IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v12y2023i7p1318-d1183872.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Farmland Transfer Participation and Rural Well-Being Inequality: Evidence from Rural China with the Capability Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Wenjing Han

    (School of Government, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China)

  • Yang Fu

    (School of Government, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China)

  • Wen Sun

    (Department of Public & International Affairs, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China)

Abstract

Participation in the farmland transfer market provides farmers with diversified opportunities which would generate a range of social and economic benefits to improve their overall well-being. However, the previous studies have disproportionately focused on the income increase of farmers’ participation while ignoring its impact on other dimensions significantly contributing to the well-being gap of farmers with different social and economic characteristics. Based on the capability approach, this study constructed a multi-dimensional well-being assessment framework and employed the fuzzy method to evaluate the well-being level of rural households. By employing the national rural survey data from China, this paper examined the impact of farmland transfer participation on the well-being of farmers with different livelihoods. Further, it explored the influence of farmland transfer participation on the well-being gap of farmers by using the quantile regression method. Our results suggest that farmland transfer participation played a positive role in increasing farmers’ well-being, while farmland transfer participation has no significant impact on farmers’ well-being inequality. Meanwhile, the heterogeneity of farmers’ livelihoods is the key factor for the differentiation of farmers’ well-being.

Suggested Citation

  • Wenjing Han & Yang Fu & Wen Sun, 2023. "Farmland Transfer Participation and Rural Well-Being Inequality: Evidence from Rural China with the Capability Approach," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-21, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:7:p:1318-:d:1183872
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/7/1318/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/7/1318/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ruut Veenhoven, 2005. "Inequality Of Happiness in Nations," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 6(4), pages 351-355, December.
    2. Jin, Songqing & Deininger, Klaus, 2009. "Land rental markets in the process of rural structural transformation: Productivity and equity impacts from China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 629-646, December.
    3. Chamberlin, Jordan & Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob E., 2015. "What are the Drivers of Rural Land Rental Markets in sub-Saharan Africa, and how do they Impact Household Welfare? Evidence from Malawi and Zambia," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 211454, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    4. Songqing Jin & T. S. Jayne, 2013. "Land Rental Markets in Kenya: Implications for Efficiency, Equity, Household Income, and Poverty," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 89(2), pages 246-271.
    5. Achille Lemmi & Gianni Betti (ed.), 2006. "Fuzzy Set Approach to Multidimensional Poverty Measurement," Economic Studies in Inequality, Social Exclusion, and Well-Being, Springer, number 978-0-387-34251-1, July.
    6. Omobowale Ayoola Oni & Temitayo Adenike Adepoju, 2014. "Analysis of rural households’ wellbeing in Nigeria: a capability approach," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 41(9), pages 760-779, September.
    7. Ed Diener & Eunkook Suh, 1997. "Measuring Quality Of Life: Economic, Social, And Subjective Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 189-216, January.
    8. Amartya Sen, 2005. "Human Rights and Capabilities," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(2), pages 151-166.
    9. Imtiaz Ahmed & Ineen Sultana & Sanjoy Kumar Paul & Abdullahil Azeem, 2013. "Employee performance evaluation: a fuzzy approach," International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 62(7), pages 718-734, September.
    10. Umakrishnan Kollamparambil & Qaqambile Mathentamo, 2020. "Subjective wellbeing inequality in South Africa 2008–14: An unconditional quantile decomposition analysis," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(6), pages 1012-1032, November.
    11. Martin Binder & Alex Coad, 2010. "Going Beyond Average Joe's Happiness: Using Quantile Regressions to Analyze the Full Subjective Well-Being Distribution," Papers on Economics and Evolution 2010-10, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
    12. Mozaffar Qizilbash & David Clark, 2005. "The Capability Approach and Fuzzy Poverty Measures: An Application to the South African Context," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 74(1), pages 103-139, October.
    13. Koen Decancq & María Ana Lugo, 2013. "Weights in Multidimensional Indices of Wellbeing: An Overview," Econometric Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(1), pages 7-34, January.
    14. Mina Baliamoune-Lutz, 2004. "On the Measurement of Human Well-being: Fuzzy Set Theory and Sen's Capability Approach," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2004-16, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    15. Deininger, Klaus & Jin, Songqing, 2003. "The Impact of Property Rights on Households' Investment, Risk Coping, and Policy Preferences: Evidence from China," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 51(4), pages 851-882, July.
    16. Deininger, Klaus & Jin, Songqing, 2005. "The potential of land rental markets in the process of economic development: Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(1), pages 241-270, October.
