Land endowment and education investment behavior of rural households: a field survey based on 887 administrative villages in 31 provinces of China

Yan Xu,Ye Yang

doi:10.1186/s40711-019-0093-1

Abstract

This paper analyzes the influence of land endowment possessed by the rural household on education decisions under the condition of insufficient rural land circulation and rural labor transfer. Results show that land endowment influences education decisions through two effects: income and substitution. For most rural households, the substitution effect of land endowment on educational investment is dominant. Meanwhile, the impact of household land size and the education level of the labor force on rural household income show “interval difference”; i.e., only when the logarithm of household land size is higher than the threshold of 2.014 can land endowment and educational investment be effectively allocated and raise rural household income. We suggest that limitation of land circulation be removed and the system be farmer-centered so that farmers’ income will be raised and rural labor will be better employed in urban areas.

Highlights

Continuous socio-economic development has strengthened China’s dual economic structure
Since 2003, a large number of processing and manufacturing enterprises have faced the difficult situation of a shortage of experienced and skilled workers, while the development of agricultural areas has faced the reality of the “hollowing” of rural areas—a lack of young and middle-aged labor with higher education
Based on the 2011 Thousand-Village Survey, this paper studies the relationship between land size and education investment of rural households and identifies a mechanism for improving human capital in rural areas and optimizing the allocation of labor factors from the perspective of the farmland system

Summary

Introduction

Continuous socio-economic development has strengthened China’s dual economic structure. This paper proposes policy recommendations on land transfer and the free flow of labor that aim at maximizing rural household income and optimizing the level of education. In addition to land area and household income, years of education for rural children are affected by other factors.

Results

Conclusion