The impact of hired labor constraints on production efficiency in protected vegetable cultivation: perspectives from agricultural timing delays and technological substitution

With the ongoing structural shortage of agricultural labor and rising hired labor costs, labor constraints have become a critical bottleneck restricting the output efficiency of protected vegetable. Improving output efficiency under such constraints is vital for ensuring the efficient use of arable land and enhancing the performance of protected agriculture. From the perspective of “hired labor constraints”, this study constructs a dual framework of agricultural timing delays and technological substitution, using data from 1,147 facility vegetable farmers in Hebei Province, China, to systematically examine the impact mechanisms of labor constraints on output efficiency and the moderating role of labor-saving technologies. The results show that: 1) Hired labor constraints, which are characterized by insufficient supply, elevated costs, and challenges in supervision, significantly reduce vegetable output efficiency. 2) Mechanism analysis reveals that labor constraints cause delays in crop management practices, which in turn reduce yield per unit area. 3) Labor-saving technologies play a positive moderating role in mitigating the negative effects of labor constraints, especially when used for more than five years, due to cumulative learning and proficiency effects. However, simply increasing the number or variety of technologies does not necessarily lead to sustained gains in productivity. Based on these findings, the study highlights the importance of addressing structural mismatches in rural labor allocation and formulating differentiated technical management strategies in the process of protected agriculture modernization, with the goal of improving resource use efficiency and meeting the diverse labor demands of modern agricultural production.