Chinese Cooperatives Research Articles

The Future of Agriculture: Obstacles and Improvement Measures for Chinese Cooperatives to Achieve Sustainable Development

The Chinese government pays close attention to sustainable development and takes an active approach to strengthening and standardizing such development. As the organizational vehicle for China’s large population, cooperatives can organize 230 million small farmers to promote sustainable development. However, some scholars have raised concerns about Chinese cooperatives and questioned their role in promoting sustainable development. Based on a review of China’s government support policy, this study summarizes the development characteristics of nine cooperatives and summarizes issues from opposite aspects. Furthermore, this study also analyzes the basic situation of the Chinese government’s quality improvement pilot county initiative and draws conclusions about the best ways to achieve sustainable development. We also make some policy proposals on achieving the sustainable development of Chinese cooperatives.

What's So Special about Farmer Cooperatives in China?

This paper trying to answer the fundamental issue—why and how is Chinese farmer cooperatives so special? Based on Leavitt’s Diamond Model, the study found that originated from spatial and temporal changes in the environment, as an import, the cooperatives obviously tilt towards the classic form of cooperative in China, and their organizing elements including goals, participants (members), technology (culture) and social structure all show distinct Chinese native characteristics. And the vast majority of Chinese cooperatives seem not to be “normative” because they mix the agricultural organization functions of cooperative organization, industrialization and socialization.

Fostering Generative Partnerships in an Inclusive Business Model

How does a social venture build multiple partnerships among stakeholders to enable a wide range of social value propositions and alleviate economic inequality? We address this question by developing a new concept on generative partnerships, defined as the collaboration between nonprofits and business organizations to co-create social value proposition and attract enhanced collaboration to solve social issues in an inclusive business model. We study two Chinese cooperatives, Co-op Lishui Shangeng (L) and Co-op Wuyang Chunyu (W), to show how they created a social ecosystem through an inclusive business model. These two cooperatives have also developed co-brandings L and W, respectively. We find that hybrid organizations could generate partnerships among different agents to form a social ecosystem. Drawing on the generative relationship theory, we identify four stages of fostering generative partnerships: (1) a value blueprint, (2) a pilot demonstration, (3) scaling-up, and (4) snowballing. After developing propositions regarding directedness, heterogeneity, and interaction of agents, we further elaborate two common schemas on the process of generating hybrid partnerships in this social ecosystem.

Efficiency of Decisions under Membership Heterogeneity and Government Regulations: Insights from Farmer Cooperatives in China

The Cooperative Law, passed in 2007, aims to support and regulate farmer cooperatives in China. The adoption of its regulations is uneven, with most regulations followed except the one-person, one-vote rule. We model investment decisions of Chinese cooperatives and measure the efficiency of capital allocation under heterogeneous membership and alternative governance policies. We show that relative membership heterogeneity in equity and patronage holdings and a cooperative’s dividend policy are crucial in determining the optimal level of governance centralization. Centralizing the governance to major equity holders and following other regulations reflect a trade-off faced by cooperatives between obtaining financial support from the government and achieving efficient decision-making.

Social Capital and Financial Capital in Chinese Cooperatives

For the rural districts of China to get an economically and socially sustainable development, the strengthening of agricultural cooperatives is essential. This study aims at presenting a model about how social capital within the cooperatives can be converted into financial capital to the benefit of both the cooperative and the members. Case studies of four cooperatives serve as illustrations. There is a large amount of social capital in these cooperatives, with their operations simple enough to allow members to be involved. The supplying members (common members) are few and well acquainted with one another. They have close relationships with those individuals (core members) who have the dominating ownership and who run the cooperatives. These case cooperatives were chosen because they have innovative financial solutions. For example, members let their private assets and those of the cooperative constitute joint collateral when money is borrowed from financial institutions. In another case, the members trust each other sufficiently for there to be a mutual fund that lends money both to members and their cooperative. Yet another model involves members having low demands concerning capital returns when lending to their cooperative.

