IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i7p2605-d336906.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effect of Forestland Property Rights and Village Off-Farm Environment on Off-Farm Employment in Southern China

Author

Listed:
  • Yang Yang

    (School of Economics and Management, Xi’an University of Posts & Telecommunications, Xi’an 710121, China)

  • Hua Li

    (College of Economics and Management, Northwest Agriculture & Forestry University, Yangling 712100, China)

  • Zhen Liu

    (School of Business, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210046, China)

  • Long Cheng

    (School of Economics and Management, Xi’an University of Posts & Telecommunications, Xi’an 710121, China)

  • Assem Abu Hatab

    (Department of Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
    Department of Economics and Rural Development, Arish University, Al-Arish 45511, Egypt)

  • Jing Lan

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

Abstract

Reasonably promoting the off-farm employment of rural surplus labor in China’s collective forest areas is an important way to increase forest resources and increase farmers’ income. China’s new round of collective forest tenure reform (CFTR) aims to optimize forest area labor allocation by strengthening forestland property rights. Therefore, in different village off-farm environments, it is necessary to explore how forestland property rights affect off-farm employment in forest areas. Based on survey data from 742 households in Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces, this paper examines this effect using the double-hurdle model. The results indicate that forestland transfer rights promote decision-making about, and the supply of, off-farm labor, while forest harvesting rights significantly increase the supply of off-farm labor. The villages’ off-farm income ratio also affected the supply of off-farm labor. Moreover, under the regulation of the village off-farm income ratio, the positive incentives of forestland transfer rights on decision-making about, and the supply of, off-farm labor gradually weakened, but the incentive effect of forest harvesting rights on the supply of off-farm labor gradually increased. It is proposed that the CFTR should be further promoted, the forestland circulation mechanism and regulating forest harvest quota system should be improved, and implementation of forestry property mortgages should be strengthened.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang Yang & Hua Li & Zhen Liu & Long Cheng & Assem Abu Hatab & Jing Lan, 2020. "Effect of Forestland Property Rights and Village Off-Farm Environment on Off-Farm Employment in Southern China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-17, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:7:p:2605-:d:336906
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/7/2605/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/7/2605/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Du, Yang & Park, Albert & Wang, Sangui, 2005. "Migration and rural poverty in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 688-709, December.
    2. Han Zhang & Jari Kuuluvainen & Youliang Ning & Wenmei Liao & Can Liu, 2017. "Institutional Regime, Off-Farm Employment, and the Interaction Effect: What are the Determinants of Households’ Forestland Transfer in China?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-15, October.
    3. Sylvie Démurger & Hou Yuanzhao & Yang Weiyong, 2007. "Forest management policies and resource balance in China: an assessment of the current situation," Post-Print halshs-00144898, HAL.
    4. Deininger, Klaus & Jin, Songqing & Nagarajan, Hari K., 2008. "Efficiency and equity impacts of rural land rental restrictions: Evidence from India," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(5), pages 892-918, July.
    5. Stein T. Holden & Keijiro Otsuka & Klaus Deininger (ed.), 2013. "Land Tenure Reform in Asia and Africa," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-137-34381-9, March.
    6. 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.
    7. Hanan G. Jacoby & Guo Li & Scott Rozelle, 2002. "Hazards of Expropriation: Tenure Insecurity and Investment in Rural China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(5), pages 1420-1447, December.
    8. Alan de Brauw & Valerie Mueller, 2012. "Do Limitations in Land Rights Transferability Influence Mobility Rates in Ethiopia?," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 21(4), pages 548-579, August.
    9. Besley, Timothy & Ghatak, Maitreesh, 2010. "Property Rights and Economic Development," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Dani Rodrik & Mark Rosenzweig (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 4525-4595, Elsevier.
