Regional Diversity and Evolution of Agricultural Labor Productivity in China

Abstract

Analyzing the regional diversity and convergence of agricultural labor productivity is an important step in investigating this aspect of the economy. To enhance urban–rural integration, the Gini coefficient and kernel density estimation methods are used to examine regional agricultural labor productivity in China. The overall regional diversity in agricultural labor productivity is found to be expanding, with regional differences being the primary source of the overall disparity. Agricultural labor productivity in China has continued to improve over the period considered in this study. The gap between agricultural labor productivity in the eastern and western regions is found to be lower than that between the eastern and central regions and the western and central regions. Although there is no σ-convergence to agricultural labor productivity in China, both absolute and conditional β-convergence are observed. A spatial lag model indicates that agricultural labor productivity has a significant positive spillover effect. GDP per capita and the level of marketization make significant contributions to the convergence of agricultural labor productivity, and the level of industrialization significantly reduces the agricultural labor productivity gap.