Viability, Government Support and the Service Function of Farmer Professional Cooperatives—Evidence from 487 Cooperatives in 13 Cities in Heilongjiang, China

As the main body that unites farmers internally and connects with markets externally, professional farmer cooperatives are playing an increasingly important role around the world. In order to investigate the significant factors influencing this subject in agricultural socialization services, 487 cooperatives in Heilongjiang Province were selected for investigation. The field survey found that many of the better-developed cooperatives have a certain degree of inadequacy in the performance of their service functions. This paper proposes that viability and government support are important factors influencing the realization of the service function of farmer professional cooperatives. Based on the empirical analysis of sample survey data and econometric models, it was demonstrated that the experience of the chairman, the number of board members, the distribution of members, the scale of land operation, profitability, and the institutional arrangement of the cooperatives are an important embodiment of the viability of the cooperatives. These factors significantly influence the service function of cooperatives in different sections, including pre-production, mid-production, and post-production. Moreover, obtaining external support from the government is necessary for cooperatives at their primary stage of development, especially regarding relevant training, which can facilitate the realization of the service functions of cooperatives in all aspects.