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The effect on forestation of the collective forest tenure reform in China

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  • Xie, Lunyu
  • Berck, Peter
  • Xu, Jintao

Abstract

The Chinese government has allowed collective village forest land to pass into individualized ownership. The purpose was to alleviate rural poverty and stimulate investment in forests. Using data collected from 288 villages, in eight provinces, over three years, this paper measures the effect of the individualization on one aspect of forest investment, forestation. Because villages voted on the reform, we identify the causal effect of the reform by an instrumental variable estimator based on the countywide decision to offer the reform package. We find an increase in forestation of 7.68% of forest land in the year of the reform.

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  • Xie, Lunyu & Berck, Peter & Xu, Jintao, 2016. "The effect on forestation of the collective forest tenure reform in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 116-129.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:38:y:2016:i:c:p:116-129
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2015.12.005
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    Cited by:

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    4. Krul, Kees & Ho, Peter & Yang, Xiuyun, 2020. "Incentivizing household forest management in China's forest reform: Limitations to rights-based approaches in Southwest China," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    5. Yuge Wang & Apurbo Sarkar & Min Li & Zehui Chen & Ahmed Khairul Hasan & Quanxing Meng & Md. Shakhawat Hossain & Md. Ashfikur Rahman, 2022. "Evaluating the Impact of Forest Tenure Reform on Farmers’ Investment in Public Welfare Forest Areas: A Case Study of Gansu Province, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-17, May.
    6. Myers, Rodd & Fisher, Micah & Monterroso, Iliana & Liswanti, Nining & Maryudi, Ahmad & Larson, Anne M. & Mwangi, Esther & Herawati, Tuti, 2022. "Coordinating forest tenure reform: Objectives, resources and relations in Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, Peru, and Uganda," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    7. Xu, Chang & Li, Lingchao & Cheng, Baodong, 2021. "The impact of institutions on forestland transfer rents: The case of Zhejiang province in China," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    8. Yang, Xiaojun & Xu, Jintao & Xu, Xiaojie & Yi, Yuanyuan & Hyde, William F., 2020. "Collective forest tenure reform and household energy consumption: A case study in Yunnan Province, China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    9. Yang Ren & Jari Kuuluvainen & Anne Toppinen & Shunbo Yao & Sami Berghäll & Heimo Karppinen & Caixia Xue & Liu Yang, 2018. "The Effect of China’s New Circular Collective Forest Tenure Reform on Household Non-Timber Forest Product Production in Natural Forest Protection Project Regions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-17, April.
    10. Liu, Shilei & Xu, Jintao, 2019. "Livelihood mushroomed: Examining household level impacts of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) under new management regime in China's state forests," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 44-53.
    11. Nansikombi, Hellen & Fischer, Richard & Ferrer Velasco, Rubén & Lippe, Melvin & Kalaba, Felix Kanungwe & Kabwe, Gillian & Günter, Sven, 2020. "Can de facto governance influence deforestation drivers in the Zambian Miombo?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    12. Xiaowo Wu & Jiangwei Tu & Boru Liu & Xi Zhou & Yanxiong Wu, 2022. "Credit Risk Evaluation of Forest Farmers under Internet Crowdfunding Mode: The Case of China’s Collective Forest Regions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-17, May.
    13. Lin, Boqiang & Ge, Jiamin, 2021. "Does institutional freedom matter for global forest carbon sinks in the face of economic development disparity?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    14. Yi, Yuanyuan, 2023. "Devolution of tenure rights in forestland in China: Impact on investment and forest growth," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    15. Zhu, Zhen & Xu, Zhigang & Shen, Yueqin & Huang, Chenming & Zhang, Yaoqi, 2019. "How off-farm work drives the intensity of rural households' investment in forest management: The case from Zhejiang, China," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 30-43.
    16. Han Zhang & Jari Kuuluvainen & Youliang Ning & Wenmei Liao & Can Liu, 2017. "Institutional Regime, Off-Farm Employment, and the Interaction Effect: What are the Determinants of Households’ Forestland Transfer in China?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-15, October.
    17. Long, Hexing & de Jong, Wil & Yiwen, Zhang & Liu, Jinlong, 2021. "Institutional choices between private management and user group management during forest devolution: A case study of forest allocation in China," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    18. Yuepeng Zhou & Xianlei Ma & Dengyan Ji & Nico Heerink & Xiaoping Shi & Hongbin Liu, 2018. "Does Property Rights Integrity Improve Tenure Security? Evidence from China’s Forest Reform," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-18, June.
    19. Yang Yang & Hua Li & Long Cheng & Youliang Ning, 2021. "Effect of Land Property Rights on Forest Resources in Southern China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-15, April.
    20. Shuning Zhu & Jinlong Liu & Hao Xu & Lingchao Li & Wentao Yang, 2022. "Has China’s New Round of Collective Forest Reforms Reduced Forest Fragmentation? A Case Study of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Region," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-15, May.
    21. Xie, Fangting & Zhu, Shubin & Cao, Mengtian & Kang, Xiaolan & Du, Juan, 2019. "Does rural labor outward migration reduce household forest investment? The experience of Jiangxi, China," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 62-69.
    22. Yiwen, Zhang & Kant, Shashi & Dong, Jiayun & Liu, Jinlong, 2020. "How communities restructured forest tenure throughout the top-down devolution reform: Using the case of Fujian, China," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    China; Forestation; Land reform; Individualization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q23 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Forestry
    • Q28 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Government Policy

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