An Analysis on the Determining Factors of Farmers’ Land-Scale Management: Empirical Analysis Based on the Micro-Perspective of Farmers in China

Abstract

In the context of continuous improvement in China’s land system, the development of the rural economy is insufficient, and the growth of farmers’ income lacks sustainable momentum. The development of the internet and agricultural socialization services has had a huge impact on farmers’ land-scale management. In particular, the proliferation of internet technology in rural areas could affect farmers’ use of agricultural socialization services and increase farmers’ willingness to operate their land on a large scale. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence on the impact of the internet and agricultural socialization services on farmers’ land-scale management decisions. This study constructs a probit model using the cross-sectional data of the nationally representative CFPS2018, and empirically tests the influencing factors of farmers’ land-scale management decisions and the mechanism of heterogeneity. The research results show that, first, the popularity of the internet significantly promoted farmers’ decisions towards land rented-out, but has no significant impact on land rented-in; second, agricultural socialization services are significantly negatively correlated with farmers’ decisions towards land rented-out, but the internet may moderate this inhibitory effect and has an incentive effect on farmers’ land rented-in; third, the results of heterogeneity analysis show that the impact of the internet and agricultural socialization services on farmers’ land-scale management decisions vary with income levels and regions. Therefore, the policy direction should focus on making “internet + agriculture” and agricultural socialization services benefit all farmers, to more effectively improve the efficiency of rural land use and promote the optimal allocation of rural resources.