DOES JOINING A FARMER'S PROFESSIONAL COOPERATIVE INCREASE THE WELFARE OF FARMERS?—BASED ON THE EVIDENCE OF FARMERS IN SOUTHWEST CHINA

Abstract. Based on field survey data of 1448 households in 50 villages in Q area, this paper uses the endogenous transformation regression model (ESRM) to analyze the impact of farmers joining professional cooperatives on family welfare under counterfactual scenarios, and further examines its mechanism of action. The study found that: (1) Farmers’ participation in professional cooperatives produces spillover effects and promotes the increase of farmers’ welfare; (2) The welfare effects of joining farmers’ professional cooperatives are also related to the differences in the farmers’ own family endowments, with higher family knowledge and cultural levels and more labor, Farmers with a large number of migrant workers have higher welfare effects of participating in cooperatives, otherwise the welfare effects will be lower; (3) The number of patients in farm households, the number of farmers, the size of the family, the number of elderly people, whether to borrow money, education level, etc. Factors have a significant role in promoting the participation of farmers in the decision-making of farmers' professional cooperatives, while factors such as the number of laborers, the number of workers, and age have a significant inhibitory effect on farmers' participation in the decision-making of farmers' professional cooperatives; (4) The increase in the number of workers, the number of farmers and the decline in the number of laborers indicate The efficiency of cooperatives in this area is low, and there are unnecessary losses; therefore, farmers should be encouraged to participate in cooperative operations.