The micro administrative mechanism of land reallocation in land consolidation: A perspective from collective action

Abstract

The implementation of land reallocation is stagnant in China for many reasons, among which the non-cooperation of farmers is a critical one. Although extensive research has been conducted to promote land reallocation, it is mainly confined to macro administrative or technical aspects, leaving studies on the micro administrative mechanism still absent. This paper deeply investigates incentives of farmers to participate in land reallocation, based on which we novelly analyse the interactions among farmers under two different scenarios. The results show that the number and heterogeneity of households involved in land reallocation make significant differences on achievement of collective action, and local governors should choose their strategies according to structure of the stakeholders group. Specifically, in land consolidation projects which involve a large-size group of small households, reducing costs incurred by the endowment effect is imperative. In projects which involve a small group of heterogeneous households, strategy that combines granting priority to small households in choosing land and constructing a farmland relative value system helps to reach agreements among households. In addition, an illustrative case study of Pengze project in Jiangxi province shows that introduction of land transfer in land consolidation projects can change structure of the stakeholders group, thereby facilitating implementation of land reallocation. Hence, a combination of land transfer and land consolidation projects can be a good solution to the stagnation of land reallocation.