Land Tenure Security and Sustainable Land Investment: Evidence from National Plot-Level Data in Rural China

Xiaolong Sun, Jinmin Wang and Fangping Rao ()
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Xiaolong Sun: Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China
Jinmin Wang: Business School, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG8 1BB, UK
Fangping Rao: School of Public Administration, Nanjing University of Finance & Economics, Nanjing 210023, China

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-20

Abstract: The linkage between land tenure security and land quality improvement investment is crucial given that the land tenure security system is a widely applied policy tool for the protection of cultivation land in developing countries. Drawing on the triple land tenure security framework, this paper examines the impact of the de jure and the de facto land tenure security on farming households’ decisions about using organic fertilizer on their plots in China, based on a national survey dataset covering 2308 plots matched with 962 farming households across 8 provinces in China (Shangdong, Shangxi, Jilin, Zhejiang, Henan, Gansu, Hunan, and Sichuan) from January to July 2013. The empirical results show that the de facto land tenure security affected the use of organic fertilizer by the farming households positively. In comparison, the impact of the de jure land tenure security on the use of organic fertilizer by farming households was modest. It is suggested that the government should implement the policies effectively to promote de jure land tenure security and encourage farming households to make sustainable land investment.

Keywords: natural resource use; land tenure security; sustainable land investment; plot-level data; rural China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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