Search Results (8)

Agricultural producer service (APS) plays a crucial role in the sustainable development of modern agriculture. Enhancing the stability of contracts between farmers and APS is the key to promoting the high-quality development of the latter. This research aimed to explore the decision-making and moderator effects of transaction costs, service satisfaction, and the stability of APS contracts by constructing a theoretical framework. Based on survey data from 893 farmers in Northeast China’s black soil area, we employed the Mvprobit model to examine the relationship between transaction costs, service satisfaction, and contract stability. The key findings are as follows: Firstly, transaction costs have a dual impact on contract stability in agricultural productive services, acting as both inhibitors and promoters. Higher information and execution costs reduce farmers’ willingness to maintain current cooperative relationships, while higher negotiation costs make farmers more inclined to stick with the status quo. Secondly, farmers’ satisfaction with services positively moderates the influence of transaction costs on contract stability, with highly satisfied farmers being more affected than those with lower satisfaction levels. Lastly, farmers’ personal, family, and social characteristics all shape their preferences during the formation process. To mitigate cooperation risks and bolster cooperation contract stability, this study suggests that the government implement supervision and incentives to reduce transaction costs for farmers when procuring services and enhance the efficiency of farmer–service provider connections. Full article

E-commerce, as a prominent feature of the digital economy era, is highly expected to promote economic growth and sustainable development. Based on the 2020 “China Rural Revitalization Survey” data, this study empirically analyzed the impact and mechanism of digital literacy on the discrepancy between the willingness and behavior of farmers in e-commerce sales. Eleven indicator items were selected, and factor analysis was used to obtain the comprehensive score of digital literacy. Firstly, benchmark regression was performed using the probit model, and then potential endogeneity issues were addressed using the IV probit method and endogenous conversion probit model. The following main conclusions were drawn: Digital literacy has a suppressive effect on the deviation between the willingness and behavior of farmers in e-commerce sales. Farmers with media operation literacy, information acquisition literacy, digital transaction literacy, e-commerce cognitive literacy, and digital social literacy have a 12.3%, 18.3%, 26.2%, 37.5%, and 21.9% reduction in the probability of deviation between the willingness and behavior of farmers in e-commerce sales compared to those without these literacy counterfactual assumptions. Digital literacy helps curb the deviation between farmers’ willingness and behavior in e-commerce sales by facilitating their access to financial resources and agricultural production services. This study demonstrates that enhancing the digital literacy of farmers will promote their willingness to convert e-commerce sales into behavior, help promote sustainable agricultural products more efficiently, and make important contributions to economic growth and sustainable development. Full article

Local producers constitute a crucial segment of the local economy, playing a pivotal role in driving rural development and the progress of tourism. Their avenues for showcasing products extend beyond markets, bazaars, or food events, often being integrated into a destination’s tourism offerings. Moreover, they contribute to the culinary progress within tourism. Originating from wider rural areas or nearby villages, local producers significantly impact everyday migrations, services, and financial transactions in relationships spanning suburban–urban, village–town, and cross-border cooperation. This study aims to scrutinize the social facets of the organization and work of local producers, offering insights into contemporary market processes. It also serves to illustrate cross-border cooperation and the role of culinary tourism in local business. Through qualitative data processing, we will delve into the outcomes of cross-border projects, emphasizing ethical and sustainable values rooted in territory, landscape, local culture, authenticity, and the application of culinary elements in tourism. The results will shed light on the economic, social, and cultural ramifications on markets in border regions, influencing daily life and the economy. This study will define key aspects of rural development. These research findings can inform local governments, the economy, and communities in future strategic planning for developing this market segment. Tourism, especially in hospitality, will empower rural communities to enhance financial inflow and create local employment opportunities, such as roles for vineyard tour guides or local chefs. Simultaneously, it will bolster other sectors of the local economy, such as agriculture. Full article

In this investigation, we analyze data from 929 tea farmers across Shanxi, Sichuan, and Anhui provinces to elucidate the impact of productive and transactional agricultural social services on farmers’ adoption of soil testing and formula fertilization technology. Our perspective centers on the farmers’ standpoint and the underpinning mechanisms of these influences. Our findings delineate several key points: Both transactional and productive socialized services exert a positive influence on farmers’ decisions to adopt green production technologies, with the impact of productive socialized services being more pronounced than their transactional counterparts. The enthusiasm and the scale of adoption for green production technologies among farmers are positively impacted by both types of socialized services, a conclusion robust even when potential endogeneity and other statistical biases are corrected using IV Probit. The influence mechanism of transactional and productive social services operates symbiotically, primarily fostering trust, enhancing farmers’ tea price expectations and industry cognition, driving positive social evaluations, and motivating speculative behavior among farmers. Transactional and productive socialization services show varying propensities in promoting the adoption of soil testing and formula fertilization technology, depending on the farmers’ type, endowments, and income levels. Involvement in these agricultural socialization services enables farmers to bolster their income, improve technical proficiency and information-gathering capabilities, jointly participate in market competition, reduce market risks, and enhance their recognition and choice of green production technologies. This appears to be a crucial catalyst for the successful promotion of greener development and transformation within agriculture and rural areas. Full article

