Population plays a central role in shaping carbon emissions. The digital economy development influences per capita emission reduction through mechanisms embedded in both the manufacturing sector and the consumption sector. However, empirical evidence on this relationship remains limited, which motivates further investigation. In this context, based on the data of provinces and industries, we examine how the digital economy development index (DEDI) affects per capita carbon emissions (PCCE) across Chinese industries. Using two-stage instrumental variable estimation, we find that DEDI significantly contributes to reducing PCCE, with an estimated coefficient of -0.226. By further analyzing the underlying mechanisms, it is shown that DEDI affects PCCE through channels in both the manufacturing sector and the consumption sector. In the manufacturing sector, DEDI reduces total carbon emissions by optimizing industrial structure and improving energy efficiency, thereby lowering PCCE. In the consumption sector, DEDI stimulates consumption-related structure upgrading and green technological innovation in consumption sectors, which in turn reduces PCCE. By integrating DEDI with the analysis of PCCE, this study provides empirical evidence on the pathways through which DEDI contributes to sustainable economic development.

This study aims to systematically evaluate the dynamic effects of rural–urban migration experiences during compulsory education on human capital accumulation in China from a life-course perspective, with a focus on both the short-term and long-term outcomes for migrant children and the spillover effects on left-behind children. From a life-course perspective, this study examines the nonlinear temporal effects of rural–urban migration experiences during compulsory education on the human capital accumulation of migrant children in China. Using a cohort of rural children recorded in the 2012 wave of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) and their follow-up information in the 2020 wave, an endogenous switching model is constructed for empirical analysis. The results show that: (1) Rural–urban migration during compulsory schooling has a negative short-term impact on the human capital accumulation of migrant children, while its long-term effects remain positive. (2) Social integration difficulties, reflected in declines in self-efficacy and social trust, constitute the negative mechanism, although this influence weakens as migration duration increases. In contrast, improvements in public education quality, enhanced family educational processes such as increased parental time investment, and gains in non-cognitive abilities including higher self-educational expectations and better mental health serve as the positive mechanisms. (3) Rural migrant children cause negative spillover effects concerning the human capital accumulation of left-behind children because the outflow of students reduces the educational accessibility of left-behind children through distance effects and lowers the quality of rural primary and secondary schools through scale effects.

This study investigates the impact of highway improvements on new firm location in underdeveloped regions. Both a two-way fixed-effects model and a long-difference model have been employed, using panel data from counties across Central and Western China, earmarked for national-level poverty eradication, for 2012 and 2020. The results show that highway improvements in underdeveloped regions exert a siphoning, rather than diffusion, effect on firm location in the short and long term. This effect, however, dissipates under four scenarios: higher resource endowment, larger market size, greater spatial distance from large cities, or smaller economic disparity with large cities. This indicates that firm location is also influenced by the interplay of “agglomeration” and “dispersion” in developed regions, and “exclusion” and “attraction” in underdeveloped regions after highway improvements. Additionally, the impacts of different highway classes vary, with inter-regional highways mainly leading to the siphoning effect, and intra-regional highways exerting a diffusion effect under the abovementioned scenarios. Finally, the siphoning effect is more apparent in capital- and technology-intensive industries than in labor-intensive industry, reflecting the varying development characteristics of these industries.

The advancement of the digital economy is vital for decreasing agricultural carbon emissions and fostering high-quality agricultural development. Using panel data from 31 Chinese provinces between 2000 and 2021, this paper employs a dual machine learning model for causal inference to analyze the impact of digital financial inclusion on agricultural carbon emissions intensity, its underlying mechanisms, and the characteristics of heterogeneity. The study finds that digital inclusive finance significantly reduces agricultural carbon intensity through two main channels: enhancing scientific and technological innovation and narrowing the urban-rural income gap. Additionally, the expansion of arable land management and the acceleration of economic structural transformation positively moderate these effects. These conclusions remain robust after a series of robustness tests. Further combining factors such as resource endowment, geographic location, economic concentration, and food production areas in the heterogeneity test, the study found that regional differences significantly influence the effect of financial inclusion on agricultural carbon intensity. Therefore, it is essential to enhance the development of inclusive finance, break down regional barriers to promote synergistic development, actively support economic transformation and large-scale operations, strengthen scientific and technological innovation, and narrow the urban-rural income gap to support China’s agricultural green transformation.

