IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v11y2022i3p320-d756014.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Evaluating the Impact of Ecological Property Rights to Trigger Farmers’ Investment Behavior—An Example of Confluence Area of Heihe Reservoir, Shaanxi, China

Author

Listed:
  • Min Li

    (College of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang 712100, China)

  • Apurbo Sarkar

    (College of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang 712100, China)

  • Yuge Wang

    (College of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang 712100, China)

  • Ahmed Khairul Hasan

    (Department of Agronomy, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh 2202, Bangladesh)

  • Quanxing Meng

    (College of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang 712100, China)

Abstract

Property rights of natural resources have been acting as a critical legislative tool for promoting sustainable resource utilization and conservation in various regions of the globe. However, incorporating ecological property rights into the natural resources property rights structure may significantly influence farmers’ behavior in forestry investment. It may also trigger forest protection, water conservation, and urban water security. The main aim of the research is to evaluate the impact of ecological property rights and farmers’ investment behavior in the economic forest. We have constructed an analytical framework of collective forest rights from two indicators of integrity and stability, by adopting the theory of property rights and ecological capital to fulfill the study’s aims. The empirical data has been comprised of the microdata of 708 farmers, collected from the confluence area of the Heihe Reservoir, Shaanxi, China. The study also conducted pilot ecological property rights transactions in the surveyed area. The study utilized the double-hurdle model to test the proposed framework empirically. The results show that forest land use rights, economic products, and eco-product income rights positively affect farmers’ forestry investment intensity, and disposal rights (forest land transfer rights) negatively affect farmers’ investment intensity. However, in terms of the integrity of property rights, only the right to profit from ecological products affects farmers’ forestry investment willingness, and other property rights are insignificant. The study also found that the lower the farmers’ forest land expropriation risk is expected, the greater the possibility of investment and the higher the input level. However, we traced that the farmers’ forest land adjustment has no significant impact on farmers’ willingness to invest. Obtaining the benefits of ecological products has been found as the primary motivation for forestry investment within the surveyed area. The completeness of ownership rights positively impacted farmers’ investment intensity. Farmers should realize the ecological value of water conservation forests through the market orientation of the benefit of ecological products. Therefore, the government should encourage farmers and arrange proper training to facilitate a smooth investment. A well-established afforestation program should also be carried out.

