Indicators for Evaluating High-Quality Agricultural Development: Empirical Study from Yangtze River Economic Belt, China

The impact of the digital economy on high-quality agricultural development--Based on the regulatory effects of financial development

The digital economy, as a new economic form with high information density, provides a new driving force for the realization of high-quality agricultural development. Panel data of 31 provinces in China from 2011 to 2020 were selected for analysis. The static panel data interaction effect model and panel threshold model were used to verify the nonlinear influence mechanism and heterogeneity of financial development in the process of the digital economy affecting high-quality agricultural development. The findings are as follows. (1) During the study period, the high-quality development of China's agriculture showed a steady upward trend; however, the regional differences were significant, and the eastern part was larger than the central and western part. (2) The digital economy can promote high-quality agricultural development. (3) The digital economy has a double threshold effect in the process of affecting high-quality agricultural development, which depends on the level of financial development. When the threshold is exceeded, the digital economy has a more significant promoting effect on high-quality agricultural development. (4) The impact of the digital economy on high-quality agricultural development is heterogeneous. From the perspective of different regions, the impact effect is greatest in the eastern region, while the effect is smaller in the central and western regions. From different resource endowments, the positive impact effect is greatest in the major grain-selling areas, followed by the major grain producing areas, but the positive digital economy driving effect is not significant in the balance of production and sales areas. Finally, three policy suggestions are proposed. First, the Chinese government should increase investments in and support for digital technology to promote the integration of the digital economy and agriculture. Second, the Chinese government should promote the development of digital inclusive finance in areas with financial development below the threshold. Third, different regions should implement differentiated digital economies to promote high-quality agricultural development.

Dynamic linkages between tourism development, renewable energy and high-quality economic development: Evidence from spatial Durbin model

There has been a shift in focus toward environmentally and economically sustainable forms of economic growth known as High-quality economic development (HQED). However, this study analyzes the impact of tourism development (TD) and renewable energy consumption on HQED in 30 provinces of China, while covering the time period from 2007 to 2021. TD and HQED has been measured with help of Global Moran Index. This study has used dynamic spatial Durbin model (SDM) to measure the dynamic impact of TD index and renewable energy consumption on HQED along with green finance, foreign direct investment and investment in education. The findings from empirical analysis shows that TD has negative impact on HQED and in more developed regions, the relationship is positive, while in the less developed western part of China, the U-shape has been reversed. Central and northeastern China have a U-shaped connection, while it has been noticed the interaction term of TD and renewable energy endorses HQED. In addition, renewable energy consumption, green finance and increase in education investment have positive and significant impact on HQED while foreign direct investment has negative impact on HQED in China. Therefore, in the light of this study policymakers should focus on the quality of tourism industry, green finance for renewable energy supply and enhancing education investment in China to attain the goal of HQED.

Relationship between the evaluation of agricultural scientific and technological innovation capacity and the influencing factors of green agriculture

China has limited arable land area, and its output value is increased with enhanced agricultural inputs such as machinery, irrigation, fertilizers, and pesticides. However, this mode is accompanied by an increase in agricultural carbon emissions. With the aim to further examine the driving effect of scientific and technological innovation on economic growth and green agriculture, this study uses the Solow growth model coupled with the Cobb-Douglas production function and vector autoregressive models. Then, the agricultural scientific and technological innovation capacity in Guangdong Province during 2006-2020 is evaluated by using the contribution rate of agricultural scientific and technological progress (ASTP) as the assessment index. In addition, the carbon footprints of green agricultural indexes such as machinery, irrigation, fertilizers, and pesticides are measured to analyze the relationship between green agriculture and agricultural scientific and technological innovation capacity. Results demonstrate the gradual increase in the contribution rate of ASTP in Guangdong Province. During the 11th, 12th, and 13th Five-Year Plan periods, the rates were 65.09%, 65.94%, and 70.40%, respectively, indicating that the agricultural scientific and technological innovation ability constantly improved. Among the indexes of green agriculture, the carbon footprints of machinery have a significant impact on agricultural scientific and technological innovation, which is quickly transformed into machinery. Such innovation requires the driving force of science and technology itself, which have relatively significant and rapid effects. On the basis of the results, corresponding policy suggestions are proposed: increasing investments in scientific and technological innovation in the agricultural field, vigorously developing new energy-saving and emission reduction products and processes for fertilizers, and increasing the research and promotion of agricultural machinery. The proposed method provides good prospects for the development of agricultural production towards mechanization, intelligence, efficiency, and greenness.

Can digital inclusive finance promote agricultural green development?

Digital inclusive finance (DIF) provides new momentum for green agricultural development (AGD). This paper measured AGD with entropy weight TOPSIS in five dimensions, including resource conservation, environmental friendliness, ecological conservation, green supply, and economic growth. After that, it estimated the regional spillover effects and threshold impacts of DIF on AGD utilizing China's provincial panel data from 2011 to 2020. The paper shows that (1) DIF and AGD have such a U-shaped complex interrelationship; (2) the AGD is spatially impacted by DIF. The unique manifestation is that as DIF has increased, its effect on AGD has steadily changed from being direct to being indirect, and this effect has regional heterogeneity; and (3) in regions with higher levels of green technology innovation, better development of traditional finance, or relatively concentrated agricultural industries, DIF plays a more prominent role in promoting the AGD.

