團結力量大？論農民組織對主力農家之經濟影響

Unity is Strength? Assessing the Economic Impacts of Farmer Organization Membership on the Primary Farm Households

臺灣主要的農民組織有三種類型 (農會、產銷班及農業合作社)，此與其他國家多以合作社為主之單一型態有所不同。由於此些農民組織的位階、經營項目與成員組成皆有差異，因此，加入不同農民組織對於農業家戶經濟表現所產生的影響亦可能有所不同。本研究利用2013年主力農家調查資料，以多項選擇下之樣本選擇模型 (multinomial sample selection model, MSSM) 檢視主力農家之農民組織參與影響因素及農民組織參與之平均處理效果 (average treatment effect, ATE)。實證結果顯示，主要經營者之性別、年齡、教育程度、從農經驗、全年從事農牧業日數、從事農業前的工作經歷及生產規模 (農戶自家人力、耕地面積) 等因素，都會影響農民是否參加農民組織及參加何種農民組織的機率。再就農民組織對於農家經濟表現的影響效果而言，本研究發現，在控制可能影響農家利潤率之社會經濟變數並修正農民組織參與選擇的內生性後，農家中有成員為產銷班員或合作社員者，其加入農民組織之平均處理效果分約為88,000元及44,000元。由於農業合作社及產銷班在本質上垂直整合的程度高於農會，且社員或班員數亦遠低於地方農會，結果說明，透過理念相同且專業接近之農民組成合作社或產銷班等較小型而垂直整合程度高的農民組織，對於改善我國小農經營之困境當可發揮相當的效果。

 

There are three types of farmer organizations in Taiwan: farmer associations (FAs), agricultural production and marketing groups (APMGs), and agricultural cooperatives (Coops), which is different from most of the countries in the world. Due to the differences in hierarchy, managerial and operating aims and goals, and member compositions among the three, the effects of farmer organization participation may also vary. This study utilizes the Primary Farmer Household Survey (PFHS) conducted in 2013 by the Taiwanese government. The empirical research estimates the determining factors and the average treatment effects of farmer organization participation based on a multinomial sample selection model. The factors influential to the participation behavior and the choice of joining a certain type of farmer organization are annual working days on own-held farm, production scale (measured by in-household labor and cultivate land area), prior work experience, and main conducting types (husbandry or agriculture) or crop types. The economic impacts of participation are also confirmed. The results show that, after controlling for the social-economic variables affecting farmer households’ profit and the endogeneity arising from self-selection, farm households participating in APMGs or Coops reveal better economic performance than those joining FAs or non-participants. The participation in APMGs brings an average treatment effect of agricultural profits for 88,000 NTD, and Coops for 44,000 NTD. In addition to being smaller than the FAs, APMGs and Coops are characterized by higher level of vertical-integration. The results therefore suggest that the formation of small in scale but highly integrated organizations such as APMGs and Coops can be a promising path to overcome the challenges confronted by the smallholder farmers in Taiwan.