IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/agecon/v56y2025i1p108-123.html

Industrial water pollution and farmer adaptation: Evidence from rice farming in Jiangsu, China

Author

Listed:
  • Sébastien Marchand
  • Maimouna Barro
  • Hang Xiong
  • Huanxiu Guo

Abstract

The shift of industrial water pollution from urban to rural areas during industrialization can impact agricultural production and stimulate farmers’ adaptive behavior. As an illustration, this study examines the impact of industrial water pollution from manufacturing firms on rice production in Jiangsu, China. By combining data from the China Rural Fixed Point Survey with the China Environmental Statistics Database, we employ an extended translog production function to distinguish between the effects of industrial water pollution and farmers’ adaptation behaviors. Our results demonstrate that industrial chemical oxygen demand (COD) has a direct biological effect on paddy rice growth, reducing rice yields by 3.76 to 4.17 percent. This detrimental effect is most pronounced within a radius of 5 kg from the village center. Additionally, farmers increase their operating inputs to mitigate the adverse effects of industrial water pollution. These findings underscore the need for stringent environmental regulations and enhanced environmental education in rural areas to promote the sustainable development of both manufacturing industry and agriculture in developing countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Sébastien Marchand & Maimouna Barro & Hang Xiong & Huanxiu Guo, 2025. "Industrial water pollution and farmer adaptation: Evidence from rice farming in Jiangsu, China," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 56(1), pages 108-123, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:agecon:v:56:y:2025:i:1:p:108-123
    DOI: 10.1111/agec.12867
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12867
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/agec.12867?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ma, Chunbo, 2010. "Who bears the environmental burden in China--An analysis of the distribution of industrial pollution sources?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 1869-1876, July.
    2. Zheng, Siqi & Sun, Weizeng & Wu, Jianfeng & Kahn, Matthew E., 2017. "The birth of edge cities in China: Measuring the effects of industrial parks policy," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 80-103.
    3. Reddy, V. Ratna & Behera, Bhagirath, 2006. "Impact of water pollution on rural communities: An economic analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(3), pages 520-537, June.
    4. Hanna, Rema & Oliva, Paulina, 2015. "The effect of pollution on labor supply: Evidence from a natural experiment in Mexico City," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 68-79.
    5. Joshua Graff Zivin & Matthew Neidell, 2012. "The Impact of Pollution on Worker Productivity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(7), pages 3652-3673, December.
    6. Konstantinos Metaxoglou & Aaron Smith, 2020. "Productivity Spillovers From Pollution Reduction: Reducing Coal Use Increases Crop Yields," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(1), pages 259-280, January.
    7. Marco Springmann & Michael Clark & Daniel Mason-D’Croz & Keith Wiebe & Benjamin Leon Bodirsky & Luis Lassaletta & Wim Vries & Sonja J. Vermeulen & Mario Herrero & Kimberly M. Carlson & Malin Jonell & , 2018. "Options for keeping the food system within environmental limits," Nature, Nature, vol. 562(7728), pages 519-525, October.
    8. Liu, Ying & Huang, Jikun & Zikhali, Precious, 2016. "The bittersweet fruits of industrialization in rural China: The cost of environment and the benefit from off-farm employment," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 1-10.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xiaoshang Deng & Kunyu Niu & Xiangbo Xu & Chang Li & Linxiu Zhang, 2024. "Does the closure of polluting enterprises improve rural livelihoods? Evidence from rural China," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(5), pages 5513-5537, October.
    2. Sébastien Marchand & Maimouna Barro & Huanxiu Guo, 2020. "Does industrial water pollution impede agriculture? Evidence from rice farming in China," Working Papers hal-02871257, HAL.
    3. Merfeld, Joshua D., 2023. "Air Pollution and Agricultural Productivity in a Developing Country," IZA Discussion Papers 16316, IZA Network @ LISER.
    4. Jianglong Li & Shiqiang Sun & Mun Sing Ho, 2024. "Immediate Impacts of Air Pollution on the Performance of Football Players," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 25(6), pages 753-776, August.
    5. Marion Leroutier & Hélène Ollivier, 2025. "The Cost of Air Pollution for Workers and Firms," Working Papers hal-05009744, HAL.
    6. Mikula, Štěpán & Pytliková, Mariola, 2026. "Migratory responses to air pollution reduction: Evidence from large-scale desulfurization programme," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    7. Liu, Haoming & Salvo, Alberto, 2017. "Severe Air Pollution and School Absences: Longitudinal Data on Expatriates in North China," IZA Discussion Papers 11134, IZA Network @ LISER.
    8. Cai Chen & Yingli Zhang & Yun Bai & Wenrui Li, 2021. "The impact of green credit on economic growth—The mediating effect of environment on labor supply," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(9), pages 1-21, September.
    9. Baraldi, Anna Laura & Fosco, Giovanni, 2024. "Clearing the Air: Women in Politics and Air Pollution," MPRA Paper 121377, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Marion Drut & Aurélie Mahieux, 2014. "Correcting agglomeration economies: How air pollution matters," Working Papers hal-01007019, HAL.
    11. Luis Sarmiento & Thorsten Burandt & Konstantin Löffler & Pao-Yu Oei, 2019. "Analyzing Scenarios for the Integration of Renewable Energy Sources in the Mexican Energy System—An Application of the Global Energy System Model (GENeSYS-MOD)," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-24, August.
    12. Chen, Xian & Liu, Yang & Wen, Fenghua, 2024. "Air pollution and the digital transformation," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(PC).
    13. Li, Jennifer (Jie) & Massa, Massimo & Zhang, Hong & Zhang, Jian, 2021. "Air pollution, behavioral bias, and the disposition effect in China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 641-673.
    14. Stefano Bosi & David Desmarchelier & Lionel Ragot, 2015. "Pollution effects on labor supply and growth," International Journal of Economic Theory, The International Society for Economic Theory, vol. 11(4), pages 371-388, December.
    15. Schreiber, Andrew & Maniloff, Peter, 2025. "Valuing Air Pollution’s Impact on Labor Productivity in General Equilibrium," National Center for Environmental Economics-NCEE Working Papers 368257, United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
    16. Cook, Nikolai & Heyes, Anthony, 2022. "Pollution pictures: Psychological exposure to pollution impacts worker productivity in a large-scale field experiment," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    17. Liu, Zhaoyang & Hanley, Nick & Campbell, Danny, 2020. "Linking urban air pollution with residents’ willingness to pay for greenspace: A choice experiment study in Beijing," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    18. Vashold, Lukas & Pirich, Gustav & Heinze, Maximilian & Kuschnig, Nikolas, 2026. "Downstream impacts of mines on agriculture in Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    19. Hallegatte, Stephane & Heal, Geoffrey & Fay, Marianne & Treguer, David, 2011. "From growth to green growth -- a framework," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5872, The World Bank.
    20. Gan, Hongwu & Guo, Mengmeng & Li, Jian & Niu, Geng & Zhou, Yang, 2025. "Air pollution and household stock market participation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:agecon:v:56:y:2025:i:1:p:108-123. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iaaeeea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.