How Does Patient Capital Enhance Agribusiness Resilience? Evidence From Chinese Listed Agribusinesses

ABSTRACT In emerging economies where smallholder farming dominates agricultural production, agribusinesses serve as critical intermediaries linking smallholders to broader markets, and their resilience directly affects agricultural sustainability. Short‐term‐oriented capital is reluctant to adequately finance highly uncertain and cyclical agricultural production, whereas patient capital focuses on long‐term returns and closely aligns with the financing needs of agribusinesses. However, existing research on patient capital has largely focused on technology‐intensive firms, with insufficient attention to the agricultural sector. Using a sample of 106 listed agricultural firms in China's A‐share market from 2010 to 2024, this study empirically examines the impact of patient capital on agribusiness resilience, the underlying mechanisms, and heterogeneity. The findings indicate that: patient capital can significantly enhance the resilience of agribusiness; this conclusion holds after a series of robustness checks and endogeneity treatments; mechanism analysis reveals that patient capital enhances agribusiness resilience through three channels: promoting green technology innovation, alleviating financing constraints, and optimizing the management expense ratio; heterogeneity analysis shows that the resilience‐enhancing effect of patient capital is more pronounced among firms receiving lower government subsidies and operating in more competitive markets.