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How land fragmentation affects off-farm labor supply in China: Evidence from household panel data

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  • Jia, Lili
  • Petrick, Martin

Abstract

This study provides a deeper theoretical understanding of the linkages between land fragmentation and off-farm labor supply and investigates this relationship empirically in a more direct and robust way than in the existing literature. Drawing upon a rural household panel dataset collected in Zhejiang, Hubei and Yunnan provinces from 1995-2002, we estimate the effects in two steps. First, we estimate the effect of land fragmentation on labor productivity. Second, we estimate the effect of land fragmentation on off-farm labor supply. The production function results show that land fragmentation indeed leads to lower agricultural labor productivity, implying land consolidation will make on-farm work more attractive and thus decrease off-farm labor supply. However, the effect of land consolidation on off-farm labor supply cannot be observed in the presence of imperfect labor market and this conclusion is supported by a direct estimation of the effect of land fragmentation on off-farm labor supply.

Suggested Citation

  • Jia, Lili & Petrick, Martin, 2012. "How land fragmentation affects off-farm labor supply in China: Evidence from household panel data," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 126263, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:iaae12:126263
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.126263
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labor and Human Capital; Land Economics/Use;

    JEL classification:

    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment
    • Q24 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Land
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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