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1 – 10 of over 1000
Article
Publication date: 9 September 2022

Shaoze Jin, Xiangping Jia and Harvey S. James

This paper aims to explore the relationship between prudence in risk attitudes and patience of time preference of Chinese apple growers regarding off-farm cold storage of…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the relationship between prudence in risk attitudes and patience of time preference of Chinese apple growers regarding off-farm cold storage of production and marketing in non-harvest seasons. The authors also consider the effect of farmer participation in cooperative-like organizations known as Farm Bases (FBs).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use multiple list methods and elicitation strategies to measure Chinese apple farmers' risk attitudes and time preferences. Because these farmers can either sell their apples immediately to supermarkets or intermediaries or place them in storage, the authors assess correlations between their storage decisions and their preferences regarding risk and time. The authors also differentiate risks involving gains and losses and empirically examine individual risk attitudes in different scenarios.

Findings

Marketing decisions are moderately associated with risk attitudes but not time preference. Farmers with memberships in local farmer cooperatives are likely to speculate more in cold storage. Thus, risk aversion behavioral and psychological motives affect farmers' decision-making of cold storage and intertemporal marketing activities. However, membership in cooperatives does not always result in improved income and welfare for farmers.

Research limitations/implications

The research confirms that behavioral factors may strongly drive vulnerable smallholder farmers to speculate into storage even under seasonal and uncertain marketing volatility. There is the need to think deeper about the rationale of promoting cooperatives and other agricultural forms, because imposing these without careful consideration can have negative impacts.

Originality/value

Do risk and time preferences affect the decision of farmers to utilize storage facilities? This question is important because it is not clear if and how risk preferences affect the tradeoff between consuming today and saving for tomorrow, especially for farmers in developing countries.

Details

Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-0839

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 August 2013

Lijia Wang, Xuexi Huo and Shajahan Kabir

At the center of apple production province in China, how to increase apple per unit yield and to improve apple production efficiency in Shaanxi become big issues. The objectives…

1028

Abstract

Purpose

At the center of apple production province in China, how to increase apple per unit yield and to improve apple production efficiency in Shaanxi become big issues. The objectives of this paper are to investigate the technical efficiency (TE) and cost efficiency (CE) of apple orchard and to analyse determinants which affect apple production efficiency. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper conducts a two‐stage DEA to achieve the objectives. In the first‐stage, a cost minimization model is applied to measure apple production efficiency. Then, a Tobit model is provided to estimate regression coefficients which are used to adjust the efficiency scores in the first‐stage.

Findings

The results indicate that TE and CE are rather low in Shaanxi. The research also explores that the inefficient production of apple farmers is caused mainly by two aspects. One is the inefficient apple orchards operation of farmers. The other is the disadvantageous environmental conditions which heavily affect apple growth and fruit bearing situation.

Originality/value

Most of the research are based on national statistical data, and only measure the TE. This paper primarily focuses on the estimation of efficiency scores with the data involved in both quantity and price information of traditional inputs and outputs based on 255 apple farmers in Shaanxi. Specifically, This paper also consider farmer's opportunity cost to which little literature refers. The results not only reveal the efficient determinants of apple production, but also provide suggestions for agricultural policy makers.

Article
Publication date: 2 May 2017

Wanglin Ma, Chunbo Ma, Ye Su and Zihan Nie

The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that influence Chinese apple farmers’ willingness to adopt organic farming, paying a special attention to the role of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that influence Chinese apple farmers’ willingness to adopt organic farming, paying a special attention to the role of information acquisition.

Design/methodology/approach

Given that the selection bias may occur when farmers themselves decide whether or not to acquire the information to understand the essence of organic farming, this study employs a recursive bivariate probit model to address the issue of the selection bias.

Findings

The empirical results indicate that farmers’ decision to acquire information is positively affected by farmers’ environmental awareness, access to credit and access to information. In particular, information acquisition appears to increase the likelihood of farmers’ willingness to adopt organic farming by 35.9 percentage points on average.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that measures increasing farmers’ information exposure can be promising policy interventions to induce adoption of organic farming.

Originality/value

While considerable evidence indicates that organic farming provides more benefits than conventional production practice, little is known about farmers’ willingness to adopt in China. This paper provides a first attempt by examining the role of information acquisition in determining Chinese apple farmers’ willingness to adopt.

Details

China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. 9 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-137X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 March 2018

Xiangping Jia and Harvey S. James

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role and importance of trust in a type of Chinese farmer cooperative organization called “Farm Bases” (FBs), considering the extent to…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role and importance of trust in a type of Chinese farmer cooperative organization called “Farm Bases” (FBs), considering the extent to which trust affects their performance and how the relationship between trust and FB performance is affected by perceptions of risk and uncertainty and other considerations.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors interviewed a random sample of 355 farmers, most of whom are from 42 different FBs in China. The authors operationalized organizational trust by assessing the perception of trustworthiness and competence that farmers have in FB managers. The authors conducted a regression analysis of the data to answer the research questions.

