Research on the Paths of the Modern Agricultural Industrial System Promoting Income Increases and Prosperity for Farmers Based on the fsQCA Method

Xin Li, Xiangmei Zhu (), Huwei Cao and Wenhua Huang
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Xin Li: School of Economics and Management, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051, China
Xiangmei Zhu: School of Economics and Management, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051, China
Huwei Cao: School of Economics and Management, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051, China
Wenhua Huang: School of Economics and Management, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 7, 1-28

Abstract: This paper innovatively proposes the concepts of length, width, and depth for modern agricultural industrial systems. The development level of the modern agricultural industrial system is systematically measured by the length of the agricultural industry chain, the width of agriculture in terms of its overlap with and integration of non-agriculture industries, and the depth of agricultural productive services. Using the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis method, 88 main production areas of special and excellent agricultural products in Shanxi, China, are selected as sample objects. The configuration paths of the length, width, and depth of the modern agricultural industrial system impacting farmers’ wage income, operating income, property income, and transfer income are explored. The study found the following: (1) The income level of farmers is jointly influenced by the length, width, and depth of the modern agricultural industrial system, emphasizing that a single factor does not constitute a necessary condition for farmers’ income growth and prosperity. (2) There exist four types of paths through which the modern agricultural industrial system can promote increases in farmer incomes, namely “non-industry length * industry width”, “industry length * non-industry width * non-industry depth”, “non-industry length * industry depth” and “industry length * non-industry depth”, a various types of paths have a differential impact on the structure of farmers’ incomes. (3) The length, width, and depth of the modern agricultural industrial system individually have crowding-out effects on each of a farmer’s four types of income.

Keywords: length of modern agricultural industry; width of modern agricultural industry; depth of modern agricultural industry; farmers’ income increase and prosperity; fsQCA (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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