Agricultural Socialized Service Pilot Policies and Corporate Green Total Factor Productivity—An Empirical Analysis Based on the Double Machine Learning Framework

Agricultural socialized services (ASS) constitute an important policy arrangement for promoting the specialization, large-scale development, and green transformation of agricultural production, and their policy effects can generate further green development spillover effects at the firm level. This study examines its impact on corporate green total factor productivity (GTFP) and the underlying mechanisms. The results indicate that the ASS pilot policy significantly enhances firms’ GTFP. Mechanism analyses reveal that the policy improves executives’ green awareness, strengthening managerial attention to green competitive advantages and environmental responsibility, thereby promoting firms’ green production efficiency. And the policy enhances resource allocation efficiency and reduces investment inefficiency, providing more effective resource support for firms’ green technological upgrading and green transformation. Heterogeneity analysis indicates the policy generates larger GTFP gains for firms with low green media coverage, heavily polluting industries, and non-state-owned enterprises.