Does Rural Operation System Reform Enhance Agricultural Output? Evidence from Sichuan Province

Rural operation system reform is vital in promoting rural revitalisation and agricultural and rural modernisation in China. Based on the sample data of 153 counties in Sichuan Province from 2012 to 2020, this paper constructs a PSM-DID evaluation model to analyse the effectiveness of rural operation system reform on agricultural development from the perspective of policy action mechanism, variable differentiation and other aspects. The results show that: (1) rural operation system reform has significantly boosted the economic development of the counties implementing the pilot reform of the rural operation system; (2) rural operation system reform mainly has two components: rural land system reform and agriculture organisation innovation; both have an impact on county economic and social development, but the degrees of impact are different; (3) the effectiveness of the rural operation system reform policy has a specific time lag. The results of this paper enrich the effectiveness evaluation of the reform policy on economic development and have policy implications for further promotion of agricultural and rural reform in China.