企业采用新技术的时机与产品的可替代程度呈倒U型关系;当产品的可替代性足够大且技术有效性充分小时,较晚采用新技术的企业采用新技术的时机会随市场竞争的加剧而提前;两类企业采用新技术的时机与技术的有效性均成负相关关系;面对技术有效性的同水平提高,较晚采用新技术的企业采用新技术的时机将提早得更多。