IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v15y2018i9p1808-d165129.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Labor Off-Farm Employment and Cropland Abandonment in Rural China: Spatial Distribution and Empirical Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Xin Deng

    (Collage of Economics, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work and should be regarded as co-first authors.)

  • Dingde Xu

    (Sichuan Center for Rural Development Research, College of Management of Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work and should be regarded as co-first authors.)

  • Yanbin Qi

    (Collage of Economics, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China)

  • Miao Zeng

    (School of Economics of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China)

Abstract

Alleviating cropland misallocation is helpful for the sustainable development of agriculture. Does off-farm employment inevitably result in cropland misallocation (e.g., cropland abandonment) and threaten the sustainable development of agriculture? This study differs from prior studies in its view that off-farm employment does not necessarily result in cropland abandonment. Specifically, the study employs survey data from 8031 peasant households from 27 provinces in rural China and spatial statistics to analyze the distribution of off-farm employment and cropland abandonment. Empirical models (i.e., IV-Probit and IV-Tobit) are used to examine the quantitative relation between off-farm employment and cropland abandonment. The results are as follows. (1) The spatial distribution of off-farm employment or cropland abandonment differs among regions. Regions with a higher rate of off-farm employment show more cropland abandonment but a lower average area of cropland abandonment. (2) Off-farm employment has a significant and positive correlation with cropland abandonment. However, its square has a significant and negative correlation with cropland abandonment; i.e., there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between off-farm employment and cropland abandonment, with the turning point occurring at 46.00% off-farm employment. (3) Off-farm employment has a significant and positive correlation with the area of cropland abandonment. However, its square has a significant and negative correlation with the area; i.e., there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between off-farm employment and area, with the turning point occurring at 44.50% off-farm employment. This study reveals the relationship between off-farm employment and cropland abandonment and provides policymakers with references for use in developing sustainable agriculture.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:9:p:1808-:d:165129
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/9/1808/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/9/1808/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chaoran Chen & Diego Restuccia & Raül Santaeulàlia-Llopis, 2023. "Land Misallocation and Productivity," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 441-465, April.
    2. 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.
    3. Tasso Adamopoulos & Diego Restuccia, 2020. "Land Reform and Productivity: A Quantitative Analysis with Micro Data," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(3), pages 1-39, July.
    4. Deininger, Klaus & Jin, Songqing, 2005. "The potential of land rental markets in the process of economic development: Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(1), pages 241-270, October.
    5. Mariano Sana & Douglas S. Massey, 2005. "Household Composition, Family Migration, and Community Context: Migrant Remittances in Four Countries," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 86(2), pages 509-528, June.
    6. Chang-Tai Hsieh & Peter J. Klenow, 2009. "Misallocation and Manufacturing TFP in China and India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(4), pages 1403-1448.
    7. Jin Yang & Zuhui Huang & Xiaobo Zhang & Thomas Reardon, 2013. "The Rapid Rise of Cross-Regional Agricultural Mechanization Services in China," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 95(5), pages 1245-1251.
    8. Hualin Xie & Peng Wang & Guanrong Yao, 2014. "Exploring the Dynamic Mechanisms of Farmland Abandonment Based on a Spatially Explicit Economic Model for Environmental Sustainability: A Case Study in Jiangxi Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-23, March.
    9. Xin Meng, 2012. "Labor Market Outcomes and Reforms in China," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 26(4), pages 75-102, Fall.
    10. Newey, Whitney K., 1987. "Efficient estimation of limited dependent variable models with endogenous explanatory variables," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 231-250, November.
    11. Andrew Dillon & Valerie Mueller & Sheu Salau, 2011. "Migratory Responses to Agricultural Risk in Northern Nigeria," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 93(4), pages 1048-1061.
    12. Sikor, Thomas & Müller, Daniel & Stahl, Johannes, 2009. "Land Fragmentation and Cropland Abandonment in Albania: Implications for the Roles of State and Community in Post-Socialist Land Consolidation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 1411-1423, August.
    13. Nguyen, Trung Thanh & Nguyen, Loc Duc & Lippe, Rattiya Suddeephong & Grote, Ulrike, 2017. "Determinants of Farmers’ Land Use Decision-Making: Comparative Evidence From Thailand and Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 199-213.
    14. Dingde Xu & Enlai Liu & Xuxi Wang & Hong Tang & Shaoquan Liu, 2018. "Rural Households’ Livelihood Capital, Risk Perception, and Willingness to Purchase Earthquake Disaster Insurance: Evidence from Southwestern China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-19, June.
