Forestland Transfer Research Articles

The Influence of Farmers’ Cognition on Forest Land Transfer Behavior: A Case Study of Chengdu City

In the context of China’s forest rights reform, promoting forest land circulation is the key to revitalizing forest land resources and promoting the development of the forestry industry. Based on the theoretical analysis of the effect of farmers’ cognition on forest land transfer behavior, data from 790 farmers in typical areas of Chengdu were used for empirical testing with the binary logit model. At the same time, the effects of the cognitive differences of the farmers with different education levels on forest land circulation are discussed. Finally, appropriate instrumental variables were selected to modify the model, and the IV probit model was used to test the endogeneity of the model. The results showed that the (1) farmers’ cognition had a significant positive effect on the forest land transfer behavior. Among them, in the order of the degree of impact, were the following: ecological cognition, policy cognition, risk cognition, social regulation, and benefit cognition. (2) Among the groups with different education levels, farmers with lower education levels will consider more aspects than farmers with higher education levels when choosing to transfer forest land. By broadening the research into the cognitive composition of farmers, this study deepens our understanding of the influence of farmers’ cognition on forest land transfer behavior. Moreover, it is found that Chinese farmers have strong ecological rationality in addition to economic rationality, and ecological cognition plays a greater role in forest land transfer behavior than benefit cognition, which is of considerable significance for further research on forest land transfer behavior.

Do Financial Linkages Ease the Credit Rationing of Forest Rights Mortgage Loans? Evidence from Farm Households in Fujian Province, China

Affected by the small scale of forest farmers’ land and the imperfect development of the forest land transfer market, China’s forest rights mortgage loans have suffered from more serious credit rationing. The application of financial linkage theoretically has the effect of solving credit rationing. However, previous studies on financial linkages have focused on the field of credit lending, whereas the applied studies in the field of mortgage lending are mainly case studies on transaction models, and empirical tests on the application of financial linkages in mortgage lending are lacking. Therefore, to fill this gap, this study analyzed the effect of financial linkage on credit rationing for forestry mortgage loans and the mechanism of action through a study of farmers in Fujian, one of the key collective forestry areas in China, using the PSM method with 785 sample values. The results show the following: (1) Financial linkages have a significant mitigating effect on supply rationing, demand rationing, and the total rationing of forest rights mortgage loans. Compared to non-participation, financial linkages significantly reduced total rationing by 15.2%, with a 5% reduction in supply rationing and a 10.2% reduction in demand rationing. (2) The impact of financial linkage differs significantly among heterogeneous farmers. It has a significant mitigating effect on supply rationing for small-scale farmers, but not for large-scale farmers; meanwhile, it better mitigates demand rationing for large-scale farmers than for small-scale farmers. (3) In the mechanistic test, financial linkages were found to moderate the relationship between the value of collateral and supply rationing for small-scale farmers, and transaction costs play an intermediary role in the relationship between financial linkages and demand-based rationing. According to the study results, in order to promote the development of forest rights mortgage loans, it is necessary to develop different lending strategies for heterogeneous farmers, to further encourage small- and medium-sized farmers to participate in financial linkages, as well as to further reduce the related transaction costs.

The Influencing Factors of Pro-Environmental Behaviors of Farmer Households Participating in Understory Economy: Evidence from China

To promote the sustainable development of agriculture and forestry economy, it is of great significance to guide farmers to consciously pursue pro-environmental behaviors in the development of the understory economy. Based on field survey data from Yong’an city of Fujian Province and Luoshan County of Henan Province, factor analysis and Oprobit models were mainly used to analyze the influencing factors and influencing the degree of the pro-environmental behaviors of farmer households participating in the understory economy. Quantitative data showed that individual characteristics of farmers (i.e., gender, education, career, feasibility evaluation, and the proportion of farming labor to household labor) and forest land management status (i.e., forest land transfer, the working time in understory economy, and proportion of understory economic income) have an obvious effect on the adoption of pro-environmental behaviors. Findings also revealed three key variables (i.e., the farmers’ environmental perception, social constraints, and government incentives) that are associated with the willingness to adopt pro-environmental behaviors. The contribution ratios of the influencing factors were environmental perception, social constraints, and government incentives. In addition to economic benefits, perceptual factors and informal institutions also play an important role in driving farmers to adopt pro-environmental behaviors. Based on the findings, it is necessary to strengthen the publicity and the education of farmers, increase environmental responsibility, accelerate the establishment and improvement of ecological reward-and-punishment mechanisms, and enhance the training of green production techniques.

