Ensuring food security and sustainable agricultural production in developing countries, particularly China, necessitates reducing fertilizer application and enhancing its efficiency. While extensive research has explored pathways to achieve these goals from the perspective of smallholder farmers, the role of new agricultural operating entities (NAOEs) remains underexplored. This study addresses this gap by analyzing county-level and household-level panel dataset to estimate the impact of NAOEs on fertilizer application. The empirical findings suggest that NAOEs, including family farms, farming...
