A Quantile Regression Analysis of Contributing Factors Influencing Agribusiness Growth and Entrepreneurship Development: Evidence from Rural China

Abstract

The rapid development of some sectors in the Chinese economy has crippled the growth of agribusiness. Agribusiness sector, which consists of various business activities, plays a vital role in socio-economic development in the areas of job creation, food production and rural development. However, the environmental issues that are more prevalent to the agro-industries thwart the growth and development of the sector. This study employs the quantile regression approach to investigate the relationship between government policies, agribusiness growth and agripreneurship development. Pearson’s product-moment correlation was also employed to investigate the degree of the linear relationship between the variables. The results of the study revealed a significant positive correlation between agribusiness development, rural education, Research and Development (R&D), legalities, development of family households and intellectual properties. The quantile regression results also disclosed a positive relationship between investments in the rural areas and agribusiness growth and entrepreneurship development. The quantile plots measured the deviations in the asymmetric quantile coefficients, and the results revealed that the coefficients seem to depart slightly at the various quantile points, from the OLS mean effect estimates.