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PurposeThis study uncovers how government interventions, in terms of stringency and support, shape coronavirus disease 2019's (COVID-19) detrimental impact on organizations' performance. Specifically, this paper studies whether stringency and support play complementary or substitutive roles in lowering COVID-19's impact on organizations' performance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors gathered primary data from USA manufacturing companies and combined this with secondary data from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT) to test the proposed model with structural equation modeling (SEM).FindingsThe results show that the stringency approach increases the detrimental impact on both operational and financial performance, while economic support (to households) and fiscal spending (to organizations) work differently on lowering the impacts of COVID-19. Further, these combinative effects only influence the firm's operational performance, albeit in opposite directions.Originality/valueThis study advances the knowledge of government interventions by examining stringency and support's direct and interaction effects on firm performance as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings contribute to the literature by uncovering the unique roles of both supportive policies, thus differentiating economic support (to individuals/households) from fiscal spending (to organizations) and providing important academic, managerial and policy insights into how government should best initiate and blend stringency and support policies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The low economic but high social benefits of rural industries necessitate increased fiscal investment for their development. This study looks at how fiscal support for agriculture affects the level of revitalization of rural industries. It does this by using panel data from 30 provinces from 2003 to 2021 and fixed effects, fixed effects instrumental variable models, and spatial econometric models. The study’s findings are outlined below: First, overall, fiscal support for agriculture has a positive effect on the revitalization of rural industries in China. Particularly since the Chinese government proposed the Rural Revitalization Strategy in 2017, this effect has strengthened. However, structurally, the impact is greater on the integration of agriculture > the quality of agriculture > the efficiency of agriculture > the technologization of agriculture. Second, the impact of fiscal support for agriculture varies across different regions. Fiscal investment in agriculture significantly promotes the revitalization of rural industries in major grain-producing areas, has no significant effect in major grain-selling areas, and has almost no effect in areas where production and sales are balanced. Third, fiscal support for agriculture exhibits spatial aggregation effects. However, this effect has diminished since 2012, when the Chinese government vigorously promoted industrial restructuring and accelerated the shift from labor-intensive to technology, capital, and knowledge-intensive industries. Fourth, local fiscal investment in agriculture has a stronger economic effect at the local level while reducing the agricultural production efficiency of surrounding areas. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the structure of fiscal expenditures, adopt differentiated fiscal support policies, adjust expenditure structures, and innovate and optimize policy tools and funding methods for fiscal support of rural revitalization.

Under the pressures of climate change and resource limitations, digital-agricultural integration (DAI) has become an important driver for strengthening grain production resilience (GPR). Drawing on provincial panel data from 2011 to 2022, this study applies two-way fixed effects, mediation, threshold, and spatial Durbin models to comprehensively examine how DAI affects GPR and through which mechanisms. The findings indicate that DAI substantially improves GPR, and its empowering effect is particularly pronounced in steep regions and areas with advanced digital economy development. The enhancement of GPR mainly occurs through three channels: improved agricultural risk management, advances in agricultural technological innovation, and expanded agricultural socialized services. Fiscal support for agriculture exhibits a threshold effect, with its strongest impact occurring when support levels fall below 9.62%, while the marginal benefit weakens beyond this threshold. Moreover, DAI generates notable positive spillover effects on GPR, exerting an even stronger influence on neighboring provinces.

European governments have implemented various policies to mitigate the impact of rising energy prices on households and businesses. However, these policies have often failed to promote energy savings or target the most vulnerable energy users, and they have incentivized fossil fuels against green alternatives. Yet the urgency of climate change compels governments to not delay or counteract climate policy any further. The article highlights the need for better \"green targeting\" of fiscal measures to accelerate the energy transition. As energy prices in Europe are expected to remain volatile in the near term, governments should focus on designing fiscal measures that prioritize a fair and green transition. The article proposes a \"Green triple T\" criterion for such measures. Namely, we recommend tailored, targeted and transition-proof support.

