Abstract
Purpose - This study assesses the impact of land rights and tenure types on farmers’ investment behavior in Chinese collective forests, using household survey data from Fujian province. Design/methodology/approach - In this study, we conducted a household survey in Fujian province of 520 randomly selected forest farmers. We used a random-effects Tobit model to estimate the impact of land rights and other components on, for example, tenure security and harvest quota, and the impact of tenure types on farmers’ investment incentives.Findings - Our study produced three main findings: 1. Perceived tenure security in the context of frequent agricultural land redistribution negatively affects input intensity. 2. Farmers still perceive some tenure arrangements to be more uncertain than others, which discourages them from undertaking investments on such plots. 3. The harvest quota regulation, introduced to conserve forest stock, has in fact acted as a disincentive in forestry management. Originality/value - Almost all previous studies are based on national or regional data, which have primarily focused on the links between tenure types and investment incentives. In our study, based on the plot-level data, we are able to assess not only the impacts of tenure types but also how specific land rights and their components affect farmers’ investment behavior.
Purpose - This study assesses the impact of land rights and tenure types on farmers’ investment behavior in Chinese collective forests, using household survey data from Fujian province. Design/methodology/approach - In this study, we conducted a household survey in Fujian province of 520 randomly selected forest farmers. We used a random-effects Tobit model to estimate the impact of land rights and other components on, for example, tenure security and harvest quota, and the impact of tenure types on farmers’ investment incentives.Findings - Our study produced three main findings: 1. Perceived tenure security in the context of frequent agricultural land redistribution negatively affects input intensity. 2. Farmers still perceive some tenure arrangements to be more uncertain than others, which discourages them from undertaking investments on such plots. 3. The harvest quota regulation, introduced to conserve forest stock, has in fact acted as a disincentive in forestry management. Originality/value - Almost all previous studies are based on national or regional data, which have primarily focused on the links between tenure types and investment incentives. In our study, based on the plot-level data, we are able to assess not only the impacts of tenure types but also how specific land rights and their components affect farmers’ investment behavior.
