Acta Agriculturae Zhejiangensis ›› 2022, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (7): 1545-1557.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1004-1524.2022.07.23

• Agricultural Economy and Development • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Will aging make farmers flow agricultural land smoothly?

CHENG Weisong1(), ZHENG Suwen1, GAO Huajie1, BAI Yunli2, YE Chunhui1,*()   

  1. 1. School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
    2. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
  • Received:2021-09-06 Online:2022-07-25 Published:2022-07-26
  • Contact: YE Chunhui

Abstract:

Aiming at the phenomenon of outflow of agricultural land by old farmers, the data cited from the China Rural Development Survey were used in the present study.Based on theoretical derivation, panel fixed effects regression and propensity score matching methods were employed to analyze the impact of the aging of agricultural labor force on the circulation of agricultural land. It was shown that the estimated coefficients increased after the sample missing problem was alleviated. For farming households with full pensions and a smaller household agricultural income per labor (below the average level in village) or lower percentage of household agricultural income (<0.25), the outflow of agricultural land under the influence of aging was greater. When villagers were covered by the new rural cooperative medical insurance or a nursing home in the village, the outflow of agricultural land from old farmers tended to increase. When the villages provided public goods that could improve agricultural efficiency, such as irrigation facilities or mechanized farmland services, there would be a further outflow of agricultural land from farming households with a smaller household agricultural income per labor or lower percentage of household agricultural income. Accordingly, countermeasures were proposed to increase social security for old farmers in rural areas and to actively invest in public goods that could improve agricultural productivity.

Key words: labor force aging, land circulation, public goods

CLC Number: