Research On The Development Of Hog Industrial Organization In The Transition Period Of China

Hog industry,an important industry to guarantee the quality of national life and increase farmers' income,is of fundamental strategic significance to the development of national economy just like grain production.Since the reform and opening up,the acceleration of China's industrialization and urbanization has both positive and negative impacts on the development of its hog industry.On the one hand,industrialization and urbanization are able to support the hog industry in terms of the industrial chain and increase the income of urban and rural residents,and then to improve the food consumption level including the consumption of pork products.On the other hand,the secondary industry and the tertiary industry enjoy competitive advantages in the competition of resources,which crushes the development space of the hog industry as it belongs to the primary industry,leading to a gradual increase in the production cost of hogs.Moreover,the changes in supply and demand in the market resulted from the increase in the production cost are likely to cause relatively volatile market fluctuations.It can be safely concluded that China's hog industry is in an unprecedented transitional stage with the following characteristics:a tightening of resource and environmental restrictions,small-scale,lowly organized or specialized,an industrial transition propelled by the e-commerce of husbandry,an extension of the price fluctuation cycle,high prices of imported pork and a rapid growth of feed and labor costs.In order to meet the challenges posed by growing environmental pressure,more specialized division of labor and fiercer market competition,it is of vital significance for China's hog industry to improve its degree of organization.Currently,on the whole,the hog industry in China is poorly organized and is at a key juncture during its transition.It faces problems like relatively small scale,loose ties,unstandardized governance and a lack of market competiveness and organizational driving force.Besides,farming entities at the grassroots level,especially individual farmers and small and medium-sized farmers,still belong to the vulnerable group in the hog industrial chain.Therefore,it is urgent to conduct a study on the improvement of organization system of China's hog industry,optimization of its organization pattern as well as behaviors and adaptability of farming entities from the perspective of industrial organizations,so as to benefit the transitional development of the hog industry and improve its competitiveness.From this point of view,this paper mainly studies China's hog industry from three aspects:a study on its organization system at the macro level;a study on its organization pattern at the meso level;and a study on behaviors and organizational performance of farmers at the micro level.It is hoped that the sustained,benign and generalized cooperative behaviors of farmers at the micro level will promote the optimization of organization pattern at the meso level and finally improve the organization system of the hog industry at the macro level.Specifically,it is through guiding the behaviors of farmers and optimizing the industrial organization pattern that we can build a more full-:fledged organization system of the hog industry,effectively reduce various risks facing the industry,and promote the sound development of the hog industry during its transition.Based on a review of relevant theories and literature as well as the current situation of China's hog industry,this paper analyzes the organization system of China's hog industry at the macro level,laying emphasis on its evolution after the founding of New China.Meanwhile,based on the ANT Theory,this paper also conducts an in-depth analysis of two hog breeding areas in Jinhua and Rongchang with provenance advantage and industrial characteristics,and builds a multi-entity network of the breeding areas,also known as the organization system of the hog industry.Besides,this paper,according to the classification of vertical combinations of entities and transaction relations,mainly discusses seven organization patterns of the hog industry,and applies case study method to in-depth analyses of their practices in China,elaborating the transaction relation and governance mechanism behind each pattern.Last but not the least,this paper also focuses on the farming entities at the micro level,exploring how transaction fees and social capital influence farmers'selection of marketing channels,and whether participating in cooperatives can reduce costs and increase income,avoid operational risks and influence farmers5 performance.The study finds out that the optimization of organization system of special hog breeding areas is a result of cooperation among various entities like government departments,farming enterprises,slaughter and meat-processing enterprises,financial institutions and scientific research institutes,as well as a result of combination between internal and external forces.In terms of the organization pattern of the hog industry,the study discovers that each transaction relation has more than one governance mechanism,and indeed,different x governance mechanisms such as market,relation,contract and equity will have various combinations and appear in transaction relations.With regard to farming entities at the micro level,cooperatives,leading enterprises and middlemen(hog sellers)are the three major marketing channels for farmers;moreover,negotiation cost,executory cost,transportation cost and social capital such as relationship network,social trust and reciprocal norm all have a significant influence on farmers' selection of their marketing channels.In terms of production,participating in cooperatives can enhance farmers' performance by mechanisms like reducing their production cost and avoiding farming risks.Based on the above-mentioned findings,this paper puts forward policy suggestions which help China's hog industry to adapt itself to the innovation and optimization of its organization system during the transition of China's agriculture and to tackle various risks and development problems.This paper possibly has three innovative points.First,innovation in research ideas.This paper,from the perspective of hog industrial organizations,conducts systematic elaboration on organization system,organization pattern,and behaviors of entities at the macro,meso and micro level respectively,boasting clear thinking and multi-dimension,which is innovative to acertain extent.Second,innovation in research Perspective.In Chapter 5,the author uses thesocial ANT to analyze the industrial organization system and related actors of the two major pig producing areas,and constructs the subject network of the related subjects;And then in Chapter 7,when measuring influencing factors of farmers'selection of their marketing channels by applying Tobit model,this paper takes both social capital and transaction fees into consideration rather than regards social capital as a variable with individual characteristics.This paper,when analyzing problems,tries to integrate economics with sociology which are complementary to each other,so as to have a more in-depth and realistic analysis,which is innovative to some extent.Third,innovation in case studies.In Chapter 6,this paper applies case study method to detailed classifications of and elaboration on seven organization patterns.Each pattern,instead of setting a Platonic "ideal pattern" or copying foreign models,finds its corresponding case in reality,which makes the analyses of these seven patterns of flesh and blood.As this paper has not only theoretical support but also practical case studies,its results can provide a reference for front-line workers in terms of the application of those organization patterns.