the Yimin information center
by establishing an information center,
Yimin would not only manage vegetable markets but provide relevant information to those working at a Yimin market.
a better circulation of the information among the supply chain agents will have five key positive effects.
1. costs
2. product quality
3. prices
4. matching supply with demand
5. productivity
first,
a number of logistic costs could be reduced,
such as transaction time and costs.
a better circulation of information is made possible in facilitating scale economy in the production areas,
which will not only increase the diversity of agricultural products but also reduce logistic costs,
such as costs of circulation,
communication,
search and travel.
second,
produce quality could be improved,
and quality uncertainties could be reduced due to the reason that producers are trying to meet the need of demanders.
third,
information sharing could help enhance the production management and thus reduce the level of prices and price dispersion.
moreover,
the imput and output price uncertainties could also be reduced.
fourth,
if is possible to improve the allocative efficiency by matching supply with demand.
when farmers' products more precisely meet the consumer preferences and expectations,
consumers tend to pay the market prices.
therefore,
inventory of goods could be lowered by matching the quantity demanded.
by providing "different varieties of commodity ideally suited for specific needs",
the quality demanded could also be matched.
finally,
productivity could be increased not only through information use but also the information shared such as weather updates and farming techniques.
however,
some researchers indicate that there is "neither a solid theoretical basis nor convincing empirical evidence to support" all the positive effects proposed,.
similarly,
little evidences was found in the literature on China's agricultural product supply chains to support those theories of possible benefits.
thus,
it is important to conduct empirical research to fill the gap of previous literature. based on he literature,
the following research questions are proposed.