The Research On Circulation Service Function Of Farmer Specialized Cooperatives

To improve the circulation service function and to enhance the circulation service capability of the specialized farmers cooperatives can effectively alter the vulnerable position of the farmers in the market and solve the domestic contradiction of "small farmers" and "big market". Through the inspection of the status of the cooperatives’ circulation service function and the analysis of the influence factors, economic effects and functioning path of the circulation service function, the paper aims to provide theoretical and practical guidance for its construction and development.First of all, the behavior decision making of circulation service supply and the value of circulation service function have been analyzed from theoretical perspective based on the definition of relevant conceptions. The circulation service function of specialized farmers cooperatives, which means the role it plays in agricultural products’distribution and marketing, includes providing market information, unifying brand/package, purchasing members’ products under protective price, holistic selling, financing loan and credit guarantee, etc. It’s essentially a club-like public service that serves the specified beneficiaries. The status of the cooperatives’ circulation service function can be measured through the harmony between the circulation service supply and the circulation service demand of the farmers. The decision making behavior of the cooperatives circulation service supply is under the mutual influence of internal elements and external environment that affect the expected profit scale and further influence the behavioral decision-making and supply level of the circulation service supply. Through its circulation service function the cooperatives can on one hand alter the vulnerable position of the farmers’ entrance and participation in market competition, and on the other hand, lower the distribution cost of agricultural products and improve the performance.Secondly, the elaboration and characteristics of the circulation service function of domestic specialized farmers cooperatives have been analyzed through large sample survey. According to the survey of 110 specialized farmers cooperatives and 394 cooperative members, there still exists a wide gap between the supply and demand of the circulation service that lead to grievous structural imbalance. The problem is mainly reflected in the following aspects:joint malposition of the service catalog of the supply and demand, low covering ratio of holistic selling service, structural imbalance of holistic selling methods and restricted credit guarantee service that hardly satisfied the farmers’ financing demand, etc. The situation is on one hand due to the perception of valuing production and depreciating distribution that causes the cognitive deviation on the specialized farmers cooperatives’ functions held by farmers and itself, especially its circulation service function have been overlooked, and on the other hand been restricted by the authority structural divergence and financial resources of the specialized farmers cooperatives which lead to the tendency of offering low cost and low risk service instead of services farmers need the most yet with higher cost.Thirdly, the influence factors and economic effects of the specialized farmers cooperatives’circulation service function have been analyzed. Empirical research indicates that marketing capability of leaders, perfection of distribution channels, internal system arrangements, informatization and its application, management, quality and quantity of professionals, government support and product type have major influence on cooperatives’circulation service function. The circulation service function would promote the integration of agricultural products’ distribution and furthermore improve the circulation channel performance of agricultural products. The key variables that affect the performance of circulation channel are contacting buyers, selling agents, providing market information and purchasing under protective price.Fourthly, the principles, path and measures that would promote the specialized farmers cooperatives’circulation service function have been systematically proposed. The study indicates that the overall principle to promote its circulation service function is to identify possible hindering locking factors and to combine the efforts of perfecting service function with eliminating structural imbalance of service supply and demand, elevating performance of circulation channel with coordinating relationships among circulating subjects and self-administrating and developing with government promoting. To promote the cooperatives’circulation service supply and function, the dual actuators developing path should be taken with internal and external drives combining marketing mechanism and government power to stimulate coordination. On one hand, on the basis of the clarification of the developing strategy of specialized farmers cooperatives, its producing-selling mode needs to be perfected, its service range should be expanded, its service capability and informatization should be enhanced, the circulation function need to be cultivated, professionals in management and marketing are needed and its internal administration needs to be standardized to improve its internal and external operation mechanism. On the other hand, the government should carry out supporting policies and provide public good to build the favorable external environment for specialized farmers cooperatives to fulfill its circulation service function.Last but not the least, the commonness, difference and their causes in circulation service supply of the specialized farmers cooperatives have been discussed and the cognition of its circulation service supply rules have been deepened through multiple case analysis of different styles of specialized farmers cooperatives according to the case study process of comparative analyzing, theory proposing and summarizing. Case study indicates that cooperatives tend to supply relatively low cost services and cooperatives of different service models, scales or products types are differentiated in service supply and path choosing with their own characteristic and value. The differentia is closely related to internal and external elements of cooperatives. Factors like larger scale, excellent entrepreneurs, perfect distribution channels, high degree of informatization, reasonable system arrangement and favorable policy and financial environment etc. have motivating effects on cooperatives circulation service supply.The study commits to contributions as follows:firstly, former researches mostly have been concentrated on the service function of the specialized farmers cooperatives while few been about its circulation service function, let alone the lack of theoretical analysis of the behavior decision making of the circulation service supply and values of the circulation service function. Hence the study has deepened the cognition of the circulation service supply behavior and its value of specialized farmers cooperatives and provided a theoretical framework for studying circulation service function of specialized farmers cooperatives; secondly, former researches on circulation services of specialized farmers cooperatives have been mostly status description with no analysis or summarizing of its supply and demand characteristics which are necessary but not sufficient to reveal the laws of supply and demand of circulation services or to provide realistic basis for the construction of cooperatives’ functions. Through the survey of 110 specialized farmers cooperatives and 394 cooperative members, the supply and demand of circulation service function of specialized farmers cooperatives have been thoroughly investigated, its characteristics been summarized and the causes of imbalance between its supply and demand been analyzed in the paper to provide realistic basis for the construction of circulation service function of specialized farmers cooperatives that complement the former researches to some extent; thirdly, former researches mainly focused on the service function and their influence factors. Though a few studies have identified the circulation service function as an important indicator of the evaluation of cooperatives’ development, its influence factors have not been studied. The depth of the domain has been expanded in the study through construction of theoretical framework and empirical study of influence factors of the specialized farmers cooperatives’ circulation service function and further strategies that would promote the construction of cooperatives’ circulation service function have been proposed; fourthly, former researches mainly focused on the economic effects of the cooperative itself and seldom embed the cooperatives into agricultural products’ circulation channels and discuss its economic effects from the perspective of channel performance. Questions such as how the circulation service affects the channel performance and its functioning mechanism have not been answered although the effect of the supply of circulation service on circulation channel performance have been identified. The study has implanted the cooperatives into the agricultural products’ circulation channel and discussed the economic effects and the functioning mechanism of the cooperatives’ circulation service function from the perspective of channel performance improvement and further revealed the critical factors that affect the channel performance of circulation service function which expanded the depth of the domain.