Does Labor Aging Inhibit Farmers’ Straw-Returning Behavior? Evidence from Rural Rice Farmers in Southwest China

Wenfeng Zhou, Yan Yang, Jia He and Dingde Xu ()
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Wenfeng Zhou: College of Management, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
Yan Yang: Chengdu Agricultural College, Chengdu 611130, China
Jia He: College of Management, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
Dingde Xu: College of Management, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-15

Abstract: As a typical green production technology, straw return affects environmental pollution control and waste recycling. However, in reality, farmers are not active in returning straw to the field. This study constructed a theoretical analysis of farmers’ straw-returning behavior under the conditions of labor aging, socialization service, and environmental regulation. Based on the survey data from 540 households in the Province of Sichuan, we empirically study the relationship between labor aging and farmers’ straw-returning behavior by using the binary logistic regression model and explore the moderating effects of socialization service and environmental regulation on labor aging and straw-returning behavior. The results show that: (1) Aging laborers in rural households constitute a higher proportion, accounting for 29% of the rural household labor force. However, there is limited enthusiasm among farmers to adopt straw returning to the field, with only 65% of farmers adopting this technology. (2) The labor aging hinders farmers’ straw-returning behavior. Specifically, under other fixed conditions, the behavior of straw returning decreases by 0.647 units when the labor aging increases by one unit. (3) Socialization services and economic incentives can mitigate the adverse effects of labor aging on straw-returning behavior, while mandatory constraints do not. (4) The heterogeneity analysis shows that labor aging has a stronger inhibitory effect on straw-returning behavior when the land scale of farmers is lower than the average level and the area is not plain.

Keywords: labor aging; straw returning; socialization service; environmental regulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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