The political economy of contract farming in China's agrarian transition

• 主要作者: ZHANG, Qian Forrest
• 格式: text
• 語言: English
• 出版: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2012
• 主題: contract farming; agrarian transition; rural China; agribusiness; family farming; Agribusiness; Agricultural and Resource Economics; Asian Studies
• 在線閱讀: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1040; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/2293/viewcontent/The_Political_Economy_of_Contract_Farming_in_China_s_Agrarian_Tra.pdf
• 機構: Singapore Management University

How does rural China’s political economy determine the motivations and constraints that drive small farmers and agribusiness companies into contract farming and shape its practice and impact? This paper identifies three distinctive features of contract farming in China—varied impact on rural inequality, unstable contractual relations, and lack of competitiveness with other alternatives—and proposes tentative explanations with three features in rural China’s political economy: strong collective institutions, active state support for agriculture, and strong domestic markets. The recent turn in China’s agrarian transition toward vertical integration of agriculture with industries is, however, undermining these conditions and may move China toward more convergence with other countries. Studying contract farming in China’s unique political economy context shows not only how variations in the political economy can alter its practice and impact, but also how it needs to be evaluated in comparison with competing alternatives.