Land Transfer System Research Articles

How Does High-Standard Farmland Construction Affect Agroecological Efficiency—From the Perspective of Factor Endowment

Based on the factor endowment theory and the agriculture-induced technological innovation theory, this study examines the impact of high-standard farmland construction (HFC) on agricultural ecological efficiency (AEE) and sustainable agricultural development. Using empirical data from 30 provinces in China between 2005 and 2022, it explores how high-standard farmland construction techniques can enhance AEE, considering factor endowment preferences and geographical characteristics. Empirical research indicates that high-standard farmland significantly enhances AEE, particularly in the eastern region, the main grain-producing areas, and the regions with less geographical fluctuation. Additionally, agricultural innovations, capital accumulation, and land circulation reinforce the benefits of such construction, whereas labor mobility has a moderating effect. Quantile regression analyses show that the impact of HFC on AEE initially increases and then diminishes, potentially due to inadequate post-management and maintenance. Consequently, the study recommends that the government enhance policy support and supervision for high-standard farmland projects, integrate agricultural technology with capital accumulation, optimize human resource allocation, guide labor mobility, and reform land transfer systems to boost AEE and sustainability.

The Impact of Green Finance on Agricultural Non-Point Source Pollution: Analysis of the Role of Environmental Regulation and Rural Land Transfer

This study evaluates the impact of green finance on agricultural non-point source pollution control and emission reduction in 30 Chinese provinces from 2005 to 2022. Utilizing the entropy value method and the unit survey inventory method, the research measures the levels of green finance development and agricultural non-point source pollution. It employs a mediation effect model to empirically assess the pollution control efficacy of green finance and to elucidate the mechanisms underlying its influence. The findings indicate that green finance development significantly curtails agricultural non-point source pollution emissions. This conclusion is still valid after a series of robustness tests. The results of mechanism analysis show that environmental regulation and land transfer are important channels for green finance to reduce agricultural non-point source pollution. However, the slowing effect of green finance is stronger in provinces where the economic development level is still in the catch-up zone. Consequently, this study suggests strengthening green finance infrastructure in rural areas, coordinating green finance and environmental regulation policies, optimizing land transfer systems to promote scale management, and developing differentiated green finance policies based on regional economic development levels. These measures aim to augment the role of green finance in pollution treatment and emission reduction, thereby optimizing the green financial system, advancing environmental protection, and fostering sustainable development in China’s agricultural sector.

Differences in the impact of land transfer on poverty vulnerability among households with different livelihood structures

IntroductionEradicating poverty is the primary objective of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. While China has achieved great success in achieving poverty reduction targets, reducing the poverty vulnerability of rural households is crucial for ensuring the sustainability of poverty reduction gains. The purpose of land transfer is to ensure the continuous increase of farmers’ income through efficient land use; it has become an important initiative for poverty alleviation in rural areas. Existing studies have confirmed the positive effect of land transfer on poverty alleviation, but few have explored the difference in the impact of land transfer on poverty vulnerability of households with different income structures.MethodsUsing data from the China Family Panel Survey (CFPS) from 2010 to 2020, this paper empirically examines the impact of land transfer on poverty vulnerability.Results and discussionThe results show that land transfer has a significant positive impact on poverty vulnerability alleviation among rural households. Further comparing households with different livelihood structures, we find that land transfer is more effective in reducing poverty for non-farm employment-oriented household. Therefore, we suggest that the government should improve the land transfer system, increase agricultural subsidies, and consider the occupational differentiation among farmers to improve the poverty reduction effect of land transfer. These suggestions also provide a reference for promoting sustainable agricultural development and consolidating the achievements of poverty alleviation.

How Do Population Changes and Land Use Policies Affect the Relationship between the Urban Economy and Public Services?

In recent years, an increasing number of Chinese cities have experienced population decline, impacting the urban economy, public services, and paid use of state-owned land (PUL). This paper employs a coupled coordination degree model and the gray correlation coefficient method to examine the relationship between the rate of population change from 1990 to 2020, the rate of PUL change from 2000 to 2020, and the coupled coordination of economy and public services. The study arrives at several conclusions: (1) Cities with declining populations exhibit a lower PUL rate than those without population shrinkage, indicating reduced activity in the land market. (2) Population growth plays a significant role in the coordinated development of the urban economy and public services, fostering urbanization. (3) The economy and public services in shrinking cities rely heavily on revenue generated from the transfer of PUL rights to support their coordinated development. This research provides an insightful comparison between shrinking and non-shrinking cities by integrating the unique compensated land transfer system in China with the critical variable of population change.

