Does certification lead to satisfaction? Agro-product geographical indications and subjective well-being of farmers

Abstract

The agricultural intellectual property system represented by agricultural certification is improving, it has become an important force to improve farmers’ subjective well-being (SWB). This paper has constructed a theoretical analysis framework of “resource-empowerment-identification”, matched the Chinese Land Economic Survey (CLES) data with the data of geographical indication agricultural products, then studied the impact of Agro-Product Geographical Indications (AGIs) on the farmers’ SWB. The results show that AGIs can improve farmers’ SWB and have passed a series of endogenous and robustness tests. The mechanism analysis indicates that this positive effect is mainly achieved through “objective welfare enhancement leads to a sense of achievement”, “self-worth identification brings a sense of satisfaction”, and “social capital accumulation enhances a sense of belonging”. In addition, we have found that the positive effect of AGIs on SWB was greater for the farmers who are in poverty or living in villages with more new agricultural business entities. Meanwhile, the AGIs of non-planting industry has a more positive impact on farmers’ SWB than the AGIs of planting industry. Our research findings not only enrich the field of farmers’ SWB, but also reveal that developing geographical indication agricultural products in underdeveloped rural areas may be very beneficial for enhancing local farmers’ SWB.