Temporary migration and land renting behavior

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of temporary migration on land transfer (land renting) using a conceptual framework and empirical analysis based on nationally representative data from the 2017 China Migrants Dynamic Survey. Our key findings indicate that temporary migration significantly and negatively affects land transfer-out, after accounting for potential endogeneity issues using the PSM and 2SLS methods. Specifically, migrants with temporary intentions are at least 5.85 percentage points less likely to transfer-out land than their permanent counterparts. We also find that the adverse effect of temporary migration on land transfer is more pronounced in larger cities but diminishes over time as migrants stay longer. Furthermore, we observe that permanent immigrants are more likely to transfer land to acquaintances than strangers, whereas temporary immigrants are more likely to cultivate the land. Our results have significant policy implications for agricultural productivity and rural rental land market in China.