Does Labor Transfer Improve Farmers’ Willingness to Withdraw from Farming?—A Bivariate Probit Modeling Approach

Abstract

Because of the increased expansion of the non-agricultural industry spurred on by vigorous urbanization, labor migration or transfer from farm to urban regions is to become more predominant in China. Studying the effect of labor transfer on farmers’ willingness to withdraw from land is conducive to deepening the understanding of the reality of the “separation of human and farmland”. As most rural livelihoods, directly and indirectly, depend upon farming, the socio-economic impact of leaving the homestead fosters profound research value. Moreover, it would provide a decision-making reference for the government to improve the design of the rural land withdrawal system and related support policies. This article uses the survey data of 953 farmers in Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Anhui, China, to empirically analyze labor transfer’s effect on farmers’ willingness to withdraw from farmland. We construct a bivariate Probit model by eliminating the endogenous issue to craft its findings. This study outlines its findings: (i) 61.805% of the farmers were unwilling, and 18.048% were willing to withdraw from the contracted land and homestead. While 12.067% of the farmers were only willing to withdraw from the contracted land, 8.080% of the farmers were only willing to withdraw from the homestead. Further testing found a positive correlation between farmers’ willingness to withdraw from contracted land and the homestead. (ii) The overall labor transfer of households can increase the willingness of farmers to quit contracted land and homestead farming. The incomplete labor transfer of households can improve the willingness of farmers to quit contracted land. Still, it has no significant impact on the willingness of farmers to quit their homesteads. The family’s complete labor transfer incentivizes farmers’ willingness to withdraw from contracted land and the homestead, which is more potent than incomplete family labor transfer. (iii) Incomplete labor transfer of female households has an incentive effect on farmers’ willingness to quit contracted land, and the effect is more robust than that of incomplete household labor transfer. Seemingly, complete female labor transfer of households has an incentive effect on farmers’ willingness to quit contracted land and the homestead, and the effect is stronger than the complete labor transfer of the family. Because of this, the government should respect the wishes of farmers and strengthen the effective connection and mutual promotion between the homestead and contracted land withdrawal policy. Moreover, pay concentrated attention to the vital role of different types of labor transfer, and targeted labor transfer mechanisms should be used to guide farmers in an orderly manner.