Agricultural Economics - In Press
Measuring the Efficiency of Agropastoral Systems in Inner Mongolia: Parallel Bounded Adjusted Measure with Shared Inputs and OutputsOriginal Paper
Chunhua Chen, Wenjing Song, Ruizhi Wang, Chongyu Ma
In China, Inner Mongolia is distinguished by its integrated agropastoral systems, comprising crop production subsystems and livestock production subsystems. To evaluate the efficiency of these interconnected subsystems, this study develops an innovative parallel Bounded Adjusted Measure (BAM) model with shared inputs and outputs. Unlike conventional Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models, this approach explicitly accounts for parallel structures with shared inputs and outputs, allowing for a more precise and nuanced assessment of efficiency. Applying this model to evaluate the agropastoral systems' efficiency of Inner Mongolia’s 12 regions, the results are as follows: (1) Regional Efficiency Disparity: Hohhot City, Ordos City, and Wuhai City achieve optimal efficiency scores (1.000), while Ulanqab City performs the weakest. (2) Subsystems' Performance: Crop production subsystems consistently outperform livestock production subsystems. (3) Inefficiencies: Significant input slacks are observed in cultivated land area, total agricultural machinery power, and initial livestock numbers, while the disposable income of rural residents requires significant improvement.
Does Size Matter? The Non-Linear Relationship Between Farm Size and Economic Viability in Czech AgricultureOriginal Paper
Radek Zdeněk, Jana Lososová, Petr Zeman
The economic viability of farms is a key condition of agriculture's stability and long-term sustainability. This study examines the viability of Czech farms between 2015 and 2023, focusing on how farm size affects their ability to withstand changing market and policy conditions. The Farm Economic Viability (FEV), which accounts for opportunity costs, was applied alongside a modified IN99 model. The share of economically viable farms ranged from 17% to 47%, with more than half falling below the viability threshold even in the most favourable years. Results reveal substantial differences depending on the size definition: smaller farms measured by land area often achieved higher average FEV values, while large farms defined by economic classification proved more stable. SMEs emerged as the most vulnerable group. By contrast, micro farms displayed above-average adaptability. Modified IN99 models demonstrated high predictive accuracy in distinguishing viable and non-viable farms. The findings highlight that the relationship between farm size and viability is non-linear and strongly shaped by the chosen measurement approach.
The impact of Internet access on green production practices among farmers: An empirical analysis of fertilizer and pesticide reductionOriginal Paper
Yingju Zhang, Mansoor Maitah, Jinwei Lv, Xinyu Guo
Amidst mounting global imperatives for sustainable agriculture and China’s “dual carbon” goals, this study investigates how Internet access promotes farmers’ adoption of green production practices, specifically defined as reducing chemical inputs through decreased fertilizer and pesticide application, using panel data from Rural Observation Point in Henan Province (2009-2022). Our findings reveal that Internet access exerts a significant positive impact on farmers’ green production behaviors, specifically reducing fertilizer and pesticide expenditures by 6.0% and 7.3% respectively. The underlying mechanisms indicate that internet connectivity enhances information accessibility, improves technical learning efficiency, and strengthens market linkages, thereby elevating farmers’ economic returns and production expertise. Crucially, mechanism analysis through the moderating effect model demonstrates that the effect intensifies with improvements in economic benefits and technical proficiency. Heterogeneity analysis further identifies more pronounced effects among farmers with higher education levels, greater mechanization, larger operational landholdings, health robustness, younger age, centralized decision-making structures and those who are in urban suburbs, poor villages and traditional villages. This research offers critical insights for designing targeted digital interventions to advance ecological agriculture and achieve sustainable rural development goals.
Agricultural commodity markets during the COVID-19 pandemic and energy crisis: Time-varying copula approachOriginal Paper
Peter Árendáš, Barbara Čeryová, Jana Kotlebová
The agricultural commodity markets are highly important not only for investors but also for common consumers. Due to their high importance, a closer attention should be paid to agricultural commodity prices and factors that impact them. In this paper, we apply time-varying copula analysis to investigate the development of relations between three main groups of agricultural commodities (grains, softs, livestock), oil prices, the US Dollar index, and the broader stock market represented by the S&P 500 stock market index. We focus on the 8-year period between 2017 and 2024, to include the relatively calm pre-COVID-19 period, as well as the turbulent COVID-19 and subsequent energy crisis era. The results show that despite a rise in both overall dependence and lower tail dependence during the pandemic, the relationships remained relatively weak even at their peak levels. It means that the ability of agricultural commodities to provide risk diversification remained intact also during the two extreme global events.
