| Rural land consolidation as an important means to promote the construction of socialist new countryside, has played an important role on increasing the effective area of cultivated land, improving the quality of cultivated land and agricultural production capacity, and ensuring national food security and ecological security. With the continuous expansion scale of rural land consolidation, it has achieved remarkable achievements, but there are still some issues, such as unrealistic planning, poor engineering quality, damage to interests of farmers, low satisfaction of farmers, which has hindered the benefits of rural land consolidation project to play continuously. The extensive research literature and engineering practice show that one of the reasons contributing to this problem is not yet to establish a sound mechanism for public participation. However, the current academic system is short of systematic and in-depth study on this issue. In view of this, based on the farmers’ micro perspective, this paper discusses the behavior formation process and regular pattern of farmers participation in rural land consolidation project, and reveal the participation behavior mechanism of farmers, in order to enrich and develop project management theory of rural land consolidation, and provide an policy basis on promoting farmers’ initiative participation in rural land consolidation project.In this paper, it adopts the behavior research paradigm as "behavior motivations, behavior decision, behavior choice, behavior outcome", establishes the analysis frame of participation behavior mechanism, and uses the household survey data of famers in Hubei and Hunan province counties(cities, districts) to make a theoretical and empirical research on above content in turn. The main research conclusions are as follows:(1) The components of participation behavior mechanism of farmers in rural land consolidation project. Under the stimulus of policy environment and internal factors, farmers produce the demand on participation in rural land consolidation project, and spawn the behavior motivation to participate in project further. The strong behavior motivations to participate in rural land consolidation project encourage farmers to produce participation willingness further, and these potential participation willingness evolve into actual participation behavior under the external excitation. The final result of participation behavior(participation performance) also reacts to the demand on participation in rural land consolidation project. Good results of participation behavior will increase the intensity of farmers’ behavior motivation to participate in project, and make the participation behavior persists. The behavior motivations, behavior decision, behavior choice and behavior outcomes of farmers participation in rural land consolidation project, are the important component of participation behavior mechanism.(2) The behavior motivations to participate in rural land consolidation project of farmers include intrinsic motivations and extrinsic motivations. The intrinsic motivation initiates by farmers’ inherent needs, and these inherent needs usually include both economic and non-economic aspects. Therefore, intrinsic motivation can be further divided into economic and non-economic motivation. The behavior motivations of identical farmer to participate in rural land consolidation project are multiple realities, and the number of farmers holding multiple motivations are more than the farmers who hold single motivations. Behavior motivations of different type farmers to participate in rural land consolidation project are different, but its also have the relative consistency with dominant motivation in economic aspect. Farmers’ individual feature, household feature and regional feature have a significant impact on farmers’ behavior motivations to participate in rural land consolidation project. Compared with the farmers holding external motivations, the farmers who hold internal motivations are older, higher education degree, higher proportion of household agricultural labor and income, greater impact on agricultural production income by land fragmentation and field road traffic. Compared with the farmers holding non-economic motivations, farmers who hold economic motivations are younger, higher proportion of household agricultural income, greater impact on agricultural production income by drought or flood disaster and field road traffic.(3)The behavior decision-making of farmers participation in rural land consolidation project accords with the cost-income principle.As a rational economic man, farmers’ behavioral goal is the pursuit of maximizing their own interests. When the expected benefits of farmer participation in rural land consolidation project is greater than expected costs, farmers will choose to participate. The expected benefits of farmers participation in rural land consolidation project include monetary and non-monetary income, and the expected costs also include monetary and non-monetary cost.Farmers’ awareness of rural land consolidation project, attitudes on their participation behavior, social capital network, the support of local government and relevant systems have an impact onexpected benefits and costs of participating in rural land consolidation project, and then affect the decision-making of their participation behavior. The empirical analysis results show that: first, farmers’ awareness of rural land consolidation project has a significant positive impact on the decision-making of their participation behavior. At present, the low level of cognition on rural land consolidation policy is one of the important reasons for restricting farmers’ active participation. Second, farmers’ attitudes on their participation behavior have a significant positive impact on the decision-making of their participation behavior. Currently, the rural land consolidation project has adopted a "top-down" model by government leading. Farmers as passive recipients, are unable to fully express their interest demands, which is an important reason for restricting farmers’ active participation. Third, farmers’ social capital capacity has a significant positive impact on the decision-making of their participation behavior. Currently, the rural economic development is relatively backward. Public space is small and lack of information, social interaction and community participation, which seriously hindered the development of rural social capital. This is an important reason for restricting farmers’ active participation. Fourth, the support of local government and relevant systems has a significant positive impact on the decision-making of their participation behavior. Currently, some local governments have not yet fully realized the importance of farmers’ participation, and their support for farmers’ participation is absent. The project information has a low openness degree between project implementation process. In the system arrangement, there also lack of clear provisions on farmers’ participation. This is an important reason for restricting farmers’ active participation.