IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/ajagec/v105y2023i5p1388-1404.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Grassland tenure reform and grassland quality in China

Author

Listed:
  • Lingling Hou
  • Pengfei Liu
  • Xiaohui Tian

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of land tenure reform on grassland quality in pastoral areas of China. Using nearly 40 years of remote sensing combined with survey data in the pastoral area of China, we find that the privatization of land use rights without physical (i.e., fences) or legal (i.e., certificates) protection has little impact on improving grassland quality measured by the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). The enhanced privatization of grassland use rights with physical or legal security significantly increases grassland quality. We show that after the privatization of land use rights with security protection, grassland quality experienced about a 3% increase. Our results suggest that switching to privatized use rights without security protection from previously cooperatively managed land may undermine the positive environmental effects of land tenure reform.

Suggested Citation

  • Lingling Hou & Pengfei Liu & Xiaohui Tian, 2023. "Grassland tenure reform and grassland quality in China," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(5), pages 1388-1404, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:ajagec:v:105:y:2023:i:5:p:1388-1404
    DOI: 10.1111/ajae.12357
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ajae.12357
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ajae.12357?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard Hornbeck, 2010. "Barbed Wire: Property Rights and Agricultural Development," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 125(2), pages 767-810.
    2. Deininger, Klaus & Castagnini, Raffaella, 2006. "Incidence and impact of land conflict in Uganda," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 60(3), pages 321-345, July.
    3. Li, Dongqing & Hou, Lingling & Zuo, Alec, 2021. "Informal institutions and grassland protection: Empirical evidence from pastoral regions in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    4. Ross Levine, 2005. "Law, Endowments and Property Rights," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(3), pages 61-88, Summer.
    5. Christopher Costello & Corbett A. Grainger, 2018. "Property Rights, Regulatory Capture, and Exploitation of Natural Resources," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 5(2), pages 441-479.
    6. Liu, Min & Huang, Jikun & Dries, Liesbeth & Heijman, Wim & Zhu, Xueqin, 2020. "How does land tenure reform impact upon pastoral livestock production? An empirical study for Inner Mongolia, China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    7. Huntington, Heather & Shenoy, Ajay, 2021. "Does insecure land tenure deter investment? Evidence from a randomized controlled trial," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    8. Havstad, Kris M. & Peters, Debra P.C. & Skaggs, Rhonda & Brown, Joel & Bestelmeyer, Brandon & Fredrickson, Ed & Herrick, Jeffrey & Wright, Jack, 2007. "Ecological services to and from rangelands of the United States," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 261-268, December.
    9. Alain de Janvry & Kyle Emerick & Marco Gonzalez-Navarro & Elisabeth Sadoulet, 2015. "Delinking Land Rights from Land Use: Certification and Migration in Mexico," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(10), pages 3125-3149, October.
    10. Runge, Carlisle Ford, 1986. "Common property and collective action in economic development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 623-635, May.
    11. Andrew B. Ayres & Kyle C. Meng & Andrew J. Plantinga, 2021. "Do Environmental Markets Improve on Open Access? Evidence from California Groundwater Rights," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(10), pages 2817-2860.
    12. Calvo-Mendieta, Iratxe & Petit, Olivier & Vivien, Franck-Dominique, 2017. "Common Patrimony: A Concept to Analyze Collective Natural Resource Management. The Case of Water Management in France," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 126-132.
    13. Gao, Xuwen & Shi, Xinjie & Fang, Shile, 2021. "Property rights and misallocation: Evidence from land certification in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    14. Amalavoyal Chari & Elaine M Liu & Shing-Yi Wang & Yongxiang Wang, 2021. "Property Rights, Land Misallocation, and Agricultural Efficiency in China [Misallocation, Selection and Productivity: A Quantitative Analysis with Panel Data from China]," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 88(4), pages 1831-1862.
    15. Cao, Jianjun & Li, Mengtian & Deo, Ravinesh C. & Adamowski, Jan F. & Cerdà, Artemi & Feng, Qi & Liu, Minxia & Zhang, Jian & Zhu, Guofeng & Zhang, Xuebin & Xu, Xueyun & Yang, Shurong & Gong, Yifan, 2018. "Comparison of social-ecological resilience between two grassland management patterns driven by grassland land contract policy in the Maqu, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 88-96.
