Labor income and risky investments: can part-time farmers compete?

In the developed countries, a majority of farm households receive at least as much income from nonfarm sources as from the farm. Such part-time farms have survived inspite of lower returns than full-time farms. This paper considers when lower returns to part-time farming could be compensated by risk-reduction due to diversification of income sources. The paper uses a dynamic portfolio choice model with labor income. The model and results could be applied in other contexts as well.     

家族企业公司治理文化探析

家族企业已成为我国经济发展中一支不可缺少的有生力量,而公司治理文化将直接影响到家族企业的发展.文章分析了家族企业的公司治理文化的特征、根基及利弊.     

影响我国农民市场主体地位确立的制度因素

拥有自主产权是农民成为真正市场主体的必要条件,包括诸如组织制度、户籍制度、金融制度、社会保障制度等在内的产权支持系统是影响农民成为市场主体的充分条件。市场主体地位的高低在某种意义上是由经济实体在参与市场经济活动时所拥有的权利束决定的。推进农村经济市场化的过程就是加强农民市场主体地位的过程。进一步深化农村体制改革,从根本上消除不合理制度对农民的束缚,使农民成为真正的市场主体是解决当前“三农”问题的根本出路。     

Employer Penalties for Failure to Provide Individual Employee Notification Under the Family and Medical Leave Act: “Clarifications” Following Ragsdale v. Wolverine Worldwide, Inc.

This article examines the Supreme Court's ruling in Ragsdale v. Wolverine Worldwide, Inc. (2002) and considers its implications for employer and employee rights and responsibilities relative to implementing the FMLA policies. We provide an overview of the pre-decision regulatory environment including the general leave provisions of the FMLA and DOL's regulations requiring employer notification of leave designated as FMLA leave. We also identify those provisions that the decision did not alter and provide a broader consideration of the issues and implication of this decision for employers and employees.     

家族式治理对公司理财行为的影响机制研究

家族企业已经越来越受到人们的重视。在现有文献的基础上,论文以所有权和控制权为两维对家族企业做了严格的定义和划分,并把研究对象界定在拥有高控制权的家族式企业。通过将家族式治理和公司理财分析范式结合分析,家族式治理中的网络式组织结构、封闭式的股权结构和作为家族意愿体现的董事会治理机制对家族企业理财行为产生影响。家族式治理对公司理财行为产生正面影响,但由于其自身的局限性和家族企业所处环境的变化,家族式理财必须进行变革:非家族化的理财方式变革,家族规则与现代市场游戏规则的融合,引入有效专家理财制度,以及对家族式理财的扬弃。     

路径依赖的作用:家庭联产承包责任制的建立与演进

人地比例、耕作技术、土地产权制度之间的互动循环导致了中国历史时期土地产权制度演进中路径依赖的形成。中国目前人口与资源（土地）之间的紧张关系就是历史时期土地产权制度演进的结果，这一约束条件决定了中国土地产权制度只能是朝着更加周密细致地保证农民土地长期使用权与收益权的方向演进。从公社一级到三级所有、大队为基础，到三级所有、队为基础，再到家庭联产承包责任制的建立，直至承包期限由短期变为长期，由15年变为30年。这一步步的演进都是朝着保证农民土地长期使用权与收益权的方向回归，显现出制度变迁过程中路径依赖的作用。由于历史时期土地产权制度演进的影响，家庭联产承包责任制完善的方向应该是土地国家终级所有的前提下，强化农民现有土地长期使用权，并通过法律手段保证土地使用权的转让。     

The influences of governance quality on equity-based entry mode choice: The strengthening role of family control

This study examines the possible heterogeneity of governance quality's influence on entry mode decisions made by firms with different degrees of family control. When entering a country with low governance quality, ceding control of the subsidiary in exchange for local partners’ help enables foreign firms to tackle institutional flaws. However, such a motivation diminishes as governance quality increases. This study thus hypothesizes that firms tend to choose WOSs over JVs when entering a host country with high governance quality.Firms controlled by family members, due to concerns regarding the preservation of socioemotional wealth, prefer to maintain high ownership levels of their affiliates. This study thus hypothesizes that firms with a higher degree of family control are even more likely to choose WOSs when entering a country with high governance quality. The results support the hypotheses.     

Redefining rural prosperity through social learning in the cooperative sector: 25 years of experience from organic agriculture in Spain

In the political system and in public perception, the well-functioning of economy is frequently equalled to the output of the national economic system. However, during the last decades, this narrow conception of economic prosperity started to erode. This paper is based on a rural prosperity conceptual framework that takes into account the systemic nature and dynamics of interactions and impacts within rural systems through the analysis of an organic agriculture cooperative called Camposeven in the south east of Spain. The focus is on rural prosperity, differences in understanding, related parameters and strategies used by the cooperativés farming partners to success without following the traditional conventions of economic growth and farm-efficiency. Experience lessons in this paper demonstrate that the “technical-economic” approach of rural prosperity is not sufficient and results emphasize the important role of individuals’ behaviour as well as the contexts in which they are involved. The findings point to the increasing relevance of expanding both the theory and practice of rural prosperity approaches in sustainable rural development. This is important in order to enrich the connections between rural prosperity and other concepts such as social capital, innovation, social learning and resilience.     

Profitability and Efficiency of High Nature Value Marginal Farming in England

The UK Brexit vote triggered a new wave of policy developments for a future outside the EU. In this context, we analyse the business performance of English hill and upland farms, characterised by marginal economic conditions but also high nature value (HNV). The analysis aims to help identify farm-level management and policy options for greater economic, environmental and social sustainability. Business performance is measured as technical efficiency and the occurrence and persistence of abnormal profits, estimated through stochastic frontier analysis and static and dynamic panel-data methods. The results help indicate rationales for recent trends including farm enlargement, farm family diversification, and agri-environment scheme entry. The single farm payment is found to be negatively associated with farm technical efficiency while agri-environmental subsidies were positively associated to short-term farm profitability. Farm adaptation and resilience during a period of likely turbulence in external circumstances is discussed in light of these findings, as well as potential parallels with marginal HNV areas across Europe.     

Corporate Name Change and the Market Valuation of Firms: Evidence from an Emerging Market

Investors’ responses to a firm’s name change and the determinants of their response are scantly explored areas in the field of behavioral finance. Based on a sample of 415 Indian firms from 2005 to 2014, this study suggests that investors respond positively to the announcement of firm name changes. Furthermore, the study indicates that when firms do not indicate geographical specificity in the name and have a specific rather than generic name, then the firm will experience greater abnormal returns. Also, when firm names are fluent and are associated with the owner’s family name, again, abnormal returns generated are positive. Nevertheless, as a firm ages and investors gain more information about it, then abnormal returns due to name change decrease.