    10. Yi, Yuanyuan & Köhlin, Gunnar & Xu, Jintao, 2014. "Property rights, tenure security and forest investment incentives: evidence from China's Collective Forest Tenure Reform," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(1), pages 48-73, February.
    11. 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.
    12. Stein T. Holden & Yuanyuan Yi & Xuemei Jiang & Jintao Xu, 2013. "Tenure Security and Investment Effects of Forest Tenure Reform in China," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Stein T. Holden & Keijiro Otsuka & Klaus Deininger (ed.), Land Tenure Reform in Asia and Africa, chapter 11, pages 256-282, Palgrave Macmillan.
    13. Maëlys de La Rupelle & Deng Quheng & Li Shi & Thomas Vendryes, 2008. "Land Rights and Rural-Urban Migration in China," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) hal-00813064, HAL.
    14. Liu, Yue & Yao, Shunbo & Lin, Ying, 2018. "Effect of Key Priority Forestry Programs on off-farm employment: Evidence from Chinese rural households," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 24-37.
    15. Cragg, John G, 1971. "Some Statistical Models for Limited Dependent Variables with Application to the Demand for Durable Goods," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 39(5), pages 829-844, September.
    16. Quy-Toan Do & Lakshmi Iyer, 2008. "Land Titling and Rural Transition in Vietnam," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(3), pages 531-579, April.
    17. Xianlei Ma & Nico Heerink & Ekko van Ierland & Marrit van den Berg & Xiaoping Shi, 2013. "Land tenure security and land investments in Northwest China," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 5(2), pages 281-307, May.
    18. Xianlei Ma & Nico Heerink & Ekko Ierland & Xiaoping Shi, 2016. "Land tenure insecurity and rural-urban migration in rural China," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95(2), pages 383-406, June.
    19. Valsecchi, Michele, 2014. "Land property rights and international migration: Evidence from Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 276-290.
    20. Juha Siikamäki & Yonjie Ji & Jintao Xu, 2015. "Post-reform Forestland Markets in China," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 91(2), pages 211-234.
    21. 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.
    22. Jikun Huang & Liangliang Gao & Scott Rozelle, 2012. "The effect of off‐farm employment on the decisions of households to rent out and rent in cultivated land in China," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 4(1), pages 5-17, January.
    23. Liu, Ping & Yin, Runsheng & Li, Hua, 2016. "China's forest tenure reform and institutional change at a crossroads," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 92-98.
    24. Cheung, Steven N S, 1970. "The Structure of a Contract and the Theory of a Non-exclusive Resource," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 13(1), pages 49-70, April.
    25. Thia C. Hennessy & Tahir Rehman, 2008. "Assessing the Impact of the ‘Decoupling’ Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy on Irish Farmers’ Off‐farm Labour Market Participation Decisions," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(1), pages 41-56, February.
    26. Ping Qin & Fredrik Carlsson & Jintao Xu, 2011. "Forest Tenure Reform in China: A Choice Experiment on Farmers’ Property Rights Preferences," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 87(3), pages 473-487.
    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. Jian Wei & Hui Xiao & Hao Liu & Xiaotao Huang & Dahong Zhang, 2022. "Does the Collective Forestland Tenure Reform Promote Rural Households’ Forestry Inputs? Based on Dual Perspectives of Rural Households’ Divergence and Inter-Generational Differences," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-23, October.
    2. Tingting Zhang & Shunbo Yao & Jinna Yu & Assem Abu Hatab & Zhen Liu, 2020. "Effects of China’s Collective Forestland Tenure Reform Policies on Forest Product Firm Values," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-20, April.
    3. Starfinger, Marcel & Tham, La Thi & Tegegne, Yitagesu Tekle, 2023. "Tree collateral – A finance blind spot for small-scale forestry? A realist synthesis review," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    4. Chen Hu & Hongxiao Zhang, 2023. "The Impact of Collective Forest Tenure Reform on Forest Carbon Sequestration Capacity—An Analysis Based on the Social–Ecological System Framework," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-20, August.
