Abstract：Given the growing constraints of resources and environment in China, coupled with unprecedented emphases on food security and quality safety, it is of great significance to explore whether and how new agricultural operating entities can promote farmers’ green production. This article provides a comprehensive analysis on the influence and mechanisms of new agricultural operating entities on farmers’ green production, based on empirical tests by using panel fixed effect model and difference-in-differences model. The empirical analysis draws on data from Zhejiang University’s China Family Database (2017 and 2019), with a sample of 609 villages and 5836 farmer households from 29 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) nationwide, which makes the sample representative of the whole country.
This research has the following contributions. First, it comprehensively analyzes and compares the effects of different types of new agricultural operating entities—family farms, farmer cooperatives, and agricultural companies—on the green production practices of farmers. Second, it explores the influence of the new agricultural operating entities on the green production of common farmers within the village, rather than focusing on the directly linked farmers of the entities. Third, it examines whether the positive effects of new agricultural operating entities on farmers’ green production are achieved at the expense of farmers’ economic benefits, and based on this, discusses the sustainability of these effects. Finally, unlike most studies using cross-sectional data from surveys conducted in some specific areas, this article uses panel data from nationwide surveys and applies both panel fixed effect model and difference-in-differences model to analyze the effects of new agricultural operating entities on farmers’ green production. This approach effectively addresses endogenous bias in econometric estimations and improves the reliability of the research findings.
The results show that new agricultural operating entities significantly reduce farmers’ use of chemical fertilizers, thus promoting their green production to some extent, but they have no significant influence on farmers’ use of pesticides and agricultural films. This implies that the effects of new agricultural operating entities on farmers’ green production are subject to certain limitations. Various robustness tests were conducted to ensure the reliability of the results. The mechanism analysis reveals that new agricultural operating entities can promote farmers’ green production through the provision of information services, agricultural machinery services, and market sales services. However, technical services do not play a significant role in farmers’ green production. This may be because the technical services provided generally target at outputs and productivity lift rather than environmental sustainability. The heterogeneity analysis shows that, among various types of new agricultural entities, cooperatives play a pivotal role in promoting farmers’ green production, while family farms and agricultural companies do not display significant influence. New agricultural operating entities exert larger effects on farmers with smaller farmland, no off-farm employment, and with land property rights certificates. Finally, this study finds that in villages with new agricultural operating entities, farmers with fewer chemical inputs achieve greater economic benefits, while in villages without such entities, reductions in chemical inputs have negative effects on farmland productivity. This suggests that in villages with new agricultural operating entities, farmers are able to reduce chemical inputs while improving economic outcomes.
Based on these findings, this article proposes policy implications such as providing support to cultivate and develop new agricultural operating entities, enhancing the diversity of services provided by these entities and improving their inclusiveness toward farmers with different characteristics.
梁巧 马康伟. 新型农业经营主体能推动农户绿色生产吗？——以化学投入品减量为例[J]. 浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版), 0, (): 1-.
Liang Qiao Ma Kangwei. Can New Agricultural Operating Entities Promote Farmers’ Green Production? Based on the Reduction of Agricultural Chemical Inputs. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 0, (): 1-.