Global Trade Competition Patterns in Categorised Meat Products: A Weighted Network AnalysisOriginal Paper
Qianqian Wang, Rongzhu Cheng, Shiyang Liu, Wangfang Xu
Meat trade plays a crucial role in global food trade and is a key area of competition among nations. This study analyses the competitive network of global categorised meat trade using weighted network analysis, focusing on four major meat types. Results indicate that meat trade competition is dominated by large consuming nations like China, Japan, and Germany due to their high demand. Beef, pork, and poultry markets show concentrated competition among a few high-strength countries, while the sheep market is more balanced but fluctuates in strength-degree correlation. Weighted clustering coefficients reveal a decline in clustering with increasing degrees, particularly in the sheep market, indicating a looser competitive group. The topological average nearest neighbour degree exhibits significant disassortativity characteristics in all four major meat categories, while the weighted nearest neighbour degree is relatively stable, exhibiting some degree of weighted assortativity characteristics.
Agricultural digitalisation, farmland-scale management and agroecological efficiency: Evidence from ChinaOriginal Paper
Fei Wang, Jianguo Sun, Dong Xue
This study examines how agricultural digitalisation affects agroecological efficiency, with the aim of informing the transition towards low-carbon, high-quality agricultural development. Using provincial panel data from China (2007–2022), we employ fixed-effects, spatial Durbin, and mediation models for empirical analysis. The results reveal three main findings: (1) The impact of agricultural digitalisation on agroecological efficiency presents a productivity paradox, characterised by a U-shaped relationship of initial suppression followed by promotion, a finding that remains robust after endogeneity is addressed and sensitivity checks are conducted. (2) Agricultural digitalisation generates significant positive spatial spillover effects on neighbouring regions' agroecological efficiency. However, the realisation of these spillovers is contingent on the alignment between diffused technologies and local agricultural infrastructure. (3) Farmland-scale management serves as a critical mediating channel. Furthermore, agricultural organisation—through stabilising profit expectations for scaled operators and facilitating land transfer through reduced tenure disputes—positively moderates the effective integration of digital technologies into agricultural practices. The findings suggest that digitally empowered sustainability goes beyond technological determinism. We recommend improving rural digital infrastructure, promoting land transfer, and reinforcing village-level collective economies to enhance agricultural organisation. Although it is geographically focused on China, this study offers theoretical and policy insights for advancing sustainable agriculture through digitalisation.
Digital finance, agricultural industrialization, and inclusive economic growth in ChinaOriginal Paper
hao yunping
This study develops a theoretical analytical framework to examine the impact of digital finance on agricultural industrialisation and investigates the effects of both digital finance and agricultural industrialisation on inclusive economic growth, utilising interprovincial panel data from 2011 to 2020. The findings indicate that digital finance is conducive to economic inclusion and can enhance economic inclusion through the promotion of agricultural industrialisation. Furthermore, agricultural industrialisation serves as a vital conduit through which digital finance influences inclusive economic growth. This study highlights that the inclusive growth effect of digital finance escalates in conjunction with inclusive economic growth. By fostering the development of digital finance, this study advances agricultural industrialisation and contributes to the enhancement of inclusive economic growth, thereby offering policy insights to promote such growth.
Qualitative meta-analysis of barriers and drivers to agroecological transitionReview
Laura Sanchez Mata, Melania Salazar-Ordóñez, Julio Berbel, Macario Rodríguez-Entrena
The agri-food sector can both be a contributor to and have potential for bolstering climate change. Agroecology is advocated as a feasible pathway for an agri-food system transformation, but to be successful agroecology necessitates an understanding of the factors influencing farmers’ pro-environmental behaviour. This study endeavours to identify and categorise these factors as either barriers or drivers through a qualitative meta-analysis, predicated on a structured systematic literature review within the European Union. The findings revealed that the farmers’ personal knowledge and capabilities (advanced age and limited income) stood as the principal barriers; while farm size, schooling level and training in agriculture were the main drivers. It has been discerned that policies ought to be custom-fitted to bolster farmers, for instance, providing higher financial stability.