{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,26]],"date-time":"2026-02-26T06:33:32Z","timestamp":1772087612908,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,15]],"date-time":"2026-02-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771113600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Systems"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Blockchain technology can enhance traceability and trust in contract farming supply chains, yet high implementation costs deter adoption by supply chain participants. This study examines the synergistic mechanisms between blockchain adoption strategies and government subsidy policies. We develop a multi-stage Stackelberg game model involving an agricultural enterprise, an e-commerce platform, and a government, and comparatively analyze six decision-making scenarios across non-subsidy, unilateral subsidy, and full-chain subsidy settings. Three key findings emerge. First, blockchain investment has a cost\u2013effect threshold below which consumer traceability preferences do not translate into profit gains. Second, well-designed subsidies overcome investment inertia and yield Pareto improvements in both profits and social welfare, with the full-chain subsidy model (Model BG) maximizing social welfare; however, subsidies exhibit distinct efficiency boundaries, and over-subsidization causes resource misallocation. Third, both supply chain parties tend to free-ride on the other\u2019s investment, creating strategic conflicts that necessitate differentiated subsidy mechanisms tailored to specific dominance structures. These findings provide policy guidance for facilitating agricultural digital transformation and enhancing supply chain coordination.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/systems14020208","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,16]],"date-time":"2026-02-16T11:11:28Z","timestamp":1771240288000},"page":"208","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Synergistic Mechanisms of Blockchain Adoption and Government Subsidies in Contract Farming Supply Chain Systems: A Multi-Stage Stackelberg Game Approach"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Hui","family":"Xia","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Business School, Shandong University, Weihai 264209, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jianxing","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Business School, Shandong University, Weihai 264209, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Pei","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Business School, Shandong University, Weihai 264209, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yulin","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Business School, Shandong University, Weihai 264209, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3144","DOI":"10.1016\/j.matpr.2021.06.193","article-title":"Agriculture Supply Chain Management: A Review (2010\u20132020)","volume":"47","author":"Khandelwal","year":"2021","journal-title":"Mater. 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