Study On The Influence Of Social Capital On Farmers’ Willingness To Withdraw From Homestead

As an important part of the rural homestead system reform,the withdrawal of homestead is of great significance for the economical and intensive utilization of rural land resources,the promotion of agricultural and rural modernization,and the realization of rural revitalization.As the main body of homestead withdrawal,farmers’ willingness to withdraw from homestead directly impacts how smoothly homestead withdrawal proceeds.Farmers’ production and living all happen in rural areas of "acquaintance society",it determines that farmers’ willingness to withdraw from homestead is influenced by their social capital which is an important heterogeneity feature of farmers.Village environment may be the reason why the level of farmers’ social capital is inconsistent with their willingness to withdraw from homestead.Then,what impact will social capital have on farmers’ willingness to withdraw from homestead? Are there differences in the impact on different groups of farmers? How does the social capital affect farmers’ willingness to withdraw from homestead ? What is the moderating effect of village environment in the impact of social capital on farmers’ willingness to withdraw from homestead? The answers to these questions will reveal the significance of social capital on improving farmers’ willingness to withdraw from rural homestead,and provide new ideas for promoting the withdrawal of rural homestead.Based on this,this study introduces the social capital theory into the study of farmers’ willingness to withdraw from homestead,and constructs a theoretical analysis framework for the impact of social capital on farmers’ willingness to withdraw from homestead.This study takes the survey data of farmers in Xuzhou City,Jiangsu Province as an example,buildes an indicator system for measuring farmers’ social capital,and uses the combined empowerment method,which based on CRITIC method and entropy method,to measure farmers’ social capital.On this basis,this study uses Logit models,IV-Probit and other models empirically to test the impact of social capital on farmers’ willingness to withdraw from homestead and the differences of this impact among different generations of farmers,and uses stepwise regression,Bootstrap and KHB models to analyze the impact path of social capital on farmers’ willingness to withdraw from homestead,and uses hierarchical generalized linear model(HGLM)to test the moderating role of village environment on the relationship between social capital and farmers’ willingness to withdraw from homestead.Finally,the study puts forward corresponding policy recommendations.The main conclusions of this study are as follows:(1)The proportion of farmers who are willing to withdraw from homestead in the survey area is as high as 72.51%.There are obvious differences between different villages and types of farmers in their willingness to withdraw from homestead,and the willingness of farmers to withdraw from homestead show clear group disparities.The overall social capital of farmers is at a low level.The level of social capital of farmers who are willing to withdraw from the homestead are significantly higher than that of farmers who are unwilling to withdraw.What’s more,there is a large gap between the two categories of farmers in social capital index,and the dimensions of social participation and social norms,the gap in the dimension of social network is above the average,and the gap in the two dimensions of social trust and social reputation is below the average.(2)The social capital index and the five dimensions have a significant positive impact on farmers’ willingness to withdraw from the homestead.Farmers with high social capital stock are more willing to withdraw from the homestead.The utility intensities of all dimensions from large to small are social norms,social networks,social participation,social trust,and social prestige.The impact of social capital on the farmers’ willingness to withdraw from the homestead shows inter-generation difference.(3)Social capital can not only directly affect farmers’ willingness to withdraw from homestead,but also indirectly improves farmers’ willingness to withdraw from homestead by improving income level,information access,and property rights awareness,and reducing capital constraints.The direct effect is the primary one,and the indirect effect cannot be ignored.(4)26.7% of the variation of farmers’ willingness to withdraw from homestead is caused by difference of village environments.Among village environmental factors,the level of economic development,the level of rural construction,and the social atmosphere in the village can reduce the impact of social capital on farmers’ willingness to withdraw from homestead,while the geographical location of the village has no impact on the role of social capital.To this end,this paper puts forward the following policy recommendations: enhancing the cultivation of farmers’ social capital and giving play to the advantages of informal institutions in the withdrawal of homestead;supporting and improving relevant safeguard measures to mitigate the adverse impact of insufficient social capital;following the "gradual" promotion path and adopting differentiated exit mode;improving the working mechanism of homestead withdrawal,and protecting the rights and interests of the farmers who withdraw from homestead.