The Impact of Internet Use on Land Productivity: Evidence from China Land Economy Survey

Enhancing land productivity is a crucial strategy for addressing key sustainable development issues, such as poverty reduction and ensuring food security. Farmers’ Internet use behavior offers the potential to improve land productivity. However, relatively little is known about the association between Internet use and land productivity. To fill this void, this study examines the impact of Internet use on land productivity and its mechanisms. The results indicate that farmers’ use of the Internet has a positive impact on improving agricultural land productivity. Internet use increases land productivity by 12.3%, and the conclusion still holds after a series of robustness tests and endogeneity tests. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that Internet use significantly enhances land productivity in the central and northern parts of Jiangsu Province, while it does not have the same effect in the province’s southern regions. Without the addition of county fixed effects, the central sample regression results show that the coefficient for Internet use is 0.165 and significant at the 10% confidence level. When county fixed effects are added, the coefficient decreases to 0.117 and is not significant. The coefficient on Internet use for the northern sample is 0.128 and is significant at the 5% confidence level. Mechanistic analyses demonstrate that Internet use also enhances land productivity primarily by expanding the cultivated land area, facilitating mechanized production, and strengthening farmers’ social networks. The results of the study indicate that the positive effects of Internet use in improving land productivity should be fully released by strengthening the communication infrastructure, further enhancing farmers’ Internet use capacity, improving the land transfer system, upgrading the socialized service level of agricultural machinery, and strengthening agricultural financial support.

Does land transfer help alleviate relative poverty in China? An analysis based on income and capability perspective

ABSTRACT By the end of 2020, China had achieved the goal of eradicating absolute poverty and entered an essential stage of consolidating the achievements of poverty alleviation and promoting rural revitalization. In the future, poverty governance will shift towards relative poverty. Based on the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) database and the propensity score matching model, this paper empirically analyses the alleviating effect of land transfer on relative poverty among rural households. The results show that land transfer can effectively alleviate the multidimensional relative poverty of rural households, and the effect of transferring out land is greater than that of transferring in land. In the future, to improve the land transfer system and promote rural revitalization, it is necessary to actively establish a long-term financial poverty alleviation system in rural areas to ensure a stable income for households that transfer in land, strengthen the construction and regulation of the land transfer market, and further improve the rural social security system to provide comprehensive social security for migrant workers who move to cities and agricultural operators who stay in rural areas.

Research on the Development of Leisure Agriculture and Rural Tourism and Legal Regulation Issues under the Background of Rural Revitalization

Since the implementation of the strategy for leisure agriculture and rural tourism, various regions in China have shown diverse development trends. Despite this, practical difficulties and legal issues persist. Particularly in the areas of administrative supervision, land transfer, contractual systems, and tort liability, existing laws and regulations still need further improvement for efficient and scientific regulatory management. To promote the healthy growth of rural tourism, the primary task is to strengthen regulatory agency construction and clarify the scope of powers and responsibilities to enhance government supervision. Additionally, the establishment of land transfer systems and clarification of property rights are essential legal measures to regulate land transfer. Furthermore, improving contractual systems and defining tort liability regulations can effectively address issues related to leisure agriculture and rural tourism contracts and tort actions. By studying the shortcomings of the current legal system and proposing solutions, the aim is to achieve robust development in China's rural economy and the implementation of rural revitalization.

Research on the Impact of Rural Land Transfer on Non-Farm Employment of Farm Households: Evidence from Hubei Province, China

Agricultural scale operations and industrialization promote the transfer of the rural labor force to the industry sector, and the non-farm employment of farmers plays a great role in increasing their income and reducing poverty. It is of great significance to explore the non-farm employment of farmers for the governance of relative poverty and the achievement of common prosperity. The propensity score matching (PSM) and generalized propensity score matching (GPSM) were used to analyze the impact of rural land transfer on farm households' non-farm employment. According to the PSM estimation, compared to the farmers' land not transferred, the rural land transfer significantly increased the proportion of non-farm employment personnel in farm households and the months of per year non-farm employment per person. The total land transfer, paddy land transfer and dry land transfer could significantly increase the proportion of non-farm employment personnel in farm households by 0.074, 0.029 and 0.085 units, respectively, and could significantly increase the months of per year non-farm employment per person by 0.604, 0.394 and 0.617 units, respectively. According to the GPSM estimation, different types of rural land transfer areas have significant positive effects on the proportion of non-farm workers and the months of per year non-farm employment per person, and show an obvious increasing trend of returns to scale, that is, the proportion of non-farm workers and the months of per year non-farm employment per person of farmers are higher than the increase in rural land transfer area. Additionally, the return to scale effect of dry land transfer area is more obvious. In order to raise the income of farm households and narrow the gap between urban and rural areas, the land transfer system can be further improved, urbanization with the county town as an important carrier can be vigorously promoted, the participation of farm households in non-farm employment in the local area can be promoted and the support policy system for non-farm employment of rural labor force can be improved.

