Resource basis, ecosystem and growth of grain family farm in China: Based on rough set theory and hierarchical linear model

Based on resource-based theory and enterprise ecosystem theory, this paper used the sample of Huang-huai-hai plain 487 grain family farms, in the basis of attribute reduction by rough set theory, introduce the important individual-level and provincial-level factors into hierarchical linear model, in order to reveal different level factors affect growth of grain family farm in structural differences and interaction. The results showed that 65.68% of the differences were caused by individual-level factors, and 34.32% were caused by provincial-level factors. The factors at the individual level, including the improvement of production equipment (IPE), education of farmers (EOF), regularization of management rules (RMR), and difficulty level of getting loans (DLL), had positive effects on growth of family farm, whereas the frequency of staff participating in training (FST) had a negative effect. At provincial level, improvement of the support policy system (IDSPS) could strengthen the positive correlation between RMR and growth of family farm. Moreover, the factor IDSPS combined with ability of agricultural cooperatives providing social services (AACPS) and spacious degree of technology access channel (SDTAC) could strengthen the positive correlation between EOF and growth of family farm, and reduced the negative correlation between FST and dependent variable. The results suggested that government should support farms to improve production equipment and financing pattern, transfer the method of re-education of grain family farmers, promote the standardization of grain family farms, establish a sound policy support system, improve the social service ability of agricultural cooperatives, and broaden the channels of technology acquisition.