Labor migration and the decoupling of the crop-livestock system in a rural mountainous area: Evidence from Chongqing,China

Massive out-migration of rural labor force brings both challenges and opportunities to crop-livestock integrated production system (crop-livestock system) in smallholder economy. Compared with previous researches that have paid major attention to the effect of labor migration on either crop production or livestock husbandry, this study considers the mediating role of crop production in predicting the effect of labor migration on livestock raising. Our econometric estimation based on a 2012 survey of 974 rural households in Chongqing, a mountainous region of China, showed the following. (1) The massive migration of rural labor force had led to significant increase in farmland abandonment and considerable changes in the pattern of livestock raising. (2) The livestock raising number per household began to differentiate, with the livestock system separating from the traditional crop-livestock system and becoming a specialized business. (3) In terms of the pathways through which rural labor migration exerts impact on livestock raising number, though the increased opportunity costs of rural labor greatly reduced farmers’ willingness to raise livestock, the decoupling of the crop-livestock system partly alleviated the declining trend in the livestock raising number because of the availability of household labor force freed from cropping via farmland abandonment. These findings have important policy implications for rural development and agricultural restructuring in mountainous areas of China, and provide references for other developing countries.     

Assessment of decoupling between rural settlement area and rural population in China

In China, changes in rural settlement patterns are crucial because they may affect agricultural sustainability through encroachment on productive cropland and water resources and also reduce biodiversity. Rapid urbanization with accompanying socioeconomic transformation has resulted in decrease of the rural register population (RRP) in China since 2000. The effects of this change in RRP on rural settlement area (RSA) and the factors shaping the relationship between these measures of population and land use have attracted extensive research interest. We investigated the changes in RRP and RSA and used a decoupling model to analyze the relationship between them. We found that whereas RRP in China increased by 1.12% during 1996–2000, it decreased by 4.91% during 2000–2005. RSA increased by 0.62% and 0.09% during the periods 1996–2000 and 2000–2005, respectively. The RSA was slightly decoupled from RRP during 1996–2000 due to the shift in rural housing from one-floor houses to multi-floor houses. In the period 2000–2005, RSA was actually strongly negatively decoupled from RRP due to village-hollowing, which was driven mainly by a dual-track real property system (ownership by collectives, but use rights for individuals) as well as institutional–managerial and socioeconomic factors. In central and western China, the RSA was better able to be decoupled from RRP than in eastern China due to interprovincial rural migration.     

Rural land system reforms in China: History,issues, measures and prospects

Land system reform (LSR) helps to protect farmers' rights and interests and national food security. China is a country dominated by agriculture but insufficient arable land resources. The contradiction between man and land is prominent. To alleviate the man-land contradiction, the Chinese government has carried out a series of LSRs, especially in the past half century. Extensive and in-depth studies have been done on the process and stage characteristics of China's LSRs, but the systematic analysis on the necessity, problems and key measures to deepen the land system reform is still insufficient. Based on a systematic review of the history of the evolution of China's LSRs, this study firstly analyzed the key issues and new challenges existing in or arising from China's land system, then put forward the necessity of deepening the reform of land system, and discussed specific measures taken to deepen the reform of land system in China at present and finally pointed out the future LSR’s direction. The results show that China's rural LSR has gone through five stages in general since 1949. The key problems existing or arising from the current land system in China include unclear subject of land property right, serious inefficient utilization of land resources, rapid farmland conversion and conflict between farmers’ interests and land system. The dual land system in urban and rural areas has severely restricted the integration of social and economic development in this country. The Chinese government is actively promoting the reforms of rural agricultural land, collective operating construction land and homestead to further remove the dual institutional barriers that hinder the establishment of an integrated land trading market. The vision is good, but there is still a long way to go for China's LSR. The direction of China's rural LSR is to make the property rights relationship clearer, the farmland rights more complete, the transfer transactions more market-oriented and the property rights’ protection more equal. Deepening the rural LSRs is helpful to improve the efficiency of land resource utilization, safeguard the rights and interests of farmers, promote the coordination of human-land relationship, and inject new vitality and momentum into rural revitalization. Cooperative promotion of land resource capitalization reform and household registration system reform is the key area of land system reform in China in the future.     

