Value added and governance structure: Evidence from the pear industry in China's Zhejiang province

Traditional farmer cooperatives, new generation farmer cooperatives, and investor-owned firms (IOFs), are compared regarding their value added and value added rate in terms of product marketing. The results of the analysis regarding the pear supply chain in Zhejiang province in China indicate that IOFs obtain a higher value added or value added rate than farmer cooperatives. New generation cooperatives mitigate the under-investment problem of traditional cooperatives in a certain extent. However, farmer cooperatives have some advantages over investor-owned firms in benefiting farmers. --Farmer cooperatives,Investor-owned firms,Value added

Selection of workers and firm heterogeneity

A model based on differences between workers regarding their preferences for wage and leisure drives the heterogeneity of firms result. The more industrious workers are driven to small firms due to free riding in large firms. An industry consisting of small and large firms turns out to produce more output than an industry consisting of only large firms. Some comparative statics results are derived with respect to the size of large firms, the productivity difference between firms, and monitoring capabilities