Effects of modern agricultural demonstration zones on cropland utilization efficiency: An empirical study based on county pilot

The establishment of modern agricultural demonstration zones, as an important initiative to promote the modernization of agriculture, has attracted much attention as to whether its promotion and demonstration can bring about a benign enhancement of the cropland utilization efficiency. This study uses the difference-in-difference model, and with the help of the data of 1872 counties in China from 2006 to 2020. The study shows that the agricultural demonstration zones significantly improve the utilization efficiency of cropland, while there is strong regional heterogeneity in this effect, with a greater degree of promotion in some regions that are lagging in agricultural development. Further mechanism analysis reveals that superior agricultural resource endowment and strong government financial support can positively moderate this effect. However, over-industrialization will inhibit this positive effect.