Rural–urban student migration during the compulsory education stage is a transitional phenomenon in China’s socio-economic development and a crucial issue for achieving the goal of urban–rural integration. This paper, grounded in theoretical analysis, constructs a “willingness-capacity-behavior” framework. Based on field survey data from 916 rural households and in-depth interview materials from County D, Province X, China, this study employs a bivariate Probit model and qualitative analysis methods to explore the driving factors and formation mechanisms of rural households’ rural–urban student migration decisions. The results indicate that rural households’ decisions regarding rural–urban student migration are jointly influenced by migration willingness and migration capacity. Only households with both migration willingness and migration capacity can actualize migration behavior. Migration willingness is derived from a cost–benefit analysis and involves joint decision-making by both parents, significantly influenced by parental personal characteristics and the student’s individual characteristics. The intermediate barriers to rural–urban student migration require certain migration capacities to be overcome, which are mainly influenced by family resource endowment and parental personal characteristics.

The vast urban–rural income gap (URIG) is a global challenge, particularly severe in underdeveloped regions. While the income-generating effects of transportation improvements are widely accepted, their income distribution effects remain controversial. This study focuses on national poverty-alleviated counties in central and western China, using a mixed-methods approach to quantitatively test the non-linear relationship between highway improvements and the URIG and qualitatively analyze the reasons behind the threshold effects of regional economic development levels. The main findings are as follows: first, regional economic development levels exhibit a double-threshold effect, with the impact of highway improvements shifting from widening to narrowing the URIG after surpassing the second thresholds. Second, inter-regional highways have a limited impact on narrowing the URIG, while intra-regional highways significantly reduce the URIG once crossing their thresholds, reflecting the distinct functions of different highway classes. Third, the heterogeneity analysis reveals that the impact of highway improvements on the URIG varies depending on the external environment surrounding residents, including both the indirect and direct environments. Fourth, from the perspective of rural labor transfer to non-farm employment, regional economic development levels create threshold effects in two ways: for local employment, they influence non-agricultural industry growth and job distribution following highway improvements, affecting rural laborers’ participation; for migrant employment, they impact human capital investment, influencing rural laborers’ skills and wage returns after highway improvements.

Land fragmentation still threatens the agricultural modernization in developing countries. Adopting agricultural socialized services is one of important methods to help farmers realize agricultural modernization. It is imperative to clarify how land fragmentation affects the farmers' decision-making for agricultural socialized services. This article constructed a non-linear model using negative binomial regression analysis based on field research data. It is found that an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between land fragmentation and farmers' purchase of agricultural socialized services. Especially, the turning point of 0-1 mu share is 41.18 %. Agricultural socialized services initially increase and then decrease after the turning point. At the same time, farmers exhibit different levels of sensitivity to land fragmentation across the 1-3 mu and 3-5 mu plots. Moreover, the moderating effect of distance from financial institutions weakens the inverted U-shaped relationship for 0-1 mu plots, while strengthening it for 3-5 mu plots. In addition, the proportion of the village-level out-of-home working population reinforces the inverted U-shaped relationship across all three plot sizes. Finally, the article confirms that the inverted U-shaped relationship between agricultural socialized services and land fragmentation stems from farmers' production costs trade-off between self-purchased equipment and agricultural socialized services. This article is beneficial for expanding relative research about land fragmentation and agricultural socialized services.