Environmental regulations, green development of agriculture, and residents' health-empirical analysis of Yangtze River Economic Belt in China

Environmental pollution and food safety have become key public health issues to be addressed in China. Since they are closely related to the green development of agriculture, it is of great practical significance to elucidate the intrinsic relationships between green development of agriculture, environmental regulation and residents' health. Based on the panel data of the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2011 to 2020, this study investigates the impacts of environmental regulation and green development of agriculture on residents' health and the influencing mechanism by applying fixed effects method, mediating effectsmethod and the spatial Dubin method. Results show that the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and agricultural films is harmful to residents' health; environmental regulation has a negative correlation with the green development of agriculture and affect residents' health through mediating effects; the green development of agriculture has negative spillover effects on residents' health, indicating that purchasing finished products instead of producing locally reduces the input of production factors such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides and transfers health risks associated with agricultural production activities to neighboring areas. Intensifying command-and-control environmental regulation will induce the expansion of hidden economic activities and harm local residents' health, while intensifying market-incentive environmental regulation will lead to the 'Pollution Haven' phenomenon because of the 'race to the bottom', in government and is harmful to the health of residents in neighboring areas. Therefore, it is necessary to formulate reasonable and feasible policies and strengthen the control and prevention of agricultural pollution to enhance green development of agriculture and improve residents' health.

Niche Suitability Evaluation and Path Selection for the High-Quality Development of Cities in the Yellow River Basin

The urban development in the Yellow River basin (YRB) varies widely. Therefore, it is necessary to choose a development path that fits the characteristics of each city to achieve high-quality development. The purpose of this paper is to address the problem of how to choose a characteristic path for high-quality development and clarify its suitability for YRB cities. Firstly, based on data from 50 YRB cities from 2011 to 2020, the suitability evaluation was carried out from the perspective of an ecological niche, followed by the measurement of sub-dimensional niche breadth and overlap. The results confirmed the great diversity of development between cities and the intense competition for resources. Then, based on the classification approach using the k-means method, this study proposes a method for selecting a suitable path for high-quality development. It classifies the suitable paths into 3 major types with 7 minor types and recommends policies for the suitable paths for YRB cities. The systematic thinking and specific path selection method for the high-quality development of YRB cities is not only of practical significance for implementing city classification strategies but also provides a reference for the sustainable development of basin cities in other countries.

How Can Digital Financial Inclusion Promote High-Quality Agricultural Development? The Multiple-Mediation Model Research

In order to balance the relationship between economics, society and environment, the Chinese government has stated that China's economy should shift from high-speed growth to high-quality development. Since agriculture is the foundation of the national economy, high-quality development of agriculture plays significant roles in the achievement of food security, social stability and environmental sustainability in China. In practice, the expansion of digital financial inclusion (DFI) seems to provide valuable opportunities for the development of high-quality agriculture. Nevertheless, in theory, the extant literature ignores exploration of the close relationships between DFI and high-quality agricultural development (HQAD). Hence, using Chinese provincial panel data from 2011 to 2020 and structural equation model (SEM) in STATA 16.0, this paper attempts to investigate whether and how DFI can enhance HQAD. Analysis reveals that (1) DFI can directly promote HQAD; (2) DFI can indirectly facilitate HQAD through the mediator of farmland transfer (FLT); (3) DFI can indirectly promote HQAD through the mediator of farmland mechanization level (FML); (4) compared with the benefits brought by "high-mechanization", the benefits brought by "large-scale" farmland transfer policies are much greater. To our knowledge, our research is one of the first to investigate the direct and indirect effecting mechanisms of DFI's influence on HQAD from the perspectives of farmland scale and farmland technology.

Spatial-temporal evolution and convergence analysis of agricultural green total factor productivity-evidence from the Yangtze River Delta Region of China

Measuring regional differences in agricultural green total factor productivity (AGTFP) provides a basis for policy guidance on agricultural green development in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region. By constructing a two-period Malmquist-Luenberger index under the carbon emission constraint, we measure the AGTFP of cities in the YRD region from 2001 to 2019. Furthermore, adopting the Moran index method and the hot spot analysis method, this paper analyzes the global spatial correlation and local spatial correlation of AGTFP in this region. Moreover, we investigate its spatial convergence. The results show that the AGTFP of 41 cities in the YRD region is on an increasing trend; the growth of AGTFP in the eastern cities is mainly driven by green technical efficiency, while this growth in the southern cities is mainly stimulated by green technical efficiency and green technological progress. We also find a significant spatial correlation between cities' AGTFP in the YRD region from 2001 to 2019, but with certain fluctuations, showing a U-shaped trend of "strong-weak-strong". In addition, absolute β convergence of the AGTFP exists in the YRD region, and this convergence speed is accelerated with the addition of spatial factors. This evidence provides support for implementing the regional integration development strategy and optimizing the regional agricultural spatial layout. Our findings offer implications for promoting the transfer of green agricultural technology to the southwest of the YRD region, strengthening the construction of agricultural economic belts and agricultural economic circles, and improving the efficiency of agricultural resource use.