IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v13y2024i3p376-d1358306.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does E-Commerce Participation among Farming Households Affect Farmland Abandonment? Evidence from a Large-Scale Survey in China

Author

Listed:
  • Rui Zhou

    (College of Marxism, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610207, China)

  • Mingbo Ji

    (College of Marxism, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610207, China)

  • Shaoyang Zhao

    (School of Economics, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610207, China)

Abstract

Reducing farmland abandonment is crucial for food security. While the association between e-commerce proliferation and farmland abandonment at the village level has been discussed, the correlation at the farming household level remains unexplored. Utilizing 2020 survey data from 3831 rural households across 10 Chinese provinces, this study develops an “e-commerce–household–farmland abandonment” framework to explore the co-occurrence of e-commerce engagement with farmland abandonment, using econometric models. The findings reveal that e-commerce engagement significantly increases farmland abandonment, with implicit and explicit rates rising by 10.3% and 28.5%, respectively. It also shifts household incomes from planting to forestry, animal husbandry, and fisheries, leading households to reallocate labor away from agriculture, thereby intensifying abandonment. However, land transfer can alleviate this co-occurrence. This study also explores the variation in the association between e-commerce participation and farmland abandonment in relation to agricultural subsidies, economic development, and the presence of family farms. By elucidating the dynamics at the household level, this research offers fresh perspectives for developing countries to safeguard food security by curbing farmland abandonment.

Suggested Citation

  • Rui Zhou & Mingbo Ji & Shaoyang Zhao, 2024. "Does E-Commerce Participation among Farming Households Affect Farmland Abandonment? Evidence from a Large-Scale Survey in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-23, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:13:y:2024:i:3:p:376-:d:1358306
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/3/376/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/3/376/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. David Griggs & Mark Stafford-Smith & Owen Gaffney & Johan Rockström & Marcus C. Öhman & Priya Shyamsundar & Will Steffen & Gisbert Glaser & Norichika Kanie & Ian Noble, 2013. "Sustainable development goals for people and planet," Nature, Nature, vol. 495(7441), pages 305-307, March.
    3. Zhanping Hu, 2020. "What Socio-Economic and Political Factors Lead to Global Pesticide Dependence? A Critical Review from a Social Science Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-22, November.
    4. Poirier, Dale, 1994. "Jeffreys' prior for logit models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 327-339, August.
    5. Gabriel S Sampson & Edward D Perry, 2019. "The Role of Peer Effects in Natural Resource Appropriation – The Case of Groundwater," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 101(1), pages 154-171.
    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. Deng, Xin & Xu, Dingde & Zeng, Miao & Qi, Yanbin, 2019. "Does Internet use help reduce rural cropland abandonment? Evidence from China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    2. Xiaonan Zhao & Feng Lan, 2023. "The Impact of Livelihood Capital Endowment on Household Poverty Alleviation: The Mediating Effect of Land Transfer," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-17, July.
    3. Wang, Hui & Riedinger, Jeffrey & Jin, Songqing, 2015. "Land documents, tenure security and land rental development: Panel evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 220-235.
    4. Klaus Deininger & Denys Nizalov & Sudhir K Singh, 2013. "Are mega-farms the future of global agriculture? Exploring the farm size-productivity relationship for large commercial farms in Ukraine," Discussion Papers 49, Kyiv School of Economics.
    5. B Kelsey Jack, "undated". "Market Inefficiencies and the Adoption of Agricultural Technologies in Developing Countries," CID Working Papers 50, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    6. Wenjun Guo & Wei Zhao & Min Min, 2022. "Operation Scale, Transfer Experience, and Farmers’ Willingness toward Farmland Transfer-In: A Case Study of Rice–Crayfish Cultivating Regions in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-16, March.
    7. Oda, M. & Umetsu, C. & Shen, J., 2018. "The impacts of regional differences on farmland consolidation in Japan: The case of Tohoku, Hokuriku and Kinki," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277389, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    8. Gyula Dörgő & Viktor Sebestyén & János Abonyi, 2018. "Evaluating the Interconnectedness of the Sustainable Development Goals Based on the Causality Analysis of Sustainability Indicators," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-26, October.
    9. Ingrid Boas & Frank Biermann & Norichika Kanie, 2016. "Cross-sectoral strategies in global sustainability governance: towards a nexus approach," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 449-464, June.
    10. Deng, Xin & Xu, Dingde & Zeng, Miao & Qi, Yanbin, 2019. "Does early-life famine experience impact rural land transfer? Evidence from China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 58-67.
    11. Ayala-Cantu, Luciano & Morando, Bruno, 2020. "Rental markets, gender, and land certificates: Evidence from Vietnam," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    12. Jia, Lili, 2012. "Land fragmentation and off-farm labor supply in China," Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), volume 66, number 66.
    13. Yahui Wang, 2019. "What Affects Participation in the Farmland Rental Market in Rural China? Evidence from CHARLS," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-15, December.
    14. Indra de Soysa, 2022. "Economic freedom vs. egalitarianism: An empirical test of weak & strong sustainability, 1970–2017," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(2), pages 236-268, May.
    15. Martinico-Perez, Marianne Faith G. & Schandl, Heinz & Fishman, Tomer & Tanikawa, Hiroki, 2018. "The Socio-Economic Metabolism of an Emerging Economy: Monitoring Progress of Decoupling of Economic Growth and Environmental Pressures in the Philippines," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 155-166.
    16. Thomas Vendryes, 2014. "Peasants Against Private Property Rights: A Review Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 971-995, December.
    17. Makarenko, Inna & Serpeninova, Yulia & Pogorila, Kateryna, 2018. "Інституційне Забезпечення Фінансування Сталого Розвитку У Світлі Мультистейкхолдерського Підходу," Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, vol. 4(2), June.
    18. Edgar Cambaza & Shigenobu Koseki & Shuso Kawamura, 2018. "Aflatoxins in Mozambique: Impact and Potential for Intervention," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-11, July.
    19. Vincenzo Formisano & Bernardino Quattrociocchi & Maria Fedele & Mario Calabrese, 2018. "From Viability to Sustainability: The Contribution of the Viable Systems Approach (VSA)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-17, March.
    20. Al-Sudani, Amer & Sampson, Gabriel & Bergtold, Jason S., 2020. "Local irrigation response to ethanol production in the High Plains Aquifer," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304515, 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:13:y:2024:i:3:p:376-:d:1358306. 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.