Findings

The findings support a nuanced role of trust for performance measures of FBs. Trust matters but in limited and specific contexts. Specifically, trust does not correlate with the marketing volume of Chinese FBs and only weakly correlates with FB compliance of production standards.

Originality/value

FBs play an essential role in China’s agribusiness policies and are pervasive in Chinese business practices. Very little research has been conducted on Chinese FBs and of the role of trust in organizational performance.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 120 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 September 2018

Jianyun Hou, Xuexi Huo and Runsheng Yin

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of using computers to obtain information on the farm household’s production and consumption based on a field survey of farm…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of using computers to obtain information on the farm household’s production and consumption based on a field survey of farm households in the northern China.

Design/methodology/approach

The most important methods applied are instrumental variable (IV) method and propensity score matching (PSM) method. Estimators of IV, PSM and nearest neighborhood matching approaches are considered together to check the robustness of empirical results.

Findings

This paper careful impact evaluation results suggest that the use of computer not only improves the size of arable land rented in but also reduces family labor input intensity and the probability of selling agricultural outputs at farm-gate markets. Moreover, it also stimulates transportation, garment, housing and insurance expenditures per capita.

Research limitations/implications

The database of this research comprises cross-section data, which does not support a cross-time comparison.

Practical implications

These results imply that it is vital to expand the coverage of computer use in rural areas. This may suggest that the importance of improving computer access is crucial for stimulating rural consumption increase. Furthermore, the need for the expansion of internet network coverage in western areas is also of importance.

Originality/value

First, the authors directly estimate computer usage impacts on a broader range of production and consumption indicators by including land-relative investments, variable investments, labor input and household’s expenditure and provide rigorous impact evaluations on the impact of access to computer. Second, the authors use IV and PSM methods to correct self-selection bias, going beyond the single equation approach in other studies. This enables us to identify the causal relationship between computer usage and farmer’s production and consumption decisions.

Details

China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. 11 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-137X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 1 October 2020

Xiaohui Huang, Qian Lu and Fei Yang

This paper aims to build a theoretical model of the impact of farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation measures on the agricultural output to analyze the impact…

1803

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to build a theoretical model of the impact of farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation measures on the agricultural output to analyze the impact of farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation measures on agricultural output.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the field survey data of 808 farmers households in three provinces (regions) of the Loess Plateau, this paper using the endogenous switching regression model to analyze the effect of farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation measures on agricultural output.

Findings

Soil erosion has a significant negative impact on agricultural output, and soil erosion has a significant positive impact on farmers’ adoption of soil and water conservation measures. Farmers adopt soil and water conservation measures such as engineering measures, biological measures and tillage measures to cope with soil erosion, which can increase agricultural output. Based on the counterfactual hypothesis, if farmers who adopt soil and water conservation measures do not adopt the corresponding soil and water conservation measures, their average output per ha output will decrease by 2.01%. Then, if farmers who do not adopt soil and water conservation measures adopt the corresponding soil and water conservation measures, their average output per ha output will increase by 12.12%. Government support and cultivated land area have a significant positive impact on farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation measures.

Research limitations/implications

The research limitation is the lack of panel data.

Practical implications

Soil erosion has a significant negative impact on agricultural output, and soil erosion has a significant positive impact on farmers’ adoption of soil and water conservation measures. Farmers adopt soil and water conservation measures such as engineering measures, biological measures and tillage measures to cope with soil erosion, which can increase agricultural output.

Social implications

The conclusion provides a reliable empirical basis for the government to formulate and implement relevant policies.

Originality/value

The contributions of this paper are as follows: the adoption behavior of soil and water conservation measures and agricultural output are included into the same analytical framework for empirical analysis, revealing the influencing factors of farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation measures and their output effects, enriching existing research. Using endogenous switching regression model and introducing instrumental variables to overcome the endogenous problem between the adoption behavior of soil and water conservation measures and agricultural output, and to analyze the influencing factors of farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation measures and its impact on agricultural output. Using the counter-factual idea to ensure that the two matched individuals have the same or similar attributes, to evaluate the average treatment effect of the behavior of soil and water conservation measures, to estimate the real impact of adaptation measures on agricultural output as accurately as possible and to avoid misleading policy recommendations.

Details

International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, vol. 12 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-8692

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 September 2018

Wanglin Ma and Awudu Abdulai

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of agricultural cooperative membership on farmers’ decisions to adopt integrated pest management (IPM) technology and to…

1656

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of agricultural cooperative membership on farmers’ decisions to adopt integrated pest management (IPM) technology and to estimate the impact of IPM adoption on farm economic performance.

