Agro-industrial clusters, spatial effects and agricultural total factor productivity ——an empirical analysis based on county-level panel data from China

As a novel agricultural organization model, agro-industrial clusters have emerged as a new engine driving the growth of the agricultural economy. In contrast to existing research that concentrates on a single aspect of the core agricultural sector, this study innovatively includes related agricultural industries in the measurement scope from an industrial-chain perspective, thereby enhancing the precision of measuring agro-industrial clusters. Meanwhile, using the panel data of 1467 counties in China from 2013 to 2020, this study employs the two-stage least squares method to examine the impact of agro-industrial clusters on agricultural TFP and its underlying mechanism, effectively addressing endogeneity issues. The findings indicate that agro-industrial clusters significantly contribute to the enhancement of agricultural TFP. Nevertheless, this effect is more pronounced in regions characterized by abundant human capital, high financial resources, low environmental pollution, and characteristic agricultural industry resources. Moreover, a "Matthew Effect" is observed in the impact of agro-industrial clusters on agricultural TFP; specifically, regions with higher levels of agricultural TFP experience a more substantial positive influence from these clusters. Regarding the mechanisms, agro-industrial clusters can boost agricultural TFP through facilitating the transfer of rural labor and attracting industrial and commercial capital to the countryside. Further spatial econometric analysis reveals that agro-industrial clusters not only enhance the agricultural TFP of the local area but also generate significant spatial spillover effects, thereby facilitating the improvement of agricultural TFP in neighboring regions. This study offers theoretical support for advancing the implementation of China's advantageous and characteristic industrial cluster policy and presents novel insights for developing countries to explore approaches to enhancing agricultural TFP.