Journal of Rural Studies最新文献

{"title":"How can rural e-commerce promote green production on family farms in China? Evidence from Hunan Province","authors":"Xianxiong Xie ,&nbsp;Zhihui Luo ,&nbsp;Lin Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103843","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103843","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Family farms are crucial for promoting the green transformation of China's agriculture, but their green production (GP) level remains low under the traditional sales model. Rural e-commerce (RE), facilitated by the “Internet +”, has the potential to overcome this challenge; however, its theoretical and empirical efficacy remains unproven. This article aims to verify the impact of RE on family farms' GP. To do so, we establish a theoretical framework, and use endogenous switching regression (ESR) to investigate the impact based on survey data collected from 836 farms in Hunan province, China. We find that participation in RE can significantly promote GP on family farms, with an average treatment effect of 1.175, indicating a 24.05 % improvement in GP. The finding remains robust after a series of tests. The analysis of heterogeneity shows RE is more effective in improving the GP of family farms with a social e-commerce model, large-scale operation, growing food crops, and cooperative membership. It is also more conducive to promoting GP in family farms without product certification, atypical demonstration, and low land tenure security. Further mechanism analysis results show the impact is mainly driven through five mechanisms: expected price incentive, transaction cost saving, mitigation of credit constraint, convenient information access, and quality reputation guarantee. These results suggest that the government enhances investment in rural e-commerce infrastructure, actively promote social e-commerce, develop differentiated support policies, and facilitate practical channels for e-commerce to drive green transformation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"120 ","pages":"Article 103843"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144865148","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Inventing lively rural areas: Characteristics, motivations, and regional triggers of young in-migrant tourism entrepreneurs in South Korea","authors":"Eun-Young You ,&nbsp;Shayegheh Ashourizadeh ,&nbsp;Emmanuel Akwasi Adu-Ampong ,&nbsp;Edward H. Huijbens","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103842","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103842","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the context of planetary urbanization, the South Korean government has sought to revitalize rural areas through policies aimed at encouraging urban-to-rural migration of young so-called ‘local creators.’ These policies, combined with rural post-productivism, have attracted young tourism entrepreneurs to rural areas. This study aims to investigate the counter-urbanization of Young in-Migrant Tourism Entrepreneurs (YMTEs), who are drivers of the transition towards post-productivism and potential catalysts for rural revitalization. Using an analytical framework combining in-Migrant Tourism Entrepreneurs (MTE) research and Creative Class theory, this study analyzes interviews with 20 YMTEs, revealing their characteristics, motivations, and rural regional triggers. This research not only broadens MTE research but also extends the application of Creative Class theory—originally developed for metropolitan contexts—to the case of YMTEs in rural areas. Moreover, it presents a comprehensive framework for understanding the spatial mobility patterns of YMTEs in South Korea. The insights from this study not only deepen academic understanding of global rural transitions but also offer practical guidance for rural development through counter-urbanization and tourism.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"120 ","pages":"Article 103842"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144852470","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Decoding rural territorial heterogeneity: Optimization pathways via Pole-Field-Area-Net structure analysis","authors":"Yu Sun,&nbsp;Jing Ning","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103840","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103840","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The imbalance between urban and rural development is the core challenge of global sustainable development in the 21st century, and its essence is the structural contradiction in the spatial allocation of resource elements and the effective identification of the spatial structure and development type of rural territorial system is a critical way to promote the integrated development of urban and rural areas in the future. It employs the entropy-TOPSIS method, gravity model, K-means clustering, geodetector, and other techniques to identify and construct the multidimensional spatial structure of ‘Pole-Field-Area-Net’ in Binxian County. The results of the study demonstrate that: (1) Based on the multidimensional structural framework of ‘Pole-Field-Area-Net’ in a rural territorial system, six village revitalization poles (VRP), four township space fields (TSF), and ten village development areas (VDA) were identified and divided in Binxian. Among them, the VRP drive the development of the surrounding area through the economic radiation effect, the TSF promote the exchange of resources as the carriers of urban and rural factor flow, and the VDA forms synergistic effects through the complementary functions. (2) The integrated rural and village-level geographical resource development indicators objectively reflect the differentiated spatial development of rural villages in typical agricultural counties in Northeast China, with their development levels all showing apparent geographical differentiation. (3) A methodology for identifying the development types of rural territorial systems has been constructed, and differences in the distribution characteristics of regional links between different villages and towns have been explored. Based on the differences in functional advantages and development orientation, targeted optimization paths are proposed for different types of rural revitalization poles, village and township spatial fields and rural development zones. The study provides case studies for global suburban integration villages and has far-reaching significance in cracking the urban-rural dichotomy, establishing two-way factor flow channels, and promoting urban-rural functional spatial restructuring.