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Too Cheap Hurt Farmers, Too Expensive Hurt Customers: The Changing Impacts of Supermarkets on Chinese Agro-food Markets

Author

Listed:
  • Lixia Mei
  • Dan Shao

    (School of Management, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, China.)

Abstract

The supermarket revolution has arrived in China; however, it does not play a role as active as expected. The prices of vegetables fluctuate drastically, which making farmers disinterested in their production, while customers find them too expensive to consume. In this paper, we try to explain this dilemma from various aspects, with a focus on the changing impacts of supermarkets on Chinese agro-food markets, based on a survey of 200 buyers in five large supermarkets at Wuhan, Hubei province of China; and as a result, to further understand the shifting dynamics of Chinese agricultural development and transformation, in the specific context of global agro-food production networks.

Suggested Citation

  • Lixia Mei & Dan Shao, 2011. "Too Cheap Hurt Farmers, Too Expensive Hurt Customers: The Changing Impacts of Supermarkets on Chinese Agro-food Markets," Millennial Asia, , vol. 2(1), pages 43-64, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:millen:v:2:y:2011:i:1:p:43-64
    DOI: 10.1177/097639961100200104
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    References listed on IDEAS

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