Analysis of Influencing Factors and Income Effect of Heterogeneous Agricultural Households’ Forestland Transfer

After the collective forest tenure reform, the forestland transfer behavior choices did not reach the policy expectations. In order to explore the factors influencing the behavior of farmers’ forestland transfer and the income effect of forestland transfer, this paper constructs a binary logistic regression model and a propensity score matching (PSM) model and uses the data obtained from a questionnaire survey of 500 farmers from 10 counties in Liaoning Province for quantitative analysis. Considering the heterogeneity, agricultural households are divided into three categories, namely, pure agricultural households, part-time agricultural households and non-agricultural households. The study found that the influencing factors of different types of agricultural households’ forestland transfer behavior choices were not exactly the same and the degree of influence by the same variable was also different. Forestland transfer can effectively promote the increase of agricultural and forestry income and total household income of pure agricultural households, part-time agricultural households and non-agricultural households, among which the promotion effect on pure agricultural households is the largest.

Research on the willingness of Forest Land’s Management Rights transfer under the Beijing Forestry Development

Abstract The research on land-use transfer has always been a hot spot for domestic and foreign scholars, and it is also the focus of practical works. In China, the Beijing Municipal Government has put forward many forestry policies, emphasising the need to improve the collective forest land transfer system against the new background of the capital’s forestry development. This paper built a binary logistic regression model and structural equation modelling (SEM) based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), collected research data through questionnaires and explored the factors that affect the willingness of the transfer of forest land. The research showed that (1) farmers’ attitudes and behaviours had significant negative impacts on the willingness to transfer forest land. When farmers are assured that they know more about the forest land’s management rights transfer policy, and the forest land’s management rights transfer can bring more income to them, they will be satisfied with the existing forest land policy, which is more conducive to the forest land’s management rights transfer; (2) the perceived behaviour control of farmers had no significant impact on the willingness of forest land’s management rights transfer, that is, difficulties that farmers perceived in the implementation of forest land’s management rights transfer did not significantly affect their decision-making willingness and (3) the different results of the two models’ analysis on the impact of subjective norm on the willingness of forest land’s management rights transfer need further study and verification.

Evaluating the Impact of Ecological Property Rights to Trigger Farmers’ Investment Behavior—An Example of Confluence Area of Heihe Reservoir, Shaanxi, China

Property rights of natural resources have been acting as a critical legislative tool for promoting sustainable resource utilization and conservation in various regions of the globe. However, incorporating ecological property rights into the natural resources property rights structure may significantly influence farmers’ behavior in forestry investment. It may also trigger forest protection, water conservation, and urban water security. The main aim of the research is to evaluate the impact of ecological property rights and farmers’ investment behavior in the economic forest. We have constructed an analytical framework of collective forest rights from two indicators of integrity and stability, by adopting the theory of property rights and ecological capital to fulfill the study’s aims. The empirical data has been comprised of the microdata of 708 farmers, collected from the confluence area of the Heihe Reservoir, Shaanxi, China. The study also conducted pilot ecological property rights transactions in the surveyed area. The study utilized the double-hurdle model to test the proposed framework empirically. The results show that forest land use rights, economic products, and eco-product income rights positively affect farmers’ forestry investment intensity, and disposal rights (forest land transfer rights) negatively affect farmers’ investment intensity. However, in terms of the integrity of property rights, only the right to profit from ecological products affects farmers’ forestry investment willingness, and other property rights are insignificant. The study also found that the lower the farmers’ forest land expropriation risk is expected, the greater the possibility of investment and the higher the input level. However, we traced that the farmers’ forest land adjustment has no significant impact on farmers’ willingness to invest. Obtaining the benefits of ecological products has been found as the primary motivation for forestry investment within the surveyed area. The completeness of ownership rights positively impacted farmers’ investment intensity. Farmers should realize the ecological value of water conservation forests through the market orientation of the benefit of ecological products. Therefore, the government should encourage farmers and arrange proper training to facilitate a smooth investment. A well-established afforestation program should also be carried out.

