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Sustainable Rural Development, Agricultural Economics and China's Economy Research

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 January 2024) | Viewed by 9686

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Baofeng Shi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Economics and Management, Northwest A & F University, Yangling 712100, China
Interests: agribusiness; risk management; financial data analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Liuyang Yao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Economics and Management, Northwest A & F University, Yangling 712100, China
Interests: agricultural economics and management; resource and environmental economics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Zhanjiang Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Economics and Management, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, China
Interests: financial risk management; complex systems evaluation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Agriculture has always been linked to the environment, and the importance of sustainable rural development has come to the fore in the wake of the United Nations’ call to tackle global challenges by achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) between 2015 and 2030. However, as the world's population continues to drive an increase in demand for food production, agriculture must address both demographic and environmental challenges (Seufert, Ramankutty and Foley, 2012), achieving economic benefits and increased yields while considering the environmental and social impacts of agricultural production. The harmonization of agricultural economics and sustainable rural development is more important than ever (Robert, Frey and Sisodia, 2021).

The sustainable development of agricultural economy in developing economies deserves more attention (Bai et al., 2019), because many current agricultural practices damage the environment (Garnett et al., 2013). China, for example, has experienced severe environmental damage as a result of human activities (Bryan et al., 2018). In addition, the challenges faced by the sustainable development of China's agricultural economy have many unknown factors, as well as related theories, policies, methods and practices. Thus, it is of great significance to solve the sustainable development problems of China's rural economy from the multi-faceted and multi-level perspective of economy, material, human capital and agricultural policy, promote the coordinated progress of sustainable rural development and agricultural economics, and provide invaluable guidance for the rest of the world embarking on a similar journey.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Topics may include (but are not limited to):

  • The impact of the SDGs on agricultural realities in China.
  • Agricultural policy and sustainable rural development.
  • Farmers’ micro-credit and sustainable development.
  • Inclusive finance promotes sustainable rural development.
  • Climate change and agricultural economics.
  • Technological progress, innovative practices and sustainable development of the agricultural economics.
  • Human capital and rural economic growth and transformation.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

References

Seufert, V., Ramankutty, N., & Foley, J. A. (2012). Comparing the yields of organic and conventional agriculture. Nature, 485(7397), 229–232. doi:10.1038/nature11069.

Robert, F. C., Frey, L. M., & Sisodia, G. S. (2021). Village development framework through self-help-group entrepreneurship, microcredit, and anchor customers in solar microgrids for cooperative sustainable rural societies. Journal of Rural Studies, 88, 432-440. doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.07.013.

Bai, C., Shi, B., Liu, F., & Sarkis, J. (2019). Banking credit worthiness: Evaluating the complex relationships. Omega, 83, 26-38. doi:10.1016/j.omega.2018.02.001.

Garnett, T., Appleby, M. C., Balmford, A., Bateman, I. J., Benton, T. G., Bloomer, P., Godfray, H. C. J. (2013). Sustainable Intensification in Agriculture: Premises and Policies. Science, 341(6141), 33–34. doi:10.1126/science.1234485.

Bryan, B. A., Gao, L., Ye, Y., Sun, X., Connor, J. D., Crossman, N. D., Hou, X. (2018). China’s response to a national land-system sustainability emergency. Nature, 559(7713), 193–204. doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0280-2.

Prof. Dr. Baofeng Shi
Prof. Dr. Liuyang Yao
Prof. Dr. Zhanjiang Li
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainable development
  • rural development strategy
  • agricultural innovation practice
  • climate change
  • agricultural policy
  • agribusiness

