IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/uwp/landec/v86y2010i2p219-244.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

China’s Sloping Land Conversion Program: Does Expansion Equal Success?

Author

Listed:
  • Jintao Xu
  • Ran Tao
  • Zhigang Xu
  • Michael T. Bennett

Abstract

This paper uses a 2003 household survey to examine implementation and impacts of China’s Sloping Land Conversion Program. We find that land targeting has been strongly influenced by program goals, but that mistargeting also occurred. Using a treatment effects approach to evaluate program impact, we find evidence of positive impact on cropping, husbandry, and total income, though the results are not robust enough to support government claims of huge gains. We also find evidence that lack of participant choice could be dampening program impacts, and that allowing households autonomy could lead to improvement in program cost-effectiveness and outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Jintao Xu & Ran Tao & Zhigang Xu & Michael T. Bennett, 2010. "China’s Sloping Land Conversion Program: Does Expansion Equal Success?," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 86(2), pages 219-244.
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:landec:v:86:y:2010:i:2:p:219-244
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://le.uwpress.org/cgi/reprint/86/2/219
    Download Restriction: A subscripton is required to access pdf files. Pay per article is available.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Liu, Shouying & Carter, Michael R. & Yao, Yang, 1998. "Dimensions and diversity of property rights in rural China: Dilemmas on the road to further reform," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 26(10), pages 1789-1806, October.
    2. Joseph C. Cooper & C. Tim Osborn, 1998. "The Effect of Rental Rates on the Extension of Conservation Reserve Program Contracts," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 80(1), pages 184-194.
    3. Bennett, Michael T., 2008. "China's sloping land conversion program: Institutional innovation or business as usual?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(4), pages 699-711, May.
    4. Kung James, Kaising, 1995. "Equal Entitlement versus Tenure Security under a Regime of Collective Property Rights: Peasants' Preference for Institutions in Post-reform Chinese Agriculture," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 82-111, 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. Michael A. Arnold & Joshua M. Duke & Kent D. Messer, 2013. "Adverse Selection in Reverse Auctions for Ecosystem Services," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 89(3), pages 387-412.
    2. Zhang, Qi & Song, Conghe & Chen, Xiaodong, 2018. "Effects of China’s payment for ecosystem services programs on cropland abandonment: A case study in Tiantangzhai Township, Anhui, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 239-248.
    3. Démurger, Sylvie & Pelletier, Adeline, 2015. "Volunteer and satisfied? Rural households' participation in a payments for environmental services programme in Inner Mongolia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 25-33.
    4. Song, Conghe & Zhang, Yulong & Mei, Ying & Liu, Hua & Zhang, Zhiqiang & Zhang, Quanfa & Zha, Tonggang & Zhang, Kerong & Huang, Chenglin & Xu, Xiaoniu & Jagger, Pamela & Chen, Xiaodong & Bilsborrow, Ri, 2014. "Sustainability of Forests Created by China's Sloping Land Conversion Program: A comparison among three sites in Anhui, Hubei and Shanxi," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 161-167.
    5. Liu, Zhaoyang & Kontoleon, Andreas, 2018. "Meta-Analysis of Livelihood Impacts of Payments for Environmental Services Programmes in Developing Countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 48-61.
    6. Hao, Can Liu & Mullan, Katrina & Rong, Qingjiao & Zhu, Wenqing, 2013. "Have the Key Priority Forestry Programs Really Impacted on China’s Rural Household Income," PEP Working Papers 160429, Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP).
    7. Li Li & Atsushi Tsunekawa & Yangshangyu Zuo & Atsushi Koike, 2019. "Conservation Payments and Technical Efficiency of farm Households Participating in the Grain for Green Program on the Loess Plateau of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-16, August.
    8. Sheng, Jichuan & Qiu, Hong & Zhang, Sanfeng, 2019. "Opportunity cost, income structure, and energy structure for landholders participating in payments for ecosystem services: Evidence from Wolong National Nature Reserve, China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 230-238.
    9. Bennett, Michael T. & Mehta, Aashish & Xu, Jintao, 2011. "Incomplete property rights, exposure to markets and the provision of environmental services in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 485-498.
    10. Can Liu Hao & Katrina Mullan & Qingjiao Rong & Wenqing Zhu, 2013. "Have the Key Priority Forestry Programs Really Impacted on China's Rural Household Income," Working Papers PIERI 2013-08, PEP-PIERI.
    11. Liu, Zhen & Lan, Jing, 2015. "The Sloping Land Conversion Program in China: Effect on the Livelihood Diversification of Rural Households," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 147-161.
    12. repec:gat:wpaper:1509 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Arsel, M. & Dasgupta, A., 2010. "Structural change, land use and the state in China," ISS Working Papers - General Series 21528, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.
    14. Yuan Yuan & Yanxu Liu & Yi’na Hu & Xin Chen & Jian Peng, 2017. "Identification of Non-economic Influencing Factors Affecting Farmer’s Participation in the Paddy Landto-Dry Land Program in Chicheng County, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-17, March.
    15. Marc N. Conte & Robert Griffin, 2019. "Private Benefits of Conservation and Procurement Auction Performance," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 73(3), pages 759-790, July.
    16. Bennett, Michael T. & Gong, Yazhen & Scarpa, Riccardo, 2018. "Hungry Birds and Angry Farmers: Using Choice Experiments to Assess “Eco-compensation” for Coastal Wetlands Protection in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 71-87.
    17. Liu, Zhaoyang & Gong, Yazhen & Kontoleon, Andreas, 2018. "How do Payments for Environmental Services Affect Land Tenure? Theory and Evidence From China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 195-213.
    18. Lu, Gang & Yin, Runsheng, 2020. "Evaluating the Evaluated Socioeconomic Impacts of China's Sloping Land Conversion Program," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    19. Yu, Xueying & Wang, Hongxia, 2013. "How should the center lead China's reforestation efforts?—Policy making games between central and local governments," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 64-84.
    20. Zhen Liu & Arne Henningsen, 2016. "The effects of China's Sloping Land Conversion Program on agricultural households," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 47(3), pages 295-307, May.
    21. Tu, Qin & Mol, Arthur P.J. & Zhang, Lei & Ruben, Ruerd, 2011. "How do trust and property security influence household contributions to public goods?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 499-511.
    22. Ina, Porras & Bruce, Alyward & Jeff, Dengel, 2013. "Monitoring payments for watershed services schemes in developing countries," MPRA Paper 47185, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    23. Shuning Chen & Masaru Kagatsume, 2018. "Impacts of environmental conservation programs on regional economic structural change in Guizhou, China, from 2002 to 2012: an input–output analysis," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 7(1), pages 1-18, December.
    24. Yan, Youpei, 2017. "Unintended Land Use Effects of Afforestation in China," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258280, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    25. Qu, Futian & Kuyvenhoven, Arie & Shi, Xiaoping & Heerink, Nico, 2011. "Sustainable natural resource use in rural China: Recent trends and policies," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 444-460.

