Land rights and investment incentives: Evidence from China’s Latest Rural Land Titling Program

Zhou, Nan ^[1] ; Cheng, Wenli ^[2] ; Zhang, Longyao ^[3]
1. [1] Nanjing Agricultural University
  
  Nanjing Agricultural University
  
  China
2. [2] Monash University
  
  Monash University
  
  Australia
3. [3] Monash Business School, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia
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Localización: Land use policy: The International Journal Covering All Aspects of Land Use, ISSN 0264-8377, ISSN-e 1873-5754, Nº. 117, 2022
Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
- We compile a panel dataset from official surveys of 2010–2015 to study how China’s latest rural land titling program affected households’ long-term agricultural investment. Applying the DD method and the PSM-DD method, we find that the rural land titling program had a positive effect on households’ land-related investment (measured by the application of organic fertiliser). In addition, we present 3 pieces of evidence which support the view that the positive investment effect was due to enhanced incentives as a result of improved land tenure security. First, the investment effect was significant for land-related investment, but not significant for non-land-related investment (measured by the purchase of agricultural machinery). Second, the investment effect was stronger for the households that saw a greater improvement in their land tenure security. Third, the investment effect on households’ own contracted land was stronger than that on their rented-in land, unless the households had long-term (i.e., more than one year) written rental contracts for their rented-in land.