Farmer Heterogeneity and Land Transfer Decisions Based on the Dual Perspectives of Economic Endowment and Land Endowment

Abstract

Guiding qualified farmers to transfer their land is an important way to alleviate the problem of land abandonment, improve land use efficiency, and achieve moderately large-scale land management. Based on the dual perspectives of economic endowment and land endowment, this paper uses the 2015 data of the China Household Finance Survey (CHFS), using the semilogarithmic ordinary least-squares method and the logit model, to explore differences in land transfer decisions under the effect of farmer heterogeneity. The circulation trading market was further improved to provide a reference. The heterogeneity of economic endowment and land endowment significantly affects the decision-making behavior of farmers in transferring land. The higher the land endowment is, the greater the probability that farmers transfer the land out and successfully trade, and they are more inclined to transfer the cultivated land to cooperatives, village collectives, and other institutions through formal channels, leading to a higher unit income of the transfer. Further research shows that land endowment has no significant difference in the impact of land endowment on whether farmers with different livelihood endowments transfer their land, but under the same land endowment, farmers with economic endowment advantages are more able to use their own endowment advantages to transfer their land out through formal channels and obtain higher gains income. Therefore, focusing on improving the conditions of land resources and increasing the endowment of farmers are important means to promote successful transactions in the land transfer market, ensure its sustainable operation, and promote further increase in the income of transfer farmers.