IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jagris/v15y2025i6p575-d1608103.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can the Return of Rural Labor Effectively Stimulate the Demand for Land? Empirical Evidence from Sichuan Province, China

Author

Listed:
  • Kai Huang

    (Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Chengdu 610041, China
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China)

  • Shaoquan Liu

    (Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Chengdu 610041, China)

  • Dingde Xu

    (College of Management, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
    National Key Laboratory of Food Security and Tianfu Granary, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China)

Abstract

Promoting moderate-scale land management is a crucial pathway for achieving the transformation of agricultural modernization in China. Whether migrant workers with the advantage of human capital can effectively promote moderate scale management is a problem worthy of in-depth discussion. Based on survey data from three counties in Sichuan Province in 2024, this paper empirically analyzes the impact of migrant workers’ return on farmers’ land transfer-in behavior by constructing IV-Probit and IV-Tobit models. The results show that (1) the return of migrant workers significantly promotes the land transfer-in of rural households by enhancing their risk tolerance and increasing the participation of cooperative organizations; (2) however, there is some heterogeneity in these results. The effect of the return of migrant workers in plain areas and economically developed villages on land transfer-in is stronger than that in mountainous areas and economically weak villages. Based on these findings, this paper suggests that differentiated policies should be formulated according to the natural conditions and economic foundations of different regions, making full use of the human capital advantages of returning migrant workers to effectively promote the realization of moderate-scale management among farmers.

Suggested Citation

  • Kai Huang & Shaoquan Liu & Dingde Xu, 2025. "Can the Return of Rural Labor Effectively Stimulate the Demand for Land? Empirical Evidence from Sichuan Province, China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-19, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:15:y:2025:i:6:p:575-:d:1608103
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/6/575/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/6/575/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Démurger, Sylvie & Xu, Hui, 2011. "Return Migrants: The Rise of New Entrepreneurs in Rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 1847-1861.
    2. Liangliang Gao & Dingqiang Sun & Cuiping Ma, 2019. "The Impact of Farmland Transfers on Agricultural Investment in China: A Perspective of Transaction Cost Economics," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 27(1), pages 93-109, January.
    3. Laura Onofri & Samuele Trestini & Fateh Mamine & Jason Loughrey, 2023. "Understanding agricultural land leasing in Ireland: a transaction cost approach," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, December.
    4. Rachel Murphy, 1999. "Return migrant entrepreneurs and economic diversification in two counties in south Jiangxi, China," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(4), pages 661-672.
    5. Yang Guo & Meiling Cui & Zhigang Xu, 2023. "Effect of Spatial Characteristics of Farmland Plots on Transfer Patterns in China: A Supply and Demand Perspective," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-15, February.
    6. Michael R. Carter & Yang Yao, 2002. "Local versus Global Separability in Agricultural Household Models: The Factor Price Equalization Effect of Land Transfer Rights," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 84(3), pages 702-715.
    7. Kaili Peng & Chen Yang & Yao Chen, 2020. "Land transfer in rural China: incentives, influencing factors and income effects," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(50), pages 5477-5490, October.
    8. Zhou, Yang & Li, Xunhuan & Liu, Yansui, 2020. "Land use change and driving factors in rural China during the period 1995-2015," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    9. Xu, Dingde & Deng, Xin & Huang, Kai & Liu, Yi & Yong, Zhuolin & Liu, Shaoquan, 2019. "Relationships between labor migration and cropland abandonment in rural China from the perspective of village types," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    10. Dingde Xu & Zhuolin Yong & Xin Deng & Linmei Zhuang & Chen Qing, 2020. "Rural-Urban Migration and its Effect on Land Transfer in Rural China," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-15, March.
    11. Laura Onofri & Samuele Trestini & Fateh Mamine & Jason Loughrey, 2023. "Correction: Understanding agricultural land leasing in Ireland: a transaction cost approach," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 11(1), pages 1-1, December.
    12. Gao, Jia & Song, Ge & Sun, Xueqing, 2020. "Does labor migration affect rural land transfer? Evidence from China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    13. Wei Yu & Xiao Lu & Enru Wang, 2020. "Rural land reforms and villagers' preferences for urban settlement: A case study of Shandong Province, China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 1259-1276, September.
    14. Lin, Justin Yifu, 1992. "Rural Reforms and Agricultural Growth in China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(1), pages 34-51, March.
    15. Xu, Dingde & Liu, Yi & Li, Yichao & Liu, Shaoquan & Liu, Guihua, 2024. "Effect of farmland scale on agricultural green production technology adoption: Evidence from rice farmers in Jiangsu Province, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    16. Zhao, Yaohui, 2002. "Causes and Consequences of Return Migration: Recent Evidence from China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 376-394, June.
    17. 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.
    18. 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.
    19. Kung, James Kai-sing, 2002. "Off-Farm Labor Markets and the Emergence of Land Rental Markets in Rural China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 395-414, June.
    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. Yuzhe Zhou & Zehui Wang & Wei Wang & Yulin Wang, 2025. "The Impact of Migrant Workers’ Return Behaviors on Land Transfer-in: Evidence from the China Labor Dynamic Survey," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-29, April.