Research on Synergetic Symbiosis Relationship between Cooperatives and Joint-Stock Companies —A Theoretical Interpretation of the Practice of New Farmer Cooperatives

Cooperatives and joint-stock companies in China and Western countries can form synergetic relations in theory and practice. The new farmer cooperatives in China also introduce the factors of shares, which need to make a theoretical interpretation. This paper reviews the theoretical research on cooperative system and shareholding system in academia, discusses the specific reasons for the integration of share factors into new farmer cooperatives, explains the symbiotic relationship between cooperatives and joint-stock companies, and demonstrates the history of mutual penetration of share factors and cooperation factors in Chinese and Western cooperatives, then analyzes the necessary and sufficient conditions for the symbiosis of cooperatives and joint-stock companies. Finally, it summarizes the symbiosis model of cooperatives and joint-stock companies at present, and provides the optimal design of its symbiosis mechanism.

中西方合作社生存与发展的文化土壤比较研究

中西方合作社生存与发展的文化土壤比较研究

Social capital and the financing performance of farmer cooperatives in Fujian Province, China

AbstractAlthough social capital is commonly believed to affect cooperative financing, empirical results are sparse. Using data from surveys of members of 60 cooperatives in Fujian province, China, this study shows that social capital is related to cooperative financing performance, interpreted as (1) members’ willingness to provide equity, (2) loans from members and from banks, and (3) cooperatives providing financing services to members. Three dimensions of social capital are identified; external, relational, and cognitive. The findings indicate that Chinese cooperatives obtain bank credit more easily if they have been granted government “honors” and if the chairperson has government contacts (external social capital). Loyal members (relational social capital) are more likely to obtain financial services, such as guarantees for member loans. Cooperatively convinced members (cognitive social capital) are more willing to provide capital. [EconLit citations: A13; P13; Q14].

The long march of Chinese co-operatives: towards market economy, participation and sustainable development

This work presents a history of the co-operative firm in China from its origins in the early twenth century. The aim is to describe how in its evolution, the Chinese Co-operative Movement has diverged from the western notion of a co-operative. To understand the similarities and the divergence, we will consider a number of economic and cultural factors, including the etymology of the Chinese and English words for ‘co-operative’, the Confucian culture and the influence of the political contingencies. We argue that contemporary Chinese economic transition would benefit from the presence of a strong, western style, co-operative sector but that the contribution of the co-operative sector towards sustainability cannot take place unless a civil society develops as well.

Farmer cooperatives in China: diverse pathways to sustainable rural development

In the midst of China's agricultural reform, new forms of farmer organization have emerged, some initiated by farmers themselves, but most through government intervention. Based on national survey data complemented by two in-depth case studies of rural cooperatives, an analysis is made of the roles and significance of these new farmer organizations. Chinese rural cooperatives predominantly facilitate economic cooperation and market integration. This is supported by agricultural policies and the Cooperative Law of 2007 oriented towards the commoditization of smallholder farming. There are some cooperatives not primarily motivated by commodity imperatives, but by the fulfilment of agro-ecological and socio-cultural functions. To date, the roles and significance of this non-mainstream type of rural cooperative has not received much attention. If China is to become a ‘green society’ as proclaimed by the government, more attention and support to this type of cooperatives seems warranted.

Mass- and Elite-Based Strategies for Cooperative Development in Wartime Nationalist China: Western Views on the ‘Gung Ho’ Industrial Cooperative Experience

This discussion examines wartime debates over the Chinese Industrial Cooperatives’ (CIC) ‘Gung Ho’ movement. The CIC experience provides a distinctive case study of mobilisation in Nationalist China at war, endeavouring to extend the momentum of the ‘great industrial migration’, as a force for social transformation, from the inland cities to the countryside. CIC was also to become a focus for overseas support for China’s resistance against Japanese invasion. The discussion reveals differences over elite- and mass-based strategies for cooperative development as revealed from Western inputs into the CIC debates, at the same time noting different ways in which foreigners sought to strengthen relations with wartime China. While CIC’s promoters reached beyond philanthropism towards a pragmatic solidarity, cooperative experts from the emerging international development community sought universal formulations for overseas assistance, advocating adherence to Western cooperative models, and reinforcing an elitist emphasis on expertise. CIC was to fall far short of its ambitions for a people’s cooperative movement as a permanent force for China’s democratic future. Here it is argued that under combined pressures of Guomindang (Nationalist Party, Kuomintang) statism and Western neocolonialism, CIC’s distinctive developmental strategy, based on the mobilisation of workers in cooperative self-help, was never allowed to fulfil its potential.

