Co-governance Based on Abilities and Relations

The institutional arrangement of farmer cooperatives in the coastal areas of east China is characterized by a distinct shareholding from the very beginning. After describing some basic facts of institutional arrangement of farmer cooperatives in Zhejiang, the paper puts forward a framework from perspectives such as institutions, norms, trust and commitment for studying the residual control rights of cooperatives. The authors not only point out that the governance structures of farmer cooperatives in the coastal areas of China are the co-governance structure based on the abilities and relations, but also analyze the unique roles of abilities and relations in constructing the governance structure of farmer cooperative in China.