Does Land Transfer Improve Farmers’ Quality of Life? Evidence from Rural China

Qiang He, Xin Deng, Chuan Li, Fangxia Kong and Yanbin Qi
Additional contact information
Qiang He: College of Economics, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
Xin Deng: College of Economics, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
Chuan Li: College of Economics, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
Fangxia Kong: College of Economics and Management, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Yanbin Qi: College of Economics, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China

Land, 2021, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: The topic of quality of life has long been a focus of global research and the public. The land transfer policy implemented by the Chinese government affects farmers’ quality of life (FQOL); however, the extent of this effect remains unclear. As land transfer may be a self-selection behaviour, it may be subject to selection bias such that traditional measurement methods are unable to effectively estimate its quantitative impact. This study used data from a questionnaire given to 5668 rural households in 25 provinces of mainland China. It sought to quantify the impact of land transfer on FQOL by using endogenous switching regression (ESR) models to correct selection bias. The results show: (1) for farmers who choose to transfer land, if they choose not to transfer land, FQOL may decrease by 64.11%; (2) for farmers who choose not to transfer their land, if they go on to choose to transfer their land, FQOL may increase by 0.75%; (3) land transfer can improve the quality of life of the older generation of farmers but will reduce the quality of life of the newer generation. The results of this study provide research support for China and other countries seeking to effectively implement land policies and improve the FQOL, helping to provide practical strategies for the sustainable development of rural areas.

Keywords: land transfer; FQOL; ESR model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/1/15/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/1/15/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2021:i:1:p:15-:d:708620

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().