Does Fertilizer Use Intensity Respond to the Urban-Rural Income Gap? Evidence from a Dynamic Panel-Data Analysis in China

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the impact of the urban-rural income gap on fertilizer use intensity in China. A theoretical analysis of the relationship among per capita rural income, the urban-rural income gap, and fertilizer use intensity is developed, which is similar to the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis. Both the Theil index and urban-rural income ratio are employed to measure the urban-rural income gap using a provincial-level panel dataset covering 25 provincial-level administrative regions over the period 1995–2017. The estimation results of the system Generalized Method of Moments show that the expansion of the urban-rural income gap significantly increases fertilizer use intensity. While an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between fertilizer use intensity and per capita rural income, the peak turning point is much higher than the actual per capita rural income of all provinces in China. This demonstrates that fertilizer use intensity would further increase with the growth of rural income over a period of time. In addition, a lower growth rate of the agricultural product price, larger total sown size, and technological progress are likely to reduce fertilizer use intensity. This study has several important policy implications for promoting the sustainable development of agriculture and rural areas in China. Specifically, efforts must be made to narrow the urban-rural income gap, encourage agricultural research and extension, and promote land conversion and appropriately scaled-up agricultural business.

Investigating the environmental Kuznets curve between economic growth and chemical fertilizer surpluses in China: a provincial panel cointegration approach

“…EKCs of all cities were before the turning point (Xu et al 2021 ) 30 Provinces in China 2006–2015 Nitrogen oxides emissions per capita from energy and nitrogen fertilizers, and GDP per capita Panel unit root tests, panel cointegration test, and Dumitrescu–Hurlin causality tests The inverted U-shaped EKC exists between economic growth and nitrogen oxides emissions in China. During the survey period, all provinces have reached their turning points (Yao 2019 ) 31 provinces in China 2007–2016 N and P fertilizer pollution emission a , crop production value, and the proportion of crop production value in total agricultural output value Fixed effects regression analysis An inverted U-shaped EKC was confirmed between economic scale and non-point source pollution of chemical fertilizers (Zhang and Hu 2020 ) 25 provinces in China 1995–2017 Fertilizer use intensity, per capita rural income, and urban–rural income gap Dynamic panel-data model An inverted U-shaped relationship exists between fertilizer use intensity and per capita rural income. However, the peak turning point is much higher than the actual per capita rural income of all provinces in China a Fertilizer N and P surpluses were calculated differently in various studies.…”

Can Rural Road Construction Promote the Sustainable Development of Regional Agriculture in China?

“…When rural residents see a considerable income gap with urban residents, there will be a specific psychological gap. In order to increase their income level, rural residents may be more inclined to use fertilizers and pesticides to increase production [49]. Road construction's "price effect" allows rural residents to buy more fertilizers based on the two points above.…”

Coupling coordination analysis of population, economy and grain in major grain-producing counties

“…The Chinese government has emphasized the need to vigorously develop industries that benefit the local people in counties [ 1 ], support the extension of industries from large and medium-sized cities to counties [ 2 ], strengthen the construction of commercial systems in counties [ 3 ], and promote the upgrading of rural consumption [ 4 , 5 ]. It also encourage rural residents to start businesses and seek employment locally [ [6] , [7] , [8] ], with counties as nodes, providing high-quality job opportunities for the surrounding farmers [ 9 , 10 ]. The development of population and economy are closely intertwined, and population's sustained and normal growth is an important driving force for economic development [ 11 ].…”