For rural communities in poor countries to develop, farmers need money to invest in their farms. However, with limited assets of their own and poor conditions for obtaining loans, the farmers’ operations suffer. This study explores how farmers’ chances of obtaining a bank loan are related to the social capital that they receive from their cooperative membership. The data originated from 743 farmers in Fujian province, China, and was analyzed with the help of the instrumental variable probit (IV-probit) regression model. The results show that (a) cooperative members have a higher chance of obtaining a bank loan compared to non-members; (b) cooperative membership positively influences the chances of obtaining a bank loan for farmers with no acquaintances in banks and government or off-farm work; and (c) among farmers with higher financial knowledge, cooperative members are more likely to receive a bank loan than non-members are. Therefore, the conclusion provides empirical evidence for the financial function of cooperatives to farmers. The findings are especially relevant for cooperatives in developing countries, and they call for farmers and cooperatives to establish cooperative financial institutions. Moreover, the research conclusions point out the direction for further improving the financial effect of cooperatives.

For the rural districts of China to get an economically and socially sustainable development, the strengthening of agricultural cooperatives is essential. This study aims at presenting a model about how social capital within the cooperatives can be converted into financial capital to the benefit of both the cooperative and the members. Case studies of four cooperatives serve as illustrations. There is a large amount of social capital in these cooperatives, with their operations simple enough to allow members to be involved. The supplying members (common members) are few and well acquainted with one another. They have close relationships with those individuals (core members) who have the dominating ownership and who run the cooperatives. These case cooperatives were chosen because they have innovative financial solutions. For example, members let their private assets and those of the cooperative constitute joint collateral when money is borrowed from financial institutions. In another case, the members trust each other sufficiently for there to be a mutual fund that lends money both to members and their cooperative. Yet another model involves members having low demands concerning capital returns when lending to their cooperative.

This study is the first to empirically investigate whether farmers’ assessment of their cooperatives’ environmental efforts is related to their satisfaction with the cooperatives, in addition to their assessment of the cooperatives in economic and social terms. A survey was conducted among a randomly selected sample of 211 members of 63 farmer cooperatives in Fujian Province, China. Binary logit analyses were conducted to test three theoretically derived hypotheses. There was a positive relationship between member satisfaction with the cooperatives and farmers’ assessment of the cooperatives’ environmental actions, although the cooperatives’ economic and social contributions were even more appreciated. Consequently, at least under the prevailing circumstances, member satisfaction with their cooperatives is positively associated with the farmers’ view of the environmental ambitions of their cooperatives.

This study investigates the relationship between Chinese farmers' propensity to adopt environment-friendly practices and their membership in cooperatives. Based on data collected in 2021 from the Fujian China Household Survey, the Endogenous Switching Probit model (ESP) is applied to account for unobserved factors that could simultaneously affect farmers' cooperative membership and their willingness to adopt environment-friendly practices. First, the results indicate that a cooperative membership has a positive impact on the level of farmers' interest in green production practices. Second, there is evidence of some heterogeneity (based on both observable and unobservable characteristics) in the impact of cooperative membership; the higher the farmers' capital returns, the more prominent the role of cooperatives in guiding these farmers. Third, participation in cooperatives is conducive to raising farmers' interest in green production. The overall conclusion is that a cooperative membership raises the Chinese farmers’ willingness to adopt environment-friendly practices.

This study investigates the mechanisms by which green finance mitigates non-point source pollution. Based on provincial panel data from China spanning 2005 to 2023, this study conducts an empirical analysis that yields several key findings: (1) The development of green finance significantly reduces the intensity of agricultural non-point source pollution. (2) Green finance indirectly contributes to pollution reduction by incentivizing farmers to adopt environmentally sustainable production practices. (3) The pollution control effects of green finance are amplified in regions with advanced digital infrastructure. (4) The impact of green finance on agricultural pollution demonstrates a threshold effect associated with regional innovation capacity—only when innovation capability exceeds a certain threshold does the emission reduction effect of green finance become evident. Theoretically, this study broadens the research dimensions of green finance by integrating farmer behavioral factors and revealing boundary conditions related to technology and innovation. Policy implications include the need to tailor green financial products for agriculture, accelerate the development of rural digital infrastructure, and implement innovation-driven differentiated policies to enhance precision.