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China's forest tenure reform and institutional change at a crossroads

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  • Liu, Ping
  • Yin, Runsheng
  • Li, Hua

Abstract

China's latest rural forest reforms have made headway by further devolving the use rights of collectively owned forestland and relaxing government control over private forestry operations. However, there have been policy inconsistencies, conflicts, and even maladaptions such as harvest restrictions, taking of devolved forestland without fair compensation, lack of flexibility in local execution, and a rush to forming co-ops. Building on recent research advances, this paper attempts to further elucidate practical solutions to these challenges. The authors argue that the stake is high to address these challenges in a timely manner, and that effective and coherent resolutions to them are urgently needed. To that end, it is essential to better understand the institutional economics in regard to property rights, collective action, transaction costs, and governance, and to better understand the primary features of forest ecosystems and forestry as well as the rural society of China. It is hoped that this effort will contribute to the continued discussion and more effective implementation of the forest devolution and institutional transition in China and elsewhere.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Ping & Yin, Runsheng & Li, Hua, 2016. "China's forest tenure reform and institutional change at a crossroads," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 92-98.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:forpol:v:72:y:2016:i:c:p:92-98
    DOI: 10.1016/j.forpol.2016.06.019
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Runsheng Yin & Jintao Xu & Zhou Li, 2003. "Building Institutions for Markets: Experiences and Lessons from China's Rural Forest Sector," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 333-351, September.
    2. Yin, Runsheng & Newman, David H., 1997. "Impacts of rural reforms: the case of the Chinese forest sector," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(3), pages 291-305, July.
    3. Williamson, Oliver E., 2010. "Transaction Cost Economics: The Natural Progression," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 86(3), pages 215-226.
    4. Yin, Runsheng, 1998. "Forestry and the environment in China: the current situation and strategic choices," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 26(12), pages 2153-2167, December.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Zhang Yiwen & Shashi Kant & Hexing Long, 2020. "Collective Action Dilemma after China’s Forest Tenure Reform: Operationalizing Forest Devolution in a Rapidly Changing Society," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-18, February.
    2. Zinda, John Aloysius & Zhang, Zhiming, 2019. "Explaining heterogeneous afforestation outcomes: How community officials and households mediate tree cover change in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 385-398.
    3. Hou, Jianyun & Yin, Runsheng & Wu, Weiguang, 2019. "Intensifying Forest Management in China: What does it mean, why, and how?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 82-89.
    4. Khan, M. Ali, 2016. "On a forest as a commodity and on commodification in the discipline of forestry," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 7-17.
    5. Zhu, Zhen & Xu, Zhigang & Shen, Yueqin & Huang, Chenming & Zhang, Yaoqi, 2019. "How off-farm work drives the intensity of rural households' investment in forest management: The case from Zhejiang, China," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 30-43.
    6. Yang Yang & Hua Li & Zhen Liu & Long Cheng & Assem Abu Hatab & Jing Lan, 2020. "Effect of Forestland Property Rights and Village Off-Farm Environment on Off-Farm Employment in Southern China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-17, March.
    7. Li, Lanying & Shen, Yueqin & Xu, Xiuying & Zhang, Yong & Gu, Guangtong, 2020. "Stumpage price determination in China's collective forest region, Zhejiang as an example," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    8. Xie, Fangting & Zhu, Shubin & Cao, Mengtian & Kang, Xiaolan & Du, Juan, 2019. "Does rural labor outward migration reduce household forest investment? The experience of Jiangxi, China," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 62-69.
    9. He, Jun & Kebede, Bereket & Martin, Adrian & Gross-Camp, Nicole, 2020. "Privatization or communalization: A multi-level analysis of changes in forest property regimes in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    10. Liu Yang & Yang Ren, 2020. "Has China’s New Round of Collective Forestland Tenure Reform Caused an Increase in Rural Labor Transfer?," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-17, August.
    11. Liu, Shilei & Xia, Jun, 2021. "Forest harvesting restriction and forest restoration in China," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    12. Yiwen, Zhang & Kant, Shashi & Dong, Jiayun & Liu, Jinlong, 2020. "How communities restructured forest tenure throughout the top-down devolution reform: Using the case of Fujian, China," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).

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