How Does Agro-Tourism Integration Influence the Rebound Effect of China’s Agricultural Eco-Efficiency? An Economic Development Perspective

Abstract

Agro-tourism integration is a breakthrough to flourish rural industries and fulfill rural revitalization. Also, agricultural eco-efficiency and agro-tourism integration are closely linked, so investigating the relationship between the two is significant for realizing high-quality agro-ecological development in China. However, existing studies have ignored the impact of agro-tourism integration on agricultural eco-efficiency. For this purpose, using a dataset of 30 provincial administrative regions in China from 2001 to 2019, this paper employs the Entropy weight approach and super efficient Slack-Based Measure (SBM`) approach to measure the agro-tourism integration level and agricultural eco-efficiency, respectively. The system Generalized Method of Moments (SYS-GMM) approach is applied to investigate the effect of agro-tourism integration on agricultural eco-efficiency. The statistical results reveal that agro-tourism integration significantly contributes to agricultural eco-efficiency, which remains valid after the robustness checks are executed. There is also significant path-dependence of agro-tourism integration. Finally, agro-tourism integration significantly contributes to agricultural eco-efficiency in the eastern region, while it significantly inhibits agricultural eco-efficiency in the central-western region. Our findings suggest that policymakers not only reinforced the deep integration of agriculture and tourism to stimulate the overall rural revitalization, but also formulated agro-tourism integration policies in a differentiated and green manner to contribute to agricultural eco-efficiency growth.

Ecological Intensification and Sustainable Intensification: Increasing Benefits to and Reducing Impacts on the Environment to Improve Future Agricultural and Food Systems

“…When the potential of agro-ecological resources is realized through the development of agro-tourism products, agricultural producers will then be encouraged to practice green and environmentally friendly production methods and reduce harmful inputs (Koscak, 1998;Lupi et al, 2017). In the process of integration, vertical correlation is formed between the agricultural and tourism industries, which promotes the spillover of knowledge, technology, and management among industrial-related operations (Jiang, 2022). Meanwhile, the extension of the industrial chain and the integration of the value chain also optimize the allocation of agricultural production factors, such as agricultural labor and land resources.…”

“…Frontiers in Environmental Science frontiersin.org 02 Wang et al 10.3389/fenvs.2023.1164781 is not so significant. With more in-depth development of this integration, agriculture's ecological premium will be more fully realized (Jiang, 2022). This can encourage agricultural producers to reduce harmful inputs and to adopt green production methods.…”

The Dual Effects of Environmental Regulation and Financial Support for Agriculture on Agricultural Green Development: Spatial Spillover Effects and Spatio-Temporal Heterogeneity

“…Agricultural green development is one critical path of China's ecological civilization construction and also the inevitable approach to achieving the target of agricultural carbon peaking and carbon neutrality strategy [1]. However, the current agricultural extensive management mode in China, which mainly relies on resource consumption with high emissions, has not been changed and caused serious problems of agricultural non-point source pollution and ecological degradation [2].…”

Spatial-Temporal Evolution Characteristics of Agricultural Intensive Management and Its Influence on Agricultural Non-Point Source Pollution in China

“…Accordingly, the consumption of rural resources in China is constantly expanding, while the self-purification capacity of agrarian ecological environment is comparatively inadequate. Moreover, China had adopted an extensive agricultural development mode based on fertilizer and pesticide inputs for a long time, thus agricultural non-point source pollution in China is increasingly serious [1,2]. According to the bulletin of the first National Survey of pollution sources, 40 percent of the main water pollutants in China originate from agricultural pollution source.…”

“…Based on the provincial panel data from 2008 to 2020, we would further the existing research to clarify the characteristics of agricultural non-point source pollution including COD, TP and TN with the consideration of three agricultural sectors of planting, livestock and poultry breeding and fishery from the perspective of input and output. (2) What is the influence mechanism of agricultural intensive management on agricultural non-point source pollution in China? We would construct the theoretical framework of the influence mechanism of agricultural intensive management on agricultural non-point source pollution in China, and explore whether there are mediating effects of natural ecology, agricultural land management, planting and rearing structure and pollution control investment?…”