New Round of Collective Forest Rights Reform, Forestland Transfer and Household Production Efficiency

The purpose of this paper was to analyze the influence mechanism of the new round of Collective Forest Rights Reform (CFRR) on farmers’ production efficiency from the perspective of forestland transfer. Based on the panel data of field investigation in Jiangxi Province, a panel logit model was used to verify whether the new round of CFRR has affected farmers’ forestland circulation behavior. The results showed that the new round of CFRR has played a significant role in promoting forestland circulation. Secondly, the non-parametric DEA method was used to estimate the technical, scale, and comprehensive efficiency of households. DID and panel quantile models were constructed to analyze the impact of forestland inflow policy and forestland outflow policy effects on rural household productivity. The regression results showed that the effect of forestland inflow has had a significantly positive impact on scale and comprehensive efficiency, but it only had a significant effect on technical efficiency in the 0.1 quartile. The effect of forestland outflow was not found to be significant for technical, scale, and comprehensive efficiency, but it was found to be negative for technical efficiency in the 0.75 quartile and negative for scale efficiency in the 0.5 and 0.75 quantiles.

The impact of Nanshan National Park concession policy on farmers' income in China

National parks shoulder two essential responsibilities: environmental protection and community development, so the development of national parks has attracted much attention. To explore the effectiveness of China's national park system in promoting community economic development, we investigated Nanshan National Park (NNP). Based on the micro income data of 341 households in the NNP in 2018 and 2019, this paper studied the impact of the concession policy and the forest land transfer policy of NNP on family income. The results show that implementing both policies together can increase the total income of farmers. Implementing the concession policy alone will increase the operating income of the residents; implementing the forest land transfer policy will increase their property income. For the former group of farmers, the source of their family income is the operating income; for the latter group, the wage is their most basic and most important source of income, which is true to most farmers in the national park. Although the national park system does increase farmers' income, it will widen the income gap among farmers in the park. The regression results show that whether they have served as village leaders or not and whether they have received vocational training and other factors will affect farmers' policy participation. Therefore, the construction of the national park system needs to enhance the implementing awareness of non-participating residents and pay attention to their needs.

Forestland transfer between rural households in Jiangxi, China: Differentiated effects of actual and perceived tenure security

AbstractThis study analyzes the potentially differentiated impacts of actual and perceived tenure security on rural households' forestland transfer behavior. Logit and Tobit models were estimated using repeated survey data from 505 households in 50 villages of Jiangxi Province during 2017–2018. The results show that there is a great difference in the influence of actual and perceived tenure security on the transfer behavior. Issuing forest tenure certificates promotes the renting out of forestland by households but has no significant effect on forestland renting in. Meanwhile, perceived tenure security has a significant effect on forestland transfer behavior. Households' understanding and evaluation of the existing tenure policy also has a significantly positive impact on household's rent‐out behavior. Further, the logging quota system has a significantly negative effect on household's renting in and out behavior. Our analysis suggests that the government should strive to improve the awareness of rural families regarding forest tenure policy and that the logging quota should be modified to incentivize farmers' active participation in forest management.

Effects of Rural-Urban Labour Migration on Household Forest Management in the Context of Rural Reform and Development in China

Rural-urban labour migration has the potential to significantly transform forest owners’ forestry management strategies and influence the forest resources in the long term. This study examined the effects of rural-urban labour migration on household forestland exit decisions (i.e. forestland abandonment and forestland transfer), investment decisions (capital and labour), and forest income (absolute and relative) based on data collected in 2011 and 2016 from 563 rural households in seven counties of Sichuan Province, China. The results show that rural-urban labour migration significantly increases the probability of forestland abandonment, and the net transfer rate of forestland, especially when the migrants are post-adolescent (age 30–45) women. Furthermore, rural-urban labour migration was found to have little influence on forest capital investment intensity, but significant negative influences on labour investment intensity, and both forest income and reliance. These results provide new insights about the impact of rural-urban labour migration on forest management, and will be helpful in designing alternative policies to promote rural-urban labour migration and enhancement of forest management.

The impact of institutions on forestland transfer rents: The case of Zhejiang province in China

Since initiating the new round of collective forest tenure reform in China, the development of the forestland transfer market has been of considerable interest to the academic and policy communities. Our theoretical analysis posited that formal institutions—tenure certificate and written contract—are positively associated with the rents, while informal institutions, as reflected in the social relationships, can reduce transfer rents. Based on a spatial econometric model and survey data from four cities in Zhejiang, our empirical results show that in addition to the formal institutions, the informal institutions have played a key role in facilitating the transfers and determining the rents. The rent between acquaintances is lower than those between strangers. Mutual trust between acquaintances has not only alleviated farmers' dependence on tenure certificates, but also served as a guarantee for fulfilling the contractual terms. Nonetheless, China's forestland transfer market is not well developed yet. More efforts are needed to strengthen the formal institutions and improve the policy setting in facilitating farmers' participation in forestland transfers. China's experience is relevant to many developing and emerging economics.

