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Legal land transfer rights, labor migration and urban–rural income disparity: Evidence from the implementation of China's Rural Land Contracting Law in 2003

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  • Dongshui Xie
  • Caiquan Bai
  • Hong Yan
  • Weixuan Song

Abstract

Legal land transfer rights are the core of farmers' land property rights. This paper examines the urban‐rural income distribution effect of legal land transfer rights, revealing the reasons and mechanisms for legal land transfer rights to reduce the urban‐rural income disparity. Theoretical analysis shows that granting farmers legal land transfer rights and enhancing the protection of land transfer rights can help promote rural labor migration, thereby reducing the urban‐rural income disparity. This study uses panel data of prefecture‐level and above cities in China from 1999 to 2008 to examine the implementation of China's Rural Land Contracting Law in 2003 as a quasi‐natural experiment to construct a difference‐in‐differences (DID) model for the empirical test. The findings reveal that legal land transfer rights can effectively promote rural labor migration and reduce the urban‐rural income disparity due to labor migration. This paper's analysis provides a perspective for understanding the integrated development of urban and rural areas in developing countries. It indicates that guaranteeing farmers' land transfer rights is important for reducing urban‐rural income disparity, leading to urban‐rural integrated development.

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  • Dongshui Xie & Caiquan Bai & Hong Yan & Weixuan Song, 2022. "Legal land transfer rights, labor migration and urban–rural income disparity: Evidence from the implementation of China's Rural Land Contracting Law in 2003," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 1457-1482, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:growch:v:53:y:2022:i:3:p:1457-1482
    DOI: 10.1111/grow.12647
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    1. Hongbin Liu & Hebin Zhang & Yuxuan Xu & Ying Xue, 2024. "Decision-Making Mechanism of Farmers in Land Transfer Processes Based on Sustainable Livelihood Analysis Framework: A Study in Rural China," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-22, May.
    2. Zhixing Ma & Ruiping Ran & Dingde Xu, 2023. "The Effect of Peasants Differentiation on Peasants’ Willingness and Behavior Transformation of Land Transfer: Evidence from Sichuan Province, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-15, January.
    3. Yijie Wang & Guoyong Liu & Bangbang Zhang & Zhiyou Liu & Xiaohu Liu, 2022. "Coordinated Development of Farmland Transfer and Labor Migration in China: Spatio-Temporal Evolution and Driving Factors," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-19, December.

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