Suggested Citation

  • Min Li & Apurbo Sarkar & Yuge Wang & Ahmed Khairul Hasan & Quanxing Meng, 2022. "Evaluating the Impact of Ecological Property Rights to Trigger Farmers’ Investment Behavior—An Example of Confluence Area of Heihe Reservoir, Shaanxi, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-23, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:3:p:320-:d:756014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/3/320/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/3/320/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jha, Srijna & Kaechele, Harald & Sieber, Stefan, 2021. "Factors influencing the adoption of agroforestry by smallholder farmer households in Tanzania: Case studies from Morogoro and Dodoma," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    2. Yuheng Yang & Xi Zhang & Leran Chang & Yufei Cheng & Shengle Cao, 2018. "A Method of Evaluating Ecological Compensation Under Different Property Rights and Stages: A Case Study of the Xiaoqing River Basin, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-14, February.
    3. Yi, Yuanyuan & Köhlin, Gunnar & Xu, Jintao, 2014. "Property rights, tenure security and forest investment incentives: evidence from China's Collective Forest Tenure Reform," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(1), pages 48-73, February.
    4. Zhang, Junlian, 2007. "Barriers to water markets in the Heihe River basin in northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 32-40, January.
    5. Mudombi-Rusinamhodzi, Grace & Thiel, Andreas, 2020. "Property rights and the conservation of forests in communal areas in Zimbabwe," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    6. Pei, Sha & Zhang, Chunxiao & Liu, Chunlan & Liu, Xiaona & Xie, Gaodi, 2019. "Forest ecological compensation standard based on spatial flowing of water services in the upper reaches of Miyun Reservoir, China," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    7. Nerfa, Lauren & Rhemtulla, Jeanine M. & Zerriffi, Hisham, 2020. "Forest dependence is more than forest income: Development of a new index of forest product collection and livelihood resources," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    8. Dambala Gelo, 2020. "Forest commons, vertical integration and smallholder’s saving and investment responses: Evidence from a quasi-experiment," Working Papers 828, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    9. Bettles, Joseph & Battisti, David S. & Cook-Patton, Susan C. & Kroeger, Timm & Spector, June T. & Wolff, Nicholas H. & Masuda, Yuta J., 2021. "Agroforestry and non-state actors: A review," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    10. 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).
    11. Yoshitaka Miyake & Shota Kimoto & Yuta Uchiyama & Ryo Kohsaka, 2022. "Income Change and Inter-Farmer Relations through Conservation Agriculture in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan: Empirical Analysis of Economic and Behavioral Factors," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-18, February.
    12. Yan, Jinming & Yang, Yumeng & Xia, Fangzhou, 2021. "Subjective land ownership and the endowment effect in land markets: A case study of the farmland “three rights separation” reform in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    13. Neupane, Ramji P. & Sharma, Khem R. & Thapa, Gopal B., 2002. "Adoption of agroforestry in the hills of Nepal: a logistic regression analysis," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 72(3), pages 177-196, June.
    14. Campos, Pablo & Álvarez, Alejandro & Mesa, Bruno & Oviedo, José L. & Caparrós, Alejandro, 2021. "Linking standard Economic Account for Forestry and ecosystem accounting: Total forest incomes and environmental assets in publicly-owned conifer farms in Andalusia-Spain," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    15. Nguyen, Thanh Van & Lv, Jie Hua & Ngo, Van Quang, 2021. "Factors determining upland farmers' participation in non-timber forest product value chains for sustainable poverty reduction in Vietnam," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    16. Gelo, Dambala, 2020. "Forest commons, vertical integration and smallholder’s saving and investment responses: Evidence from a quasi-experiment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    17. Cheng Zong & Kun Cheng & Chun-Hung Lee & Nai-Lun Hsu, 2017. "Capturing Tourists’ Preferences for the Management of Community-Based Ecotourism in a Forest Park," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-16, September.
    18. Alex Robson & Stergios Skaperdas, 2008. "Costly enforcement of property rights and the Coase theorem," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 36(1), pages 109-128, July.
    19. Andersson, Mats & Gong, Peichen, 2010. "Risk preferences, risk perceptions and timber harvest decisions -- An empirical study of nonindustrial private forest owners in northern Sweden," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(5), pages 330-339, June.
    20. Holden, Stein T. & Otsuka, Keijiro, 2014. "The roles of land tenure reforms and land markets in the context of population growth and land use intensification in Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 88-97.
    21. 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.
    22. Chakraborty, Rabindra Nath, 2001. "Stability and outcomes of common property institutions in forestry: evidence from the Terai region of Nepal," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 341-353, February.
    23. Di Corato, Luca & Gazheli, Ardjan & Lagerkvist, Carl-Johan, 2013. "Investing in energy forestry under uncertainty," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 56-64.
    24. Kruger, C. & Boxall, P.C. & Luckert, M.K., 2013. "Preferences of community public advisory group members for characteristics of Canadian forest tenures in pursuit of sustainable forest management objectives," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 121-130.
    25. Yu, Bing & Xu, Linyu, 2016. "Review of ecological compensation in hydropower development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 729-738.