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"120 ","pages":"Article 103840"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144852373","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Afforestation on agricultural land in England: Applying the Theoretical Domains Framework and Behaviour Change Wheel to identify the enablers of change within farmer behaviour","authors":"J. Urquhart,&nbsp;A. Goodenough,&nbsp;P.L. Staddon,&nbsp;J. Mills,&nbsp;J. Powell,&nbsp;M. Vigani ,&nbsp;P. Simmonds","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103848","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103848","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Increasing woodland creation and tree planting on agricultural land requires significant changes in farmer behaviour. Understanding the underlying factors influencing farmers' behaviour can help to inform the design and development of effective policies and interventions that aim to facilitate an increase in tree cover and woodland on farmland. This paper presents a systematic review of 104 studies, analysed using the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) model to identify the barriers and enabling factors that will help or hinder woodland creation and tree planting on farmland. These insights, together with the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW), support the identification of policy interventions aimed at facilitating farmer behaviour change. The most frequently reported TDF domains related to ‘environmental context and resources’, particularly in terms of individual characteristics (e.g. age, education, life stage), structural on-farm factors (e.g. tenure, farm size, land suitability) and access to government grant schemes; and ‘social influences’ such as group norms, peer networks and consumer demand. Motivational factors such as ‘professional identity’ and ‘beliefs about consequences’ were also important enablers or barriers. Heterogeneity of the farming community means that a mix of interventions is required which align with the different beliefs, values, attitudes and contexts of farmers. Applying the TDF and BCW to farm woodland creation behaviour can be helpful for developing theory-informed policy interventions, but the method could be improved through adaptation to account for the specific context of farmer behaviour.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"120 ","pages":"Article 103848"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144852374","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Where does place-based identity come from? The role of place experience","authors":"Alina Zumbrunn ,&nbsp;Antonia Lang ,&nbsp;Rubén García del Horno","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103830","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103830","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In recent times, there has been an upsurge in research on the rural-urban divide. A consensus is emerging within the academic community, recognizing that place of residence is influential for a number of political attitudes and behaviours, and that place can be understood as a distinct social identity. However, this raises the question of where this identity comes from in the first place. We address this question by drawing upon social identity theory, place experience and the contact hypothesis as theoretical frameworks. Our study examines the explanatory power of two kinds of lived experiences: First, past experiences, i.e. place of residence while growing up, number of moves, and years spent in one's place. Second, present experiences, i.e. contact with members of the in- and outgroup. Our empirical analysis leverages a comprehensive dataset encompassing responses from more than 13,000 individuals across four European countries, collected in the year 2022. Our results reveal that having grown up in the same type of place – rural or urban – and having frequent contact with people from the ingroup increases place-based identity. This is not just true for the absolute level of contact with the ingroup but also for the ratio between ingroup and outgroup contact. Our results not only contribute to a deeper understanding of the ramifications associated with place-based identity, but also are crucial for addressing and ameliorating the divide between rural and urban areas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"120 ","pages":"Article 103830"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144829251","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Farmers' perceived values in intercropping: An application of the means end chain framework in Swedish agriculture","authors":"Thanh Mai Ha ,&nbsp;Frida Svensson ,&nbsp;Julia Thelin ,&nbsp;Gordana Manevska-Tasevska ,&nbsp;Martin Weih ,&nbsp;Helena Hansson","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103835","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103835","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Values have been recognized as the principles that guide individuals' actions and behaviour. Insight into important values that drive farmers' behaviour in intercropping adoption, a sustainable farming practice, can contribute to promoting the adoption. This paper investigates the role that values take in shaping farmers' decision to intercrop in Sweden. Specifically, drawing upon the means end chain (MEC) approach and laddering interviews, the paper explores how intercropping farmers, in their own words, describe the attributes of intercropping, consequences of those attributes, and the values achieved from those consequences. The paper found that yield improvement, good fodder and healthy soil were the most prominent perceived attributes. Cost reduction and profitability were perceived by farmers as the two most important consequences of intercropping. Results highlight that though both pecuniary and non-pecuniary values jointly shaped the decision to intercrop, the former is the stronger motivator for adopting decision. The existence of multifaceted values suggests that intercropping farmers have strived for not only viable farm businesses but also environmental protection, social responsibility, and the happiness in their faming occupation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"120 ","pages":"Article 103835"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144829250","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Farmer identities and perceptions of public good provision","authors":"Peter G. Matthews ,&nbsp;Robert D. Fish ,&nbsp;Joseph Tzanopoulos","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103836","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103836","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Agricultural policy discourse highlights the role of farmers as providers of public goods to justify agri-environmental measures. England's post-Brexit agricultural policy reform, with its originally stated aim of ‘public money for public goods’, presented an opportunity to assess how farmers respond to this idea. Informed by social psychological accounts of how farmer management reflects their identities, our thematic analysis of qualitative interviews with farmers in south-east England examines their interpretations of public goods and willingness to identify as public good providers. Farmer interpretations of public goods as both commodities and benefits helped them categorise certain farming outputs as distinct public goods. Views of public goods were also linked to the context in which farmers saw the concept being used. Farmer scepticism reflected familiar arguments for why farmer identities may resist change: farmers linked appeals to public goods to concerns over lost opportunities to generate symbolic capital underpinning good farmer identities and external challenges to productivist identities represented by a narrative around farming's environmental harms. While many farmers sought to reject this narrative, some saw opportunities to shift the narrative provided they could secure more direct public recognition of farming's diverse benefits. To achieve this, the interviews highlighted the value of making signals of farmer quality more accessible to non-farming audiences. Despite the challenges involved, we suggest this is worth pursuing for the potential benefits in reducing farmers' sense of disconnection from wider society, increasing receptiveness to measures for enhancing agricultural public good provision and engagement with alternative good farming ideals.