The Development of Rural Women’s Specialized Cooperatives in China: An Analysis from New Institutionalism Perspective

Abstract

Since the rural declining and feminization of agriculture caused by rapid urbanization in China, the women’s specialized cooperatives are an important organizational force to promote the rural agricultural economy and empower women. Taking 200 organizations in Chaoyang city of Liaoning province as the sample data, this article presents the current situation and existing problems of the rural women’s specialized cooperatives in China, and takes the new institutionalism as the basic theoretical framework. It analyzes the reasons of the problems from the level of formal institutions and informal institutions. In the formal institutions, the policy incentive system lacks rigid implementation measures, and there is no effective resultant force among the relevant organizations. In the informal institutions, rural women have the insufficient understanding of the prospects of the cooperatives, poor awareness of “brand” management and low credibility of the cooperatives. Consequently, promoting the development of the cooperatives should also start with reforming these institutions.