Influence of rural labor migration behavior on the transfer of forestland

AbstractThis study analyzes the influence mechanism of migration on farmers' forestland transfer behavior by using instrumental variable‐Probit and instrumental variable‐Tobit models based on survey data of 505 households in 50 villages in 10 sample counties in Jiangxi Province. The results show that the farmers' willingness to transfer forestland is generally not high, but there is a great difference in the influence of intra‐county migration and outside‐of‐county migration on the transfer behavior of farmers. Outside‐of‐county migration promotes the renting out of forestland and inhibits renting it in, whereas intra‐county migration does not affect either. In addition, households' human capital, forestland resource endowments, policy systems, and locational environment factors all have different degrees of influence on farmers' transfer behavior. According to the analysis, improving rural laborers' job skills through training can deepen the reform of collective forestland.Recommendations for Resource Managers This study uses econometric models to reflect the influence of intra‐county migration and outside‐of‐county migration on households' forestland transfer and provides a foundation for the sustainable development of forestland. The factors affecting the renting in or out of forestland strongly differ according to intra‐ and outside‐of‐county migration. Outside‐of‐county migration promotes the renting out of forestland and inhibits renting it in, whereas intra‐county migration does not affect either. To encourage forestland transfer and achieve sustainable forest development, managers should concentrate on improving the rural laborers' job skills through training, continuing the reform of collective forestland, and coordinating the relationship between farmers and forestland.

Has China’s New Round of Collective Forestland Tenure Reform Caused an Increase in Rural Labor Transfer?

To investigate the rural labor transfer effects of China’s Collective Forestland Tenure Reform (CFTR), we employ binary probit models by using survey data of 694 households from China’s northern collective forest areas. The results reveal that the improved property rights, including rights for forestland use, disposition and beneficiaries, and refined tenure security under the CFTR generally have caused an increase in rural household labor transfer to the nonfarm sector. Besides, we find that forestry-dominated households’ risk perceptions on forestland reallocation and expropriation have significantly dampened rural labor transfer to the nonfarm sector. These can be explained by the fact that the strengthening of forestland property rights brought about by the CFTR can promote an increase in the forestland transfer rate and improve the forestland relocation efficiency. This, in turn, will lead to the liberation of the rural labor force, increase the non-agricultural employment rate of farmers, and ultimately lead to an increase in the rural labor transfer to the nonfarm sector. Therefore, these findings indicate that to motivate rural labor transfer to the nonfarm sector in the context of the Chinese government’s call for urbanization and other developing countries’ handling of similar circumstances, policymakers should further refine household forestland property rights and better protect forestland tenure security by continuing to improve related forestry policies.

Effect of Forestland Property Rights and Village Off-Farm Environment on Off-Farm Employment in Southern China

Reasonably promoting the off-farm employment of rural surplus labor in China’s collective forest areas is an important way to increase forest resources and increase farmers’ income. China’s new round of collective forest tenure reform (CFTR) aims to optimize forest area labor allocation by strengthening forestland property rights. Therefore, in different village off-farm environments, it is necessary to explore how forestland property rights affect off-farm employment in forest areas. Based on survey data from 742 households in Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces, this paper examines this effect using the double-hurdle model. The results indicate that forestland transfer rights promote decision-making about, and the supply of, off-farm labor, while forest harvesting rights significantly increase the supply of off-farm labor. The villages’ off-farm income ratio also affected the supply of off-farm labor. Moreover, under the regulation of the village off-farm income ratio, the positive incentives of forestland transfer rights on decision-making about, and the supply of, off-farm labor gradually weakened, but the incentive effect of forest harvesting rights on the supply of off-farm labor gradually increased. It is proposed that the CFTR should be further promoted, the forestland circulation mechanism and regulating forest harvest quota system should be improved, and implementation of forestry property mortgages should be strengthened.