    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. 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.
    2. Lijuan Xu & Abbas Ali Chandio & Jingyi Wang & Yuansheng Jiang, 2022. "Does Farmland Tenancy Improve Household Asset Allocation? Evidence from Rural China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-22, December.
    3. Deininger, Klaus & Jin, Songqing, 2007. "Land rental markets in the process of rural structural transformation : productivity and equity impacts in China," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4454, The World Bank.
    4. Yijie Wang & Guoyong Liu & Bangbang Zhang & Zhiyou Liu & Xiaohu Liu, 2022. "Coordinated Development of Farmland Transfer and Labor Migration in China: Spatio-Temporal Evolution and Driving Factors," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-19, December.
    5. Jin, Songqing & Deininger, Klaus, 2009. "Land rental markets in the process of rural structural transformation: Productivity and equity impacts from China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 629-646, December.
    6. Dingde Xu & Zhuolin Yong & Xin Deng & Linmei Zhuang & Chen Qing, 2020. "Rural-Urban Migration and its Effect on Land Transfer in Rural China," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-15, March.
    7. Wang, Xiaobing, 2007. "Labor market behavior of Chinese rural households during transition," Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), volume 42, number 92321.
    8. Lian Ke & Shan Cheng & Diqiang Chen & Ying Li, 2023. "Why Is the Income Effect of Farmland Transfer Inconsistent between Transferred-Out and Transferred-In Households?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-19, April.
    9. Wang, Xiaobing & Herzfeld, Thomas & Glauben, Thomas, 2007. "Labor allocation in transition: Evidence from Chinese rural households," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 287-308.
    10. 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.
    11. Jia, Lili, 2012. "Land fragmentation and off-farm labor supply in China," Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), volume 66, number 66.
    12. Zhang, Jian & Mishra, Ashok K. & Ma, Xianlei, 2023. "Mechanism of Chinese farmers’ land rental participation: The role of invisible markets and public intervention," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    13. Yu Lang & Guixia Wang & Sonny Gad Attipoe & Dongxu Han, 2022. "Does off-farm employment contribute to chemical fertilizer reduction? New evidence from the main rice-producing area in Jilin Province, China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(12), pages 1-26, December.
    14. Jia, Lili & Petrick, Martin, 2014. "How does land fragmentation affect off-farm labor supply: panel data evidence from China," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 45(3), pages 369-380.
    15. 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.
    16. Wen, Le & Paudel, Krishna P. & He, Qinying, 2023. "Temporary migration and land renting behavior," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1372-1391.
    17. Hong, Huikun & Cai, Zhicong & Liao, Heping & Liu, Ting, 2024. "Rural housing-jobs synergy at the county level in mountainous and hilly areas of China: Spatio-temporal pattern and driving mechanism," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    18. Hausmann, Ricardo & Nedelkoska, Ljubica, 2018. "Welcome home in a crisis: Effects of return migration on the non-migrants' wages and employment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 101-132.
    19. Qianqian Chen & Ruifa Hu & Yiduo Sun & Chao Zhang, 2020. "How Does Rural–Urban Migration Experience Affect Arable Land Use? Evidence from 2293 Farmers in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-17, October.
    20. Xi Yu & Xiyang Yin & Yuying Liu & Dongmei Li, 2021. "Do Agricultural Machinery Services Facilitate Land Transfer? Evidence from Rice Farmers in Sichuan Province, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-14, April.

    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:jagris:v:15:y:2025:i:6:p:575-:d:1608103. 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.