| "Attaching importance to agriculture is respecting the fundamentals and is the outline of the country." Since the 18 th Party Congress,the country’s emphasis on food security has been fully implemented in the Central Document No.1 of each year.But currently,China’s changing dietary structure is one of the major reasons why China’s food supply and demand are in a tight balance.In the vast rural areas of China where food is produced,the rural labor force of the right age has moved to urban areas and non-agricultural industries through urbanization and labor mobility.At the same time,the non-agricultural employment of rural laborers has also shown intergenerational differentiation,and the new generation of migrant workers has gradually become the main force in the labor market of migrant workers.While labor resources are being reallocated,land resources,a factor of food production,are also being reallocated.The realistic problem is that the scale of land transfer in China lags far behind the scale of non-farm transfer of rural labor.This is because most of the nonfarm transfers of rural labor in China retain their own land,which is a non-complete transfer.This paper attempts to answer the question: the intrinsic linkage and interplay between intergenerational differentiation of rural workers-agricultural land transfer-grain production,using the nationwide large-scale microscopic rural workers’ household survey data CMDS and CHFS.Based on the existing theories such as Lewis model theory,Todaro model theory and new migration economics theory,this paper uses various empirical models including Logistic model,proxy variables method,PSM test and OLS least squares method to investigate the intergenerational differentiation of migrant workers in terms of their non-farm income,degree of leaving the farm and citizenship,etc.The paper also analyzes the moderating role played by the intergenerational differentiation of migrant workers on the basis of the real situation in China.Finally,this paper takes villages in the CHFS database as the basic unit of analysis and constructs a model of the intergenerational differentiation of migrant workers and the impact of agricultural land transfer on food production from the perspective of different villages.The impact of agricultural land transfer on food production and food security in the context of intergenerational differentiation of migrant workers is investigated.The main research elements and related findings of this paper are as follows:Study 1: The impact of intergenerational differentiation of migrant workers’ non-farm income on farmland transfer.The research results show that(1)The non-farm income of migrant workers has a positive impact on farmland transfer of migrant workers’ households,i.e.,the higher the level of household non-farm income,the stronger the willingness of migrant workers’ households to participate in farmland transfer.Non-farm income sources can provide more stable and diversified income than agriculture,reduce household dependence on a single source of income and increase resilience to shocks.(2)The intergenerational division of migrant workers has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between nonfarm income and farmland transfer of migrant households.The newer generation migrant workers in migrant households and the higher the income level,the stronger the willingness of migrant households to participate in farmland transfer.This is due to the difference in non-farm employment income caused by the different resource endowment characteristics of the new generation of migrant workers and the older generation of migrant workers.Study 2: The effect of intergenerational differentiation of migrant workers’ degree of leaving agriculture on agricultural land transfer.The research results show that(1)There is a negative correlation between the number of months migrant workers are engaged in agricultural production and operation and household participation in farmland transfer decision,that is,there is a positive correlation between the duration of non-farm employment of migrant workers and household participation in farmland transfer decision,that is,the probability of migrant workers’ household participation in farmland transfer increases as the duration of non-farm employment increases and the degree of separation from farming increases.(2)The stability of non-farm employment also positively increases the willingness of farmworker households to participate in farmland transfer.This is because only when the stability of non-farm employment of migrant workers increases,migrant workers can form stable expectations of long-term non-farm income in the future,and thus increase their willingness to transfer out their land.(3)The intergenerational differentiation of migrant workers has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between the degree of separation from farming and farmland transfer,i.e.,the newer generation migrant workers in a household,the greater the degree of separation from farming,and the higher the household’s willingness to participate in farmland transfer.The older generation of migrant workers has stronger emotional dependence on farmland,and the degree of separation from farming is low,and the degree of participation in farmland transfer is low;the new generation of migrant workers has weaker emotional dependence on farmland,and the degree of separation from farming is high,and they are more inclined to farmland transfer.Study 3: The influence of intergenerational differentiation of migrant workers’ citizenship degree on agricultural land transfer.The research results show that:(1)The citizenship level of migrant workers has a positive influence on the behavior of migrant families participating in farmland transfer,i.e.,the higher the citizenship level of migrant workers,the higher the probability of migrant families participating in farmland transfer;and vice versa.(2)Intergenerational differentiation of migrant workers has a positive effect on the relationship between citizenship level and farmland transfer,i.e.,the newer generation migrant workers in a household,the higher the citizenship level and the stronger the willingness to transfer farmland.The level of economic citizenship,social integration and identity of the new generation of migrant workers is significantly higher than that of the older generation,which makes the new generation of migrant workers more inclined to transfer farmland.The lower level of citizenship of the older generation of migrant workers leads to their lower willingness to transfer farmland.Study 4: The impact of agricultural land transfer on grain production in China in the context of current intergenerational differentiation of migrant workers.The results of the study show that(1)Intergenerational differentiation of migrant workers has a significant positive moderating effect on the relationship between the extent of farm households’ participation in farmland transfer and grain production.That is,the higher the proportion of new generation migrant workers means that the more intergenerational differentiation of migrant workers works,the higher the participation in farmland transfer,and the higher the grain yield.(2)The intergenerational differentiation of migrant workers has a moderating effect on the relationship between the share of agricultural land transfer area and grain production.As long as the area of agricultural land transfer is controlled within a reasonable proportion,it will not cause the reduction of grain yield.The innovation of this paper is mainly reflected in the following two aspects:(1)The research perspective is new.Considering the differences in land transfer and food production behavior among different generations of migrant workers,we analyze the impact of non-farm employment on the transfer of farmland of migrant workers’ families by dividing the intergenerational differentiation of migrant workers into three aspects:non-farm income,the degree of leaving the farm and the degree of citizenship.(2)New research content.Using multiple data sources and research methods,the complex relationship between intergenerational differentiation,land transfer and food production is explored in depth.The study takes intergenerational differentiation as a moderating variable from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives,digs deeper into the relationship between intergenerational differentiation,land transfer and food production,and proposes corresponding policy recommendations.Finally,based on the above findings,this paper puts forward the following policy recommendations:(1)To improve the non-farm income of migrant laborers and play its role in promoting the transfer of agricultural land.Firstly,the competitiveness of non-farm labor in the employment market should be improved.Secondly,by creating a more flexible and diversified employment market,encouraging individual entrepreneurship and establishing a more open market environment,the competitiveness of the market should be improved.(2)Improve the stability of non-agricultural employment of migrant workers.Strengthen market supervision,formulate more perfect labor laws and regulations,and protect the rights and interests of workers.Establish a perfect employment information service system,provide more convenient employment information and services for migrant workers,and promote the deep integration of information technology and employment.(3)Realize the real citizenship of the migrant worker group.Help migrant workers solve their housing problems by establishing a housing security system,providing them with public rental housing or low-rent housing,or by providing housing subsidies.Guide citizens to accept migrant workers with an open mind and improve the social integration level of migrant workers.(4)Accelerate the improvement of the agricultural land transfer market and explore multiple subjects and ways of transfer.Strengthen the establishment of an open and sound market for the flow of agricultural land and give full play to the power of the market in it.Explore multiple ways and multiple subjects of agricultural land transfer to create a better environment for promoting the optimal allocation of agricultural land transfer. |
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