How the Marketization of Land Transfer Affects High-Quality Economic Development: Empirical Evidence from 284 Prefecture-Level Cities in China

The allocation of urban land from planned to market-oriented is an important part of China’s economic market-oriented reform, but its impact on high-quality economic development still lacks direct testing. Based on the data of prefecture-level city panels from 1999 to 2019, this paper analyzes the impact mechanism and effect of land transfer marketization on the high-quality development of urban economy by constructing multiple land transfer marketization indicators. The study found that the marketization of land transfer has a significant role in promoting high-quality economic development in the long run. The specific mechanism is that the marketization of land transfer affects the high-quality development of the economy through the financing effect and the resource allocation effect. The degree of marketization of land transfer can be increased, which can not only promote the expansion of production scale by increasing the degree of land capitalization and increasing the scale of urban financing, but also improve the efficiency of resource allocation by giving more effective play to the land price signal and guiding the combination of production factors to match more effectively. However, this paper also finds that the effect of land financing has a very complex impact on resource allocation, and the impact of financing in the primary and secondary land markets on the efficiency of resource allocation is generally completely different. The research results of this paper have rich policy implications and have practical reference value for evaluating and improving the current urban land transfer system. In the future, we should continue to improve the land transfer system in the direction of marketization, reduce the improper administrative interference of local governments in land transfer, improve the level of marketization of the primary land market, and further develop the secondary land market.

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.

Land Endowment and Parental Educational Investment in Rural China

Education is fundamental to enhancing the quality of life and ensuring social and economic progress. However, the divisive economic structure separating urban and rural areas in China led to insufficient educational investment in rural China, and trapped farmers’ children in the agricultural sector. Land is one major asset of rural households, and can generate income or be mortgaged for credit used for educational investment. This study explored the relationship between land endowment and parental educational investment of rural households, from both theoretical and empirical perspectives, breaking down the effect of land endowment into two different components for the better promotion of educational investment. Based on data from a 2018 survey in Jiangxi Province, where rural education investment is severely restricted by the level of economic development, this study shows that the income and wealth effects of land endowment exists, and both increase the probability of educational investment. The wealth effect dominates the income effect when the households managed large-scale land or owned more land with contract rights. However, when the land endowment was less than a threshold of 3.85 mu, the wealth effect was replaced by the substitution effect, which conversely restrained educational investment for small-scale farmers in rural China. These findings highlight the importance of large-scale farmland as a mortgageable, or income-generating, asset in stimulating educational investment. Therefore, China should continue adhering to reform through the market-oriented land transfer system, with the government actively playing a role in ensuring the stability of land transfer and the security of land management rights, and increasing productivity for a high agricultural income to achieve sustainable educational investment.

Conflict in informal rural construction land transfer practices in China: A case of Hubei

Driven by high value-added benefits as well as the less mature legal systems, informal land transfer becomes widespread in rural China. Based on Institutional Vicissitude Theory, this paper investigates the responses of local stakeholders to the process of informal rural land transfer. Case studies undertaken at Hubei province in China reveal the conflicts in informal land transfer. The article firstly reviews the China's unique dual land system and land transfer policy. It then investigates different stakeholders in the informal land transfer practices through questionnaire surveys and face-to-face interviews. We demonstrate the mechanism and interaction of different conflicts in China's informal land transfer system. Our findings also emphasize the need for informal land transfer to align with government policies and regional development plans. The implications help provide an important reference for studying informal land systems in developing countries with similar dilemma generally.

