How regional integration strategies enhance state farm employee performance? An empowerment perspective

Abstract

State Farm-Local Region Integration (SFLRI) represents a series of strategies aimed at optimizing the management of state-owned agribusinesses (SOAs), improving agricultural production, and promoting agricultural modernization. This study focuses on China State Farm and employs the IV-LASSO method to identify optimal instrumental and control variables. Utilizing the instrumental variable approach, the study empirically examines the impact of SFLRI on employee performance, with a particular emphasis on its empowerment effect as a mediating mechanism. The findings indicate that SFLRI significantly enhances employee task, relationship, innovation, and learning performance. This improvement is primarily driven by increased resource acquisition and strengthened risk management abilities. Furthermore, the effects of SFLRI differ based on whether employees receive farm-provided social security. Employees with farm-provided social security show improvements across all performance dimensions, whereas those without experience more limited gains, primarily in innovation and learning performance. These results provide valuable theoretical and empirical insights for advancing reforms in SOAs and improving the management efficiency and production levels of the agricultural sector.