The impact of farmland property rights security on the farmland investment in rural China

This paper aims to estimate the effect of the security of farmland property rights on land-attached and long-term investment. Based on the data from a nationally representative sample with 5887 plots of 1175 households among 5 provinces in rural China, we adopt Probit, Ordinary Least Squares / Tobit, and the household fixed effect methods to yield the consistent results. The results show that the security of farmland property rights have significant and positive effects on the possibility and amount of the overall farmland investment. However, it has different effects on the different types of investments. The share of farmland retained significantly affects the investments in soil quality improvement and changing use of the plots but does not affect the investment in water conservancy facilities. The types of farmland property rights affect investments in water conservancy facilities and changing use of plots, but do not affect investment in soil quality improvement. The findings imply that the Chinese government should be the principal investor in water conservancy facilities and enlarge the operational scale of farmland by facilitating farmland transfer to increase private investment.     

Urbanization strategies, rural development and land use changes in China: A multiple-level integrated assessment

This paper links urbanization strategies to changes in land use and associated impacts on rural communities and agro-ecosystems in a rural area of China. Energy, monetary and human time variables as well as information on environmental pressures, have been combined to compare different typologies of households and the metabolism of different patterns of land use from an integrated perspective. The results show that urbanization strategies, aimed at shifting the current land use and at displacing the local population, while increasing the economic efficiency is also associated with an increase in fossil energy consumption and environmental pressure, as well as a reduction of the multifunctional characteristic of the area under investigation. Based on these findings the paper also offers a critical discussion of the Chinese rural development policy arguing that the multifunctionality of rural areas should be taken into account by Chinese policy-makers and planners as a viable strategy to achieve rural development targets.     

基于资源特性的水利风景区分类体系

针对现有水利风景区分类体系倾向于从水利专业视角分类,导致水利风景区类型的表达难以被社会公众所接受和辨识,且分类体系存在重复交叉,不利于管理者操作等问题,在分析全国878家水利风景区命名和分类特点的基础上,遵循科学性、唯一性、简明性、实用性等分类基本原则,对水利风景区分类体系进行重新梳理。根据水利风景资源特性,建立水资源-水工程-水文化的人水关系三元模型,将水利风景区分为资源(河湖)型、工程型和文化(遗产)型3个大类8个亚类。研究结果可以为促进水利风景区的可持续发展提供参考。     

基于熊彼特创新理论的中国海洋渔业发展路径研究

改革开放30年来,我国海洋渔业已经处在一个起点较高、困难较多、任务较重的时代背景下,如何铸就高产、优质、高效、生态、安全的现代渔业,如何实现滨海渔业和渔区经济的全面、协调、可持续发展,是亟待解决的重大战略问题。我国海洋渔业的发展可以借鉴熊彼特创新理论,从产品、结构、管理等方面进行创新;并需注重企业家创新精神与金融机构"信用创造"的作用。     

Implications of land-use change in rural China: A case study of Yucheng,Shandong province

Based on surveys on rural land-use change at village scale in Yucheng City, Shandong province, this paper presents how land-use change takes place in response to inhibitive institutional forces in light of an outmoded land ownership system and unreasonable land use rights administration, and discusses it in the broader social context of industrialization, rural depopulation, a dual-track land market, and land use legislation. Spatial comparison of land use maps interpreted from aerial photographs in different period unveils a decrease in arable land for farming, and an increase in rural settlements, facilities land and unused land. Despite rural depopulation, rural settlements area nearly tripled during 1967–2008. Nearly all newly gained non-agricultural land originated from farmland at the village fringe while formerly facilities land and unused land had been converted to residential use and it was abandoned later. Thus, the destructive farmland conversion from productive use to non-agricultural uses took place at multiple stages. Questionnaire survey of 1650 households in 48 villages in Yucheng City indicated that 41% of the households had multiple dwellings, even though some of them are not occupied or even ruined. This finding may damp the rosy picture of the reportedly slowdown in China's farmland reduction in recent years as these destructive changes are too small to detect from satellite imagery, and it will also provide a practical scientific basis for constituting more strict farmland protection objectives and strategies for China in the near future. In order to hold back the destructive conversion trend from farmland to non-agricultural uses, the authors argue that policy and institution innovation concerning land use and urban–rural development in China needs feature highly in the government's agenda.     

