IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v13y2024i2p129-d1325165.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Non-Farm Employment Promote Farmland Abandonment of Resettled Households? Evidence from Shaanxi, China

Author

Listed:
  • Jingjing Sun

    (School of Public Policy and Administration, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China)

  • Jie Li

    (School of Public Policy and Administration, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China)

  • Yue Cui

    (College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China)

Abstract

The de-agrarianisation of the labor force in the poverty alleviation resettlement (PAR) inevitably influences households’ farmland management and farmland abandonment in the relocated areas. Drawing on survey data from 1079 households in Shaanxi, China, this study uses the Heckman two-stage model to empirically examine the relationship between non-farm employment and farmland abandonment in relocated areas. Additionally, it explores heterogeneity by considering the quantity and spatial distribution of non-farm employment, as well as the moderating effect of the withdrawal of rural homesteads (WRH). The results show that: (1) non-farm employment significantly promotes both behavioral and scale of farmland abandonment, with the magnitude of this impact varying based on the quantity of non-farm employment; (2) Heterogeneity analyses show that areas with non-farm employment exert a noteworthy positive effect on farmland abandonment. On average, farmers engaged in non-farm employment outside the county (NEO) exhibit a higher marginal effect on both behavioral and scale aspects of farmland abandonment compared to those engaged in non-farm employment within the county (NEI). Furthermore, only when the number of NEI reaches 3 does the probability and scale of farmland abandonment surpass those of NEO; (3) Mechanism analysis sheds light on the role of WRH, indicating that the cultivation of land in WRH weakens the promotion of farmland abandonment by non-farm employment, particularly in the NEI group. Conversely, the duration of WRH strengthens the contributions of non-farm employment to farmland abandonment, and this effect is concentrated in the NEO group. These findings underscore the importance of actively cultivating and introducing new types of agricultural management entities, promoting the moderate-scale operation of farmland, and encouraging the recultivation of withdrawn rural homesteads as strategies to curb farmland abandonment.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:13:y:2024:i:2:p:129-:d:1325165
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/2/129/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/2/129/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chong Lu, 2020. "Does household laborer migration promote farmland abandonment in China?," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(4), pages 1804-1836, December.
    2. Wang, Yahui & Yang, Aoxi & Li, Yuanqing & Yang, Qingyuan, 2023. "Effect of e-commerce popularization on farmland abandonment in rural China: Evidence from a large-scale household survey," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    3. 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).
    4. Zhang, Jian & Mishra, Ashok K. & Hirsch, Stefan & Li, Xiaoshun, 2020. "Factors affecting farmland rental in rural China: Evidence of capitalization of grain subsidy payments," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    5. Sarah Rogers & Jie Li & Kevin Lo & Hua Guo & Cong Li, 2020. "China’s rapidly evolving practice of poverty resettlement: Moving millions to eliminate poverty," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 38(5), pages 541-554, September.
    6. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    7. Bradfield, Tracy & Butler, Robert & Dillon, Emma J. & Hennessy, Thia, 2020. "The factors influencing the profitability of leased land on dairy farms in Ireland," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    8. He, Yafen & Xie, Hualin & Peng, Chaozhong, 2020. "Analyzing the behavioural mechanism of farmland abandonment in the hilly mountainous areas in China from the perspective of farming household diversity," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    9. Lei Song & Ping Lyu & Yingui Cao, 2021. "Multi-party game and simulation in the withdrawal of rural homestead: evidence from China," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 13(3), pages 614-638, April.
    10. Liu, Runqiu & Jiang, Jian & Yu, Chao & Rodenbiker, Jesse & Jiang, Yongmu, 2021. "The endowment effect accompanying villagers' withdrawal from rural homesteads: Field evidence from Chengdu, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    11. 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.
    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. Zhijie Cao & Lingzhi Yan & Kexin Zhou & Ming Lei, 2024. "Willingness for Land Transfer and Coupling Coordination Analysis in Poverty Alleviation Resettlement Areas: A Sustainable Development Perspective," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-21, 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. 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.
    2. Guohua Ding & Mingjun Ding & Kun Xie & Jingru Li, 2022. "Driving Mechanisms of Cropland Abandonment from the Perspectives of Household and Topography in the Poyang Lake Region, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-22, June.
    3. Yue Zhang & Guihua Liu & Zhixing Ma & Xin Deng & Jiahao Song & Dingde Xu, 2022. "The Influence of Land Attachment on Land Abandonment from the Perspective of Generational Difference: Evidence from Sichuan Province, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-15, September.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. Junhui Shi & Fang Wang, 2022. "The Effect of High-Speed Rail on Cropland Abandonment in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-16, July.
    8. Yemei Li & Yanfei Shan & Ying Chen, 2021. "Analysis of Farmland Abandonment and Government Supervision Traps in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-27, February.
    9. Darima Fotheringham & Michael A. Wiles, 2023. "The effect of implementing chatbot customer service on stock returns: an event study analysis," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 802-822, July.
    10. Song, Wei-Ling & Uzmanoglu, Cihan, 2016. "TARP announcement, bank health, and borrowers’ credit risk," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 22-32.
    11. Raymundo M. Campos-Vázquez, 2013. "Efectos de los ingresos no reportados en el nivel y tendencia de la pobreza laboral en México," Ensayos Revista de Economia, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, Facultad de Economia, vol. 0(2), pages 23-54, November.
    12. Ichev, Riste & Valentinčič, Aljoša, 2025. "The effect of impact investing on performance of private firms," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(PA).
    13. Stephen Brown & William Goetzmann & Bing Liang & Christopher Schwarz, 2008. "Mandatory Disclosure and Operational Risk: Evidence from Hedge Fund Registration," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(6), pages 2785-2815, December.
    14. Paul W. Miller & Barry R. Chiswick, 2002. "Immigrant earnings: Language skills, linguistic concentrations and the business cycle," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 15(1), pages 31-57.
    15. Chul‐Woo Kwon & Peter F. Orazem & Daniel M. Otto, 2006. "Off‐farm labor supply responses to permanent and transitory farm income," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 34(1), pages 59-67, January.
    16. Jonathan Gruber & Aaron Yelowitz, 1999. "Public Health Insurance and Private Savings," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(6), pages 1249-1274, December.
    17. Jean-Louis Arcand & Linguère M'Baye, 2013. "Braving the waves: the role of time and risk preferences in illegal migration from Senegal," CERDI Working papers halshs-00855937, HAL.
    18. Sandra Müllbacher & Wolfgang Nagl, 2017. "Labour supply in Austria: an assessment of recent developments and the effects of a tax reform," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 44(3), pages 465-486, August.
    19. Campbell, Randall C. & Nagel, Gregory L., 2016. "Private information and limitations of Heckman's estimator in banking and corporate finance research," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 186-195.
    20. Leye Li & Louise Yi Lu & Dongyue Wang, 2022. "External labour market competitions and stock price crash risk: evidence from exposures to competitor CEOs’ award‐winning events," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(S1), pages 1421-1460, 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:jlands:v:13:y:2024:i:2:p:129-:d:1325165. 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.