Digital Financial Inclusion, Land Transfer, and Agricultural Green Total Factor Productivity

Abstract

Improving agricultural green total factor productivity is important for achieving high-quality economic development and the SDGs. Digital inclusive finance, which combines the advantages of digital technology and inclusive finance, represents a new scheme that can ease credit constraints and information ambiguity in agricultural production. First, this study focused on agro-ecological functions; we incorporated total agricultural carbon sequestration and emissions extraction into the evaluation system and used the mixed-direction-distance function to calculate agricultural green total factor productivity. Then, based on panel data from 31 provinces in China collected from 2011 to 2021, we used the two-way fixed effect model, the interactive fixed effect, and the plausibly exogenous variable method to test the impact of digital financial inclusion on agricultural green total factor productivity, and its mechanism of action. The panel-corrected standard error and fixed effect Driscoll–Kraay methods were used to account for the unobserved heterogeneity and cross-section dependence in the panel data. The results showed that digital financial inclusion can significantly improve agricultural green total factor productivity. This conclusion remained valid following robustness tests using the spatial econometric model and the method of changing explanatory variables. Digital financial inclusion can improve agricultural green total factor productivity by facilitating the transfer of agricultural land. Sound digital infrastructure and strict green credit policies enhance the role of digital inclusive finance in promoting the green development of agriculture. These conclusions could help the financial sector to formulate flexible, accurate, reasonable, and appropriate financial policies and products that would support agriculture, and enhance the role of digital inclusive finance in promoting sustainable agricultural development.

Impact of digital inclusive finance on agricultural total factor productivity in Zhejiang Province from the perspective of integrated development of rural industries

“…Some studies analyzed provincial panel data in China and confirmed that digital inclusive finance drives the growth of green agricultural TFP. They reported that digital inclusive finance enhances agricultural green TFP by optimizing the structure of the agricultural industry [22], stimulating agricultural technological innovation [23,24], and promoting the marketization of rural land transfer [25].…”

“…Drawing on the practices used by Zheng and Li (2022) [20] and Shen et al (2023) [25], this study uses a fixed-effects model to analyze how digital inclusive finance affects agricultural TFP. The analysis considers four models: (1) a single-time fixed-effects model, (2) a singlearea fixed-effects model, (3) a two-way fixed effects model without control variables, and (4) a two-way fixed effects model with control variables.…”

“…Digital inclusive finance, as a new format combining modern digital technology with traditional inclusive finance, offers a solution to alleviate farmers' credit constraints and the issue of asymmetric loan information. Leveraging information technologies such as big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence, digital inclusive finance can expand the scope and accessibility of financial services, making full use of its role to enhance the efficiency and reach of information [25]. Digital inclusive finance can mitigate corporate financing constraints, thereby boosting innovation among businesses [59].…”

China's Hebei province agricultural low-carbon performance evaluation based on the GLOBAL-SUP-US-SBM model

“…The sixth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that due to the vulnerability of climate change, the ecosystems that have supported human development in the past, present, and future will be strongly impacted by climate change. Unsustainable agricultural expansion has increased the vulnerability of ecosystems and human beings, despite the fact that agricultural development contributes to food security [1][2][3][4]. According to statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, agricultural land releases more greenhouse gases than the total global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions [5].…”

Influence of Green Investment on China’s Sustainable Development

“…Many approaches to these concepts attempt to reconcile this paradox and address the dialectic between development and sustainability [4]. Most of the existing studies have focused on sustainable development in specific regions and areas, such as countries, regions, and cities [5][6][7][8][9], and industries, energy, and the environment [10][11][12][13], focusing on the theoretical connotation of sustainable development, the construction of indicators, comprehensive evaluation, influencing factors, and response strategies [8]. For example, at the national level, Madurai Elavarasan et al (2022) developed a new Sustainable Development Goal or Energy Sustainability Composite Index to assess the energy sustainability performance of European countries [14].…”