    26. Nichiforel, Liviu & Keary, Kevin & Deuffic, Philippe & Weiss, Gerhard & Thorsen, Bo Jellesmark & Winkel, Georg & Avdibegović, Mersudin & Dobšinská, Zuzana & Feliciano, Diana & Gatto, Paola & Gorriz Mi, 2018. "How private are Europe’s private forests? A comparative property rights analysis," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 535-552.
    27. Mamo, Getachew & Sjaastad, Espen & Vedeld, Pal, 2007. "Economic dependence on forest resources: A case from Dendi District, Ethiopia," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(8), pages 916-927, May.
    28. Adger, W. Neil & Luttrell, Cecilia, 2000. "Property rights and the utilisation of wetlands," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 75-89, October.
    29. Rasul, Golam & Thapa, Gopal B., 2006. "Financial and economic suitability of agroforestry as an alternative to shifting cultivation: The case of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 91(1-2), pages 29-50, November.
    30. Hildebrandt, Patrick & Knoke, Thomas, 2011. "Investment decisions under uncertainty--A methodological review on forest science studies," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 1-15, January.
    31. Xie, Yi & Gong, Peichen & Han, Xiao & Wen, Yali, 2014. "The effect of collective forestland tenure reform in China: Does land parcelization reduce forest management intensity?," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 126-140.
    32. Horst Siebert, 2008. "Economics of the Environment," Springer Books, Springer, edition 7, number 978-3-540-73707-0, December.
    33. Tikkanen, Jukka & Isokaanta, Tarja & Pykalainen, Jouni & Leskinen, Pekka, 2006. "Applying cognitive mapping approach to explore the objective-structure of forest owners in a Northern Finnish case area," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 139-152, November.
    34. Martinelli, Gabrielli do Carmo & Schlindwein, Madalena Maria & Padovan, Milton Parron & Gimenes, Régio Marcio Toesca, 2019. "Decreasing uncertainties and reversing paradigms on the economic performance of agroforestry systems in Brazil," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 274-286.
    35. Ran Liu & Yuhang Jia, 2021. "Resilience and Circularity: Revisiting the Role of Urban Village in Rural-Urban Migration in Beijing, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-13, November.
    36. Sotirov, Metodi & Sallnäs, Ola & Eriksson, Ljusk Ola, 2019. "Forest owner behavioral models, policy changes, and forest management. An agent-based framework for studying the provision of forest ecosystem goods and services at the landscape level," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 79-89.
    37. 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.
    38. Jinna Yu & Yiming Wei & Wei Fang & Zhen Liu & Yujie Zhang & Jing Lan, 2021. "New Round of Collective Forest Rights Reform, Forestland Transfer and Household Production Efficiency," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-22, September.
    39. Lee, Young Gwan & Zhu, Gengping & Sharma, Bijay P. & English, Burton C. & Cho, Seong-Hoon, 2021. "Role of complementary and competitive relationships among multiple objectives in conservation investment decisions," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    40. Hogarth, Nicholas J. & Belcher, Brian & Campbell, Bruce & Stacey, Natasha, 2013. "The Role of Forest-Related Income in Household Economies and Rural Livelihoods in the Border-Region of Southern China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 111-123.
    41. Jana Krčmářová & Lukáš Kala & Alica Brendzová & Tomáš Chabada, 2021. "Building Agroforestry Policy Bottom-Up: Knowledge of Czech Farmers on Trees in Farmland," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-18, March.
    42. Cao, Shixiong & Wang, Xiuqing & Song, Yuezhen & Chen, Li & Feng, Qi, 2010. "Impacts of the Natural Forest Conservation Program on the livelihoods of residents of Northwestern China: Perceptions of residents affected by the program," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(7), pages 1454-1462, May.
    43. Maraseni, Tek Narayan & Bhattarai, Nabin & Karky, Bhaskar Singh & Cadman, Timothy & Timalsina, Niroj & Bhandari, Trishna Singh & Apan, Armando & Ma, Hwan Ok & Rawat, R.S. & Verma, Nemit & San, Su Mon , 2019. "An assessment of governance quality for community-based forest management systems in Asia: Prioritisation of governance indicators at various scales," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 750-761.
    44. 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.
    45. Xianlei Ma & Nico Heerink & Ekko Ierland & Xiaoping Shi, 2016. "Land tenure insecurity and rural-urban migration in rural China," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95(2), pages 383-406, June.
    46. Liu Yang & Yang Ren, 2020. "Has China’s New Round of Collective Forestland Tenure Reform Caused an Increase in Rural Labor Transfer?," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-17, August.
    47. Irimie, Doru Leonard & Essmann, Hans Friedrich, 2009. "Forest property rights in the frame of public policies and societal change," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 95-101, March.
    48. Duan, Wei & Shen, Jinyu & Hogarth, Nicholas J. & Chen, Qian, 2021. "Risk preferences significantly affect household investment in timber forestry: Empirical evidence from Fujian, China," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    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. 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.
    2. Ding Xiuling & Lu Qian & Li Lipeng & Apurbo Sarkar, 2023. "The Impact of Technical Training on Farmers Adopting Water-Saving Irrigation Technology: An Empirical Evidence from China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-20, April.
    3. Guiling Zhao & Zhongji Deng & Chang Liu, 2024. "Assessment of the Coupling Degree between Agricultural Modernization and the Coordinated Development of Black Soil Protection and Utilization: A Case Study of Heilongjiang Province," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-19, February.

