The purpose of this study is to assess the potential of clustering in the development of agriculture and rural communities in China. We shall examine in detail the food industry, which is the link in the food chain that propels the industrialization of agriculture, and identify instances of...

This paper examines Chinese pesticide firms’ use and perceptions of various means of intellectual property (IP) protection in protecting their innovations, using a unique dataset from 97 pesticide firms surveyed in 2008. These firms rate Chinese patents as quite effective in protecting...

China’s melamine milk adulteration crisis highlights the challenges that arise as large well-capitalized companies procure raw materials from a diffused supply chain of scattered small farmers and milk collection stations. As milk prices climbed sharply in 2007 and companies branched out into...

In the past China has been self-sufficient in beef products, but, with a dramatic increase in consumer spending on food, demand for beef, which is seen as a novel and nutritious food, has grown. By employing a partial equilibrium model and sensitivity analysis under different scenarios, this...

Using a survey data of 700 traders, this study scrutinizes contract choices and enforcement for agricultural traders in China. This study finds that market service and environment are very important for both contract choices and enforcement. Better market service and environment can increase the...

We use Sperber's intermediairies and the firm theory to analyze the rural socialized service organizations. By studying the case of the melon association in Beihe Village of Uqiao Township in Beijing, we find that the basic existing objective of this association is to save transaction cost. The...