The Temptation of Getting the “Pie”----- The Cost-benefit Analysis on Farmer Specialized Cooperatives Access to Government Subsidies in Mainland China

In the Chinese mainland, government subsidies look like a delicious “pie” hunted by different cooperatives. Inorder to get more charge of it, however, some cooperatives used strategies distorting the cooperative’s basiccharacters. These problems appeared also decline the capital usage efficiency of government subsidies in acertain extent. This paper uses transaction cost theory to explore the current situation and the cost/benefit existedin different cases. The authors believe that the win-win options for Chinese cooperatives are getting thesupportive resource, developing themselves and profiting from the market as well. In the end, authors suggestthat the financial subsidies should be more used on building a public service platform to realize more and morecooperatives benefiting.

The Enlightenment for China by the Development of New Generation Cooperatives in North America

The development of farmer cooperatives in China which was an important form that led farmers to get rich and improve the competitiveness of China's agriculture has been lag behind, in 2007, Law of Chinese Farmer Cooperatives promoted the development of cooperatives in certain extent,, but compared to a new generation of cooperatives developed in North America 1970s, whether performance or the ability of service for members were far behind. Through report the successful experience of the development of new generation cooperatives in North America and sum up the useful enlightenment which could improve the development of farmer cooperatives in China, we should promote the development of farmer cooperatives in China better and faster by specific measures implementation.

AN EMERGING CIVIL SOCIETY: THE IMPACT OF THE 2008 SICHUAN EARTHQUAKE ON GRASS-ROOTS ASSOCIATIONS IN CHINA

The western China, especially near the Wenchuan region witnessed a terrible earthquake in the year 2008, which led to some severe damage in the country. Several interviews and studies are conducted to explain the impact of this Sichuan earthquake on the development of the various grass-root associations present in the country.

中国農村信用合作社における協同組合的経営改革の展開

中国農村信用合作社における協同組合的経営改革の展開

Cents and Sociability: Household Income and Social Capital in Rural Tanzania

In this article we show that associational relationships and social norms of villages in rural Tanzania are both capital and social. After outlining the various concepts of social capital we tell how and why we created data on social capital using a large-scale household survey in rural Tanzania that was designed to query households about their social connections and attitudes. By using the Social Capital and Poverty Survey (SCPS) and data from a different survey, which also had information on incomes, we show that a village’s social capital has an effect on the incomes of the households in that village, an effect that is empirically large, definitely social, and plausibly causal. Finally, we use the two data sets to examine a number of proximate channels through which social capital appears to operate.

An Empirical Study of Urban Credit Cooperatives in China

The overall objective of this study is to try and uncover to what extent the borrowing and lending pattern of Chinese urban credit cooperatives (UCCs) leads them to conform to the theoretical view of credit cooperatives and to what degree they are mainly characterized by elements which result from their regulatory environment and the status of China as an economy in transition. We provide evidence from a specially-commissioned survey on the characteristics and functioning of UCCs. Our statistical and econometric analysis points to the tentative conclusion that there are major regional differences in the performance of UCCs both in terms of the quality of loans granted and overall profitability. The latter is also influenced by the quality of the loans made, and this in turn is affected by the number of directors in the UCC and the extent to which the UCC grants loans to state-owned enterprises.

The Role of Exit Costs in the Theory of Cooperative Teams: A Theoretical Perspective

Lin suggests that exit rights are necessary for the existence of efficient self-enforcing contracts. This view has recently been criticized by Dong and Dow and Putterman and Skillman who argue precisely the opposite, namely that exit costs are necessary for the existence of self-enforcing contracts, as originally shown in MacLeod. First I reiterate some points made in MacLeod that imply the Chinese cooperatives would have been a failure regardless of the level of exit costs. Second, the kinds of exit costs needed for the existence of self-enforcing contracts are essentially voluntary and would never take the form of forced collectivization as observed in China. In the context of the Chinese experiment, exit rights would most probably have averted a disaster because peasants would have had the choice of not joining an organization they believed to be inefficient. In the final section, I discuss the use of game theoretic models to address organizational issues and make some suggestions for future research directions. J. Comp. Econom., June 1993, 17(2), pp. 521-529. Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada H3C 3J7.

Accounting and Planning in Chinese Agricultural Cooperatives

Accounting and Planning in Chinese Agricultural Cooperatives

Accounting and Planning in ARTICLES Chinese Agricultural Cooperatives

Accounting and Planning in ARTICLES Chinese Agricultural Cooperatives