ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Environ. Sci.

Sec. Land Use Dynamics

Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1645180

This article is part of the Research TopicMoving Towards Sustainable Development: Exploring the Impact of Land-Use Policies on Land Green Utilization EfficiencyView all 14 articles

How can rural digital development activate agricultural land mobility? -Based on the dual perspectives of resource mismatch and labor mobility

Provisionally accepted
  • Guangxi Key Laboratory of Agricultural Resources Chemistry and Biotechnology, Agricultural College, Yulin Normal University, Yulin, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Introduction: Agricultural land transfer is crucial for achieving labor mobility and rational allocation of resources. The digital development of rural areas provides a new way to solve the dilemma of low level of agricultural land transfer in China. Method: This article empirically tests the impact and mechanism of rural digital development on agricultural land transfer using a two-way fixed effects model and a mediation effects model, based on balanced panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2006 to 2023. Conclusion: Firstly, the digital development of rural areas has significantly improved the transfer of agricultural land, and this impact is sustainable. After endogeneity and robustness tests, the results still hold true. Secondly, heterogeneity analysis found that the digital development of rural areas has a more significant impact on agricultural land transfer in central and western regions, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, provinces with lower levels of economic development and total factor productivity. Thirdly, mechanism analysis reveals that rural digital development improves agricultural land circulation by alleviating labor mismatch, land mismatch, and capital mismatch. At the same time, the digital development of rural areas has accelerated labor mobility and improved agricultural land transfer. Discussion: The development of digital development in rural areas has a "latecomer advantage" and can balance regional imbalances. This article provides theoretical guidance for the relationship and future development between rural digital development and agricultural land transfer.

Keywords: rural digital development, agricultural land transfer, labor mismatch, land mismatch, Capital Mismatch, Labor Flow

Received: 11 Jun 2025; Accepted: 07 Jul 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Xingang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Wang Xingang, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Agricultural Resources Chemistry and Biotechnology, Agricultural College, Yulin Normal University, Yulin, China

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