Can Agricultural Sustainable Development and Rural Industrialization Be Achieved Simultaneously? The Practice of Rural Industrial Integration from China

Yang Peng, Yiwei Liu, Liyu Mao, Jiahong Zhang, Jieru Zhu and Shuisheng Fan ()
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Yang Peng: College of Economics and Management, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Yiwei Liu: College of Cultural Tourism and Public Administration, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Liyu Mao: College of Rural Revitalization, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Jiahong Zhang: College of Rural Revitalization, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Jieru Zhu: College of Rural Revitalization, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Shuisheng Fan: College of Rural Revitalization, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China

Agriculture, 2025, vol. 15, issue 16, 1-25

Abstract: Improving agricultural eco-efficiency (AEE) plays a critical role in fulfilling agriculture sustainable development goals (SDGs). China’s agriculture-led Rural Industrial Integration (RII) seeks to synergize rural industrialization with agricultural sustainability, yet its impact on AEE remains underexplored. Using a 2008–2022 panel of 285 prefecture-level cities in China, this study uses a series of econometric methods to empirically verify the impact of RII on AEE. The coefficient of RII under the fixed effect model is 0.366, indicating that it has a significant positive impact on AEE, which remains valid after robustness tests such as the instrumental variable method and the use of the “Rural Industrial Integration Development Demonstration County” pilot as a quasi-natural experiment. Mechanism tests show that rural labor transfer, agricultural technology innovation, and agricultural carbon emissions play an important role in mediating the impact of RII on AEE. RII has a negative spatial spillover effect on AEE, with a coefficient of −2.280. In addition, the impact of RII on AEE also varies under the heterogeneity of regions and development models. This study provides new evidence that China’s RII practices can promote sustainable agricultural development, deepens theoretical understanding of the impact of RII on AEE, and provides a reference for future policy implementation.

Keywords: sustainable development; agricultural eco-efficiency; rural industrialization; rural industrial integration; spatial econometric models; spillover effect (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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