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 1167 KiB  
Article
Sustainable Development of the Rural Labor Market in China from the Perspective of Occupation Structure Transformation
by Zhiyuan Ma, Yunli Bai and Linxiu Zhang
Sustainability 2024, 16(7), 2938; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16072938 - 1 Apr 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1112
Abstract
This study analyzes the structural transformations of the occupations of all off-farm rural laborers in China over the period 2007–2022. The changes in the rural labor market are mainly reflected in the decrease in the share of routine manual laborers from 66.59 percent [...] Read more.
This study analyzes the structural transformations of the occupations of all off-farm rural laborers in China over the period 2007–2022. The changes in the rural labor market are mainly reflected in the decrease in the share of routine manual laborers from 66.59 percent to 52.77 percent, and the increases in the shares of non-routine cognitive and non-working laborers by 4.48 and 10.73 percentage points from 2007 to 2022, respectively. By adopting decomposition analysis, which improves the definition of occupational classification based on information on sub-sectors in industries and job contents using a dataset with a nationally representative sample covering 2000 rural households, the results show that both composition effect and propensity effect play important roles in the decrease in routine manual occupations; the composition effect dominates the changes in the non-routine cognitive occupation category, while the propensity effect is the main driver of the increasing trend in the non-working group. The economic model further illustrates the results of decomposition analysis. These findings imply that the government should further improve education in rural areas and pay greater attention to female and low-education-attainment groups among rural laborers. This study provides a reference for policies aimed at promoting the sustainable development of the rural labor market. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Rural Development, Agricultural Economics and China's Economy Research)
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19 pages, 3209 KiB  
Article
Research on the Spatial Dynamic Evolution of Digital Agriculture—Evidence from China
by Jiajia Meng, Baoyu Zhao, Yuxiao Song and Xiaomei Lin
Sustainability 2024, 16(2), 735; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16020735 - 15 Jan 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1430
Abstract
Digital agriculture serves as a pivotal means of ushering in innovative agricultural practices and achieving sustainable agricultural development. Although agricultural digitalization has received increasing attention, the unbalanced development and regional disparities of digital agriculture are still key obstacles to sustainable agricultural development. Based [...] Read more.
Digital agriculture serves as a pivotal means of ushering in innovative agricultural practices and achieving sustainable agricultural development. Although agricultural digitalization has received increasing attention, the unbalanced development and regional disparities of digital agriculture are still key obstacles to sustainable agricultural development. Based on the data of 31 provinces in China from 2013 to 2021, this study evaluates the development level of digital agriculture in China, and further analyzes the distribution pattern, spatial characteristics, and transition probabilities of digital agriculture from a regional perspective. The index system of the digital agriculture development level is constructed from five aspects: infrastructure, talent resources, agricultural informatization, the digitization of agricultural production processes, and agricultural production efficiency. Among these, infrastructure and talent resources reflect the resources needed for the development of digital agriculture; agricultural informatization and the digitization of the agricultural production process indicate the role of digitization in the process of agricultural development; and the agricultural production efficiency is the goal of the digital agriculture development, which is a critical criteria of its evaluation. The weighted analysis method of objective sequential analysis, which combines the dynamic level of indicators and sequential relationships, is used to assign weights to the indicators. In addition, to address the regional disparities in the development level of digital agriculture, kernel density estimation, Moran’s index, and (spatial) Markov chain analysis are applied to analyze the spatial dynamic evolution of digital agriculture in China. The findings reveal substantial regional disparities in digital agriculture development within China, particularly in the Western region, where development lags behind. Moreover, this study offers actionable policy recommendations for policymakers to strengthen regional infrastructure and talent cultivation, as well as other aspects of digital agriculture development, to mitigate regional differences and provide reference for other emerging countries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Rural Development, Agricultural Economics and China's Economy Research)
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28 pages, 666 KiB  
Article
Development of Family Farms in Inner Mongolia, China
by Zhanjiang Li and Yanlin Cong
Sustainability 2023, 15(23), 16322; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152316322 - 27 Nov 2023
Viewed by 1286
Abstract
As one of the new agricultural business subjects, family farms are the main force behind the development of agriculture and the leader of agricultural modernization in China. At present, the development of family farms in Inner Mongolia is on the rise, but there [...] Read more.
As one of the new agricultural business subjects, family farms are the main force behind the development of agriculture and the leader of agricultural modernization in China. At present, the development of family farms in Inner Mongolia is on the rise, but there are still many problems, so it is crucial to evaluate the development of family farms to find out the problems for targeted development. In this paper, first, after double-screening objective data of family farm development evaluation indexes through the combination of the gray correlation degree and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, we constructed an index system for evaluating family farm development including 19 indexes, such as whether to register a business license. Second, based on the index system constructed in the previous step, the index weight vector was measured using the AHP–entropy weight method, which reflects the cognitive experience of experts, while taking into account the objective laws of data. Next, based on the index weight, the scores of 755 family farms were calculated to measure the level of development of family farms, and the ratings were divided into three categories based on the scores using K-mean cluster analysis. The study found that: (1) The weight of the indicator on the rank of the new professional farmer was 0.102, ranking first; the weight of the indicator on whether the children of the person in charge have the intention to engage in farming and animal husbandry was 0.091, ranking second; and the weight of the indicator on the number of basic production facilities and necessary machinery and equipment was 0.088, ranking third. (2) The highest score of 755 family farms in Inner Mongolia was only 50.161 points, and the overall development of family farms was at an average level. Therefore, based on the results of the study, five paths were proposed to enhance the development of family farms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Rural Development, Agricultural Economics and China's Economy Research)
