FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURAL PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP PROJECTS IN CHINA

Fewer agricultural public-private partnership (PPP) projects have been implemented in China than expected and their development varies among regions. Based on provincial panel data acquired from 2015 to 2018 in China, we used a fixed-effects regression model and Tobit model to analyse agricultural PPP projects throughout the whole country as well as the eastern, middle, and western regions in order to explore the main constraints related to the regional differences in development from economic and social perspectives. The results showed the following. (1) The level of local government public services and financing capacities were the main factors that affected the investment scale and landing rate(2) of agricultural PPP projects in China. (2) The investment scale of agricultural PPP projects was also affected by the fiscal health condition of the government and the pressure of political achievements. In addition, the landing rate of projects was influenced by the tax burden and level of urbanisation. Further analysis showed that the variables mentioned above differed significantly among regions, where they affected the operation of agricultural PPP projects in the eastern, middle, and western regions of China to different degrees. Based on these findings, we propose relevant countermeasures and suggestions.