    5. Yuanyuan Guo & Can Liu & Hao Liu & Ke Chen & Dan He, 2023. "Financial Literacy, Borrowing Behavior and Rural Households’ Income: Evidence from the Collective Forest Area, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-21, January.
    6. Yang Yang & Hua Li & Long Cheng & Youliang Ning, 2021. "Effect of Land Property Rights on Forest Resources in Southern China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-15, 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. Yang Yang & Hua Li & Long Cheng & Youliang Ning, 2021. "Effect of Land Property Rights on Forest Resources in Southern China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-15, April.
    2. ZHU, WENJUE & Luo, Biliang & Paudel, Krishna P., 2018. "The Influence of Land Titling Policy on the Rural Labor Migration to City: Evidence from China," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274163, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Yuepeng Zhou & Xianlei Ma & Dengyan Ji & Nico Heerink & Xiaoping Shi & Hongbin Liu, 2018. "Does Property Rights Integrity Improve Tenure Security? Evidence from China’s Forest Reform," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-18, June.
    4. Li, Jingrong & Zhang, Chenlei & Mi, Yunsheng, 2021. "Land titling and internal migration: Evidence from China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    5. Zhao, Xiaoxue, 2020. "Land and labor allocation under communal tenure: Theory and evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    6. Liu, Can & Wang, Sen & Liu, Hao & Zhu, Wenqing, 2017. "Why did the 1980s' reform of collective forestland tenure in southern China fail?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 131-141.
    7. Chernina, Eugenia & Castañeda Dower, Paul & Markevich, Andrei, 2014. "Property rights, land liquidity, and internal migration," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 191-215.
    8. Liu, Shouying & Ma, Sen & Yin, Lijuan & Zhu, Jiong, 2023. "Land titling, human capital misallocation, and agricultural productivity in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    9. Qiu, Tongwei & Boris Choy, S.T. & Li, Shangpu & He, Qinying & Luo, Biliang, 2020. "Does land renting-in reduce grain production? Evidence from rural China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    10. 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.
    11. Wang, D. & Qian, W., 2018. "Gains and losses: Does farmland expropriation harm farmers welfare?," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277301, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    12. Hong, Yan-Zhen & Chang, Hung-Hao & Dai, Yong-Wu, 2018. "Is deregulation of forest land use rights transactions associated with economic well-being and labor allocation of farm households? Empirical evidence in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 694-701.
    13. Ma, Shuang & Mu, Ren, 2020. "Forced off the farm? Farmers’ labor allocation response to land requisition in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    14. Deininger,Klaus W. & Xia,Fang & Savastano,Sara, 2015. "Smallholders? land ownership and access in Sub-Saharan Africa: a new landscape ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7285, The World Bank.
    15. Li, Shi & Vendryes, Thomas, 2018. "Real estate activity, democracy and land rights in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 54-79.
    16. Christian Dustmann & Francesco Fasani & Xin Meng & Luigi Minale, 2023. "Risk Attitudes and Household Migration Decisions," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 58(1), pages 112-145.
    17. Tseday Jemaneh Mekasha & Wilhelm Ngasamiaku & Remidius D. Ruhinduka & Finn Tarp, 2018. "Land tenure security and internal migration in Tanzania," WIDER Working Paper Series 158, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    18. Alain de Janvry & Kyle Emerick & Marco Gonzalez-Navarro & Elisabeth Sadoulet, 2015. "Delinking Land Rights from Land Use: Certification and Migration in Mexico," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(10), pages 3125-3149, October.
    19. Deininger, Klaus & Savastano, Sara & Xia, Fang, 2017. "Smallholders’ land access in Sub-Saharan Africa: A new landscape?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 78-92.
    20. Deininger, Klaus & Jin, Songqing & Xia, Fang & Huang, Jikun, 2014. "Moving Off the Farm: Land Institutions to Facilitate Structural Transformation and Agricultural Productivity Growth in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 505-520.

    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:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:7:p:2605-:d:336906. 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.