Factors affecting agricultural land transfer-out in China: a semiparametric instrumental variable model

ABSTRACT

This paper uses a semiparametric instrumental variable model to study the determinants of agricultural land transfer-out, using face-to-face survey data collected in 2014 from 2,677 farmers in nine provinces of China. Results show that variables, such as the number of parcels of land, the collective’s total land transfer-out, and the availability of a transportation network, have significant linear positive effects on households’ farmland transfer-out. Having family members with a lower educational level affect land transfer-out negatively. Landholding size and land idling have an inverted-U and L shaped impact, respectively, on land transfer-out. Results also indicate that agricultural income ratio has an overall negative influence on land transfer out. Land transfer-out has the potential to provide opportunities to earn additional income from the land, increase land productivity, and reduce poverty in rural China.

KEYWORDS:

• Semiparametric model
• land transfer out
• parametric determinants
• nonparametric determinants

JEL CLASSIFICATION:

• Q15
• C14

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was supported by Guangdong Provincial Philosophy and Social Sciences (GD17XYJ10), Key Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71333004, 71742003), the National Social Science Foundation of China (16AJY015), and the Science Foundation of the Ministry of Education of China (14YJA790042). Paudel’s time in this research was funded by the USDA Hatch Project LAB # 94358.