How land transfer marketization influence on green total factor productivity from the approach of industrial structure? Evidence from China

Market-oriented allocation of land resources is one of the main economic reforms in China. However, the influence of land transfer marketization (LTM) on green total factor productivity (green TFP) and its mechanisms remain unknown. Based on panel data of 30 provincial administrative regions in China from 2004 to 2016, this study attempts to establish mechanism among LTM, industrial structure and green TFP, which is measured by the Slack Based Measure DEA (SBM-DEA) model containing undesirable output, and empirically estimates the impact of LTM, the rationalization and optimization of industrial structure and their interactions on green TFP further. The results show that: 1) LTM has a significant promoting effect on the improvement of green TFP in China, and the effect is also significant in the eastern, central and western regions as well, indicating that the application of land transfer policy to regulate regional economic development is widespread in China. 2) The rationalization of industrial structure has significantly promoted the development of green TFP in China, as well as at the regional levels, and the effect decreases from the western region to the central and eastern regions. The optimization of industrial structure also has a promoting effect on green TFP in China and all the regions, but the regional differences of the effect are contrary to that of the rationalization of industrial structure, with a decreasing trend from the eastern region to the central and western regions. 3) The interaction between LTM and the rationalization of industrial structure has significantly inhibited the improvement of green TFP in China, and the regional variations of the restraining effect are higher in the western region, followed by the central and eastern regions. The interaction between LTM and the optimization of industrial structure also has a negative effect on green TFP in China, and the regional variations of the effect showing the decreasing trend from the eastern region to the western and central regions. Therefore, China should continue to adhere to the market-oriented urban land transfer system reform, actively play the role of the government in the industrial upgrading and industrial transfer, and formulate a differentiated land transfer system and industrial development policies based on the economic development and industrial characteristics of various regions, so as to achieve the sustainable development of China’s economy and society.

Reverberations in the Torrens system: a new Land Transfer Act in New Zealand

PurposeOn 12 November 2018, New Zealand's Land Transfer Act 2017 came into force. The purpose of this paper is to pinpoint some of the significant changes in the Act that challenge the fundamental concepts of the Torrens system of registration.Design/methodology/approachThe paper addresses three significant reforms: a definition of land transfer fraud; the concept of immediate indefeasibility with limited judicial discretion and its impact on volunteers and the Gibbs v. Messer anomaly; and the compensation regime. Case studies illustrate the effect of these changes.FindingsThe limited legislative definition of fraud reflects the common law and allows for any necessary flexibility. The new Act reiterates the principle of immediate indefeasibility but qualifies it with the introduction of some judicial discretion. This is a novel concept for the courts and will undoubtedly be dealt with cautiously. The author voices some disquiet with regard to some of the guidelines set out in s 55(4) of the Act. The compensation provisions introduce an element of an owner's culpability. An owner now runs the risk of reduced compensation if there has been a lack of proper care.Research limitations/implicationsThe implications of this research are fundamental for New Zealand's land transfer system.Practical implicationsThe limited judicial discretion will challenge the courts of New Zealand. The new compensation provisions will ensure that an owner's carelessness will be accountable.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first to analyse the Land Transfer Act 2017 (New Zealand). Its value extends beyond New Zealand shores as it has implications for global land transfer systems.

Empirical Analysis of the Driving Factors of China’s ‘Land Finance’ Mechanism Using Soft Budget Constraint Theory and the PLS-SEM Model

“Land finance” refers to the key fiscal strategy in which local governments in China generate revenue through land grant premiums and land tax revenues. A burgeoning body of literature has focused on the driving factors of China’s land finance from different aspects including fiscal decentralization, revenue decentralization, competition among local governments, land marketization, infrastructure development, and economic development. However, little research has provided a comprehensive perspective integrating social, economic and institutional aspects to investigate the driving forces of these unique and profound issues in China. This study aims to investigate the driving factors and working mechanism of land finance. A theoretical and empirical model was proposed using soft budget constraint theory and least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The panel data of 35 Chinese major cities were assessed between 2006 and 2015. The empirical results contend the following: (1) the land transfer and fiscal systems provide the key impetus for land financing because the land transfer system forms a stable modality, and the fiscal system is an important incentive for land financing; (2) the effects of the economic development and political system are insignificant; and (3) the political and land systems significantly influence economic development. Our contributions focus on two aspects. Firstly, a comprehensive framework of factors germane to land finance is constructed. Secondly, a new research methodology for land use study is proposed. To the best of our knowledge, the current study is the first to employ the PLS-SEM method to delineate and verify the influence paths between multiple driving factors and land finance in different cities. Hence, research reliability can be improved.

QWL and Related Factors for Migrant Workers Survey in Guangdong Province, China

The quality of work and life (abbreviated as QWL) of migrant workers in China is related to urbanization and social development and reflects subjective well-being. This study examined migrant workers’ quality of work and life and constructed an index system to evaluate overall quality. Survey data from 3,375 participants in Guangdong, China, were analyzed using ordinary least square regression. The results showed that migrant workers’ quality of work and life is low. Quality of life is lower than quality of work, indicating that social services provision was rated lower than employment situation. Quality of work and life is influenced both by objective institutional factors and subjective human capital factors, particularly training, social security, public services, and social institutional factors. Subjective quality of work and life is based on evaluation of objective situations. This study proposes several reforms in training, employment, the household registration system, enterprise management, rights protection, social inclusion, and the rural land transfer system. Future research should address the relationship between quality of work and life and related factors using longitudinal survey data, interaction of indexes and individual factors, and differences in quality of work and life of migrant workers under different institutional systems. International comparative research should also be conducted.