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"120 ","pages":"Article 103836"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144829249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Informal support for mental health in farming communities: Understanding the experiences of ‘accidental counsellors’","authors":"Rebecca Wheeler ,&nbsp;Lucy Szaboova ,&nbsp;Matt Lobley","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103831","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103831","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The mental health of farming communities has attracted growing research attention in recent years, with studies highlighting a range of stressors faced by farming people, as well as a number of barriers to seeking help and accessing formal healthcare services in rural areas. In this context, informal support networks are increasingly being recognised as vital for promoting wellbeing within farming populations. In particular, individuals such as farm advisors and veterinarians have been identified as playing a crucial role in providing unplanned, informal emotional support through their day-to-day interactions with farmers. The experiences of these individuals, however, including their motivations for providing such support and the challenges they may face in doing so, remain underexplored. Referring to these individuals as ‘accidental counsellors’, this paper addresses this gap by presenting findings from a study involving a total of 14 professionals (eight through qualitative interviews and six through a focus group) working with farmers in southwest England (including individuals from veterinary practices; a law firm; an agricultural mortgage provider; an accountancy practice; a dairy consultancy; and other farm/business advisors). The findings highlight the emotional and ethical complexities faced by accidental counsellors, including issues around maintaining professional boundaries, managing emotional distress and ensuring personal safety. Potential strategies for improving training and support are then discussed. The findings are conceptualised and interpreted through a relational ethics of care perspective, which illustrates how it is the mutual, co-constructed, and interdependent nature of caring relationships between farmers and accidental counsellors, which ultimately underpin this collective, informal support system within the agricultural community. The conclusions highlight the need for tailored training and support to safeguard the wellbeing of accidental counsellors and sustain the resilience of these informal care networks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"120 ","pages":"Article 103831"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144781653","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A narrative study of why young people go ‘back-to-the-land’: Interpretation from the perspective of self-identity theory","authors":"Lu Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103832","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103832","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In recent years, some Chinese youth have voluntarily engaged in back-to-the-land migration. Although existing studies focus on structural push-pull factors in labor migration, they cannot fully explain why some young people choose farming despite the significantly stronger pull of non-agricultural sectors and the persistent disadvantages in agriculture. To address this puzzle, the study integrates Charles Taylor's self-identity theory with Everett S. Lee's push-pull model, demonstrating how value-based self-identity shapes individuals' subjective perception, evaluation, and prioritization of structural forces. Based on interviews with 15 young back-to-the-landers, the study uncovers three core values at the heart of their self-identity: (1) defining moral obligations through a family-centered ethical framework; (2) valuing autonomy as the foundation of a meaningful and fulfilling life; and (3) placing dignity in professional achievement. These values, in turn, reshape how young people interpret structural forces. Specifically, familial responsibility diminishes the urban pull of opportunity and heightens sensitivity to welfare exclusion. Meanwhile, the pursuit of autonomy magnifies urban labor pressures and weakens the lure of higher wages. Furthermore, technological advances make agriculture more appealing by enabling personal autonomy. Valuing dignity through professional achievement rather than prestige reduces the impact of agriculture's low social status. Therefore, back-to-the-land decisions are not simply structural responses but morally grounded choices. By showing how self-identity shapes migration choices, the study offers a new lens on back-to-the-land migration and suggests policies such as improving rural welfare, modernizing agriculture, and professionalizing farming to support value-driven rural revitalization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"120 ","pages":"Article 103832"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144772224","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Can urban-rural public services drive the realization of sustainable development goals? An empirical study of a typical rural‒urban integration pilot area in China","authors":"Huiping Ran ,&nbsp;Rui Liu ,&nbsp;Li Xing ,&nbsp;Yifei Zhao ,&nbsp;Kunlian Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103818","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103818","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As a crucial part of the sustainable development of areas with low socioeconomic development, public services can enhance the well-being of residents and advance the realization of sustainable development goals (SDGs). In China, the distribution of public services across urban and rural spaces varies markedly in ways that have not yet been effectively addressed, with implications for SDG achievement. To clarify the impact of such differences, we analyze the spatial and temporal evolution and differential characteristics of urban–rural public services and SDGs on the basis of the urban–rural identification space and further explore the driving impact of urban–rural public services on SDG achievement. We find that education culture, health care, and social security public services play important roles in the realization of the SDGs. According to the impact of different urban‒rural spaces on the SDGs, we identify the urban core and rural areas to be the key urban‒rural driving spaces. Our findings highlight the need for governments to adopt a differentiated approach in the formulation of public service planning policies. These results suggest that the wide impacts of improved urban–rural public services may strategically support the achievement of the SDGs within a region and beyond.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"120 ","pages":"Article 103818"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144772225","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}