    17. Oni, Omobowale A. & Adepoju, Temitayo A., 2011. "A capability approach to the analysis of rural households' wellbeing in Nigeria," MPRA Paper 34508, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Kijima, Yoko & Tabetando, Rayner, 2020. "Efficiency and equity of rural land markets and the impact on income: Evidence in Kenya and Uganda from 2003 to 2015," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    19. Wim Kalmijn & Ruut Veenhoven, 2005. "Measuring Inequality of Happiness in Nations: In Search for Proper Statistics," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 6(4), pages 357-396, December.
    20. Klaus Deininger & Songqing Jin, 2008. "Land Sales and Rental Markets in Transition: Evidence from Rural Vietnam," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 70(1), pages 67-101, February.
    21. Sen, Amartya K, 1979. "Personal Utilities and Public Judgements: Or What's Wrong with Welfare Economics?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 89(355), pages 537-558, September.
    22. Omobowale Ayoola Oni & Temitayo Adenike Adepoju, 2014. "Analysis of rural households’ wellbeing in Nigeria: a capability approach," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 41(9), pages 760-779, September.
    23. Imtiaz Ahmed & Ineen Sultana & Sanjoy Kumar Paul & Abdullahil Azeem, 2013. "Employee performance evaluation: a fuzzy approach," International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 62(7), pages 718-734, September.
    24. Duangbootsee, U., 2018. "The Land Rental Market in Thai Agriculture and Its Impact on Household Welfare," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277349, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Licheng Xu & Xiaodong Du, 2022. "Land certification, rental market participation, and household welfare in rural China," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(1), pages 52-71, January.
    2. Gao, Xuwen & Shi, Xinjie & Fang, Shile, 2021. "Property rights and misallocation: Evidence from land certification in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    3. Xu, Licheng & Du, Xiaodong, 2020. "Land certification, rental market participation, and income dynamics in rural China," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304247, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Duangbootsee, U., 2018. "The Land Rental Market in Thai Agriculture and Its Impact on Household Welfare," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277349, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. Muraoka, Rie & Jin, Songqing & Jayne, T.S., 2018. "Land access, land rental and food security: Evidence from Kenya," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 611-622.
    6. Wenjing Han & Zhengfeng Zhang & Xiaoling Zhang & Li He, 2021. "Farmland Rental Participation, Agricultural Productivity, and Household Income: Evidence from Rural China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-22, August.
    7. Oliver Schulte & Trung Thanh Nguyen & Ulrike Grote, 2022. "The Effect of Renting in Cropland on Livelihood Choices and Agricultural Commercialization: A Case Study from Rural Vietnam," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(6), pages 2878-2898, December.
    8. Lili Chen & Hongsheng Chen & Chaohui Zou & Ye Liu, 2021. "The Impact of Farmland Transfer on Rural Households’ Income Structure in the Context of Household Differentiation: A Case Study of Heilongjiang Province, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-20, April.
    9. Leßmann, Ortrud, 2011. "Empirische Studien zum Capability Ansatz auf der Grundlage von Befragungen: Ein Überblick," UFZ Discussion Papers 4/2011, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Division of Social Sciences (ÖKUS).
    10. Mbudyza, J. J & Ayuya, O. I & Mshenga, P. M, 2017. "Drivers of small scale farmers participation in agricultural land rental markets in Kenya," African Journal of Rural Development (AFJRD), AFrican Journal of Rural Development (AFJRD), vol. 2(4), December.
    11. Kijima, Yoko & Tabetando, Rayner, 2020. "Efficiency and equity of rural land markets and the impact on income: Evidence in Kenya and Uganda from 2003 to 2015," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    12. Ma, Xianlei & Heerink, Nico & van Ierland, Ekko & Lang, Hairu & Shi, Xiaoping, 2020. "Decisions by Chinese households regarding renting in arable land—The impact of tenure security perceptions and trust," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    13. Zhihua Leng & Yana Wang & Xinshuo Hou, 2021. "Structural and Efficiency Effects of Land Transfers on Food Planting: A Comparative Perspective on North and South of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-18, March.
    14. Xueqi Wang & Zhongguo Xu & Guan Li & Yuefei Zhuo & Wei Zou, 2023. "Farmland Transfer and Income Distribution Effect of Heterogeneous Farmers with Livelihood Capital: Evidence from CFPS," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-20, July.
    15. Zhang, Jian & Mishra, Ashok K. & Zhu, Peixin, 2023. "Land Markets and Labor Productivity: Empirical Evidence from China," IZA Discussion Papers 16575, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Jinning Li & Shunfeng Song & Guanglin Sun, 2022. "Non-Farm Employment, Farmland Renting and Farming Ability: Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-16, April.
    17. Shaikh M. S. U. Eskander & Edward B. Barbier, 2023. "Adaptation to Natural Disasters through the Agricultural Land Rental Market: Evidence from Bangladesh," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 99(1), pages 141-160.
    18. Huy, Hoang & Lyne, Michael & Ratna, Nazmun & Nuthall, Peter, 2013. "Efficiency And Equity Impacts Of The Rental Market For Cropland In Vietnam And Sources Of Transaction Costs Impeding The Market," 2013 Conference, August 28-30, 2013, Christchurch, New Zealand 160264, New Zealand Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    19. Jikun Huang & Liangliang Gao & Scott Rozelle, 2012. "The effect of off‐farm employment on the decisions of households to rent out and rent in cultivated land in China," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 4(1), pages 5-17, January.
    20. Alia, Didier & Kusunose, Yoko & Theriault, Veronique, 2016. "Land rental, farm investment, productivity, and efficiency in Burkina Faso," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 236169, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:7:p:1318-:d:1183872. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.