我国农村水利服务体系构建理论研究综述

从农村水利问题的描述性研究、探索性研究、对策性研究以及农村水利服务体系政策阐释性研究4个方面,对我国农村水利服务体系构建的理论研究进行梳理,指出目前国内有关农村水利服务体系构建的文献呈现"三多三少"的特点,即区域性研究多,全国性研究少;零散性研究多,系统性研究少;问题性研究多,学理性研究少。对今后农村水利服务体系研究提出建议:在既有理论探索的基础上,顺应时代需求,突破传统思维定势,围绕如何构建现代服务管理框架下的农村水利服务体系展开系统性的学理探讨。     

1978年以来中国入境旅游时空格局特征研究

从世界旅游经济发展来看,积极发展入境旅游是大趋势之一。入境旅游是中国从旅游大国走向旅游强国的基础性指标。文章首先对1978年以来中国入境旅游发展概况进行简要阐述;其次从市场占有率、市场增长倍数（率）和客源国竞争态三个方面对主要客源国（地区）市场进行详细分析;最后归纳总结入境旅游空间分布特征,即入境游客高度集中于东部地区、国际旅游（外汇）收入三大区域差异显著、外国游客分布格局较有选择性。旨在使各省区市认清自身入境旅游发展现状和潜力,制定不断提高竞争力的发展战略,对实现中国“积极发展入境旅游”既定目标提供理论借鉴和实践指导。     

Restructuring rural settlements based on subjective well-being (SWB): A case study in Hubei province,central China

Subjective well-being (SWB) has long been neglected in the process of rural settlements restructuring. In order to explore the possibility of integrating SWB in rural settlements restructuring, this paper verifies two hypotheses. The first hypothesis postulates that SWB is positively correlated with accessibility to facilities and services at a village scale. The second one suggests that SWB is positively related to the personal satisfaction level of demands in daily life at an individual scale. Verification of these hypotheses indicates the application of SWB into rural settlements restructuring and planning. This study uses self-reported SWB from a questionnaire-based survey to examine its correlates. Objective well-being (OWB) of every village was derived through comprehensive evaluation. The villages of the study area were classified into four categories based on OWB, namely, key, sub-key, general, and marginal villages. We calculated the spatial accessibility of key, sub-key, and general villages from land-cover types, transportation, vehicle choice and commuting time, given that well-developed villages are often equipped with good facilities and services. The correlations between SWB and OWB and between SWB and spatial accessibility were tested and compared using crosstabs analysis and chi-square test. The drivers of SWB were identified using an ordinary least squares regression model. Results show that SWB is more positively correlated to the spatial accessibility of developed villages than to the villages themselves in the context of meeting residents’ daily needs. Results also show positive relations between SWB and the satisfied level of local peoples’ daily activities including working, shopping, seeking medical care and visiting relatives or friends. Thus, we proposed the relocation of rural settlements with poor access to main villages to good service areas. The proposed restructuring method combines SWB and OWB, and aims at increasing the quality of life of rural residents. This study contributes to the understanding of rural SWB and proposes a new perspective on restructuring rural settlements.     

Social capital for rural revitalization in China: A critical evaluation on the government’s new countryside programme in Chengdu

In the context of urbanisation and decline of its countryside in the 21^st century, the Chinese government has initiated a campaign namely “building a socialist new countryside” in 2006 which is now renamed as “rural revitalisation”. Bringing together social capital, government intervention and other capital, we argue that rural revitalisation can be viewed as a process of the interaction between land transfer and community building leading to multiple gains of all stakeholders. Given the predomination of top-down government intervention and external capital investment in its campaign, this paper sheds new light on social capital in terms of not only mobilising community members’ participation, but also reaching a balance with interests of government and other stakeholders. The importance of social capital can be illustrated from critical evaluation on governmental pilot projects in the suburban zone of Chengdu, a model municipal in China in urban-rural integration. In particular, this paper aims to address the following questions: How does social capital engage and contribute to rural restructuring for sustainable rural livelihoods? What role can social capital play in the decision making of land transfer and community building? This paper contributes to rural revitalisation and land use debates in three aspects. Firstly, we post a triangular model by bringing together government intervention, social and other capital to emphasize the interwoven nature of the relationship between land transfer and community building for better understanding of the intrinsic dynamics within the communities and their interests interfaced with external stakeholders. Secondly, with respect to the impact of land transfer on sustainable livelihoods, we propose an evaluation framework to account and compare the roles of social capital against government intervention and other conditions in land transfer decision making. Thirdly, applying the above framework to sample villages, we identify three types of rural restructuring: government-led, farmer self-organising, and returned entrepreneur-oriented. Policy implications and further research direction are discussed.     

