Empirical Study On Farmers' Behavior In Forest Land Circulation

Forest land circulation is the main content of the forest ownership system reform, it is an effective way to resolving the fragmentation of forest in Collective Forest Areas, it plays an important role in allocation of forest resources, increasing the forest land use efficiency and promoting economic development in mountain areas. As a key forestry province of the Southern Collective Forest Areas of China, Zhejiang's reform of property right system had been in the forefront of the country. After 20th century 90s, Zhejiang began to explore around the paid circulation of forests, trees, forest land use right with the deepening of market economic reform, forest property comes to the market operation stage. In recent years, the forest land circulation has become increasingly active in many places in Zhejiang. Farmers have become the key decision-makers and participants in practice of forest land circulation. So, analysising farmers'behavior characteristics, the driving and constrain factors in the forest land circulation are practically significance to promote forest land circulation markets.On the basis of elaborating property rights theory, the forest rights theory and the farmers act theory, this paper reviewed and analyzed the forest land tenure reform and forest land circulation status overall in Lin'an and Anji which selected as the study samples. According to survey data from 222 households, this paper analysised the characteristics of household in forest land circulation action from the following aspects: the scale of forest land circulation, the way of forest land circulation, the source and destination of forest land circulation, the motivation of forest land circulation, the constraints of forest land circulation, etc. Based on the farmers act theory and related research, the paper proposes several hypothesis, and establishes the logistic regression model of farmers'behavior in forest land circulation to empirically analyze the main factors that affects farmers'behavior in forest land circulation. Finally, policy recommendations are proposed based on the empirical study to promote the forest land circulation.Through empirical research, we found that it has a higher degree of farmers'rational behavior and contract in forest land circulation, but the regional for forest land trading is small, most of the tradings happened between famers in the same village. Village Board plays the role of organizer in forest land circulation, village cadres are major participants in forest land circulation, so is difficult to ensure the fairness and impartiality in forest land circulation. According to the empirical study of fators affecting farmers activities in forest land circulation, we find that: the family which has a greater proportion of non-agricultural income or the head of the household engages in non-agricultural employment or has a large families burden is more likely to outflow the forest land; the family which has greater family labor or per capita forest area is larger or some family members engage in individual industrial and commercial activites is more likely to inflow the forest land; the severer fragmentation of forest land significantly inhibit the transfer of forest land circulation; the correct perception for forest land policy also affect famers activiy in forest land circulation, but the affection is not significant.