{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,7]],"date-time":"2026-02-07T13:43:42Z","timestamp":1770471822690,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,4]],"date-time":"2025-09-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1756944000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Zhejiang Provincial Social Science Foundation of China","award":["22NDJC068YB"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["22NDJC068YB"]}]},{"name":"Zhejiang Provincial Social Science Foundation of China","award":["JD6-279"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["JD6-279"]}]},{"name":"Zhejiang Provincial Social Science Foundation of China","award":["LQ22G030001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LQ22G030001"]}]},{"name":"Zhejiang Provincial Social Science Foundation of China","award":["2023J097"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023J097"]}]},{"name":"Zhejiang Provincial Social Science Foundation of China","award":["42171254"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["42171254"]}]},{"name":"Ningbo City Philosophy and Social Sciences Research Base Project","award":["22NDJC068YB"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["22NDJC068YB"]}]},{"name":"Ningbo City Philosophy and Social Sciences Research Base Project","award":["JD6-279"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["JD6-279"]}]},{"name":"Ningbo City Philosophy and Social Sciences Research Base Project","award":["LQ22G030001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LQ22G030001"]}]},{"name":"Ningbo City Philosophy and Social Sciences Research Base Project","award":["2023J097"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023J097"]}]},{"name":"Ningbo City Philosophy and Social Sciences Research Base Project","award":["42171254"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["42171254"]}]},{"name":"Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["22NDJC068YB"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["22NDJC068YB"]}]},{"name":"Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["JD6-279"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["JD6-279"]}]},{"name":"Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["LQ22G030001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LQ22G030001"]}]},{"name":"Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["2023J097"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023J097"]}]},{"name":"Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["42171254"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["42171254"]}]},{"name":"Ningbo Natural Science Foundation Project","award":["22NDJC068YB"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["22NDJC068YB"]}]},{"name":"Ningbo Natural Science Foundation Project","award":["JD6-279"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["JD6-279"]}]},{"name":"Ningbo Natural Science Foundation Project","award":["LQ22G030001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LQ22G030001"]}]},{"name":"Ningbo Natural Science Foundation Project","award":["2023J097"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023J097"]}]},{"name":"Ningbo Natural Science Foundation Project","award":["42171254"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["42171254"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["22NDJC068YB"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["22NDJC068YB"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["JD6-279"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["JD6-279"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["LQ22G030001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LQ22G030001"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["2023J097"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023J097"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["42171254"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["42171254"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Systems"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The green transformation of agricultural systems is crucial for environmental protection and food security, yet smallholder-dominated systems face immense structural barriers. This study investigates whether agricultural socialized services (ASSs)\u2014an emerging institutional innovation\u2014can serve as a catalyst for this transition. Using household survey data from the China Land Economy Survey (CLES), this study examines the direct impact and mediating pathways of ASSs on farmers\u2019 adoption of green production behaviors. We also reveal the heterogeneity effects of household operating scale. The results show the following: (1) Agricultural socialized services positively impact farmers\u2019 adoption of green production behaviors, which can contribute to advancing sustainable agricultural development. (2) ASSs do not simply increase the quantity of machines. Instead, they facilitate a shift from costly asset ownership to efficient mechanization-as-a-service. (3) Furthermore, a heterogeneity analysis reveals that the positive impacts of ASSs are heterogenous at different levels. ASSs more significantly influence farmers\u2019 adoption of green practices for small-scale farms (operating at a size less than 4.8 mu). It provides robust empirical evidence that ASSs can effectively \u201cdecouple\u201d green modernization from large-scale farmers to overcome structural barriers. These findings help to provide policy implications for promoting ASSs and sustainable agriculture production.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/systems13090778","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,5]],"date-time":"2025-09-05T07:46:17Z","timestamp":1757058377000},"page":"778","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Catalyzing the Transition to a Green Economy: A Systemic Analysis of China\u2019s Agricultural Socialized Services and Their Mechanization Pathways"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Xiuyan","family":"Su","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Law School, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xueqi","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Law School, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3626-1002","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yuefei","family":"Zhuo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Law School, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4196-0051","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Guan","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Law School, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Zhongguo","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Law School, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"122197","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jclepro.2020.122197","article-title":"Incentive Mechanism for Promoting Farmers to Plant Green Manure in China","volume":"267","author":"Li","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. 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