Does household laborer migration promote farmland abandonment in China?

• Published in: Growth and change 2020-12, Vol.51 (4), p.1804-1836
• Main Author: Lu, Chong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural land; Decision making; Employment; Households; Labor migration; Manual workers; Migrant workers; Natural disasters; Rural areas
• ISSN: 0017-4815; 1468-2257
• DOI: 10.1111/grow.12431

This paper investigates the effects of household labor migration on rural household decision making over on the abandonment of farmland using 11,413 rural households' data from 2012 to 2016 in China. The results demonstrate that with every 1% increase in the number of 1, 2, 3, or more household migrant laborers, the average probability of rural households' farmland abandonment increases by 2.9%, 5.0%, and 7.8%, respectively. There is an inverted U‐shaped relationship between the average age of household migrant laborers and farmland abandonment. Both off‐farm employment and part‐time employment have positive impacts on farmland abandonment. If the age of the household head is younger, the number of household members is smaller, the village has suffered natural disasters, and village elevation is higher, rural households with laborers migrating are most likely to abandon farmland. As the rural household laborer migrates, the wage earning of rural household increases, which leads to the households gradually giving up management of farmland, which may be an important mechanism for Chinese households abandoning farmland. The establishment of a paid transfer system may be an effective way to solve the issue of farmland abandonment.