    15. Dingde Xu & Jifei Zhang & Golam Rasul & Shaoquan Liu & Fangting Xie & Mengtian Cao & Enlai Liu, 2015. "Household Livelihood Strategies and Dependence on Agriculture in the Mountainous Settlements in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-20, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Martinson Ankrah Twumasi & Bright Senyo Dogbe & Ernest Kwarko Ankrah & Zhao Ding & Yuansheng Jiang, 2023. "Assessing Financial Literacy and Farmland Abandonment Relationship in Ghana," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-18, February.
    2. Martinson Ankrah Twumasi & Abbas Ali Chandio & Ghulam Raza Sargani & Isaac Asare & Huaquan Zhang, 2022. "Off-Farm Employment and Agricultural Credit Fungibility Nexus in Rural Ghana," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-15, July.
    3. Jingjing Sun & Jie Li & Yue Cui, 2024. "Does Non-Farm Employment Promote Farmland Abandonment of Resettled Households? Evidence from Shaanxi, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-20, January.
    4. Ningan Yang & Yawen Ding & Shi Min & Junfei Bai, 2022. "Does rubber expansion hinder the migration of rural labor? Evidence from southwest China?," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 1108-1131, May.
    5. Xiuling Ding & Qian Lu & Lipeng Li & Apurbo Sarkar & Hua Li, 2023. "Does Labor Transfer Improve Farmers’ Willingness to Withdraw from Farming?—A Bivariate Probit Modeling Approach," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-27, August.
    6. Rui Min & Hongxin Yang & Xu Mo & Yanbin Qi & Dingde Xu & Xin Deng, 2022. "Does Institutional Social Insurance Cause the Abandonment of Cultivated Land? Evidence from Rural China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-11, January.
    7. Xin Deng & Miao Zeng & Dingde Xu & Feng Wei & Yanbin Qi, 2019. "Household Health and Cropland Abandonment in Rural China: Theoretical Mechanism and Empirical Evidence," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-13, September.
    8. Bo Liu & Wei Song & Qian Sun, 2022. "Status, Trend, and Prospect of Global Farmland Abandonment Research: A Bibliometric Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-30, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. 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).
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. Gao, Xuwen & Shi, Xinjie & Fang, Shile, 2021. "Property rights and misallocation: Evidence from land certification in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    5. Aragón, Fernando M. & Restuccia, Diego & Rud, Juan Pablo, 2022. "Are small farms really more productive than large farms?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    6. Marijn A. Bolhuis & Swapnika R. Rachapalli & Diego Restuccia, 2021. "Misallocation in Indian Agriculture," NBER Working Papers 29363, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. 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.
    8. Diego Restuccia, 2019. "Misallocation and aggregate productivity across time and space," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(1), pages 5-32, February.
    9. Douglas Gollin & Christopher Udry, 2021. "Heterogeneity, Measurement Error, and Misallocation: Evidence from African Agriculture," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(1), pages 1-80.
    10. Diego Restuccia & Richard Rogerson, 2017. "The Causes and Costs of Misallocation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(3), pages 151-174, Summer.
    11. Chen, Chaoran, 2020. "Technology adoption, capital deepening, and international productivity differences," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    12. Tasso Adamopoulos & Diego Restuccia, 2020. "Land Reform and Productivity: A Quantitative Analysis with Micro Data," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(3), pages 1-39, July.
    13. Tasso Adamopoulos & Loren Brandt & Jessica Leight & Diego Restuccia, 2022. "Misallocation, Selection, and Productivity: A Quantitative Analysis With Panel Data From China," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(3), pages 1261-1282, May.
    14. Marijn Bolhuis & Swapnika Rachapalli & Diego Restuccia, 2024. "Misallocation in Indian Agriculture," Working Papers tecipa-773, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    15. Rivera-Padilla, Alberto, 2020. "Crop choice, trade costs, and agricultural productivity," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    16. Chen, Minjie & Heerink, Nico & Zhu, Xueqin & Feng, Shuyi, 2021. "Do Small Farm Sizes Imply Large Resource Misallocation? Evidence from Wheat-Maize Double Cropping Farms in the North China Plain," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315141, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    17. Chaoran Chen & Diego Restuccia & Raul Santaeulalia-Llopis, 2022. "The Effects of Land Markets on Resource Allocation and Agricultural Productivity," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 45, pages 41-54, July.
    18. Stephen Ayerst & Loren Brandt & Diego Restuccia, 2023. "Distortions, Producer Dynamics, and Aggregate Productivity: A General Equilibrium Analysis," Working Papers tecipa-748, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    19. Klaus Deininger & Songqing Jin & Yanyan Liu & Sudhir K Singh, 2016. "Can Labor Market Imperfections Explain Changes in the Inverse Farm Size–Productivity Relationship? Longitudinal Evidence from Rural India," Working Papers id:10987, eSocialSciences.
    20. Le, Kien, 2020. "Land use restrictions, misallocation in agriculture, and aggregate productivity in Vietnam," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:9:p:1808-:d:165129. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.