The impact of science and technology services on agricultural income of rural household: An investigation based on the three northeastern provinces of China

Abstract

Science and technology services (STS) are requirement for sustainable agricultural development and are hypothesized to be crucial for raising rural households' income. However, evidence regarding the impact of STS on rural household income has primarily been limited to qualitative research, with limited quantitative research conducted to date, resulting in a lack of clear consensus. This study uses survey data from rural households in poor rural counties in the three northeastern provinces of China to examine the mechanism behind the impact, heterogeneity, and asymmetry of STS on rural households' agricultural income. Our results show that STS has income-promotion effect, which is enhanced with income level. All subdimensions of STS examined have promotional effects, including technical training, industrial demonstration, information services, and organizational drive; moreover, technical training and information services have the greatest and least impacts, respectively. These effects are more pronounced among rural households with young, male and highly educated householder, poor, have received STS for longer periods or adopted green production techniques. These effects are attained through improved agricultural production efficiency, capabilities to adopt new technologies, endogenous motivation, and lowered costs. The findings have important implications for scholars and policymakers in terms of enhancing effectiveness of STS for disadvantaged groups.