Jin, SongqingDeininger, KlausXia, Fang2012-03-192012-03-192012-01-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/3234Agriculture has made major contributions to China's economic growth and poverty reduction, but the literature has rarely focused on the institutional factors that might underpin such structural transformation and productivity. This paper aims to fill that gap. Drawing on an 8-year panel of 1,200 households in six key provinces, it explores the impact of government land reallocations and formal land-use certificates on agricultural productivity growth, as well as the likelihood of households to exit from agriculture or send family members to the non-farm sector. It finds that land tenure insecurity, measured by the history of past land reallocations, discourages households from quitting agriculture. The recognition of land rights through formal certificates encourages the temporary migration of rural labor. Both factors have a large impact on productivity (at about 30 percent each), mainly by encouraging market-based land transfers. A sustained increase in non-agricultural opportunities will likely reinforce the importance of secure land tenure, which is a precondition for successful structural transformation and continued economic attractiveness of rural areas.CC BY 3.0 IGOAGRARIAN REFORMAGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICSAGRICULTURAL ECONOMYAGRICULTURAL EMPLOYMENTAGRICULTURAL GROWTHAGRICULTURAL LANDAGRICULTURAL OUTPUTAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITYAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY GROWTHAGRICULTURAL SECTORAGRICULTURAL WAGEAGRICULTUREALLOCATIVE EFFICIENCYASSETSATTRITIONCOMPARATIVE ADVANTAGECOMPARATIVE ECONOMICSCROP PRODUCTIONCROPSCROWDING OUTDEVELOPMENT ECONOMICSDEVELOPMENT POLICYDURABLE GOODSECONOMETRIC ANALYSISECONOMETRICSECONOMIC BOOMECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIESECONOMIC OUTCOMESEFFICIENT OUTCOMESEMPLOYMENTEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIESEQUIPMENTEXOGENOUS VARIABLESEXPECTED RETURNSFACTOR MARKETSFACTORS OF PRODUCTIONFAMILY LABORFAMINEFARM ACTIVITIESFARM ACTIVITYFARM EMPLOYMENTFARM HOUSEHOLDSFARM SECTORFARM SIZEFARM WORKFARMERSFARMLANDFARMSFINANCIAL CRISISFOOD AVAILABILITYFOOD POLICYFOREIGN INVESTMENTFUTURE RESEARCHGROSS VALUEGROWTH RATESHOUSEHOLD DEMOGRAPHICSHOUSEHOLD SIZEHOUSEHOLD SURVEYHOUSEHOLD SURVEYSHOUSEHOLD WELFAREHOUSINGHUMAN CAPITALINCOMEINCOME GROWTHINCOME INEQUALITYINCOME LEVELSINCOMESINEQUALITYINSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTSINSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENTLABOR ALLOCATIONLABOR DEMANDLABOR FORCELABOR FORCE PARTICIPATIONLABOR LAWSLABOR MARKETLABOR MARKETSLABOR MIGRATIONLABOR MOBILITYLABOR MOVEMENTSLABOR SHORTAGELABOR SHORTAGESLABOR SUPPLYLABOR TRANSFERSLABOR-LANDLABOURLABOUR MARKETSLABOUR MOBILITYLAND MANAGEMENTLAND OWNERSHIPLAND REDISTRIBUTIONLAND REFORMLAND RIGHTSLAND SETTLEMENTLAND TENURE INSECURITYLAND USELEVEL OF LANDLEVELS OF LANDLIQUIDITYMARKET IMPERFECTIONSMIGRANT LABOROCCUPATIONSOUTPUTSPER CAPITA INCOMEPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOORPOOR TENANTSPOVERTY REDUCTIONPRODUCTION FUNCTIONPRODUCTIVITYPRODUCTIVITY CHANGEPRODUCTIVITY GROWTHPROPERTY RIGHTSRURALRURAL AREASRURAL DEVELOPMENTRURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTRURAL ECONOMYRURAL GROWTHRURAL HOUSEHOLDSRURAL INCOMESRURAL LABORRURAL MIGRATIONRURAL POPULATIONRURAL POPULATIONSRURAL POVERTYRURAL RESIDENTSRURAL SECTORRURAL WELFARESAFETYSAFETY NETSECURE PROPERTY RIGHTSSHARE OF LABORSTRUCTURAL CHANGETECHNICAL CHANGETECHNICAL EFFICIENCYTOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITYTRANSITION ECONOMYUNEMPLOYMENTVILLAGE LEADERSWAGESWATER RESOURCESWEALTHWTOWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-5949