Can Agricultural Industry Integration Reduce the Rural–Urban Income Gap? Evidence from County-Level Data in China

Abstract

The improvement in urban production efficiency has led to income distribution being skewed towards urban labor, thereby widening the urban–rural income gap. However, integration of the agricultural industry at the county level can accelerate the flow of production factors between industries. Therefore, this study evaluates the degree of agricultural industry integration at the county level using the entropy weight method and explores its impact on the urban–rural income gap, based on sample data from 1122 counties in China spanning from 2014 to 2021. The research findings reveal the following: (1) The fixed model demonstrates that enhancing agricultural industry integration can significantly narrow the urban–rural income gap; (2) The mediating model indicates that this narrowing effect can be achieved by improving the green total factor productivity of agriculture; (3) Regional heterogeneity analysis indicates that the impact of agricultural industry integration is more pronounced in the central region and main crop production areas; (4) The results of the spatial Durbin model demonstrate that agricultural industry integration also exhibits a significant positive spatial spillover effect on neighboring areas. The outcomes of this study contribute to enriching the research on agricultural industry integration for green and low-carbon agricultural development, further promoting the development of county-level agricultural industry integration, and providing valuable insights for other similar countries.

Unveiling the Spatio-Temporal Dynamics and Driving Mechanism of Rural Industrial Integration Development: A Case of Chengdu–Chongqing Economic Circle, China

“…Zhan (2023) highlights the important role of rural industrial development in improving the spatial dichotomy of the region [51], using the example of Shandong province in China. This view is supported by many scholars [42,52,53]. However, some scholars have also emphasized the significance of institutional factors, resource endowment, and basic conditions in influencing the realization of industrial synergies [19].…”

“…This process is facilitated through the complementarity of strengths and resource sharing, which accelerates technological advancement in both urban and rural settings. Some scholars have also pointed out that China's urban and rural resource allocation remains irrational, and a two-way interaction of inter-industry factor flows has not yet been established [42]. China's industrialization and urbanization processes have highlighted crucial challenges, such as rural hollowing, arable land relinquishment, and the aging of the agricultural workforce [43][44][45].…”