Probing actors role in social interaction for rice price transmission

Abstract

This research focus on the rice actors in a social interaction associated with price transmission in a multi-tier rice supply chain. A case study and qualitative methods are employed to examine a well-established supply network. A case study is taken place in the District of Karawang, the rice central production of West Java, Indonesia. It has been argued that the imbalance on price transmission lies in bargaining and market competition among actors. The role of actors’ behavior and the process of social interaction that is constructed and reproduced are regarded as important parts of price transmission. Adaptive structuration theory (AST) is proposed as a research framework, based on actors, structures and agencies taking place through social interaction. Based on the AST, nine propositions were developed. The nine proposition of AST testing, 33 rice actors’ were learned to identify a claim, the evidence for that claim, a general rule that connects the claim and evidence, a rebuttal to the claim, and a qualifier indicating the strength of the argument. Evidence reveals that significant factors related to social interaction is actors’ behavior which guided and influenced by social norms, power and network to maintain the flow of rice price transmission, mitigate risk and avoid losses due to poor quality of the rice product. Findings show that social interaction enables actors in an end-to-end rice supply chain to deal with the assurance of supply rationing and profit received.