Research On The Governance Mechanism And Performance Of Specialized Farmers Cooperatives In Sichuan Province

From July 1,2007 to now, the Law of the People's Republic of China on Specialized Farmers Cooperatives has been implementing for two years.More than two years, the Specialized Farmers Cooperatives sprang up like mushrooms.They have played an important role in the supply of agricultural materials, agricultural production, processing and marketing.However, in the different provinces of our country, the development of cooperatives is very different. In the eastern region, Cooperative governance mechanisms are increasingly improved; in the western underdeveloped areas, cooperatives are at the initial stage, the governance mechanisms have not been sufficient attention. Thus, researching the problems of these cooperatives'governance mechanisms, finding out key factors influencing the performance of these cooperatives and recommending the relevant unit carrying out cooperative guidance to address these factors; is of great significance for the development of these local cooperatives.Based on the literature review of the cooperative governance and performance studies, this paper points out that perfecting farmer cooperative governance and performance evaluation index system is necessity and urgency. After researched on 227 cooperatives which are in 13 counties 8 Cities in Sichuan Province,the author describes the cooperatives' development overview, governance status and performance status,using descriptive statistical methods, case analysis, five-point scale and other methods.Then, based on classical cooperative theory and corporate governance theory, using ordered Probit model analysis, author chooses eight first-level indicators, including the six governance indicators and two performance evaluation indicators, the former includes ownership structure, decision-making mechanism, management system, benefit distribution mechanism, the internal oversight mechanisms and external environment, the latter includes assessment of economic performance indicators and social performance indicators,and, choosing 16 secondly-level governance indicators,and 6 secondly-level performance evaluation indicators,such as top ten shareholders of the amount, the average profit of past two years.Then, author analysis the relationships between governance mechanisms and performance of cooperative.The results obtained are as follows:(1)A high degree of ownership concentration can promote cooperatives'performance in the current environment; (2) Reducing the access restrictions of cooperatives' members,and raising exit restrictions can improve the performance of cooperatives;(3)Members of the means of production and product marketing services, can promote the improvement of the performance of cooperatives;(4) The larger differences about rights in different members, the better performance the cooperatives will obtain; (5)Competition restricted the increasing in economic performance of cooperatives;(6) Relying on organizations and the unit in charge will improve cooperatives' social performance.The main conclusions:①The performance of cooperatives is closely related to its governance;②The internal mechanism and external mechanism can both affect cooperatives'performance;③Cooperative governance system needs a specification. To solve the above problems,this article gives recommendations to improve the governance of cooperatives from the internal construction of cooperatives and the government's guidance:Within the internal construction of farmers'cooperatives,it shall focus on the design and implementation of reasonable entry and exiting mechanism, benefit distribution mechanism and strengthening the various links in the service industry, capacity building.Only in this way the cooperative can become competitive market players.Government should guide the cooperatives to improve staffs'professional skills of the cooperatives, strengthen the management of cooperatives'registration and supervision,make the cooperatives in good order from the beginning, increase guidance and support and continuously improve their ability to promote industrial development.