Government intervention in city development of China: A tool of land supply

There has been continuous debate on whether the state can support market-based activities in the land market. It is widely recognized that land markets do not function by themselves, mainly because they are inherently imperfect; this imperfection provides foundation for state intervention. Under the Land Use Rights System of China, land supply is a powerful tool for intervening into land markets, and proceeds from land supply greatly contribute to local revenue and financing of infrastructure construction. The state, however, is not an impartial entity. Its desire to increase local revenue through land leasing has led to the oversupply of land and housing affordability problems in real estate markets. This paper, using evidence from Guangzhou, argues that land supply intervention is a two-edged sword in Chinese city development. It further claims that the state intervention is becoming gradually professional after the real estate market bubble in the early 1990s. Problems, such as structure imbalance in land supply, however, still have negative impacts on the sustainable development of Chinese cities.     

Effects of payments for ecosystem services programs in China on rural household labor allocation and land use: Identifying complex pathways

Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) is increasingly used in developing countries to secure the sustainable provision of vital ecosystem services. The largest PES programs in the world are embedded in China’s new forest policies, which aim to expand forest cover for soil and water conservation and improve livelihoods of rural people. The objective of this study is to identify the complex pathways of the impacts of two PES programs , the Conversion of Cropland to Forest Program (CCFP) and the Ecological Welfare Forest Program (EWFP), on household livelihood decisions, and to quantify the direct and indirect impacts along the identified pathways. We fulfill this objective by developing an integrated conceptual framework and applying a Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM), based on household survey data from Anhui, China. Labor allocation (for on-farm work, local paid work, local business, or out-migration) and land use decisions (i.e., rent in, maintain, rent out, or abandon cropland) for participating households are key to understand PES program effects on livelihoods. Results show that the PES programs have only small direct effects but significant indirect effects via the mediating factor of capital assets. Moreover, group heterogeneity analysis shows that lower-income households do not benefit more than the better-off households from the PES programs, while households with medium wealth increase dependence on agriculture. In addition, household demographics, individual attributes, and geographic settings differ in their impacts on labor allocation and land use decisions. We conclude that CCFP and EWFP would be more efficient in conserving the environment while improving the economic welfare of lower-income households if capital assets were taken into account in the design of compensation schemes.     

Capitalization of land development rights in rural China: A choice experiment on individuals’ preferences in peri-urban Shanghai

The capitalization of land development rights is acknowledged as the key to improving compensations for rural landholders and ameliorating land-related social conflicts in peri-urban China. Investigations into reasonable as well as feasible compensation standards and the capitalization mechanism are yet to be done. This study uses a survey-based choice experiment to empirically estimate the value of land development rights in peri-urban Shanghai for three forms of rural land conversion – acquisition, consolidation and (informal) sale. The results show that heterogeneity across individuals’ preferences translates into different utilities from land development, which affects individual’s willingness to participate in this process. This effect is found to be the strongest for land sales on the informal market. If, however, land conversion is managed by local governments and rural collectives, the expected utilities of individuals have no significant effect on the amount of land development. The results suggest that capitalizing land development rights under consideration of land attributes and individuals’ preferences would lift compensation standard to a level that strikes a balance among competing land-related interests. In addition, it would promote China’s land development by bypassing the institutional constraints imposed by the current land tenure system.     

