劳动力外出务工对农户水土保持技术采用的影响——基于集体行动参与的中介效应

在农村劳动力转移的趋势下,黄土高原农户在时间禀赋恒定条件下的劳动力配置逐渐成为采用水土保持技术的关键因素,探究二者关系对于提高技术采用率、减少水土流失、改善生态环境具有重要意义。本文利用黄土高原区1197份农户的调查数据,使用Probit模型,主要考察了农户劳动力外出务工行为及时间长短对水土保持技术采用的影响,进一步运用逐步检验法,检验了农户参与集体行动对外出务工影响水土保持技术采用的中介效应。研究结果表明：①总体上,劳动力外出务工会促进其水土保持技术的采用。但异质性分析表明,随着劳动力外出务工时间延长,农户对农业收入依赖性降低,削弱了农户水土保持技术的采取。②农户参与村集体行动是劳动力转移影响农户水土保持技术采用行为的渠道之一,具有部分中介效应,证实了集体行动模式在水土保持技术应用推广中的价值。此外,农业经营决策者的受教育程度、务农年限与农户家庭的邻里互助、技术改善认知以及政府的技术推广活动均对农户的水土保持技术采用行为具有显著的正向影响。本文不仅提供了劳动力转移趋势下水土保持技术扩散的研究证据,对健全村集体行动以促进技术采用也具备一定的经验价值。

Effects of labor migration on farmers’ soil and water conservation technology adoption decisions: The mediation effect of participation in collective actions

With the increasing trend of rural labor transfer, labor allocation of farmers on the Loess Plateau under the condition of constant time endowment has gradually become the key factor for adopting soil and water conservation technologies. It is of great significance to explore the relationship between the two factors for increasing the technology adoption rate, reducing soil erosion, and improving the ecological environment. Based on the survey data of 1197 households in the Loess Plateau region, this study used the Probit model to investigate the influence of farming households’ out-migration for work behavior and length of time on the adoption of soil and water conservation technologies, and further used the step-by-step test method to test the mediation effect of farming household participation in collective actions on the impact of out-migration for work on the adoption of soil and water conservation technologies. The results show that: (1) On the whole, out-migration for work will promote the adoption of soil and water conservation technologies. Heterogeneity analysis shows that with the extension of time of labor out-migration for work, farmers’ dependence on agricultural income decreased, which weakened farmers’ adoption of soil and water conservation technologies. (2) Farmers’ participation in village collective actions is one of the channels through which labor transfer affects farmers’ adoption of soil and water conservation technologies, and has a partial mediating effect. This confirms the value of collective action in the application and promotion of soil and water conservation technologies. In addition, the level of education of agricultural management decision makers, years of farming, neighbors’ mutual assistance of farming households, cognition of technology improvement, and the governments’ technology promotion activities all have a significant positive impact on the adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technologies. This research not only provides the evidence of the diffusion of soil and water conservation technologies under the background of labor transfer, but also has a certain empirical value for improving village collective action to promote the adoption of technologies.