Efficiency Optimization And Institutional Innovation Of The Operating Of Family Farms

With large-scale non-agricultural transfer of rural labor forces and the great change of rural society, the problems of the former "Household Contract Responsibility System" have increasingly revealed. The trend of agricultural operators is becoming part-time farming and low-quality. Rural society is becoming "Institutionalized Petty Peasant Economy with work while tillage ".Who are the major operators to promote the development of modern agricultural and farmers' income, alternatively, who are going to farm, has become a pressing issue. The new multiple agricultural operators represented by specialized households, family farms, peasants' cooperative and commercial enterprises have made overall framework, in which the family farm has received the key support.However, there are some questions to be answered, e.g. Does the family farm has the advantage in being the main body of market to improve the development of the modern agriculture and making the leading form that contributes to the complementation and industry collaboration in the multiple agricultural operators through institutional innovation? Is there linear relationship between the scale and the efficiency in the family farm and which is the moderate scale? Therefore this paper focuses on the theory analysis and empirical study on the institutional innovation and optimization of the efficiency in development of the family farm, which will make sense in the development of the family farm system and construction of new agricultural operators.Guided by the New Institutional Economics theories and Organizational Economics theories, this paper aimed at the family farm and follows the transformation of agricultural operators and institutional innovation of the family farm on the macro examination, took the efficiency analysis of the family farm sample and the associated impact factor as key points on the micro examination,which gave the points gradually through the combination of macro and micro examination, qualitative and quantitative analysis, as well as normative research and empirical research. In the end, the institutional innovation to improve the development of the family farm, and conclusions about the efficiency optimization and the relevant suggestions on the mechanisms and policies was given. To be specific, the study included:Chapter 1 is Introduction. The study began with the topic background, raised the questions, illuminated the main direction, content, methods, and theoretical framework on the study purpose, possible innovation points and restrictions were also introduced.Chapter 2 is Concept Definition and Research Review. This part mainly introduced the related concept and characteristics, the connotation, the analysis and conclusions on domestic and overseas relevant research results in recent years,especially in China, to provide direction and inspiration of the study.Chapter 3-5,The first is study on the Demands and Institutional Supply on the Development of the Family Farms. The chapter included the theoretical derivation about the institutional change and institutional characteristics of family farms, the main bottleneck in the development of agricultural operators and the endogenous demand on family farms, the analysis on the relevant questions about policy support and institutional supply, and the theoretical logic and realistic necessity of family farms institution innovation.The Second is The Analysis Model of Efficiency and the Collection of Family Farms Samples. Refer to the basic judge of controversy "Scale and Efficiency" on the economics research,the part proposed methods that based on nonparametric DEA model and supplemented with parametric SFA model by using theory and method of the efficiency analysis and due to the investigation on the development of distinctive family farms in Fujian, to build the model of theoretical analysis, to design the questionnaire, and to make descriptive statistical analysis on the samples.Third is The Empirical Analysis on Managing Efficiency and Optimization of Family Farms in Fujian. The studies on the comprehensive efficiency, technical efficiency and scale efficiency, and the impact factors of family farms from different industries with varied scales were conducted by using nonparametric DEA and parametric SFA. The results indicated that there was nonlinear relationship between the land scale and efficiency; and high efficiency was found in small-scale and super-scale family farm. It was common that the inadequate production and redundant investment occurred in sample family farms,especially the investment on the land and labor that should be one of the major reasons for the low scale benefits. In addition, the scale efficiencies and impact factors varied with the industries, in which the new technology and multiple agriculture management had an important positive impact on the improvement of family farm efficiency, while no significant influence was found by brand of agricultural products, the training that the farmer received, and the gender of the farmer. Total negative impact was showed in the age of the farmer and the investment on the family labors.Chapter 6 is Institutional Arrangement and Policy Enlightenments from Family Farms in Developed Countries and Regions. Compared with the family farms in developed countries and regions such as the United States, UK, and Taiwan, it demonstrated that family farms was an effective and suitable form for the development of agricultural economics, differences of family farms were great due to the resources endowments. To set up the farm cooperative organization was the common experiences, and government support was a necessary condition to promote the development of modern family farms, and land system was the basic premise of family farms development.Chapter 7 is study on Institutional Innovation in Family Farms. The chapter included the systematism and collectivization of the family farms, establishment of cooperatives, the training of enterprise system, and so on. It also describe the agriculture employment system, the land property right system, rural finance and insurance system,socialized service system that were associated with the internal and external institutional innovation of the family farm.Chapter 8 is Conclusion and Suggestion. The main conclusions of this study have been summarized and deduced. Some policy recommendations that centered on the institutional innovation and family farming "scale and efficiency" were proposed to promote the training of the professional family farmers, the reinforcement of agricultural socialization service, the public financial support,rural commercial financial support which contributed to the development of family farm.Compared with similar studies, the new explorations were introduced into this study listed as follows, thought there were still some restrictions:(1) The institutional features, internal requirement and external system environment were explored by the combination of theory and empirical studies.(2) Taken Fujian as an example, the comprehensive efficiencies, technology efficiencies, scale efficiencies, and the impact factors of the family farm samples were analyzed empirically by compare and application of the DEA and SFA. The basic conclusions about the non-linear relationship between "scale and efficiency"with management-characteristics in regional industries, and the optimization of the farm efficiency were proposed,which enriched the similar regional and characteristic theory points.(3) The institution innovations, efficiency optimization and relevant policy suggestions on organizational system, production elements market system, and modern enterprise system were proposed, which made sense to most of the hill and mountain regions and the coastal provinces in Southeast.(4) Restrictions. So far, the family farm in Fujian is still at early stage with the shortage of mature theoretical support or relevant practical experience and operation data extensively or permanently. It was possible that the study on the policy overwhelmed that on the theory, the testifications were difficult for the empirical analysis, which possibly to lead to biases of the conclusions.