    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. John Giles & Ren Mu, 2018. "Village Political Economy, Land Tenure Insecurity, and the Rural to Urban Migration Decision: Evidence from China," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 100(2), pages 521-544.
    2. Qin, Pin & Carlsson, Fredrik & Xu, Jintao, 2009. "Forestland Reform in China: What do the Farmers Want? A Choice Experiment on Farmers’ Property Rights Preferences," Working Papers in Economics 370, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    3. 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.
    4. Mullan, Katrina & Grosjean, Pauline & Kontoleon, Andreas, 2011. "Land Tenure Arrangements and Rural-Urban Migration in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 123-133, January.
    5. Sylvie Démurger & Haiyuan Wan, 2012. "Payments for ecological restoration and internal migration in China: the sloping land conversion program in Ningxia," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 1(1), pages 1-22, December.
    6. Maëlys de La Rupelle & Deng Quheng & Li Shi & Thomas Vendryes, 2009. "Land rights insecurity and temporary migration in rural China," Working Papers halshs-00575041, HAL.
    7. Hualin Xie & Lingjuan Cheng & Tiangui Lv, 2017. "Factors Influencing Farmer Willingness to Fallow Winter Wheat and Ecological Compensation Standards in a Groundwater Funnel Area in Hengshui, Hebei Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-18, May.
    8. Sylvie Démurger, 2011. "Payments for ecological restoration and rural labor migration in China: The Sloping Land Conversion Program in Ningxia," Post-Print halshs-00673808, HAL.
    9. Zhao, Xiaoxue, 2020. "Land and labor allocation under communal tenure: Theory and evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    10. Bennett, Michael T. & Mehta, Aashish & Xu, Jintao, 2011. "Incomplete property rights, exposure to markets and the provision of environmental services in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 485-498.
    11. Grosjean, Pauline & Kontoleon, Andreas, 2009. "How Sustainable are Sustainable Development Programs? The Case of the Sloping Land Conversion Program in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 268-285, January.
    12. Lanchih Po, 2011. "Property Rights Reforms and Changing Grassroots Governance in China’s Urban—Rural Peripheries: The Case of Changping District in Beijing," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 48(3), pages 509-528, February.
    13. Xinjie Shi & Xuwen Gao & Shile Fang, 2022. "Land System Reform in Rural China: Path and Mechanism," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-15, August.
    14. Khantachavana, Sivalai V. & Turvey, Calum G. & Kong, Rong & Xia, Xianli, 2013. "On the transaction values of land use rights in rural China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 863-878.
    15. Kung, James Kai-sing & Shimokawa, Satoru, 2012. "Land Reallocations, Passive Land Rental, and the Development of Rental Markets in Rural China," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 125099, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    16. Kung, James Kai-sing, 2000. "Common Property Rights and Land Reallocations in Rural China: Evidence from a Village Survey," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 701-719, April.
    17. Chuanhao Tian & Yan Song & Christine E. Boyle, 2012. "Impacts of China's burgeoning rural land rental markets on equity: A case study of developed areas along the eastern coast," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(3), pages 301-315, August.
    18. Wang, Xiaobing & Yu, Xiaohua, 2011. "Scale Effects, Technical Efficiency and Land Lease in China," 2011 International Congress, August 30-September 2, 2011, Zurich, Switzerland 115736, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    19. repec:gat:wpaper:1509 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Thomas Vendryes, 2014. "Peasants Against Private Property Rights: A Review Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 971-995, December.
    21. Alan de Brauw & John Giles, 2017. "Migrant Opportunity and the Educational Attainment of Youth in Rural China," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 52(1), pages 272-311.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • Q28 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Government Policy
    • Q57 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Ecological Economics

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:uwp:landec:v:86:y:2010:i:2:p:219-244. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://le.uwpress.org/ .

    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.