IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v14y2025i5p1003-d1649760.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

On the Ecological Compensation Standard of Cultivated Land Under the “Separation of Three Rights”: From the Perspective of Contract Rights

Author

Listed:
  • Nan Wang

    (College of Public Administration, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China)

  • Kaisheng Long

    (College of Public Administration, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China)

  • Wenke Liu

    (College of Public Administration, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China)

Abstract

Contracting farmers are the main entities in cultivated land protection. From the perspective of contractual rights, improving the ecological compensation standards for cultivated land under the “Separation of Three Rights” system helps coordinate interest relationships in ecological compensation and serves as the key to benefit distribution among multiple right-holders. Reasonable compensation to contracting farmers facilitates the dual consideration of food security and ecological safety in cultivated land. The study starts from the connotation of contractual rights, incorporates both opportunity cost losses and ecological values into compensation criteria based on the membership attributes of contractual rights and the nature of use rights. Employing the equivalent factor method, replacement cost method, and opportunity cost method, it calculates compensation standards for both transferred and non-transferred contracting farmers, using prefecture-level cities in Jiangsu Province as case examples. (1) Land-transferring contracted farmers: The compensation standard is calculated based on opportunity cost loss as the compensation basis. (2) Non-transferring contracted farmers: The compensation standard incorporates both opportunity cost losses and the ecological value generated through agricultural production. Research Findings: The average compensation standard for contracted farmland transfer in Jiangsu Province is 6275.79 CNY/hm 2 , primarily implemented through government compensation mechanisms. The average compensation standard for non-transferred contracted farmland in Jiangsu Province is 40,604 CNY/hm 2 , implemented through a government–market–community collaborative mechanism. The tiered compensation criteria, by accounting for differential contributions of farmland transfer participants and non-participants to agro-ecosystem services, effectively reconcile the dual imperatives of arable land preservation and livelihood enhancement for contracted farmers.