EXTRACTION METHODS AND EXPERIMENT ON ESSENTIAL FOREST VARIABLES FOR GEOSPATIALLY-ENABLED SDGs MONITORING

Abstract. Since the United Nations passed the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 sub-goals in 2015, many researchers have tried their best to put them into practise. However, mass data and different understanding of SDGs indicators make this work much more difficult. In this article we reference the concept of essential variables which may have some contribution to established a standard system for SDGs monitoring. Here we take SDG15 as an example. Firstly, we deeply analyse the main contents of SDG15 and select some geospatial-related indicators involved with forest land. From those forest-related and geospatial-enabled indicators we concise 5 essential forest variables (EFV4SDG15) which could be classified into 3 different types: land cover distribution and transformation, aggregative pattern and intensity and spatial-temporal evolution process. Secondly, formalized expression of EFV4SDG15 and extraction of them from multiple data source are necessary, including data processing and mathematical expression of the variables. Finally, we take global region as research target to carry out preliminary experiments. In this part, we only select 2 EFV4SDG15s: the forest coverage rate and forest land transfer matrix to show detailed operation process and then present the results in forms of figure and table. The paper has preliminary attempts to the application of essential variables in SDGs monitoring and provides an example for other fields.

Labor off‐farm employment and household forest management investment in Jiangxi, China: A perspective from gender influence of rural labor

AbstractThat numerous rural laborers migrate to urban areas to find off‐farm jobs has become an outstanding economic phenomenon in China. To examine the impact of rural labor off‐farm employment on household forest management, we built binary logistic models and Tobit models by applying a sample survey data of 500 households in rural Jiangxi in 2018. Households’ participation and investment in forest management were measured by their labor and cash input. The results indicated that more off‐farm laborers in household would hold back their participation in cash input. In contrast, a higher rate of female off‐farm employment encouraged household monetary input. And households with more female agricultural laborers were more likely to participate in labor input. Neither off‐farm employment nor female off‐farm employment significantly influences households’ labor input. Off‐farm employment of the householder negatively influenced labor and cash input. Policy factors, such as obtaining forestry subsidies and forestry loans, joining forestry co‐operative organizations, and better attitude to the logging quota system, also promoted households’ participation and investment in forest management. Household head's age and education, forestry land status also affected participation in forest management. Our analysis could provide basis for managers to formulate policies to support sustainable forest management.Recommendations for Resource Managers: The econometric models applied in this research could reflect the influence of rural labor off‐farm employment on household forest management behavior and provide a quantitative basis for formulating forest management policies. There were great differences between rural households’ forest management cash input behavior and labor input behavior and households were more active in labor input compared with cash input. The gender structure of rural labor off‐farm employment could impact households’ forest management participation and investment. To achieve sustainable forest management, managers should pay attention to enhancing female forestry technique training and encouraging forest land transfer and consolidation in the collective forest regions of China.

Impact of urbanization on hydrological processes under different precipitation scenarios

According to analysing the trends of land use changes in the upper reaches of Minjiang River in the past 30 years and precipitation in the last 50 years, nine types of simulation scenarios were constructed for different precipitation conditions and urbanization development processes. Based on the “five sub-basin selection principles” and “two simulation results evaluation indicators” proposed, the paper studied the influence of the urbanization process on hydrological processes under different precipitation conditions using the SWAT model. The primary conclusions are as follows: (1) the simulation results under the two kinds of land use transfer scenarios show the same laws: (a) when forest land (or grassland) is transferred to urban land, actual evapotranspiration (ET), soil water content (SW), amount of water percolating out of root zone (PERC) and groundwater contribution to streamflow (GW_Q) show a decreasing trend, and the reduction in watershed hydrological indexes is manifested as “high precipitation > average precipitation > low precipitation”. Moreover, surface runoff (SURQ), water yield (WYLD) and annual runoff show an increasing trend, and the increment in SURQ shows “high precipitation > average precipitation > low precipitation”, while the increment in WYLD and the simulated annual runoff show “low precipitation > average precipitation > high precipitation”. (b) Through analysis of the contribution of unit proportion transfer (CUPT) of watershed hydrological indicators, “SURQ > PERC > GW_Q > ET > SW” is observed in all precipitation scenarios. (2) Comparing simulation results between the two kinds of land use transfer scenarios: the CUPT variations of ET, SURQ and WYLD and the contribution of unit area transfer variations of daily flood peak and annual runoff both show “forest land transfer to urban land > grassland transfer to urban land”. Finally, two special phenomena observed in the analysis of the simulation results were discussed. The study results can provide a scientific basis for urban planning and construction for reducing the impact on urban flood.