    16. Farzin, Y Hossein, 1984. "The Effect of the Discount Rate on Depletion of Exhaustible Resources," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 92(5), pages 841-851, October.
    17. Libecap, Gary D., 2009. "The tragedy of the commons: property rights and markets as solutions to resource and environmental problems," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 53(1), pages 1-16.
    18. Suhyun Jung & Cecilie Dyngeland & Lisa Rausch & Laura Vang Rasmussen, 2022. "Brazilian Land Registry Impacts on Land Use Conversion," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 104(1), pages 340-363, January.
    19. Benjamin Linkow, 2016. "Causes and Consequences of Perceived Land Tenure Insecurity: Survey Evidence from Burkina Faso," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 92(2), pages 308-327.
    20. Banks, Tony, 2003. "Property Rights Reform in Rangeland China: Dilemmas On the Road to the Household Ranch," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(12), pages 2129-2142, December.
    21. Lee J. Alston & Edwyna Harris & Bernardo Mueller, 2011. "Property Rights, Land Settlement and Land Conflict on Frontiers: Evidence from Australia, Brazil and the US," Chapters, in: Kenneth Ayotte & Henry E. Smith (ed.), Research Handbook on the Economics of Property Law, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    22. Liscow, Zachary D., 2013. "Do property rights promote investment but cause deforestation? Quasi-experimental evidence from Nicaragua," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 241-261.
    23. Klümper, Frederike & Theesfeld, Insa & Herzfeld, Thomas, 2018. "Discrepancies between paper and practice in policy implementation: Tajikistan’s property rights and customary claims to land and water," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 327-339.
    24. Bambio, Yiriyibin & Bouayad Agha, Salima, 2018. "Land tenure security and investment: Does strength of land right really matter in rural Burkina Faso?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 130-147.
    25. Robert J. Smith, 1981. "Resolving the Tragedy of the Commons by Creating Private Property Rights in Wildlife," Cato Journal, Cato Journal, Cato Institute, vol. 1(2), pages 439-468, Fall.
    26. BenYishay, Ariel & Heuser, Silke & Runfola, Daniel & Trichler, Rachel, 2017. "Indigenous land rights and deforestation: Evidence from the Brazilian Amazon," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 29-47.
    27. Doss, Cheryl R. & Meinzen-Dick, Ruth, 2015. "Collective Action within the Household: Insights from Natural Resource Management," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 171-183.
    28. Alston, Lee J. & Libecap, Gary D. & Mueller, Bernardo, 2000. "Land Reform Policies, the Sources of Violent Conflict, and Implications for Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 162-188, March.
    29. Liu, Min & Dries, Liesbeth & Heijman, Wim & Zhu, Xueqin & Deng, Xiangzheng & Huang, Jikun, 2019. "Land tenure reform and grassland degradation in Inner Mongolia, China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 181-198.
    30. Daniel B. Klein & John Robinson, 2011. "Property: A Bundle of Rights? Prologue to the Property Symposium," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 8(3), pages 193-204, September.
    31. Gary D. Libecap, 2009. "The tragedy of the commons: property rights and markets as solutions to resource and environmental problems," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 53(1), pages 129-144, January.
    32. Xu, Huayu, 2021. "The long-term health and economic consequences of improved property rights," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    33. Lingling Hou & Fang Xia & Qihui Chen & Jikun Huang & Yong He & Nathan Rose & Scott Rozelle, 2021. "Grassland ecological compensation policy in China improves grassland quality and increases herders’ income," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-12, December.
    34. Elisabeth Thuestad Isaksen & Andries Richter, 2019. "Tragedy, Property Rights, and the Commons: Investigating the Causal Relationship from Institutions to Ecosystem Collapse," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(4), pages 741-781.
    35. Abdulai, Awudu & Owusu, Victor & Goetz, Renan, 2011. "Land tenure differences and investment in land improvement measures: Theoretical and empirical analyses," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 66-78, September.
    36. Zhao, Xiaoxue, 2020. "Land and labor allocation under communal tenure: Theory and evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    37. Besley, Timothy, 1995. "Property Rights and Investment Incentives: Theory and Evidence from Ghana," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(5), pages 903-937, October.
