Effects of land tenure on pastoral management: A comparative analysis of Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, China

The number of animals rapidly increased after the transition to a market economy in Mongolia, where all grassland remains open-access. Some policy makers argue that the country should introduce a land tenure system in highly populated areas in order to prevent overgrazing and improve productivity of livestock production. However, this paper explores whether land tenure system lead to intensification of the livestock production. It compares the herders’ livestock managements of Inner Mongolia in China with those of Mongolia. Most part of Inner Mongolia distributed grassland to all herders under the Grassland Contract Responsibility System. In order to compare regional situations of pastoral management, we conducted household surveys for 4 years in Inner Mongolia and 3 years in Mongolia and constructed a panel data set. The results show that both of the land tenure system and the population pressure influence the amount of supplemental feed and the productivity of animal. However, the amount of supplemental feed per animal is greater and the productivity of animals is higher in individual land. It shows that pastoral production become more intensive under population pressure and a land tenure system promotes the intensification.