How Does Land Transfer Impact the Household Labor Productivity in China? Empirical Evidence from Survey Data in Shandong

Abstract

As the transfer speed of land use rights accelerates, the production efficiency of farmer households keeps increasing as well. Based on field survey data of 1368 farmer households in Shandong in 2019, this paper applied the average treatment effect (ATE) and propensity score matching (PSM) to investigate the impact of land transfer on the productivity of farmer households. The results indicate that land transfer has a positive effect on the overall labor productivity of farmer households participating in land transfer. The impact of land transfer on productivity has an obvious asymmetry between transfer-in households and transfer-out households. More specifically, land transfer-in plays a greater role in promoting participants’ overall labor productivity, while land transfer-out has some positive effect on non-agricultural productivity. This study is of great significance in improving the overall welfare level of farmer households and promoting the reform and high-quality development of farm businesses.