农业机械化能否改善农业劳动力错配

Can mechanization alleviate agricultural labor misallocation?

农业劳动力是农业资源中极为重要的组成部分,探究农业机械化对农业劳动力错配的影响,有利于更好地改善农业劳动力错配,促进农业经济发展。利用2003-2017年29个省市的面板数据,采用LSDV、固定效应模型和差分GMM计量方法,测算农业劳动力错配指数,分析农业劳动力错配程度的时空差异,探讨农业机械化对农业劳动力错配的影响及地域差异。结果表明:农业劳动力错配有明显的时空差异。在时间上,2003-2017年中国农业劳动力错配程度由0.63降为0.32,整体配置呈现越来越合理的状态,且2011年之后错配改善效果最为明显。在空间上,东部地区年均农业劳动力错配程度为0.73,中西部错配程度为0.33,严重错配地区主要集中于东部;农业机械化能显著改善农业劳动力错配,且农业机械化对农业劳动力错配的影响存在地域差异,表现为农业机械化主要改善东部地区的农业劳动力错配,对中西部地区的影响效果较小。此外,农业工资水平和农产品价格水平均能有效改善农业劳动力错配。因此,提出要因地制宜改善农业劳动力错配,提高农业机械化水平,充分推动农业劳动力向农业高效产业配置,保障农业就业人员基本工资,有效推动农产品生产交易的政策建议。

Rural labor is a critical input of agricultural production. Exploring the impacts of agricultural mechanization on rural labor misallocation can help better optimize agricultural labor allocation and promote agricultural economic development. Based on a panel data of 29 provinces(including municipalities)of China from 2003 to 2017, and applying the LSDV, the FE and the Diff-GMM approaches, this paper evaluated agricultural labor misallocation and examined the spatiotemporal difference of misallocation and the ameliorative effects of agricultural resource misallocation. Results indicate that the spatiotemporal difference of labor misallocation shows both spatial and temporal differences. Rural labor misallocation has been alleviated from 0.63 to 0.32, and the incredibly effective alleviation occurred since 2011. Furthermore, concerning the inner spatial difference of rural labor misallocation, the mid-western misallocation index is 0.33, and the eastern provinces suffered the most with an index of 0.73. Upon further study, this paper finds that for agricultural mechanization, the eastern area occupied the most and the mid-west areas were less affected because of the great stimulus for the misallocation. In addition, agricultural wage and agricultural product price effectively improve labor allocation. In summary, to alleviate the agricultural labor misallocation, this paper suggests that the Government should continue to improve agricultural mechanization in the course of specialization of agricultural productions and local efficient allocation, to guarantee the basic salaries for rural labors, and to promote marketing management of agricultural products.