    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. 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.
    2. Yuepeng Zhou & Xiaoping Shi & Dengyan Ji & Xianlei Ma & Satish Chand, 2019. "Property rights integrity, tenure security and forestland rental market participation: Evidence from Jiangxi Province, China," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43(2), pages 95-110, May.
    3. 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).
    4. 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.
    5. Jian Wei & Hui Xiao & Hao Liu & Xiaotao Huang & Dahong Zhang, 2022. "Does the Collective Forestland Tenure Reform Promote Rural Households’ Forestry Inputs? Based on Dual Perspectives of Rural Households’ Divergence and Inter-Generational Differences," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-23, October.
    6. 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).
    7. 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.
    8. Liu Yang & Yang Ren, 2020. "Has China’s New Round of Collective Forestland Tenure Reform Caused an Increase in Rural Labor Transfer?," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-17, August.
    9. Zhang Yiwen & Shashi Kant & Hexing Long, 2020. "Collective Action Dilemma after China’s Forest Tenure Reform: Operationalizing Forest Devolution in a Rapidly Changing Society," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-18, February.
    10. Sadeghi, Azin & Zhunusova, Eliza & Günter, Sven & Dieter, Matthias, 2023. "Households' livelihood in restricted forest landscapes: What is the impact of contextual factors?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    11. 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.
    12. 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.
    13. He, Jun & Kebede, Bereket & Martin, Adrian & Gross-Camp, Nicole, 2020. "Privatization or communalization: A multi-level analysis of changes in forest property regimes in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    14. Soltani, Arezoo & Angelsen, Arild & Eid, Tron & Naieni, Mohammad Saeid Noori & Shamekhi, Taghi, 2012. "Poverty, sustainability, and household livelihood strategies in Zagros, Iran," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 60-70.
    15. Meyer, Maximilian & Hulke, Carolin & Kamwi, Jonathan & Kolem, Hannah & Börner, Jan, 2022. "Spatially heterogeneous effects of collective action on environmental dependence in Namibia’s Zambezi region," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    16. Andra-Cosmina Albulescu & Michael Manton & Daniela Larion & Per Angelstam, 2022. "The Winding Road towards Sustainable Forest Management in Romania, 1989–2022: A Case Study of Post-Communist Social–Ecological Transition," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-29, July.
    17. Dong, Jiayun & Liang, Wenyuan & Fu, Yimin & Liu, Weiping & Managi, Shunsuke, 2021. "Impact of devolved forest tenure reform on formal credit access for households: Evidence from Fujian, China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 486-498.
    18. Mingjie Song & Doudou Huang & Basanta Paudel, 2022. "A Supply-Demand Framework for Eco-Compensation Calculation and Allocation in China’s National Key Ecological Function Areas—A Case Study in the Yangtze River Economic Belt," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-22, December.
    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. Lodin, Isak & Brukas, Vilis, 2021. "Ideal vs real forest management: Challenges in promoting production-oriented silvicultural ideals among small-scale forest owners in southern Sweden," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(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:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:3:p:320-:d:756014. 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.