How Socialized Services Affect Agricultural Economic Resilience—Empirical Evidence from China

Abstract

Socialized services are crucial for addressing the issue of “who will farm the land” and subsequently enhancing agricultural economic resilience (AER). However, few studies have examined the mechanisms and effects of socialized services on AER. Consequently, this study aims to elucidate the impact and mechanisms of socialized services on AER, with the objective of providing new policy recommendations for enhancing AER and ensuring food security. Based on provincial panel data from China spanning 2009 to 2021, this paper examines the impact and mechanisms of socialized services on AER using a two-way fixed effects model, a mediated effects model, and a panel threshold model. The findings reveal that socialized services significantly enhance AER. Mechanism analysis indicates that socialized services enhance AER by accelerating the substitution of machinery for manpower and promoting the efficiency of labor division. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that in regions with high grain cropping ratios and high internet penetration rates, the enhancement effect of socialized services on AER is stronger. Further analysis uncovers a significant nonlinear threshold effect of socialized services on AER. The impact becomes more pronounced when AER surpasses 0.4689. Consequently, this study argues that in the process of constructing a modern agricultural business system, it is essential to focus on improving the differentiated socialized service system and accelerating the development of rural digital infrastructure.