IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v11y2022i7p1082-d862931.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Land Inequality and Its Influencing Factors in Rural China in Modern Times: A Systematic Review

Author

Listed:
  • Dexian Chen

    (College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China)

  • Hao Hu

    (College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China)

  • Chengxiao Song

    (College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China)

  • Hang Lv

    (College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China)

Abstract

Land inequality is a global and historic issue. There is a problem of unequal distribution of land ownership in modern China; research results on this topic are extensive, but the conclusions are quite different or even completely opposite. This study systematically reviewed the research results obtained for land inequality in modern China and performed an international comparison. The results show that the debate on the estimation of land inequality in modern China has existed for a long time. The overall estimation of land inequality has been repeatedly revised, and many subdivision estimates show great regional variability. The application of the Gini coefficient and other methods can address the drawbacks of traditional methods. A change trend toward equality was found to be more likely in the late modern period. The majority of studies support the notion that debt burden, power, and strength exacerbated land inequality in modern China, whereas the inheritance system with equal sharing, revolution, and reform reduced the land inequality. However, the impact of disasters and commercialization remains controversial. Compared with relevant international studies, the study on land inequality in modern China focused on estimations with unique interpretation perspectives, but there are limitations in terms of the research methods used.

Suggested Citation

  • Dexian Chen & Hao Hu & Chengxiao Song & Hang Lv, 2022. "Land Inequality and Its Influencing Factors in Rural China in Modern Times: A Systematic Review," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-21, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:7:p:1082-:d:862931
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/7/1082/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/7/1082/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Faguet, Jean-Paul & Sánchez, Fabio & Villaveces, Marta-Juanita, 2020. "The perversion of public land distribution by landed elites: Power, inequality and development in Colombia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    2. Jayne, T. S. & Yamano, Takashi & Weber, Michael T. & Tschirley, David & Benfica, Rui & Chapoto, Antony & Zulu, Ballard, 2003. "Smallholder income and land distribution in Africa: implications for poverty reduction strategies," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 253-275, June.
    3. Njoh, Ambe J. & Bigon, Liora & Ananga, Erick O. & Ayuk-Etang, Richard A., 2018. "Institutional, economic and socio-cultural factors accounting for gender-based inequalities in land title procurement in Cameroon," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 116-125.
    4. Stefania Galli & Klas Rönnbäck, 2021. "Land distribution and inequality in a black settler colony: the case of Sierra Leone, 1792–1831," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 74(1), pages 115-137, February.
    5. Cheryl Doss & Chiara Kovarik & Amber Peterman & Agnes Quisumbing & Mara Bold, 2015. "Gender inequalities in ownership and control of land in Africa: myth and reality," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 46(3), pages 403-434, May.
    6. Bardhan, Pranab & Luca, Michael & Mookherjee, Dilip & Pino, Francisco, 2014. "Evolution of land distribution in West Bengal 1967–2004: Role of land reform and demographic changes," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 171-190.
    7. Boberg-Fazlić, Nina & Lampe, Markus & Martinelli Lasheras, Pablo & Sharp, Paul, 2022. "Winners and losers from agrarian reform: Evidence from Danish land inequality 1682–1895," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    8. Cliff T. Bekar & Clyde G. Reed, 2013. "Land markets and inequality: evidence from medieval England," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 17(3), pages 294-317, August.
    9. Caitlin Kieran & Kathryn Sproule & Cheryl Doss & Agnes Quisumbing & Sung Mi Kim, 2015. "Examining gender inequalities in land rights indicators in Asia," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 46(S1), pages 119-138, November.
    10. Besley, Timothy & Leight, Jessica & Pande, Rohini & Rao, Vijayendra, 2016. "Long-run impacts of land regulation: Evidence from tenancy reform in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 72-87.
    11. Holden, Stein T. & Tilahun, Mesfin, 2020. "Farm size and gender distribution of land: Evidence from Ethiopian land registry data," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    12. Wineman, Ayala & Liverpool-Tasie, Lenis Saweda, 2017. "Land markets and the distribution of land in northwestern Tanzania," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 550-563.
    13. Ewout Frankema, 2010. "The colonial roots of land inequality: geography, factor endowments, or institutions?," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 63(2), pages 418-451, May.