Patterns of revenue distribution in rural residential land consolidation in contemporary China: The perspective of property rights delineation

Rural residential land consolidation (RRLC) in contemporary China refers to activities related to the replanning and reallocation of rural residential land to construct new rural residences, to increase land-use efficiency and to improve rural amenities in the context of rural revitalization. The objective of this study is to elucidate the patterns of revenue distribution in RRLC by addressing the following questions. Given incomplete and ambiguous formal rules in China, how can rural land property rights be delineated to distribute and coordinate interests among stakeholders in RRLC? Furthermore, what are the factors that determine the delineation of rural land property rights to distribute land revenue? A theoretical framework for the delineation of rural land property rights is developed from the perspectives of the institutional environment, governance and resource allocation. A comparative analysis of two typical cases of RRLC in contemporary China is conducted to support the research hypotheses. This study finds that bargaining power is the fundamental determinant of delineating rural land property rights to distribute revenue in RRLC. Furthermore, intergovernmental competition motivates the local government to fully deploy strong bargaining power, while concerns about social stability provide some constraints. A strong capability for collective action reinforces the bargaining power of rural households. This study provides new insights into the delineation of rural land property rights and subsequent revenue distribution based on distinctive institutional settings and RRLC in China, enriching the theoretical and empirical findings in the property rights school. Policy recommendations on revenue sharing of RRLC are proposed accordingly.     

经济增长与收入再分配对湖北省农村贫困变动的影响

本文通过对湖北省否受益并相关结论贫困变动由人均收入水平和收入分配不平等程度两个因素共同决定。贫困变动的增长再分配分解，考察1997—2003年间如上两个因素村贫困变动的影响方向和程度，进而分析在经济增长过程中穷人是算和比较基尼系数，考察在此期间农村居民的收入分配状况，得出对农测。     

Spatio-temporal dynamic patterns of farmland and rural settlements in Su–Xi–Chang region: Implications for building a new countryside in coastal China

This paper analyzes the spatio-temporal dynamic patterns of farmland and rural settlements from 1990 to 2006 in Su–Xi–Chang region of coastal China experienced dramatic economic and spatial restructuring, using high-resolution Landsat TM (Thematic Mapper) data in 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2006, and socio-economic data from both research institutes and government departments. To examine the spatial patterns of farmland and rural settlements and their change over time, a set of pattern metrics that capture different dimensions of land fragmentation was identified. The outcomes indicated that, to a large extent, land-use change from 1990 to 2006 in Su–Xi–Chang region was characterized by a serious replacement of farmland with urban and rural settlements, construction land, and artificial ponds. Population growth, rapid industrialization and urbanization are the major driving forces of farmland change, and China's economic reforms played an important role in the transformation of rural settlements. China's “building a new countryside” is an epoch-making countryside planning policy. The focuses of building a new countryside in coastal China need to be concentrated on protecting the farmland, developing modern agriculture, and building “clean and tidy villages.” Rural construction land consolidation and cultivated land consolidation are two important ways to achieve the building objectives. The authors argue that it is fundamental to lay out a scientific urban–rural integrated development planning for building a new countryside, which needs to pay more attention to making the rural have certain functions serving for the urban. In addition, the cultural elements of idyll and the rural landscape need to be reserved and respected in the process of building a new countryside in coastal China, instead of building a new countryside, which looks more like a city.     

Community-based rural residential land consolidation and allocation can help to revitalize hollowed villages in traditional agricultural areas of China: Evidence from Dancheng County,Henan Province

The accelerated rural hollowing driven by vast and increasing out-migration of rural labors under urban–rural dual-track system has imposed huge obstacles on improving land use efficiency and coordinating urban–rural development in China. Taking Dancheng County in Henan Province as an example, this paper analyzes the status quo of rural hollowing and discusses two typical rural residential land consolidation and allocation (RRLCA) practices in traditional agricultural areas (TAAs) of China. The results show that, Dancheng experienced rapid rural hollowing characterized as the hollowing of rural industries, infrastructure, and residential population and settlements. However, Dancheng has considerable potential and the necessity of RRLCA, for the model-based estimation shows that the potential of increasing farmland by carrying out RRLCA was about 5649 ha. The two community-based RRLCA practices show positive effects on the improvement of local living conditions, increment of farmland area and development of rural industries. Their experiences, including self-organized rural planning, democratic decision-making, and endogenous institutional innovation may benefit future RRLCA. Overall, it indicates that promoting community-based RRLCA scientifically according to local conditions could provide an integrated platform for increasing farmland area, developing modern agriculture, promoting new countryside construction, and thus revitalize hollowed villages. On considering the limitations and obstacles of current initiatives, suggestions for future RRLCA in rural China have been put forward.