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Do Disease and Pest Control Outsourcing Services Reduce Arable Land Abandonment? Evidence from China

Author

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  • Xiaoheng Zhang

    (Circulation Industry Research Central of Chinese Capital, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing 100048, China
    College of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 211106, China)

  • Guiquan Yan

    (College of Economics and Management, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China)

  • Yucheng He

    (College of Economics and Management, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China)

  • Hailong Yu

    (Circulation Industry Research Central of Chinese Capital, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing 100048, China)

Abstract

Arable land abandonment has been occurring in China in recent years. Although an emerging number of studies have investigated the impacts of urbanization and labor migration on arable land abandonment, little is known about what roles agricultural outsourcing services play in reducing arable land abandonment. Based on the data from the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS) in both 2014 and 2016, this study employs a two-stage least squares method to address the potential endogeneity issue and sheds some light on the impact of agricultural outsourcing services for controlling disease and pests in arable land abandonment in China. The empirical results show that disease and pest control outsourcing services (DPCOS) significantly decrease the size of household-level arable land abandonment by 6.59% on average. More specifically, DPCOS mainly reduce the arable land abandonment in regions with the labor shortages, while this does not lead to a significant decrease in arable land abandonment in regions characterized by poor soil quality and steep slopes. Therefore, we may conclude that DPCOS could contribute to the reuse of farmlands suitable for cultivation and the exit of farmlands unsuitable for cultivation.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaoheng Zhang & Guiquan Yan & Yucheng He & Hailong Yu, 2022. "Do Disease and Pest Control Outsourcing Services Reduce Arable Land Abandonment? Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-15, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:18:p:11398-:d:911751
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