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Digitalization and Agricultural Green Total Factor Productivity: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Qixuan Zhang

    (International College Beijing, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China)

  • Yuxin Yang

    (College of Letters & Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA)

  • Xue Li

    (Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China)

  • Pingping Wang

    (International College Beijing, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China)

Abstract

Based on panel data of 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in China from 2011 to 2022, this paper empirically examines the impact of digitalization on the inputs and outputs of the agricultural production process, and thereby derives the effects and mechanisms by which digitalization empowers the growth of agricultural green total factor productivity. The study finds that agricultural and rural areas’ digitalization significantly improves agricultural green total factor productivity, and this promotion mainly comes from the improvement of technical efficiency. Further analysis shows that digitalization mainly reduces land input and labor input, increases expected output, and reduces undesired output during the agricultural production process to achieve an improvement in agricultural green total factor productivity, indicating that digitalization has altered the allocation of agricultural factors. Heterogeneity analysis finds that the effect of digitalization on the growth of agricultural green total factor productivity is more pronounced in the eastern regions, southern regions, and areas with higher levels of agricultural digitalization, indicating that the development of digitalization exacerbates the gap in agricultural green total factor productivity among regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Qixuan Zhang & Yuxin Yang & Xue Li & Pingping Wang, 2024. "Digitalization and Agricultural Green Total Factor Productivity: Evidence from China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-13, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:14:y:2024:i:10:p:1805-:d:1497985
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    6. Haruna Issahaku & Benjamin Musah Abu & Paul Kwame Nkegbe, 2018. "Does the Use of Mobile Phones by Smallholder Maize Farmers Affect Productivity in Ghana?," Journal of African Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 302-322, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Xu, Ru-Yu & Wang, Ke-Liang & Miao, Zhuang, 2024. "The impact of digital technology innovation on green total-factor energy efficiency in China: Does economic development matter?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    2. Hongming Zhang & Haihua Zhu, 2025. "The Impact of Agricultural Digitization on Land Productivity: An Empirical Test Based on Micro Panel Data," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-18, January.
    3. Hui Qi & Yue Liu & Hanzi Chen & Pierre Failler, 2025. "The Impact of Enterprise Digitalization on Green Total Factor Productivity: Evidence from Chinese Provinces," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-23, April.

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