The impact of rural-urban student mobility on the efficiency of resource allocation in China’s rural households is crucial for refining policies related to rural migrant settlement and the balanced allocation of urban and rural educational resources. Drawing on theoretical insights, this study employs a mixed methods approach—primarily qualitative, with quantitative support—to empirically test the impact of rural-urban student mobility on the resource allocation efficiency of rural households in China. Utilizing micro-survey data from China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), this study applies ordinary least squares (OLS) models, propensity score matching difference-in-differences (PSM-DID) models, and endogenous switching regression (ESR) models to ascertain the direction of this impact. Furthermore, this study incorporates in-depth interview data gathered from field research in D County to explore the dynamic mechanisms of resource allocation adjustments within these households. The results show that rural-urban student mobility significantly reduces the efficiency of labor resource allocation and agricultural production in China’s rural households. The impact is heterogeneous across different groups, most negatively affecting households with limited labor resources, lower educational levels, lower incomes, more productive fixed assets, and less self-owned land. Mobility leads to suboptimal occupational choices, resulting in decreased labor resource efficiency. Additionally, it distorts agricultural production by leading to labor loss, reduced investments in agricultural productivity, and misaligned land allocation decisions.

This study investigates the impacts of product certification and e-commerce on various production and profitability outcomes for grain and cash crop producers in China, using nationally representative survey data. Employing multinomial endogenous switching regression (MESR) estimations, we find that agricultural producers who adopt e-commerce, product certification, or both strategies have significant price premium, increased sales revenue, and greater profitability, despite the increased production costs, with cash crop producer and large-scale producers gaining more benefits. Additionally, we find a synergistic effect: agricultural producers benefit more from adopting both product certification and e-commerce simultaneously than the sum of the effects of adopting two strategies separately. This positive reinforcement between the two strategies is more pronounced among cash crop producers compared to grain crop producers, as well as among larger-scale producers compared to their small-scale counterparts. These findings provide valuable policy implications for assisting agricultural producers in adopting suitable strategies, thereby enhancing their competitiveness and profitability within the global value chains of agri-food.

Support networks play a crucial role in channeling state resources to rural areas for targeted poverty alleviation (TPA) in China. The “pairing-up” support system (PSS) and its paired helpers are key to this process. This study uses natural randomized trials in a poverty-stricken village to analyze the effectiveness of helpers in alleviating poverty. The results show that, first, the paired helpers exhibit varying levels of effectiveness in collecting information, implementing poverty alleviation policies, and promoting the self-development of poor households. Furthermore, the effectiveness of an organization-reshaped support network is superior to that of an organization-maintained support network. Second, the main factors that restrict the effectiveness of helpers in poverty alleviation are local knowledge and incentive compatibility, but not the helpers' abilities. Third, the PSS design is highly rational in TPA.

The sustainability of rice-cropping systems hinges on balancing resources, output, and environmental impacts. China is revitalizing the ancient ratoon rice (RR) system for input savings and environmental benefits. Prior research has explored the RR system’s performance using various individual indicators, but few studies have focused on its overall balance of these factors. Environmental efficiency (EE) analysis addresses this gap. Using field survey data from Hunan Province in China and the slacks-based data envelopment analysis method, we quantified the EE of the RR, double-season rice (DR), and single-season rice (SR) systems. Key findings include: (1) the RR system outperforms in carbon emissions and non-point source pollution; (2) the RR system’s EE is 0.67, significantly higher than the DR (0.58) and SR (0.57) systems, indicating superior performance; and (3) despite its relatively high EE, the RR system can still improve, mainly due to input redundancy and production value shortfall. These findings provide strategies for optimizing RR systems to enhance agricultural sustainability.

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted global economies and individual health. This study uses data from the China Family Panel Data (CFPS) in 2018 (before the pandemic) and 2020 (during the pandemic) to a) estimate the relationships between the perceived risk of unemployment and individuals' mental health, physical health, and health behaviors; and b) explore the variations of these relationships between rural and urban adults in China. MethodsOrdinary linear regression models or Logit models are employed, depending on the nature (continuous vs. discrete) of the dependent variables. ResultsWe find that the perceived risk of unemployment was statistically and positively associated with the risk of depression, and the association was greater for rural adults than for urban adults. Rural-urban variations were observed in various dimensions. For rural adults, the perceived risk of unemployment was statistically and negatively associated with life satisfaction, the probability of gaining weight and becoming obese, the probability of having adequate sleep, and computer-based screen time. These associations were statistically insignificant for urban adults. On the other hand, the perceived risk of unemployment was statistically and negatively associated with self-rated very-good-to-excellent health condition and health-compromising behaviors (e.g., smoking and drinking) for urban adults; but such associations were statistically insignificant for rural adults. DiscussionThese findings suggest that rural and urban adults exhibited different psychological and behavioral responses to the unemployment risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. Public policies aiming to improve health and employment should be strategically designed to address the unique needs of urban and rural populations.

