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The Impact of Digital Literacy on Farmers’ Green Production Behavior: Mediating Effects Based on Ecological Cognition

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  • Xiao Liu

    (College of Economics and Management, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, China)

  • Zhenyu Wang

    (Local Finance Research Institute, Liaoning University, Shenyang 110366, China)

  • Xiaoyan Han

    (College of Economics and Management, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, China)

Abstract

Farmers’ green production behavior is one of the main determinants of the sustainability of the agricultural economy. In this study, Ordered Logit, OLS, and 2SLS models were conducted to evaluate the impact of digital literacy on farmers’ green production behavior. On this basis, the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method was conducted to deal with the endogeneity bias that may result from the sample self-selection problem. We also adopt the mediation effect model to test the mediating mechanism of ecological cognition between digital literacy and farmers’ green production behavior. The results showed that three different types of digital literacy significantly improved farmers’ green production behavior. We also found that farmers’ green production behavior improved by 19.87%, 15.92%, and 24.16% through digital learning, social, and transaction literacy. Meanwhile, the mediating effect showed that digital literacy improves farmers’ green production behavior by increasing ecological cognition. We demonstrate that three different types of digital literacy significantly improved farmers’ green production behavior. Therefore, policies to increase digital literacy among farmers should be further improved to promote farmers’ green production behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiao Liu & Zhenyu Wang & Xiaoyan Han, 2024. "The Impact of Digital Literacy on Farmers’ Green Production Behavior: Mediating Effects Based on Ecological Cognition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-20, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:17:p:7507-:d:1467484
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    Cited by:

    1. Jingkun Zhang & Wang Zhang, 2024. "The Impact Mechanism of Digital Rural Construction on Land Use Efficiency: Evidence from 255 Cities in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-28, December.
    2. Jingjing Wang & Jiabin Xu & Silin Chen, 2025. "Internet Use, Social Capital, and Farmers’ Green Production Behavior: Evidence from Agricultural Cooperatives in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-21, January.
    3. Haixin Tao & Liming Fang & Jiaying Lu & Xuezhu Shi, 2025. "The Impact of Digital Literacy on Farmers’ Pesticide Packaging Waste Recycling Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Haoyuan Liu & Zhe Chen & Suyue Wen & Jizhou Zhang & Xianli Xia, 2025. "Impact of Digital Literacy on Farmers’ Adoption Behaviors of Green Production Technologies," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-23, January.
    5. Kangjian Zhou & Xungang Zheng, 2025. "How Does the Growth of Digital Technology Influence Farmland Abandonment? Evidence from Rural China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-19, March.

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