(4) Farmers’ participation behavior in rural land consolidation project is not only an economic behavior, but also a kind of social behavior. Farmers’ participation behavior embedded in their social network, which results in that their behavior choice are double restrained by "Autonomous factors" and "embedded factors". "Autonomous factors" affect the autonomy of farmers’ participation behavior choice, and the "embedded factors" play a role of promoting farmers to participate in project through social relation network. The project features and participants traits constituting "autonomous factors, and with village features, social capital network, government support constituting embedded factors all have a significant positive impact on farmers’ participation behavior in rural land consolidation project. The social capital network is the key factor that affects farmers’ participation behavior, and indicates that farmers’ individual social capital has a strong embeddedness effect on farmers’ participation behavior.(5)The performance of farmers’ participation behavior in rural land consolidation project is consists of economic performance, social performance, political performance and mental performance. From the entire survey area, the performance of farmers’ participation behavior in rural land consolidation project is 0.3996. From the regional perspective, the performance of farmers’ participation behavior in Hunan Dongting Lake Plains is highest, for 0.4172. Followed by Loushao Hunan basin areas, the performance of farmers’ participation behavior is 0.3911. The performance of farmers’ participation behavior in Hubei eastern hilly region is lowest, for0.3896. No matter from the provincial difference view, or from the landform difference view, there have nothing significant difference between the performance of farmers’ participation behavior in rural land consolidation project. The participation subject, participation object and participation environment are the key factors mainly influenced the performance of farmers’ participation behavior. The empirical analysis results show that: first, the "participation subject" has a significant positive impact on the performance of farmers’ participation behavior. It is consist of farmers’ participation enthusiasm, the strong degree of participation consciousness, and the professional skill level. It shows that the basic feature of farmers is an important factor affecting the participation behavior performance. The enthusiasm, consciousness degree and professional skill level of farmers’ participation in the project are higher, then the performance level of farmers’ participation behavior is also higher. Second, the "participation object" has a significant positive impact on the performance of farmers’ participation behavior. It is consist of matching degree of participation method and participation content, the integrity of participation process, the diversity of participation method, the degree of communication and information feedback between farmers and relevant departments or units, the influence degree of farmers’ participation behavior on project decision and outcome, the degree of participation channels to achieve participation goal. This indicates that the degree of government empower to farmers is more greater, the mutual communication and information feedback with farmers is more timely, the participation channels are more smoothly, and participation methods are more flexible, then the performance level of farmers’ participation behavior is also higher. Third, the "participation environment" has a significant positive impact on performance of farmers’ participation behavior. It is consist of the impact degree of social and cultural atmosphere on farmers’ participation behavior, the clear degree of participation rights and obligations, participation procedures and scope, participation channels and methods. This shows that the social and institutional environment is an important factor affecting the performance of farmers’ participation behavior. The democratic and collective consciousness is stronger, and the provisions of farmers’ participation rights and obligations, participation procedures and scope, participation channels and methods are clearer, then the performance level of farmers’ participation behavior is also higher.To promote farmers to actively and effectively participate in rural land consolidation project, and solve the problem of farmers’ insufficient, low efficient participation at present stage, the following policy measures should be taken:(1) Strengthening the subject consciousness of farmer participation in rural land consolidation, improving farmers’ ability to participate. Specifically, first, increasing the propaganda of rural land consolidation policies, broadening the channels for propaganda, improving farmers’ awareness of rural land consolidation policies; Second, increasing the training intensity of rural land consolidation knowledge for farmers, improving farmers’ ability to participate in rural land consolidation; Third, guiding and encouraging farmers to spontaneously set up all kinds of farmers’ organizations, improving farmers’ organizational degree to participate in rural land consolidation; Fourth, encouraging all kinds of farmer organizations to representing the interests of most farmers to participate in rural land consolidation project, guaranteeing farmers’ participation in order and effective.(2) Establishing and improving the institutional system and operation mechanism of farmers participating in rural land consolidation. Specifically, first, preparing a practical, workable plan for farmer participation, standardizing the program for farmer participation; Second, opening channels of farmers’ interests expression, rich the approach for farmers participation,establishing the effective platform for farmer participation; Third, perfecting the laws and regulations system of public participating in rural land consolidation, put farmers participating in rural land consolidation into legal track.(3) Transforming government functions, and innovating rural social governance mode. Specifically, first, practicing mass line in the implementation of rural land consolidation project, emphasizing the dominant status of farmers, giving farmers more decision-making and management power in the project; Second, implementing the concept of participatory development in the rural social governance, fully understanding the role of farmers participation in rural social governance, carrying out management system reform of rural land consolidation project in the light of local conditions; Third, strengthening the democratic decision-making in rural public affairs such as rural land consolidation, guaranteeing farmers’ basic rights and interests.Fourth, paying attention to the construction of rural democratic culture, strengthening the role of mobilizing the rural collective economic organizations, perfecting the rural social governance structure, and improving the level of the rural social governance.(4) Actively cultivating rural social capital, strengthening the social basis of the farmers participated in rural land consolidation. Specifically, first, improving the management ability of the rural ’’two committees’ ’, training rural grassroots cadres with both ability and political integrity, give full play to the leading role of village cadres in rural economic construction and social development; Second, strengthening the level of cooperation and mutual assistance of farmers in rural economic construction and social development, improving the cohesion of rural communities; Third, enhancing the level of rural social capital, and promoting self-management, self-service, self-organization and self-development of rural community.
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