Does Rural Credit Participation Promote the Adoption of New Technologies by Family Farms? Evidence from Two Family Farm Demonstration Areas in China

Does Rural Credit Participation Promote the Adoption of New Technologies by Family Farms? Evidence from Two Family Farm Demonstration Areas in China | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Does Rural Credit Participation Promote the Adoption of New Technologies by Family Farms? Evidence from Two Family Farm Demonstration Areas in China qianling Wang, li Gui, Qianyue Meng, Huichuan Wang, Jingwen Hu This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5863029/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 16 Jul, 2025 Read the published version in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications → Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study applies an asset portfolio investment framework to examine the impact of rural credit participation on the adoption of new agricultural technologies. Using field survey data from two family farm demonstration areas in China (Wuhan, Hubei Province, and Langxi, Anhui Province), the study employs the propensity score matching (PSM) method. The results show a significant positive relationship between rural credit and new technology adoption. Formal rural credit promotes the adoption of high-capital, low-risk technologies. In contrast, informal credit supports the adoption of low-capital, high-risk technologies. The effects of rural credit are stronger for large-scale family farms, which are better positioned to use financial resources for technological upgrades. Small-scale family farms benefit less in comparison. These findings highlight the role of financial mechanisms in agricultural modernization and emphasize the need for targeted rural financial policies to improve credit access and promote innovative technologies in family farming systems. JEL: Q16; O33 Social science/Development studies Social science/Economics Social science/Finance Rural credit Family Farms Agricultural Technology Adoption Propensity Score Matching Model Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Tables 1-9 are available in the Supplementary Files section. Supplementary Files Table1.xlsx Table2.xlsx Table3.xlsx Table4.xlsx Table5.xlsx Table6.xlsx Table7.xlsx Table8.xlsx Table9.xlsx TableA1.xlsx TableA2.xlsx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 16 Jul, 2025 Read the published version in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 27 Feb, 2025 Reviews received at journal 19 Feb, 2025 Reviews received at journal 19 Feb, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 19 Feb, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 13 Feb, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 11 Feb, 2025 Editor invited by journal 10 Feb, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 10 Feb, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 30 Jan, 2025 First submitted to journal 20 Jan, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5863029","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":409102488,"identity":"352d747b-0a7f-4d61-beb6-547d385b10e1","order_by":0,"name":"qianling Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Wuhan University economics and management school","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"qianling","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":409102489,"identity":"5e56260f-680e-478b-9696-d992226e9ceb","order_by":1,"name":"li Gui","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAxElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFAC5oYDDAxAxN7Y+PADcVoYoVp4DjcbSxCrhQGsRSK9TYCHGA38MxIbDxf8uSNncPNhG4MEg52cbgMBLRI3EhsOz2x7ZmxwO7HtQQFDsrHZAQJaDCSAWngbDiduuJ3YbiDBcCBxG1FaeP4Atdw82CbBQ7wWNqCWG4xEapE48xDosLbDxpJnEoGBbECEX/jbkw9/BjpMju/48YcPP1TYyRHUwiCQgOJOQsrB1hA0dBSMglEwCkY8AAC06Eu5d3Ux3wAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Hubei university of economics and management","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"li","middleName":"","lastName":"Gui","suffix":""},{"id":409102490,"identity":"61014509-e082-4fd0-b2af-3a08c4615800","order_by":2,"name":"Qianyue Meng","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"China Merchants Bank Co. 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