Factors affecting forestland production efficiency in collective forest areas: A case study of 703 forestland plots and 290 rural households in Liaoning, China

Facing the challenge of huge population and prominent contradiction between land supply and demand in China, improving the land use efficiency will be a crucial way to solve this contradiction. Based on microscopic sampling data for 703 forestland plots, maintained by 290 rural households, in 30 villages in Liaoning province, and using forestland plots as the decision making unit, the influencing factors of forestland production efficiency were analysed by means of econometric analysis. The results show that increasing household labour and mechanical services helps to improve the production efficiency of forestland. Rural households' willingness to transfer forestland is weak and the frequency of forestland transfers is relatively low; without action, forestland transfers can be expected to continue to fail to fulfil their potential in stimulating production efficiency. Collective forestland (predominantly public welfare forest) made a limited contribution to forestry production efficiency. From the perspective of property security, although the certification work has more or less been implemented, the factors of property rights certificates, management duration and forestland rights exerted no significant effect on forestland production efficiency. The security and stability of households' forest property rights urgently need to be consolidated. Moreover, although forest insurance has an important effect on forestland production efficiency, the proportion of households purchasing forest insurance is still low and needs to be improved. The development of forest rights mortgage loans is blocked, and these have not played a significant role in forestland production efficiency to date. Forestry subsidy mechanisms were not sound, and non-subsidized forestland production efficiency was far higher than that of subsidized forest. As such, we conclude that forestry subsidies have failed to play a positive role in increasing efficiency. In order to promote forestland production efficiency and the sustainable growth of forestry, it is essential that emphasis be placed on forestland inputs, plot characteristics, property security and policy subsidies for micro-plots.

How forestland size affects household profits from timber harvests: A case-study in China’s Southern collective forest area

To improve the economies of scale in forest management and reduce the fragmentation of forestland, the Chinese central government has implemented a collective forest tenure supplementary reform since 2008. This has included a series of policies for motivating transfer of forestlands use rights among households in the country’s Southern Collective Forest Area (SCFA). However, to date there is little evidence that large-scale forest owners can earn more profits from timber harvests than small-scale forest owners in the SCFA. Using data collected from household surveys in the three of the SCFA’s provinces in 2016, this paper examines the return to scale of forestland ownership for timber harvests in this region, and how the scale of forestland ownership affects households’ profits from timber harvests. The results show a constant return to scale in timber harvests in the case provinces in China’s SCFA, that forestland area makes the most important contribution to the output of timber harvests, and that fragmentation of forestland results in lower profits from timber harvests. It appears that a moderate scale of forestland ownership should be identified for increasing the profits from timber harvests. With the rapid urbanization throughout China, an increase in off-farm employment among rural household members has a negative impact on timber harvests in the region. We argue that policymakers should realize the importance of encouraging the forestland transfers and improve the concentration of forestlands in the next stage of forest tenure rights reform in China’s SCFA.

How off-farm work drives the intensity of rural households' investment in forest management: The case from Zhejiang, China

China’s new round of forest tenure reform since 2006 has devolved the land-use rights of collective forests to individual households. Since then, policymakers have advocated household forestland transfers and large-scale forest holdings to increase the efficiency and returns from forest management. At the same time, there has been a rapid growth in off-farm working opportunities in urban areas of China. It is therefore important to analyze the impact of this increase in off-farm employment on the forest management investments of households with different scales of forestland holding. Based on the framework of the new economics of labor migration theory (NELM) and data obtained from surveying 300 households in 5 rural counties in Zhejiang Province, alternative econometric models were used to estimate how off-farm work drives the intensity of rural households' investments in forest management. The findings reveal that households with large-scale forestland holdings (LHs) are usually willing to increase their investments in forest management due to the remittance effect of their off-farm employment. In contrast, households with small-scale forestland holdings (SHs) prefer to decrease their investments in forest management due to the out-migration effect of the growing off-farm employment opportunities. The results provide a clear explanation about the necessity of large-scale forest management under the backdrop of increasing out-migration of the labor force in China's rural areas. The paper concludes with recommendations for policymakers to develop initiatives that will promote and support large-scale forest management by households in rural China.