    14. Brandt, Loren & Sands, Barbara, 1990. "Beyond Malthus and Ricardo: Economic Growth, Land Concentration, and Income Distribution in Early Twentieth-Century Rural China," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(4), pages 807-827, December.
    15. Wegge, Simone A., 2021. "Inheritance Institutions and Landholding Inequality in Nineteenth-Century Germany: Evidence from Hesse-Cassel Villages and Towns," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 81(3), pages 909-942, September.
    16. Kenjiro Yagura, 2015. "Effect of intergenerational asset transfers on land distribution in rural Cambodia: case studies of three rice-growing villages," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 46(2), pages 173-186, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Luis Bauluz & Yajna Govind & Filip Novokmet, 2020. "Global Land Inequality," PSE Working Papers halshs-03022318, HAL.
    2. Sonia Bhalotra & Abhishek Chakravarty & Dilip Mookherjee & Francisco J. Pino, 2019. "Property Rights and Gender Bias: Evidence from Land Reform in West Bengal," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(2), pages 205-237, April.
    3. Shunji Oniki & Melaku Berhe & Koichi Takenaka, 2020. "Efficiency Impact of the Communal Land Distribution Program in Northern Ethiopia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-14, May.
    4. Isabel Lambrecht & Monica Schuster & Sarah Asare Samwini & Laura Pelleriaux, 2018. "Changing gender roles in agriculture? Evidence from 20 years of data in Ghana," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 49(6), pages 691-710, November.
    5. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth & Quisumbing, Agnes & Doss, Cheryl & Theis, Sophie, 2019. "Women's land rights as a pathway to poverty reduction: Framework and review of available evidence," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 72-82.
    6. Mengesha, Ayelech Kidie & Damyanovic, Doris & Mansberger, Reinfried & Agegnehu, Sayeh Kassaw & Stoeglehner, Gernot, 2021. "Reducing gender inequalities through land titling? The case of Gozamin Woreda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    7. Sproule, Kathryn & Kieran, Caitlin & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Doss, Cheryl, 2015. "Gender, headship, and the life cycle: Landownership in four Asian countries:," IFPRI discussion papers 1481, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    8. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Doss, Cheryl R. & Theis, Sophie, 2017. "Women’s land rights as a pathway to poverty reduction: A framework and review of available evidence," IFPRI discussion papers 1663, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    9. Cheryl Doss, 2015. "Women and Agricultural Productivity: What Does the Evidence Tell Us?," Working Papers 1051, Economic Growth Center, Yale University.
    10. Jean-Paul Faguet & Fabio Sánchez & Marta-Juanita Villaveces, 2015. "Land Reform, Latifundia and Social Development at Local Level in Colombia, 1961-2010," Documentos CEDE 12569, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    11. Ayaz, Muhammad & Mughal, Mazhar, 2023. "Land inequality and landlessness in Pakistan: Measuring the diverse nature of land disparities," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    12. Feyertag, Joseph & Childress, Malcolm & Langdown, Ian & Locke, Anna & Nizalov, Denys, 2021. "How does gender affect the perceived security of land and property rights? Evidence from 33 countries," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    13. Camila Uribe Mejía, 2014. "Bancarización y Empoderamiento Femenino," Documentos CEDE 11001, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    14. Boberg-Fazlić, Nina & Lampe, Markus & Martinelli Lasheras, Pablo & Sharp, Paul, 2022. "Winners and losers from agrarian reform: Evidence from Danish land inequality 1682–1895," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    15. Vito Ricci & Giacomo Zanibelli, 2021. "For a Multidimensional Measure of Land Inequality in 1930s Italy. A Historical-Statistical Analysis," Documentos de Trabajo (DT-AEHE) 2107, Asociación Española de Historia Económica.
    16. Brendan Fisher & Robin Naidoo, 2016. "The Geography of Gender Inequality," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(3), pages 1-10, March.
    17. Muhammad Ayaz & Mazhar Mughal, 2023. "Land Inequality and Landlessness in Pakistan Authors," Working Papers hal-04004784, HAL.
    18. Isabel Brigitte Lambrecht & Kristi Mahrt & Nang Lun Kham Synt & Hnin Ei Win & Khin Zin Win, 2023. "Gender gaps in land rights: Explaining different measures and why households differ in Myanmar," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 54(5), pages 728-741, September.
    19. Burrone, Sara & Giannelli, Gianna Claudia, 2023. "Do Households Where Women Own Land Fare Better for Food Security? Evidence for Tanzania," IZA Discussion Papers 16382, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Agnes R. Quisumbing & Neha Kumar & Julia A. Behrman, 2018. "Do shocks affect men's and women's assets differently? Evidence from Bangladesh and Uganda," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 36(1), pages 3-34, January.

    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:7:p:1082-:d:862931. 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.