Design/methodology/approach

An endogenous switching probit model that addresses the sample selection bias issue arising from both observed and unobserved factors is used to estimate the survey data from a sample of 481 apple households in China. A treatment effects model is employed to estimate the impact of IPM adoption on apple yields, net returns and agricultural income. In order to address the potential endogeneity associated with off-farm work variable in estimating both cooperative membership choice specification and IPM adoption specifications, a control function approach is used.

Findings

The empirical results show that cooperative membership exerts a positive and significant impact on the adoption of IPM technology. In particular, farmers’ IPM adoption decision is significantly associated with household and farm-level characteristics (e.g. education, farm size and price knowledge). IPM adoption has a positive and statistically significant impact on apple yields, net returns and agricultural income.

Practical implications

The findings indicate that agricultural cooperatives can be a transmission route in the efforts to proliferate the adoption and diffusion of IPM technology, and increased IPM adoption tends to improve the economic performance of farm households.

Originality/value

Despite the widespread evidence of health and environmental benefits associated with IPM technology, the adoption rate of this technology remains significantly low. This paper provides a first attempt by investigating to what extent and how agricultural cooperative membership affects IPM adoption and how IPM adoption influences farm economic performance.

Details

China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. 11 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-137X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2016

Wanglin Ma and Awudu Abdulai

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of marketing contract choices including written contracts, oral contracts and no contracts, as well as to examine the…

1007

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of marketing contract choices including written contracts, oral contracts and no contracts, as well as to examine the impact of marketing contracts on net returns from apple production in China.

Design/methodology/approach

A two-stage selection correction approach (Bourguignon, Fournier, and Gurgand (BFG)) for the multinomial logit model is employed to estimate the impact of marketing contracts on net returns from apple production. On the basis of the BFG estimation, the authors also use an endogenous switching regression model and a propensity score matching technique to estimate the causal effects of marketing contract choices on net returns from apple production.

Findings

The results reveal significant selectivity correction terms in the choices of both written contracts and no contracts and insignificant selectivity correction terms in the choice of oral contract, indicating that accounting for selection bias is a prerequisite for unbiased and consistent estimation. The findings also indicate written contracts increase apple farmers’ net returns, while oral contracts exert the opposite effect.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine the impact of marketing contract choices on net returns from apple production, accounting for selectivity effects.

Details

China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. 8 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-137X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 October 2015

Rong Cai and Wanglin Ma

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of trust and transaction costs on farmers’ contract enforcement choices using cross-sectional data collected from apple farmers

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of trust and transaction costs on farmers’ contract enforcement choices using cross-sectional data collected from apple farmers in China.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employs ordered probit model in a two-stage regression procedure to conduct the empirical analysis.

Findings

The empirical results show that trust and transactions costs significantly influence smallholders’ contract enforcement choices. In particular, longer distance to collective place and delayed payment have negative and significant impacts on contract enforcement, while farmers’ cognition trust has a positive and significant impact on contract enforcement. Factors such as education, distance to main road and price premium also tend to have positive and statistically significant impacts on contract enforcement choices.

Originality/value

This study used first-hand survey data to examine the impact of transaction costs and trust using proxy variables on apple farmers’ contract enforcement choices.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 117 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 December 2019

Stefano Orsini, Susanne Padel, Danilo Gambelli, Julia Lernoud, Jürn Sanders, Francesco Solfanelli, Matthias Stolze, Helga Willer and Raffaele Zanoli

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the supply chains for organic milk, apples and pasta in eight European countries and how added value is distributed among market…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the supply chains for organic milk, apples and pasta in eight European countries and how added value is distributed among market players.

Design/methodology/approach

Using secondary data and expert interviews, a market overview for the three products is provided as the basis of a more detailed analysis of the added value in 12 organic supply chain examples. For this, interviews with market players and an “added value calculator” tool are employed.

Findings

The farm gate and retail price of organic products is higher than conventional. Supermarkets are the main outlet for organic milk and apples in the countries studied, whereas the situation for organic pasta is varied, suggesting that the use of different sale channels is influenced by the food product. The farmers’ share of added value ranges between 3 and 65 per cent of the added value created in the organic supply chains analysed. Organic offers opportunities to increase the farmers’ share of added value both in supermarkets and alternative sale channels, by developing collaboration, physical infrastructures for organic and integrating operations upstream of the chain.

Research limitations/implications

While more research is needed into a larger number of chains, this paper indicates that there are dynamics and features at supply chain level, such as the distribution of added value and the target markets used, that cannot be interpreted according to the binary division between “mainstream” and “alternative” organic suggested by the conventionalisation hypothesis.

Originality/value

The distribution of added value for existing supply chains in eight European countries is calculated by using an effective added value calculator tool.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 122 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

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