Impact of Digital Agro-Technology Services on Technical Efficiency and Income of Small-Scale Farmers: Empirical Study from Mango Production in China
With the market-driven approach to agricultural technical services and the application of digital technology, digital agro-technical services have gradually emerged as a novel service model. However, there is a lack of empirical research on the effectiveness of this service in the academic literatur...
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MDPI AG
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Agriculture |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/12/2143 |
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| author | Chongxin Xie Yun Gao Yu Zhong Zhijun Zhao |
| author_facet | Chongxin Xie Yun Gao Yu Zhong Zhijun Zhao |
| author_sort | Chongxin Xie |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | With the market-driven approach to agricultural technical services and the application of digital technology, digital agro-technical services have gradually emerged as a novel service model. However, there is a lack of empirical research on the effectiveness of this service in the academic literature. To address this research gap, this study measured the impact of this service on the technical efficiency and income levels of mango farmers, using data collected from 131 mango farmers in Hainan Province, China, from 2022 to 2024. This study employed the endogenous switching regression model (ESRM) and the inverse probability-weighted regression adjustment model (IPWRA) to analyze the data, addressing endogeneity through the instrumental variable method by replacing core explanatory variables and conducting sub-regional regression for robustness testing. The main research conclusions are as follows: Under the counterfactual assumption of ESRM, farmers who adopt this service would have experienced a decrease in technical efficiency by 0.025 (a decline of 3.6%) if they had not adopted the service. Conversely, farmers who did not adopt it would have seen an increase in technical efficiency by 0.047 (an increase of 7.3%) if they had chosen to do so. Additionally, under the post-treatment income effect estimation using IPWRA, compared to farmers who did not receive the service, those who did so saw an income increase of 15.6%. The analysis results from methods such as K-nearest neighbors matching also confirm this conclusion. Therefore, it is evident that digital agro-technology services play a significant role in improving the technical efficiency and income levels of small-scale farmers. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c8bdcfa5dcb94e4b8b931739c4613ac9 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2077-0472 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Agriculture |
| spelling | doaj-art-c8bdcfa5dcb94e4b8b931739c4613ac92024-12-27T14:02:50ZengMDPI AGAgriculture2077-04722024-11-011412214310.3390/agriculture14122143Impact of Digital Agro-Technology Services on Technical Efficiency and Income of Small-Scale Farmers: Empirical Study from Mango Production in ChinaChongxin Xie0Yun Gao1Yu Zhong2Zhijun Zhao3Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, ChinaInstitute of Agricultural Economics and Development, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, ChinaInstitute of Agricultural Economics and Development, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, ChinaInstitute of Agricultural Economics and Development, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, ChinaWith the market-driven approach to agricultural technical services and the application of digital technology, digital agro-technical services have gradually emerged as a novel service model. However, there is a lack of empirical research on the effectiveness of this service in the academic literature. To address this research gap, this study measured the impact of this service on the technical efficiency and income levels of mango farmers, using data collected from 131 mango farmers in Hainan Province, China, from 2022 to 2024. This study employed the endogenous switching regression model (ESRM) and the inverse probability-weighted regression adjustment model (IPWRA) to analyze the data, addressing endogeneity through the instrumental variable method by replacing core explanatory variables and conducting sub-regional regression for robustness testing. The main research conclusions are as follows: Under the counterfactual assumption of ESRM, farmers who adopt this service would have experienced a decrease in technical efficiency by 0.025 (a decline of 3.6%) if they had not adopted the service. Conversely, farmers who did not adopt it would have seen an increase in technical efficiency by 0.047 (an increase of 7.3%) if they had chosen to do so. Additionally, under the post-treatment income effect estimation using IPWRA, compared to farmers who did not receive the service, those who did so saw an income increase of 15.6%. The analysis results from methods such as K-nearest neighbors matching also confirm this conclusion. Therefore, it is evident that digital agro-technology services play a significant role in improving the technical efficiency and income levels of small-scale farmers.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/12/2143digital agro-technology servicestechnology efficiencyincome level |
| spellingShingle | Chongxin Xie Yun Gao Yu Zhong Zhijun Zhao Impact of Digital Agro-Technology Services on Technical Efficiency and Income of Small-Scale Farmers: Empirical Study from Mango Production in China Agriculture digital agro-technology services technology efficiency income level |
| title | Impact of Digital Agro-Technology Services on Technical Efficiency and Income of Small-Scale Farmers: Empirical Study from Mango Production in China |
| title_full | Impact of Digital Agro-Technology Services on Technical Efficiency and Income of Small-Scale Farmers: Empirical Study from Mango Production in China |
| title_fullStr | Impact of Digital Agro-Technology Services on Technical Efficiency and Income of Small-Scale Farmers: Empirical Study from Mango Production in China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of Digital Agro-Technology Services on Technical Efficiency and Income of Small-Scale Farmers: Empirical Study from Mango Production in China |
| title_short | Impact of Digital Agro-Technology Services on Technical Efficiency and Income of Small-Scale Farmers: Empirical Study from Mango Production in China |
| title_sort | impact of digital agro technology services on technical efficiency and income of small scale farmers empirical study from mango production in china |
| topic | digital agro-technology services technology efficiency income level |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/12/2143 |
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