契約農業的夥伴關係之實證研究

An Empirical Study of Partnerships in Contract Farming

許多契約農業 (Contract Farming) 的相關研究指出，推行契約農業的過程，易產生高違約率及契約雙方不易達成共識之現象；為克服上述問題，若能將夥伴關係導入契約農業中，必有助於提升契約農業雙方之契約協議與合作。此外，先前對契約農業相關之研究及應用，鮮少針對契約農業夥伴關係進行探討；故本研究整合夥伴關係中KMV模型與CIM模型之相關概念，利用結構方程模式 (Structural Equation Model, SEM) 建構契約農業中之夥伴關係模型，來詮釋關係利益（知覺成本、知覺風險、競爭地位與關鍵資源）、關係品質（承諾、信任）與關係績效（關係效能、關係效率） 彼此間之關聯性。實證研究發現：知覺成本對承諾、知覺風險對承諾均具有負向影響；競爭地位對承諾、承諾對信任、信任對關係效能及信任對關係效率均具有正向影響；但關鍵資源對承諾則不顯著。由實證結果可知，關係品質在夥伴關係模型中，扮演著相當重要的中介變數，此乃隱含契約雙方間之信任及承諾之實現，對契約農業夥伴關係的長期經營及關係績效亦將有所提升。

Several prior studies have pointed out that contract farming often results in breaches of contract; the same studies highlight the difficulties firms and farmers have in reaching consensus. This study made use of structural equation modeling (SEM) to develop a partnership model based on an integration of key mediating variables (KMV) and the collaborative interest model (CIM) with an eye to facilitating effective contractual arrangements and cooperation between farmers and firms. The proposed model allows for exploration into the interactions among relationship quality (involving commitment and trust), relationship performance (effectiveness and efficiency), and relationship perceptions of cost and risk, competitive positioning, and critical resources. We then applied the proposed model to a particular case study, the empirical results of which indicate the following: both perceived costs and perceived risk have a negative impact on commitment, while competitive positioning has a positive impact. Critical resources however have no significant effect on commitment. Strong commitment in turn has a positive impact on trust. Finally, trust has a positive impact on relationship effectiveness and relationship efficiency. In terms of the efficacy of rival models, we found that relationship quality plays an important intermediary role in the efficacy of various partnership models. Our findings imply that the building of trust and commitment can improve long-term management performance and relationship performance with respect to the activities of both the farmers and firms as well as the partnership itself.