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Rural Labor Migration and Households' Land Rental Behavior: Evidence from China

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  • Xianqing Ji
  • Zhonghao Qian
  • Linxiu Zhang
  • Tonglong Zhang

Abstract

There has been growing debate about whether the changing demographic composition due to rural labor migration could potentially threaten China's agricultural productivity. The Chinese Government is promoting the “three rights separation system†to consolidate agricultural land through the land rental market with the explicit intention of fostering new agricultural management subjects and improving agricultural productivity. The present paper estimates the effect of rural labor migration on households' participation in land renting in and renting out activities based on a unique dataset from three rounds of nationally representative surveys. Our results indicate that rural labor migration has a significant negative effect on households renting in land and has a positive effect on households renting out land in rural China. Therefore, the government should adopt targeted policies to effectively encourage farmers with higher agricultural capacity to rent in land to alleviate the negative effect of rural migration on households renting in land. Supporting policies should guarantee that rural migrants enjoy the same welfare services as urban residents.

Suggested Citation

  • Xianqing Ji & Zhonghao Qian & Linxiu Zhang & Tonglong Zhang, 2018. "Rural Labor Migration and Households' Land Rental Behavior: Evidence from China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 26(1), pages 66-85, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:chinae:v:26:y:2018:i:1:p:66-85
    DOI: 10.1111/cwe.12229
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    Cited by:

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    6. Wang, Qian & Li, Fan & Heerink, Nico & Yu, Jin & Fleskens, Luuk & Ritsema, Coen J., 2023. "Land Rental Markets, Specialization and Rural Household Income: Evidence from the North China Plain," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 48(3), September.
    7. GAO Tianming & Anna Ivolga & Vasilii Erokhin, 2018. "Sustainable Rural Development in Northern China: Caught in a Vice between Poverty, Urban Attractions, and Migration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-20, May.
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    9. Zhe Chen & Apurbo Sarkar & Md. Shakhawat Hossain & Xiaojing Li & Xianli Xia, 2021. "Household Labour Migration and Farmers’ Access to Productive Agricultural Services: A Case Study from Chinese Provinces," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-20, October.
    10. Dingde Xu & Zhuolin Yong & Xin Deng & Linmei Zhuang & Chen Qing, 2020. "Rural-Urban Migration and its Effect on Land Transfer in Rural China," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-15, March.
    11. Meng Yang & Ting Sun & Tao Liu, 2023. "The Heterogeneous Effects of Multilevel Centers on Farmland Transfer: Evidence from Tai’an Prefecture, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-19, September.
    12. Weidong Wang & Yongqing Dong & Yunli Bai & Renfu Luo & Linxiu Zhang & Chengfang Liu & Spencer Hagist, 2020. "Returns to Education in Different Job Locations for Off-Farm Wage Employment: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-14, January.
    13. Ping Xue & Xinru Han & Yongchun Wang & Xiudong Wang, 2022. "Can Agricultural Machinery Harvesting Services Reduce Cropland Abandonment? Evidence from Rural China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-15, June.
    14. Zou, Baoling & Mishra, Ashok K. & Luo, Biliang, 2020. "Grain subsidy, off-farm labor supply and farmland leasing: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    15. Yali Zhang & Yihan Wang & Yunli Bai, 2019. "Knowing and Doing: The Perception of Subsidy Policy and Farmland Transfer," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-15, April.
    16. Qianqian Chen & Ruifa Hu & Yiduo Sun & Chao Zhang, 2020. "How Does Rural–Urban Migration Experience Affect Arable Land Use? Evidence from 2293 Farmers in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-17, October.
    17. Wen, Le & Paudel, Krishna P. & He, Qinying, 2023. "Temporary migration and land renting behavior," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1372-1391.
    18. Qiang Jin & Yanjing Guo & Hui Dang & Junfeng Zhu & Kahaer Abula, 2024. "The Second-Round Effects of the Agriculture Value Chain on Farmers’ Land Transfer-In: Evidence from the 2019 Land Economy Survey Data of Eleven Provinces in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-22, April.
    19. Deng, Xin & Xu, Dingde & Zeng, Miao & Qi, Yanbin, 2019. "Does early-life famine experience impact rural land transfer? Evidence from China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 58-67.
    20. Xin Deng & Dingde Xu & Yanbin Qi & Miao Zeng, 2018. "Labor Off-Farm Employment and Cropland Abandonment in Rural China: Spatial Distribution and Empirical Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-15, August.
    21. Chaozhu Li & Xiaoliang Li & Jiaxu Wang & Tianchu Feng, 2023. "Impacts of Aging Agricultural Labor Force on Land Transfer: An Empirical Analysis Based on the China Family Panel Studies," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-15, January.
    22. Zhang, Jian & Mishra, Ashok K. & Ma, Xianlei, 2023. "Mechanism of Chinese farmers’ land rental participation: The role of invisible markets and public intervention," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    23. Deng, Xin & Xu, Dingde & Zeng, Miao & Qi, Yanbin, 2019. "Does Internet use help reduce rural cropland abandonment? Evidence from China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    24. Kai Huang & Xin Deng & Yi Liu & Zhuolin Yong & Dingde Xu, 2020. "Does off-Farm Migration of Female Laborers Inhibit Land Transfer? Evidence from Sichuan Province, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-14, January.

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