讲座题目： Quality Control through Retail Contracting -- On the Role of Agricultural Cooperative

　　报告人：余建宇(西南财经大学，教授)

　　报告时间：2018年5月21日(周一)上午10:00-11:30

　　报告地点：经管院 B228

　　主办单位：数理经济与数理金融系，主持人：李晓蹊

　　中文摘要: 农业合作社作为一种农民集体组织形式在协调农产品生产中的作用一直饱受争议。现有文献分别从理论、实证方面发现合作社内部容易存在搭便车现象，尤其在农产品食品质量、安全这些无法观测的方面，搭便车现象尤为突出。然而，一些针对中国的调研发现，当下游的供应商对质量有要求时，更倾向于与农民合作社而非个体农户签订质控合约。本文基于Rey and Tirole(2007)、McAfee and Schwartz (1994) 的隐秘合同(secret contract)理论，考察下游供应商如何通过与农户签订合约控制农产品质量，文章结论为合作社作为连接农户和供应商这一组织的有效性提供了理论支撑。

　　英文摘要: Agricultural cooperatives (coops) play an important role in coordinating production of different stakeholders along the agri-food production chain. However, empirical evidence in both developed and developing countries show that coops are inefficient in providing quality and high-value added products. Question arises why coops still prevail in coordinating quality provision of retailers in the agri-food chain? Based on the theory of secret contract (Rey and Tirole 2007, McAfee and Schwartz 1994), we develop a model to investigate the behavior of farmers facing a representative retailer who uses contract to control quality of the agricultural product. We find that when the retailer deals with individual farmers and cannot observe individual quality, inefficiency arises because the retailer may have incentive to behave opportunistically and provides a contract that exploits the interest of other farmers, leading to inefficiency in quality provision. The outcome is the same as the free-riding outcome when farmers form a coop and sells directly to final market. However, when farmers form a coop and the retailer signs contract with the coop based on the average quality, the industry efficiency can be achieved because coop can be seen by the retailer as a commitment device to prevent the opportunistic behavior of the retailer. This paper thus provides a new explanation on the positive role of coop in quality provision along agri-food chain.

　　简介: 余建宇女士于2009自法国图卢兹经济学院获经济学博士学位，现为西南财经大学经济与管理研究院正教授。余建宇教授的研究领域为产业组织，尤其关心农业、食品行业以及相关产业政策，同时对于供应链的垂直关系研究也抱有兴趣。余教授的研究文章已发表于国内外学术期刊如European Review of Agricultural Economics, Journal of Retailing, Economics Letters，《经济研究》，《世界经济文汇》等。