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18 pages, 713 KiB  
Article
Can Rural Human Capital Improve Agricultural Ecological Efficiency? Empirical Evidence from China
by Yankang Hu, Hongchao Yu and Xinglong Yang
Sustainability 2023, 15(16), 12317; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151612317 - 12 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1156
Abstract
Agricultural ecological efficiency (AEE) is an important index to measure the coordinated development of agricultural production, resources, and the environment. This study tries to explore the impact of rural human capital (RHC) on AEE, hoping to provide a reference for promoting the green [...] Read more.
Agricultural ecological efficiency (AEE) is an important index to measure the coordinated development of agricultural production, resources, and the environment. This study tries to explore the impact of rural human capital (RHC) on AEE, hoping to provide a reference for promoting the green development of agriculture. Data sets (2006–2021) used in this study were gathered from Official Statistics Panel data in 30 provinces in China. Firstly, the super-efficient slacks-based measure model (SBM) with non-expected output is employed to effectively measure AEE. Secondly, the entropy method is used to measure RHC in three dimensions: education, health, and migration. Finally, this study discusses the impact of RHC on AEE using the panel Tobit model and further verifies the moderating effect of Internet popularization on the effect of RHC on AEE using the moderating effect model. The results show that RHC has a significant positive impact on the promotion of AEE, and this positive impact has obvious regional heterogeneity. Specifically, RHC has a greater promoting role on AEE in the eastern and northeastern regions, while it has a smaller promoting role on AEE in the central and western regions. In addition, Internet penetration plays a positive moderating role in the mechanism of the effect of RHC on the AEE. This study may serve as a reference for improving AEE by providing theoretical guidance and policy suggestions for promoting agricultural green development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Rural Development, Agricultural Economics and China's Economy Research)
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15 pages, 2952 KiB  
Article
Spatial Disequilibrium and Dynamic Evolution of Eco-Efficiency in China’s Tea Industry
by Wenqiang Jiang, Baocai Su and Shuisheng Fan
Sustainability 2023, 15(12), 9597; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15129597 - 15 Jun 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1259
Abstract
Eco-efficiency is a significant target for evaluating the agricultural ecosystem and measuring sustainable agricultural development through quantitative analysis. It is also an essential part of constructing the ecological tea garden, which offers a directional function in realizing the green development of the tea [...] Read more.
Eco-efficiency is a significant target for evaluating the agricultural ecosystem and measuring sustainable agricultural development through quantitative analysis. It is also an essential part of constructing the ecological tea garden, which offers a directional function in realizing the green development of the tea industry. After measuring the eco-efficiency of China’s tea industry using the super-efficiency SBM model, this paper analyzes the spatial disequilibrium and dynamic evolution trend of the eco-efficiency in China’s tea industry through the method of Dagum Gini Coefficient and Kernel Density Estimation. The results show that the level of eco-efficiency in China’s tea industry was improved overall, and the spatial disequilibrium was significantly reduced. The differences within the tea region decreased as follows: tea regions in Southwest China, South China, south of the Yangtze River, and north of the Yangtze River; the overall difference in the eco-efficiency in the tea industry mainly comes from the contribution of the interregional difference in tea regions, and the second contribution comes from the intraregional difference in tea regions and the difference in super-variable density. The eco-efficiency of the tea industry has been improved both nationally and within the top four tea regions; the disequilibrium between areas and within the tea region has been largely alleviated, but there is still room to optimize the input–output structure and promote the eco-efficiency. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Rural Development, Agricultural Economics and China's Economy Research)
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18 pages, 273 KiB  
Article
The Impact of the Digital Economy on High-Quality Development of Specialized Farmers’ Cooperatives: Evidence from China
by Xinrui Liu and Xinling Zhang
Sustainability 2023, 15(10), 7958; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15107958 - 12 May 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1959
Abstract
The development of the digital economy is profoundly changing and influencing the development mode of specialized farmers’ cooperatives. It can promote the development of specialized farmers’ cooperatives by optimizing resource allocation, improving production efficiency, and enhancing their external service and internal governance capacity. [...] Read more.
The development of the digital economy is profoundly changing and influencing the development mode of specialized farmers’ cooperatives. It can promote the development of specialized farmers’ cooperatives by optimizing resource allocation, improving production efficiency, and enhancing their external service and internal governance capacity. This paper used the panel data of 30 Chinese provinces and cities from 2017 to 2020 and applied various statistical analysis methods to investigate the role of the digital economy in promoting agricultural cooperatives and their internal mechanisms. The results show the following: (1) The development of specialized farmers’ cooperatives was slightly improved in China over the studied years. Cooperatives in the eastern areas had the highest development levels, and there was a marked increase in the development of cooperatives in western regions in these years. (2) The digital economy can effectively enhance the technological innovation level and then boost the high-quality development of agricultural cooperatives. (3) The results of the threshold regression analysis show that there is only one threshold for the impact of digitalization on the development of farmers’ cooperatives. (4) By analyzing the data from these regions, we found that digitalization can foster the development of rural cooperatives not only in specific regions, but also in surrounding areas. (5) The heterogeneity analysis showed that the promoting effect of digitalization on specialized farmers’ cooperatives was more evident in the west of China than in the eastern and central regions. Therefore, this paper provides a reference for accelerating the development of specialized farmers’ cooperatives under the background of the digital economy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Rural Development, Agricultural Economics and China's Economy Research)
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