TITLE:
Coupling and Coordinated Development of Rural Supply Chains and Farmers’ Income Growth: An Empirical Study of Zhejiang Province
AUTHORS:
Jingxuan Qiu, Yang Li, Jiaxi Wu
KEYWORDS:
Rural Supply Chain, Farmers’ Income Growth, Coupling Coordination Degree, Entropy Weight Method, Zhejiang Province
JOURNAL NAME:
Modern Economy,
Vol.17 No.9,
September
17,
2026
ABSTRACT: To investigate the coordinated development mechanism between rural supply chains and farmers’ income growth, this study constructs a dual-system evaluation indicator system for rural supply chains and farmers’ income growth. The entropy weight method is employed for objective weighting, and a coupling coordination degree model is applied to empirically measure the coupling coordination level of the two systems in Zhejiang Province from 2018 to 2024. The results reveal the following: 1) During the study period, the comprehensive index of the rural supply chain in Zhejiang Province rose from 0 to 0.4938, while that of farmers’ income growth increased from 0.0836 to 0.3975, indicating rapid growth in both systems. 2) The coupling coordination degree improved from 0 (extreme incoordination) to 0.6656 (high coordination), achieving a five-level leap in coordination grade. 3) The relative development type underwent a dynamic adjustment sequence of “supply-chain-lagged → synchronous → income-growth-lagged → synchronous → income-growth-lagged.” In 2024, the P value was 1.2423, suggesting that supply chain development slightly outpaced farmers’ income growth. 4) The year-on-year growth rate, the number of 5G base stations, and per capita tertiary industry net income were the three indicators with the highest weights. Building on these findings, this paper proposes policy recommendations from the perspectives of improving rural logistics infrastructure, promoting the digital transformation of supply chains, establishing a long-term mechanism for farmers’ income growth, and strengthening the enabling role of digital inclusive finance. On a methodological note, given the single-province, seven-observation (N = 7) sample, this study is a descriptive time-series assessment of coordinated development rather than a test of reciprocal causal effects; in addition, the reported 2018 value of zero for the supply-chain index and for the coordination degree is a mechanical artifact of min-max normalization at the base year, not an actual state of extreme incoordination.