Rural E-Commerce and Agricultural Mechanization

IF 1.9 4区 社会学 Q3 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
Fei Lu, Lu Yan
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Existing studies emphasize rural e-commerce’s impact on agricultural consumption but neglect its direct production effects. This paper first outlines the historical development of agricultural mechanization and e-commerce in China.Using a county-level panel dataset covering 1321 counties from 2011 to 2020 and leveraging the E-Commerce Demonstration Counties policy as a quasi-natural experiment, our difference-in-differences estimates show that rural e-commerce adoption significantly boosts agricultural mechanization. These findings withstand rigorous robustness checks, including IV estimation using historical newspaper office locations during the Late Qing Dynasty and Republican era as an instrument. Mechanism analysis identifies three key channels: (1) increasing farmers’ income, (2) growing new agricultural entities (e.g., agribusiness firms and cooperatives), and (3) expanding operational scale. Most notably, we find that e-commerce fundamentally reshapes agricultural production by accelerating the transition from family farms to cooperative-based and large-scale farming operations. The study further reveals that e-commerce exerts a particularly strong positive effect on agricultural development in underdeveloped counties. These findings provide empirical support for promoting agricultural mechanization in the context of e-commerce development.

农村电子商务与农业机械化
现有研究强调了农村电子商务对农业消费的影响,而忽视了其直接生产效应。本文首先概述了中国农业机械化和电子商务的历史发展。采用覆盖2011 - 2020年1321个县的县级面板数据集,并将电子商务示范县政策作为准自然实验,我们的差异估计表明,农村电子商务的采用显著促进了农业机械化。这些发现经得起严格的稳健性检验,包括使用清末和民国时期的历史报社所在地作为工具进行IV估计。机制分析确定了三个关键渠道:(1)增加农民收入;(2)发展新的农业主体(如农业综合企业和合作社);(3)扩大经营规模。最值得注意的是,我们发现电子商务通过加速从家庭农场向以合作社为基础的大规模农业经营的过渡,从根本上重塑了农业生产。研究进一步揭示了电子商务对欠发达地区农业发展的积极作用尤为强烈。这些发现为电子商务发展背景下促进农业机械化提供了实证支持。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
3.80
自引率
5.30%
发文量
57
期刊介绍: Description The journal has an applied focus: it actively promotes the importance of geographical research in real world settings It is policy-relevant: it seeks both a readership and contributions from practitioners as well as academics The substantive foundation is spatial analysis: the use of quantitative techniques to identify patterns and processes within geographic environments The combination of these points, which are fully reflected in the naming of the journal, establishes a unique position in the marketplace. RationaleA geographical perspective has always been crucial to the understanding of the social and physical organisation of the world around us. The techniques of spatial analysis provide a powerful means for the assembly and interpretation of evidence, and thus to address critical questions about issues such as crime and deprivation, immigration and demographic restructuring, retailing activity and employment change, resource management and environmental improvement. Many of these issues are equally important to academic research as they are to policy makers and Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy aims to close the gap between these two perspectives by providing a forum for discussion of applied research in a range of different contexts  Topical and interdisciplinaryIncreasingly government organisations, administrative agencies and private businesses are requiring research to support their ‘evidence-based’ strategies or policies. Geographical location is critical in much of this work which extends across a wide range of disciplines including demography, actuarial sciences, statistics, public sector planning, business planning, economics, epidemiology, sociology, social policy, health research, environmental management.   FocusApplied Spatial Analysis and Policy will draw on applied research from diverse problem domains, such as transport, policing, education, health, environment and leisure, in different international contexts. The journal will therefore provide insights into the variations in phenomena that exist across space, it will provide evidence for comparative policy analysis between domains and between locations, and stimulate ideas about the translation of spatial analysis methods and techniques across varied policy contexts. It is essential to know how to measure, monitor and understand spatial distributions, many of which have implications for those with responsibility to plan and enhance the society and the environment in which we all exist.   Readership and Editorial BoardAs a journal focused on applications of methods of spatial analysis, Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy will be of interest to scholars and students in a wide range of academic fields, to practitioners in government and administrative agencies and to consultants in private sector organisations. The Editorial Board reflects the international and multidisciplinary nature of the journal.
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