On the Measurement and Improvement Strategies of New Quality Productivity in Chinese Rural Areas

Abstract

Based on the dialectical relationship between productive forces and production relations, economic base and superstructure in Marxist political economy, this article constructs an indicator system that includes five dimensions: rural new quality workers, labor materials, labor objects, rural governance, and rural culture. Using entropy weight method, Dagum Gini coefficient, and obstacle degree model, the development level of rural new quality productive forces at the provincial level in China from 2012 to 2022 is measured and analyzed. Research shows that the overall productivity of rural areas in China is on the rise, with an average annual growth rate of about 20%. However, the overall level is still relatively low, and there is a non-equilibrium pattern of "eastern>central ≈ western>northeast" among regions; The obstacle level of rural governance is the highest (0.3856), becoming the core constraint factor, followed by insufficient quality of workers and low level of digitalization of labor materials. Differential decomposition indicates that regional differences are the main source of overall differences, and structural barriers are mainly reflected in weak rural e-commerce ecosystems, low agricultural production efficiency, and insufficient cultural resource transformation. Based on this, it is proposed to systematically promote the cultivation of new quality workers, the digital upgrading of labor materials, the diversified expansion of labor objects, the innovation of rural governance mechanisms, and the construction of rural cultural ecology. Differentiated regional strategies should be implemented to promote the comprehensive improvement of new quality productive forces, help rural revitalization and common prosperity.