Forest land rights, tenure types, and farmers' investment incentives in China

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to assess the impact of land rights and tenure types on farmers' investment behavior in Chinese collective forests, using household survey data from Fujian Province.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, the authors conducted a household survey in Fujian province of 520 randomly selected forest farmers. The authors used a random‐effects Tobit model to estimate the impact of land rights and other components on, for example, tenure security and harvest quota, and the impact of tenure types on farmers' investment incentives.FindingsThis study produced three main findings: perceived tenure security in the context of frequent agricultural land redistribution negatively affects input intensity; farmers still perceive some tenure arrangements to be more uncertain than others, which discourages them from undertaking investments on such plots; and the harvest quota regulation, introduced to conserve forest stock, has in fact acted as a disincentive in forestry management.Originality/valueAlmost all previous studies are based on national or regional data, which have primarily focused on the links between tenure types and investment incentives. In this study, based on the plot‐level data, the authors are able to assess not only the impacts of tenure types but also how specific land rights and their components affect farmers' investment behavior.