How Digital Infrastructure Empowers Agricultural Total Factor Productivity—Based on a Moderated Mediation Effect Model

Qian Yang; Junwu Xu

doi:10.63313/EBM.2025

Authors

Qian Yang Business School of Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, China Author
Junwu Xu Business School of Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, China Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63313/EBM.2025

Keywords:

Digital Infrastructure, Agricultural Total Factor Productivity, Resource Misallocation

Abstract

Based on panel data of 281 prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2020, this paper constructs a two-way fixed effects model to explore the impact of digital infrastructure on agricultural total factor productivity (ATFP), and introduces a moderated mediation effect model to test the synergistic effect of resource misallocation and industrial upgrading. The results show that: (1) Digital infrastructure significantly promotes ATFP; (2) Resource misallocation plays a mediating role in this process, and it significantly inhibits ATFP; (3) With industrial structure upgrading, the promoting effect of digital infrastructure on ATFP weakens; (4) Digital infrastructure improves ATFP by suppressing resource misallocation, and industrial structure upgrading can enhance the inhibitory effect of digital infrastructure on resource distortion; (5) Spatial effect analysis reveals that digital infrastructure has a positive spatial spillover effect. Based on these findings, this paper puts forward policy suggestions such as increasing investment in digital infrastructure, balancing the relationship between industrial structure upgrading and agricultural development, strengthening policy coordination, and optimizing the regional layout and resource sharing of digital facilities to promote the positive interaction between industrial structure upgrading and digital infrastructure.

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