A Study on the Mechanisms Driving the Modernization of Agriculture Through Digital Rural Development

Routing Zhang; Yuanchun Yu

doi:10.62051/ijafsr.v4n1.02

Authors

Routing Zhang
Yuanchun Yu

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.62051/ijafsr.v4n1.02

Keywords:

Digital Rural Development, Agricultural Modernization, Entrepreneurial Activity, Green Technological Innovation

Abstract

The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee made important strategic deployments for comprehensively advancing the great cause of national rejuvenation and building a strong country through Chinese-style modernization. As a new strategic initiative, digital village construction has broadened the path for agricultural development and provided new insights for agricultural modernization. Based on an evaluation index system for agricultural modernization and digital rural development constructed from their respective definitions, and using data from 1,374 counties in China from 2014 to 2022, this study employs a two-way fixed-effects model with mediation analysis to empirically examine the mechanism through which digital rural development influences agricultural modernization. The results indicate that digital rural development significantly promotes the advancement of agricultural modernization. In terms of the mechanism of action, entrepreneurial activity and green technological innovation play mediating roles in the process by which digital rural development drives agricultural modernization; heterogeneity analysis reveals that digital rural development promotes agricultural modernization more significantly in major grain-producing regions and areas with lower levels of agricultural modernization. Based on these findings, this study proposes that the government should promote agricultural modernization through three measures: implementing differentiated regional advancement strategies, establishing a mechanism driven by mass entrepreneurship and innovation, and deepening the digital restructuring of the entire industrial chain.

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