Suggested Citation

  • Nan Wang & Kaisheng Long & Wenke Liu, 2025. "On the Ecological Compensation Standard of Cultivated Land Under the “Separation of Three Rights”: From the Perspective of Contract Rights," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-23, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:5:p:1003-:d:1649760
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/5/1003/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/5/1003/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Seroa da Motta, Ronaldo & Ortiz, Ramon Arigoni, 2018. "Costs and Perceptions Conditioning Willingness to Accept Payments for Ecosystem Services in a Brazilian Case," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 333-342.
    2. Gao, Xuwen & Shi, Xinjie & Fang, Shile, 2021. "Property rights and misallocation: Evidence from land certification in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    3. Gong, Maogang & Li, Hanjin & Elahi, Ehsan, 2022. "Three Rights Separation reform and its impact over farm’s productivity: A case study of China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    4. Fanbin Kong & Kai Xiong & Ning Zhang, 2014. "Determinants of Farmers’ Willingness to Pay and Its Level for Ecological Compensation of Poyang Lake Wetland, China: A Household-Level Survey," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(10), pages 1-15, September.
    5. Li, Jiangyue & Chen, Xi & Maeyer, Philippe De & de Voorde, Tim Van & Li, Yaoming, 2025. "Investigating the supply–demand gap of farmland ecosystem services to advance sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Central Asia," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).
    6. Yiwen, Zhang & Kant, Shashi, 2022. "Secure tenure or equal access? Farmers’ preferences for reallocating the property rights of collective farmland and forestland in Southeast China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    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. Yaofeng Yang & Yajuan Chen & Zhenrong Yu & Pengyao Li & Xuedong Li, 2020. "How Does Improve Farmers’ Attitudes toward Ecosystem Services to Support Sustainable Development of Agriculture? Based on Environmental Kuznets Curve Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-16, October.
    2. 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.
    3. Kai Xiong & Ning Zhang & Chih-Chun Kung & Fanbin Kong, 2019. "Determinants of Residents’ Willingness to Accept and Their Levels for Ecological Conservation in Ganjiang River Basin, China: An Empirical Analysis of Survey Data for 677 Households," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-18, November.
    4. Olegas Beriozovas & Dalia Perkumienė & Mindaugas Škėma & Abdellah Saoualih & Larbi Safaa & Marius Aleinikovas, 2024. "Research Advancement in Forest Property Rights: A Thematic Review over Half a Decade Using Natural Language Processing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-28, September.
    5. Yongrok Choi & Ning Zhang, 2015. "Introduction to the Special Issue on “the Sustainable Asia Conference 2014”," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-8, February.
    6. Sana AKHTAR & Sarah DEAN & Faiza ANJUM & Maryam JAVED, 2018. "Determination of Willingness to Pay for Improved Water Supply in Selected Areas of Lahore," Chinese Journal of Urban and Environmental Studies (CJUES), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 6(02), pages 1-12, June.
    7. 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.
    8. Lu Cai & Chaoqing Chai & Bangbang Zhang & Feng Yang & Wei Wang & Chengdong Zhang, 2022. "The Theoretical Approach and Practice of Farmland Rights System Reform from Decentralization to Centralization Promoting Agricultural Modernization: Evidence from Yuyang District in Shaanxi, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-16, December.
    9. Jonathan Darkwah Baffoe & Takeshi Mizunoya & Helmut Yabar, 2021. "Determinants of Rice Farmers’ Willingness to Pay for Conservation and Sustainable Use of Swampy Wetlands in Ghana’s Northern and Ashanti Regions," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-18, May.
    10. Tasso Adamopoulos & Loren Brandt & Jessica Leight & Diego Restuccia, 2022. "Misallocation, Selection, and Productivity: A Quantitative Analysis With Panel Data From China," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(3), pages 1261-1282, May.
    11. Sun, Chuanwang & Yuan, Xiang & Yao, Xin, 2016. "Social acceptance towards the air pollution in China: Evidence from public's willingness to pay for smog mitigation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 313-324.
    12. Cao, Yueming & Bai, Yunli & Zhang, Linxiu, 2024. "Do the types of agricultural socialized services and their diverse suppliers matter to farmland renting in rural China?," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    13. Shichao Yuan & Jian Wang, 2022. "Involution Effect: Does China’s Rural Land Transfer Market Still Have Efficiency?," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-18, May.
    14. Xu, Mingjun & Chen, Changling & Xie, Jinhua, 2024. "Off-farm employment, farmland transfer and agricultural investment behavior: A study of joint decision-making among North China Plain farmers," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    15. Authelet, Manon & Subervie, Julie & Meyfroidt, Patrick & Asquith, Nigel & Ezzine-de-Blas, Driss, 2021. "Economic, pro-social and pro-environmental factors influencing participation in an incentive-based conservation program in Bolivia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    16. Wen, Lanjiao & Yang, Shenjie & Qi, Mengna & Zhang, Anlu, 2024. "How does China’s rural collective commercialized land market run? New evidence from 26 pilot areas, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    17. Mameno, Kota & Kubo, Takahiro & Ujiie, Kiyokazu & Shoji, Yasushi, 2023. "Flagship species and certification types affect consumer preferences for wildlife-friendly rice labels," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PB).
    18. Lili Wang & Xue Qiao & Jidong Chen, 2023. "Labor Mobility Barriers and Agricultural Productivity in China: Analysis Based on a General-Equilibrium Roy Model," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 24(2), pages 377-399, November.
    19. Kai Xiong & Fanbin Kong & Ning Zhang & Ni Lei & Chuanwang Sun, 2018. "Analysis of the Factors Influencing Willingness to Pay and Payout Level for Ecological Environment Improvement of the Ganjiang River Basin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-17, June.
    20. Lingling Hou & Pengfei Liu & Xiaohui Tian, 2023. "Grassland tenure reform and grassland quality in China," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(5), pages 1388-1404, October.

    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:14:y:2025:i:5:p:1003-:d:1649760. 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.