    38. Salvatore Di Falco & Jérémy Laurent‐Lucchetti & Marcella Veronesi & Gunnar Kohlin, 2020. "Property Rights, Land Disputes and Water Scarcity: Empirical Evidence from Ethiopia," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(1), pages 54-71, January.
    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. Yang, Fanzheng & Hou, Lingling & Xia, Fang, 2024. "Intergenerational altruism, pessimism bias on tenure insecurity, and sustainable land use: Evidence from household grassland management in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    2. Benito Arruñada & Marco Fabbri & Michael Faure, 2022. "Land Titling and Litigation," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 65(1), pages 131-156.
    3. Subramanian, Arjunan & Kumar, Parmod, 2024. "Property rights, factor allocation and household welfare: Experimental evidence from a land titling program in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    4. Salvatore Di Falco & Jérémy Laurent‐Lucchetti & Marcella Veronesi & Gunnar Kohlin, 2020. "Property Rights, Land Disputes and Water Scarcity: Empirical Evidence from Ethiopia," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(1), pages 54-71, January.
    5. Wen, Le & Paudel, Krishna P. & He, Qinying, 2023. "Temporary migration and land renting behavior," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1372-1391.
    6. Visser, Martine & le Roux, Leonard & Mulwa, Chalmers K. & Tibesigwa, Byela & Bezabih, Mintewab, 2024. "Adaptive investment with land tenure and weather risk: Behavioral evidence from Tanzania," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 217(C), pages 398-434.
    7. Séogo, Windinkonté & Zahonogo, Pam, 2023. "Do land property rights matter for stimulating agricultural productivity? Empirical evidence from Burkina Faso," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    8. Xu, Huayu, 2021. "The long-term health and economic consequences of improved property rights," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    9. Liu, Shouying & Ma, Sen & Yin, Lijuan & Zhu, Jiong, 2023. "Land titling, human capital misallocation, and agricultural productivity in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    10. Kotchikpa Gabriel Lawin & Lota Tamini, 2018. "Droits de propriété foncière et performance des petits producteurs agricoles des pays en développement : une synthèse de la littérature empirique," CIRANO Working Papers 2018s-05, CIRANO.
    11. Liscow, Zachary D., 2013. "Do property rights promote investment but cause deforestation? Quasi-experimental evidence from Nicaragua," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 241-261.
    12. Lei Xu & Shixiang Chen & Shuliu Tian, 2022. "The Mechanism of Land Registration Program on Land Transfer in Rural China: Considering the Effects of Livelihood Security and Agricultural Management Incentives," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-25, August.
    13. Isaksen, Elisabeth Thuestad & Richter, Andries, 2019. "Tragedy, property rights, and the commons: investigating the causal relationship from institutions to ecosystem collapse," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 90606, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Lian Ke & Shan Cheng & Diqiang Chen & Ying Li, 2023. "Why Is the Income Effect of Farmland Transfer Inconsistent between Transferred-Out and Transferred-In Households?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-19, April.
    15. Zhou, Jie & Zhong, Hua & Hu, Wuyang & Qiao, Guanghua, 2022. "Substitution versus wealth: Dual effects of non-pastoral income on livestock herd size," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    16. Navarro-Castañeda, Sandro & Arranz, José M. & Burguillo, Mercedes & Colla De Robertis, Esteban, 2021. "Land tenure security and agrarian investments in the Peruvian Highlands," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    17. Browne, Oliver R. & Ji, Xinde James, 2023. "The Economic Value of Clarifying Property Rights: Evidence from Water in Idaho’s Snake River Basin," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    18. Nandwani, Bharti, 2022. "Community forestry and its implications for land related disputes: Evidence from India," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    19. Taisuke Takayama & Hirotaka Matsuda & Tomoaki Nakatani & Kuniaki Saito, 2022. "Do partial land rights increase productivity and investment? evidence from the redistributive land reform in post–world war II Japan," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 60(2), pages 77-100, June.
    20. Ramírez-Álvarez, Aurora Alejandra, 2019. "Land titling and its effect on the allocation of public goods: Evidence from Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 1-1.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:wly:ajagec:v:105:y:2023:i:5:p:1388-1404. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1467-8276 .

    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.