Factor allocation structure and green-biased technological progress in Chinese agriculture

In this paper, a nonparametric method is used to measure the total factor productivity (TFP) growth index in Chinese agriculture from 1981 to 2017, and the factor bias of technological progress is identified based on the theory of induced technological progress. Then, according to the degree of dependence of technological progress on fertiliser, biased technological progress is divided into green-biased technological progress and pollution-biased technological progress, and then empirical test the factors allocation structure that induce and promote green-biased technological progress. The results show that China's agricultural TFP has undergone three stages of accelerated growth, negative growth and fluctuation, and the growth momentum has undergone three transformations, which are jointly driven by technological efficiency and technological progress, dominated by technological progress and dominated by technological efficiency. Biased technological progress has contributed to the long-term growth of agricultural TFP in most regions of China, but it is mainly biased towards capital-using and fertiliser-using. The labour/capital ratio and the capital/fertiliser ratio are increased, reducing the capital/soil ratio, which can induce and promote green-biased technological progress while suppressing pollution-biased technological progress. The mechanism test results show that increasing labour input can indirectly promote green technological progress by reducing mechanisation.

Automated summary

The paper uses a nonparametric method to measure the total factor productivity (TFP) growth index in Chinese agriculture between 1981 and 2017 and identifies the factor bias of technological progress based on induced technological progress theory. It divides biased technological progress into green-biased and pollution-biased categories, and empirically tests the factors that induce and promote green-biased technological progress. The results show that biased technological progress has mainly contributed to the long-term growth of agricultural TFP in China, but it is biased towards capital and fertiliser usage.