高级检索

多劳是否多得?农村老年人农业劳动时间对收入的倒U型影响

Does more work mean more gain? The inverted U-shaped effect of agricultural labor time on income among the rural elderly

  • 摘要: 适宜的农业劳动时间与稳定的农业收入是保障农村老年人福祉的重要基础。本文基于CHARLS数据,实证检验了农村老年人农业劳动时间对农业经营总收入的影响及其作用机制。研究发现:农村老年人农业劳动时间与农业经营总收入之间呈现稳健的“倒U型”关系,当前多数农村老年人的劳动时间尚未越过该曲线的拐点,仍处于正向增益阶段。机制分析表明,农业劳动时间通过农业生产投入的非线性中介效应影响农业经营总收入;农业固定资产拥有量在其中发挥显著调节作用,较高的固定资产水平有助于平滑“倒U型”曲线,并使拐点右移。异质性分析进一步发现,该非线性关系仅在农业收入较高的农村老年人群体中显著,而在农业收入较低者中仅表现为显著的负向线性影响;低龄老年群体的拐点位置较高龄者偏右,具备更长的有效劳动时间;西部农村老年人获取最大农业经营总收入所需的劳动时间最长,东部则最短。据此,建议分区分类引导农村老年人合理安排农业劳动时间,探索建立劳动退出补偿机制,强化对农业经营主体和农村老年人农业生产活动的政策与服务支持。

     

    Abstract: Appropriate agricultural labor time and stable agricultural income are essential foundations for ensuring the well-being of the rural elderly. Based on data from the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), this study examines the impact of agricultural labor time on agricultural operating income and its underlying mechanisms. The results reveal a robust inverted U-shaped relationship between agricultural labor time and agricultural income, with most rural elderly individuals still within the positive gain phase, having not yet exceeded the curve’s turning point. Mechanism analysis shows that agricultural labor time influences agricultural income through a nonlinear mediating effect of agricultural production input. In addition, the ownership of agricultural fixed assets significantly moderates this relationship; higher fixed asset ownership flattens the inverted U-shaped curve and shifts the turning point to the right. Heterogeneity analysis further indicates that this nonlinear relationship is only significant among rural elderly individuals with higher agricultural income, while those with lower income experience only a significantly negative linear effect. The turning point for younger elderly individuals is located further to the right than that of older elderly individuals, indicating longer effective labor time. Regionally, the labor time required to attain the maximum agricultural income is longest in western China, followed by the central region, and shortest in the eastern region. Based on these findings, it is recommended to guide rural elderly individuals to optimize their labor time based on regional and demographic characteristics, explore the establishment of labor exit compensation mechanisms, and enhance policy and service support for both agricultural operators and rural elderly participants in agricultural production.

     

/

返回文章
返回