PurposeAs China’s industrial structure continues to upgrade and optimize, the consumption capacity of rural residents gradually improves and the role of consumption in economic growth is increasingly prominent. Against the background of weak external demand, the untapped potential of rural consumption has become a key force in expanding domestic demand. As one of the important means that the government has long relied on, fiscal support for agriculture has played a crucial role in activating the rural consumer market. This manuscript aims to explore the impact of local fiscal support for agricultural expenditure (FSAE) on rural consumption in China, as well as to examine the mediating role of the level of rural financial development.Design/methodology/approachIn this manuscript, the authors use the provincial panel data of 31 provinces in China from 2000 to 2020. The data of all variables mainly come from China Statistical Yearbook and China Rural Statistical Yearbook. According to the variable selection above, 651 sample data of 31 provinces and cities across China from 2000 to 2020 are organized. In terms of methodology, multiple fixed-effects panel model is applied to regression.FindingsFirstly, FSAE varies significantly, while rural consumption slowly but steadily rises, with a relatively stable consumption structure. Secondly, FSAE has a significant positive effect on rural consumption. Thirdly, mediation testing indicates that mechanisms such as income, uncertainty and financial development have significant positive mediating effects on rural consumption. Thirdly, there is evident regional heterogeneity in FSAE’s impact on rural consumption. The Western regions, under government fiscal support, show a more significant effect on the elevation of rural consumption levels, while the role of FSAE in optimizing the consumption structure of rural residents in eastern and central regions is more pronounced.Originality/valueFirstly, a systematic examination of local FSAE and rural consumption has been conducted, enriching relevant theories. Secondly, utilizing econometric empirical methods to research the relationship between local FSAE and rural consumption provides an exploratory extension to empirical studies on rural consumption in China. This offers empirical evidence for local fiscal support in agricultural development and the promotion of rural consumption.

This study utilizes micro-level farm panel data from 2007 to 2012 to measure the technical efficiency of grain production among farms using a stochastic frontier analysis model. Additionally, it employs a two-way fixed effects model to empirically investigate the impact of fiscal support for agriculture on grain production technical efficiency and its underlying mechanisms. The results reveal significant room for improvement in the technical efficiency of grain production among Chinese farms, with increased fiscal support for agriculture demonstrating a substantial enhancement of their efficiency. This promoting effect only exists in the major grain-producing areas and increases with the increase of farm size. The augmentation of fiscal support for agriculture achieves this goal by augmenting modern agricultural input factors, alleviating financing constraints faced by farms, and optimizing agricultural production infrastructure. Our findings provide guidance for optimizing fiscal policy to support agriculture, promoting agricultural modernization, and achieving food security.

To further promote rural revitalization strategies and achieve common prosperity, it is necessary to clarify the relationships among public expenditure for agriculture, agricultural green total factor productivity (AGTFP), and the urban–rural income gap (URIG). On the basis of panel data for 30 provincial regions in China from 2012 to 2022, this study constructs a panel vector autoregression (PVAR) model and explores their mutual interaction and influence from both dynamic and static perspectives through the Granger causality test, impulse response analysis, and variance decomposition methods. The research results show that public expenditure on agriculture, AGTFP, and URIG exhibit significant self-reinforcing trends. There is a significant two-way interaction effect between public expenditure on agriculture and URIG, indicating that these factors promote and complement each other. In addition, both improving AGTFP and increasing public expenditure on agriculture can help narrow URIG, but the positive impact of AGTFP exhibits greater magnitude and sustainability. In conclusion, from a long-term perspective, to develop the rural economy and promote rural revitalization, it is necessary not only to increase public expenditure on agriculture continuously, but also to focus on enhancing AGTFP.

The integration of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries in rural areas, known as three-industry integration, is a crucial strategy for developing rural industries and implementing the rural revitalization initiative in China. The government’s fiscal support for agriculture serves as a cornerstone for the sustainable development of agriculture and rural regions. This study investigates the mechanisms through which fiscal support for agriculture facilitates the integration of the rural three-industry sectors by driving industrial innovation, enhancing the circulation of production factors, and optimizing resource utilization in rural areas. Using panel data from 30 provinces in China spanning from 2008 to 2020, we evaluate the level of three-industry integration in rural areas using an entropy method and analyze the effects of fiscal support for agriculture on this integration. Our findings reveal that: (1) fiscal support for agriculture significantly promotes the incorporated development of rural three-industry integration in China by acting as a catalyst for horizontal and vertical integration; (2) fiscal support enhances rural infrastructure quality, fosters market connectivity, and attracts business clusters, while also optimizing factor markets and facilitating the efficient allocation of land, finance, and resources, thereby enabling new business entities, such as leading enterprises, to benefit from economies of scale and to expand the rural industrial value chain; (3) the effects of fiscal support for agriculture exhibit significant regional and agricultural development heterogeneity, with Central China and major agricultural provinces demonstrating the most pronounced role in promoting rural three-industry integration.