An Analysis of the Development Mechanism of Vertical Integration of Family Farms
——A Qualitative Research Based on Grounded Theory
Abstract：In recent years，China has vigorously cultivated new agricultural business entities ，and has continuously introduced policies and measures to build a new agricultural business system. Various new types of professional farmers have continued to emerge，and new changes have occurred in the organization of agricultural industrialization. The phenomenon of vertical integration of family farms leading cooperatives and self- owned enterprises of cooperatives is worthy of attention. To explore the development mechanism of family farms vertical integration ，the authors construct a willingness-target-path model based on grounded theory. It is found that：the willingness of family farm vertical development is affected by both internal and external factors and conditions；entrepreneurial spirit，capital strength，personal experience，and operational skills are the internal factors；and government support，socialized services，institutional environment，and labor supply are the external factors. The vertical integrated development of family farms can integrate the advantages of family operation ，cooperative operation，and company operation. It has flexible operation methods and close benefit linkage mechanism ；it is conducive to resisting natural risks and business risks，and is conducive to the building of its own brand ；and it can improve the competitiveness of a new type of agricultural industrialized operation organization with family farms as the core ，cooperatives as the link，cooperatives-run enterprises as the guidance，and ordinary members as the foundation to gain the advantages brought by industrialized operation. The final target of family farm vertical integration development is to solve the dilemma in the selling of agricultural products. At the current stage，there are four path to solve this dilemma：precise market positioning，good category choice，extended product value chain，and improved product quality.
Key words：family farms；vertical integration；agricultural industrialized operation ；dilemma in the selling of agricultural products；grounded theory