农民专业合作社能有效控制和提升农产品质量安全水平,在保障农产品质量安全方面具有重要作用.文章构建了一个合作社农产品质量安全控制机制的二维分析框架,并以黑龙江省五常市三家水稻种植专业合作社为例进行案例研究.研究发现,合作社通过横向和纵向两个维度实现农产品质量安全有效控制:一是通过纵向维度上产前、产中、产后的全产业链控制,为社员提供有效的社会化服务和激励相容制度;二是通过横向维度上内部部门与外部机构共同控制,实现质量安全控制职能的交易成本最小化.基于此,提出加强社会化服务职能,促进农产品标准化生产;通过合理的激励相容制度,增强合作社与社员间的利益联结;中小型合作社要重视与外部机构合作关系的构建,以降低质量安全控制成本等建议.

The implementation of the rural revitalization strategy relies on a perfect support and guarantee mechanism, in which the government plays a leading role, supported by market forces and, more importantly, the main role of farmers.To this end, the process of rural revitalization requires the construction of a trinity development mechanism of “active government + effective market + subjective farmers”.The development of Lujia Village in Anji County, Zhejiang Province is a vivid practice of the concept of “clear water and green mountains are mountains of silver and gold”.By making full use of the policy dividend and the collaborative development of multiple subjects, a new industry focusing on agricultural production and leisure and holiday tourism has been created.From the perspective of its development process, government policy support has leveraged the village’s dormant resources and promoted the transformation of resources into assets; market forces have come to the countryside to operate the village’s resources, promoting the marketization of operations and driving more capital to the countryside; government support and market forces have worked together to stimulate the subjectivity of farmers, and the main role of farmers in industrial development has promoted the equalisation of returns, thus promoting the prosperity of farmers’ lives.Further analysis of the development of Lujia Village shows that the consistent development philosophy of the government is the fundamental guideline for the development of the village; the developed county economy is the economic basis for the capital to go to the countryside and the return of talents; and the awakening and play of farmers’ subjectivity requires the drive and guidance of leaders.

The new round of 50-million-ton grain production capacity increase action will be one of the keys in the work of “Agriculture, Rural Areas and Farmers” and food security in the coming period, and is crucial to promoting high-quality development of grain industry and maintaining national security. The last round of the action to increase grain production capacity by 50 million tons exceeded the target of increasing grain production capacity through farmland protection, facility upgrading, technology upgrading, zoning policies, and policy support, accumulating valuable experience for China’s stable grain production and supply. In the new stage of development, to achieve a high breakthrough in grain production capacity, there is a “ceiling” of stable output growth, material input, and policy incentives. In a new round of grain production capacity increase, we should properly handle the relationship between output quantity and production capacity, balance the effective increase in quality with the reasonable increase in quantity, and form a qualitative leap through the accumulation of quantity. Therefore, in terms of upgrading ideas, it is necessary to break through traditional thinking and shift to intensive upgrading, precision upgrading, green upgrading, and mechanism upgrading. At the level of specific measures, it is necessary to balance short-term and long-term goals over a longer time scale, clarify the tasks of upgrading by region under the overall view of the whole country playing chess, take into account the quantity and quality of infrastructure construction, pay attention to the research and development of core strategic technologies and application integration, strengthen the overall industrial chain damage reduction and consumption guidance, and use key technologies as a breakthrough to drive and support policy innovation.