Regulating farmers’ choice of agricultural production service (APS) contracts can help maintain the stability of transactions, enhance agricultural production efficiency, protect farmers’ rights and welfare, stimulate the healthy and sustainable development of service organizations, and promote the economic benefits of agriculture. Under the uncertainty of risk (RU), farmers’ willingness to sign a regulated service contract after purchasing APS is a key factor in reaching an efficient and high-quality partnership. Based on the survey data of the black soil area in northeastern China, this study uses the Heckman two-stage model and analyzes it under the logical framework of APS purchases and contractual choice behavior (CCB) under the role of RU. The main findings are as follows. First, the RU has a significant “inducing” effect on farmers’ CCB, and the higher the RU, the more farmers tend to make formal written contracts; among them, each unit increase in business risk increases farmers’ choice of written contracts by 0.797 units, which is an important factor affecting CCB. Second, farmers’ personal trust level played a positive moderating role in influencing CCB. Compared to the low trust level group, farmers in the high trust level group had a diminished degree of influence on CCB, but the intensity was relatively weak. Third, farmers’ personal, family, and social characteristics all influence their behavioral decision-making processes. In order to reduce the risk level of cooperation between farmers and service providers, which can promote the standardization of cooperation contracts, this study suggests that the government should use the publication of manuals and other forms to carry out legal literacy, promote labor market information transparency, reduce service risks, and enhance the effectiveness of the linkage between farmers and service providers. Full article

Food waste is economically and ecologically unsustainable; the benefits of food waste reduction are indisputable. Yet knowledge of the economic trade-offs and knock-on effects of such reduction is deficient. This study examines the economic effects of food waste reduction in a rural region that is a nationally important producer of agricultural and food products in Finland. We built a detailed social accounting matrix to trace the transactions among the economic agents. Five different simulations of food waste reduction were run by applying a computable general equilibrium model. In the simulations, households and food services halved their food waste. The results indicated that food waste reduction is economically worthwhile in terms of regional investments and gross domestic product at market prices. However, the reduction induced economic trade-offs and welfare redistribution. The value added to the agriculture and food industries and the welfare of agricultural households decreased, albeit that the simulated compensations alleviated the effects. In the long run, falling agricultural wages and factor incomes entail closedowns and, finally, decrease local food production. This aspect is worth considering in terms of policy planning under the principle of just transition of the European Green Deal. Full article

Deforestation and the unsustainable management of agricultural and livestock production systems in tropical mountain areas have caused fragmented and degraded landscapes. Payment for ecosystem services (PES) could be an effective policy instrument with which to reduce deforestation and restore disturbed ecosystems. The national-scale PES program in Costa Rica is recognized as being successful; however, its financial resources have been mostly dedicated to forest protection, and much less to reforestation projects. This paper aims to construct a micro-scale PES scheme by using primary data generated through spatial modeling and socio-economic and stated preference surveys (choice experiment) in southern Costa Rica. The results suggest that, on average, landholders would agree to implement restoration projects on their own private pasturelands if an appropriate holistic place-based approach was applied encompassing biophysical, social, economic, and institutional aspects. Willingness-to-accept values allow payments to be linked to cattle farmers’ estimates of specific ecosystem services (ES) and land opportunity costs. The economic valuation of three ESs (erosion control, water availability, and biodiversity) allows construction of a layered payment scheme, which could encourage the development of a potential partnership between national and local institutions and NGOs as alternative buyers of ESs, reduce transaction costs, and improve household well-being. Full article

This paper analyzes two of the main challenges facing agriculture in Europe: technological changes and the application of the principle of cost recovery to water services. Our study takes into account the economic, social, and ecological consequences associated with these measures. Specifically, we consider the effects of these two situations not only on water consumption, but also on environmental, social, and economic indicators. Our study also includes two institutional scenarios involving the possibility or impossibility of performing transactions in formal water markets. By using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model for the economy of Catalonia, a region located in Northeastern Spain, our results suggest that institutions related with water markets matter in terms of the effects that agricultural policies cause on water resources. They also suggest that greater economic efficiency is not necessarily optimal if we consider social or environmental criteria. Full article