Understanding herdsmen's rangeland rent-in behaviour under current rural land tenure system of China

Abstract

Current rural land tenure system in China, characterized by the so-called “separation of three rights”, i.e., the division and parallel of collective ownership, household contract right and transferable management right, provides a solid legal basis for rangeland transfer, which is deemed crucial for addressing a range of sustainability challenges. Drawn on the theory of planned behaviour and applying structural equation modelling to analyse a survey dataset, we investigate the effects of cognitive antecedents, and their possible interactions, on herdsmen's intention and behaviour in regards to rangeland rent-in. Our results show that the most important antecedent is subjective attitude, mainly influenced by herders' economic rationality regarding scale operation and expected benefit. This is followed by perceived behavioural control, in turn largely affected by herders' familiarity with policies and access to transaction information. Finally, subjective norms influenced by the opinions of relatives and friends are weighted stronger than those of authorities. Positive correlations are also found between the three antecedents. The findings are improving our understanding of factors influencing herders' heterogeneous responses in regards to rangeland rental, and can help inform policy interventions to harness individuals' psychology in the development of more prosperous rangeland transfer systems in pastoral regions of China.