基于中国家庭追踪调查(CFPS)7617个农民家庭样本,采用门槛效应模型分析家庭收入对中国农民子女进城就学决策的影响.研究发现:家庭收入对农民子女进城就学决策具有门槛效应,收入门槛值处于较高水平;家庭收入低于门槛值对进城就学决策影响不显著,超过门槛值时对进城就学决策具有显著正向影响;不同情境下农民子女进城就学的收入门槛值存在异质性,其中小学阶段高于初中阶段,跨县域高于县域内,同步方式高于非同步方式.据此,应通过完善农业转移人口教育成本分摊机制进一步降低农民子女进城就学收入门槛,并针对不同情况实施差异化进城就学扶持政策.

基于"新型农业经营主体发展指数调查"中 1 222 个农民专业合作社样本,研究信贷支持对农民专业合作社纵向一体化发展的影响.Probit模型与工具变量法的回归结果均表明,与没有获得信贷的农民专业合作社相比,获得信贷的农民专业合作社更有可能实现纵向一体化.机制分析表明,信贷支持可以为农民专业合作社提供资金支撑,缓解其实现纵向一体化的资金约束,但是小规模农民专业合作社的发展还需要更多政策支持.通过获得信贷支持,农民专业合作社可以采取平滑消费的事后方式来应对风险,从而减轻其在纵向一体化过程中的风险规避程度.

家庭农场对小农户的有效带动有助于农业现代化以及乡村振兴战略有序推进.基于全国1942个家庭农场调研数据,利用有序Porbit模型和层次分析法,考察信息技术应用对家庭农场社会带动能力的影响及其作用机制.研究表明:信息技术应用对家庭农场社会带动能力具有显著的正向作用,其中生产信息技术的作用程度最大,可使家庭农场社会带动概率提高18.80％,处理内生性问题之后回归结果依然稳健;农业经营收入作为中介变量,在信息技术应用与家庭农场社会带动能力的关系中起到部分中介作用;从具体的社会化带动结果上,信息技术应用对家庭农场技术带动能力的提升作用最大,对销售带动能力的提升作用次之,对借贷带动能力没有显著的提升作用.本文据此提出,应进一步加强和完善农村信息化基础设施和配套服务建设,为农村信息技术推广与应用提供必要条件.特别地,应着重指导家庭农场强化生产信息相关技术应用,提高家庭农场农业经营收入,促进其发挥对小农户的带动作用.

经济社会发展深刻改变基层治理结构,推动能人治村在以发展为导向的农村社会环境中不断深入.利用扎根理论和多案例相结合的方法,以湖北彭墩村、陕西樊家川村和贵州舍烹村为典型案例,对能人带动村庄发展的逻辑与路径进行分析.结果表明:能人在多重因素激励下返乡,采用企业化经营理念对村庄分散资源进行整合,在规模化发展现代农业的同时推动三产融合发展,并广泛动员农户参与产业发展.同时,外部支持是村庄发展的重要支撑,政府针对性地对村庄发展予以支持,促进产业布局与集体经济发展,市场支持促进产业集聚与产业链延伸,科研院校支持促进技术创新与价值增值.发展绩效表明,能人通过经营村庄为乡村振兴奠定坚实基础,各经营主体在发展中实现共赢.

本文将新制度经济学理论与中国现实情境紧密结合,探讨家庭农场领办合作社这一农业产业化组织模式提升农场绩效的作用机理和必要条件,并基于全国556个家庭农场的两期追踪调查数据构建PSM-DID模型进行实证检验.研究发现:家庭农场领办合作社能够显著提升农场绩效,该结果具有很强的稳健性;家庭农场领办合作社的绩效提升效应主要来自内部组织模式变迁的优势,而非外部政策优惠套取的"捷径";在内部组织模式变迁中,家庭农场与其他生产者的横向联合并未起到减少专用性资产投资进而提升农场绩效的作用,向消费市场的纵向延伸是家庭农场领办合作社提升农场绩效的有效途径.异质性分析结果表明,农场主较强的个人能力、家庭农场丰富的资源禀赋、合作社的种植类经营特征和服务型组织特征、村庄较低的经济发展水平和较好的市场可及性是家庭农场通过领办合作社提升农场绩效的必要条件.