Quantitative analysis of research on China’s land transfer system

This paper analyzed the studied process of Chinese land transfer system (LTS) for getting a comprehensive understanding of the LTS research status. Our results showed the LTS research is a multidisciplinary study driven by national policy, and the structure based on different natural-social conditions provides a good foundation for future studies. However, LTS research lacks collaboration and comprehensiveness, and the research results are insufficiently innovative and practical. Therefore, there is an urgent need to enhance multidisciplinary research using a combination of theory and practice.

Informal Land Development on the Urban Fringe

Urban fringes are an important part of urban growth. In addition to formal land markets, a variety of informal land development methods make urban fringes the most dynamic and complicated areas. The analysis of land transfer and development systems in these areas opens a significant window to understanding the modern processes of urbanization and human and property rights in urban areas in China. This study uses Shanghai as a case study target and identifies specific modes of local land development and investigates how collective participants, government agencies, regulatory policies, and various actors are involved in land development and decision making. The in-depth analysis and case studies indicate that the variety of informal land markets in Shanghai reflects the inherent demands of the market for allocation of land resources within the constraints of the given system and against the given development background. However, conflicts between the mode of the market and the existing institutional constraints reflect the uncoordinated development of the land and the economic and social development around the urban fringe. The empirical results of this paper suggest that government administration should improve the land market system, strengthen the planning of control and guidance, rationalize the distribution of interests in land development, and strengthen the supervision of management of land development enterprises. Instead of fragmented aspects, this paper proposes a systematic analytical approach to understanding the informal land development in a city from an urban planning and land resource management perspective.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF HENYAN PROVINCES: PROMOTING THE DEVELOPMENT AND PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF FARMERS

The purpose of this article is to investigate the needs of farmers in Henan for vocational training, provide references for the government to formulate rural human resource training policies and provide vocational training services to the society, and ultimately serve the sustainable rural development strategy. The sustainable development of the village is inseparable from the support of the village's external resources and the joint effect of the internal driving force. In the context of the continuous input of external resources to the countryside, the importance of internal driving forces has become increasingly prominent. This driving force comes from fully respecting the wishes of farmers. On the one hand, they need the protection of laws and systems to give them the power to understand the decision-making of rural affairs; on the other hand, the improvement of farmers' vocational skills enables them to participate in the implementation of rural affairs. The survey results show that more than 53.3% of farmers have vocational training need for planting technology, food processing technology and breeding technology, and nearly half of farmers have other vocational training need. The survey results in terms of age show that farmers aged 30 to 50 have a strong demand for vocational training. Peasants in this age group account for a large proportion of the population and are willing to become licensed. They an important potential force for rural development. Depending on the survey results, the relationship between the demand for vocational training and rural tourism, e-commerce sales of agricultural products, and land transfer systems was discussed. It is believed that without the support of human resources in related industries, various rural development plans will be unattainable. Conclusion: On the one hand, local governments should improve the vocational training system for farmers, and make full use of agricultural colleges and social vocational training institutions to provide farmers with vocational training supplies. On the other hand, villages should fully consider regional human resource conditions before making development plans or undertaking industrial projects. Only when the village realizes the continuous reproduction of the human resources it needs, can it be possible to reduce the waste of innumerable resources and realize the sustainable development of the village and the country’s revitalization and development strategy formulated by the country.

Land cooperatives as an approach of suburban space construction: Under the reform of Chinese land transfer market

In China, the urban–rural dual structure of land market has resulted in urban sprawl caused by industrial diffusion. Urban sprawl disintegrated agricultural communities in suburbs, thereby increasing the unemployment rate among farmers who lost their lands. To address this problem, the Chinese government proposed a reform program to analyze the monopoly of the government in the land market and guarantee the property rights of farmers.This study analyzed the connection between land market mechanism and suburban space formation. Results concluded that the current land transfer system caused industrial urban sprawl, and the reform program may promote the urban sprawl of population. Two typical models of rural land development were studied. A model called land cooperatives based on land pooling joint stock system was proposed to build a compact and sustainable suburban space.