Impact of agricultural technology diffusion and market concentration on agricultural total factor productivity in China

【Objective】To clarify the effects and mechanisms of agricultural technology diffusion and market concentration on agricultural total factor productivity in China，and to explore whether there was heterogeneity in the impact of agricultural technology diffusion and market concentration on agricultural total factor productivity in different regions，so as to provide theoretical reference for the formulation of relevant policies on agricultural development in China.【Method】 Agricultural total factor productivity was selected as the explained variable，agricultural technology diffusion and market concentration as the core explanatory variables，and agricultural mechanization level and labor productivity as the intermediary variables. The two-step method of system GMM was adopted to construct the benchmark regression model，and the model was based on the panel data of 30 provinces（municipalities，autonomous regions）in China from 2014 to 2022. The panel data of Hong Kong，Macao，Taiwan and Xizang were not included in the study. The impact of agricultural technology diffusion and market concentration on agricultural total factor productivity and its mechanism were investigated.【Result】The study found that，with the addition of relevant control variables，the coefficients of the impact of agricultural technology diffusion and market concentration on agricultural total factor productivity were 0.076 and 0.003 respectively，and reached extremely significant（P<0.01）and significant（P<0.05）levels respectively，indicating that the impact of agricultural technology diffusion on agricultural total factor productivity was greater than that of market concentration. From the perspective of intermediary effect analysis，agricultural technology diffusion and market concentration could promote agricultural total factor productivity by improving the level of agricultural mechanization and labor productivity. From the perspective of regional heterogeneity，the effects of agricultural technology diffusion and market concentration on the agricultural total factor productivity were northeast region>central and western region>eastern region. 【Suggestion】Further understand the impact of agricultural technology diffusion and market concentration on agricultural total factor productivity，improve agricultural total factor productivity：（1）strengthening the agricultural technology innovation and promotion system，promoting rapid diffusion of agricultural technology；（2）optimizing agricultural market structure，moderately increasing market concentration；（3）implementing differentiated regional agricultural development strategies，and fully leveraging comparative advantages of different regions.