A study on the government function in the promotion of cooperatives – based on two cases of agricultural cooperatives in the Hualien-Taitung region.

• Main Authors: Chao-hsueh Pan, 潘昭雪
• Other Authors: Hurng-Jyuhn Wang
• Format: Others
• Published: 2014
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/w97j88

碩士 === 國立東華大學 === 公共行政學系 === 102 === The United Nations Assembly declared the year of 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives, indicating the growing trend of cooperative economy across the globe. The strength of a nation’s market economy is a source of national competitiveness. In the pursuit of maximizing the total utility of society, farmers usually are disadvantaged. To provide comprehensive service to all citizens, it is the government’s role and responsibility to ensure basics needs of living, health, and dignity, and also encourage cooperation. Microeconomy, also called civilian economy, is a grassroots economic organization protected by the constitution. Through cooperation and mutual support, grassroots organizations allow socially disadvantaged members to have a locally sustainable livelihood, to coexist and flourish with the land. This research used a qualitative interviewing method, in conjunction with literature review, to understand the development and benefits of promoting cooperatives in agricultural villages. The interviews focused on the farmers’ knowledge and the government function and role in the promotion of cooperatives. This study has found that farmers in remote rural areas were not acquainted with the concept of cooperatives, and appeared to be relatively indifferent towards the government’s efforts in promoting it. It appears that there is significant potential for improvement of government function, in order to match the expectation of farmers. The importance of “social enterprises” as a form of social cooperative is also worth investigating and worth the attention from society and the government. The social value from social enterprises are larger than currency rates, in the following ways: I Increasing local employment opportunities II Maintaining local environmental quality III Promoting local social harmony