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Study On Factors Influencing Farmer's Professional Differentiation

Posted on:2009-02-09Degree:DoctorType:Dissertation
Country:ChinaCandidate:S Y MuFull Text:PDF
GTID:1116360248953364Subject:Agricultural Economics and Management
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Since 1980s, China has been in an unprecedented social transformation period. Farmers'professional structure has taken and is taking prominent changes, which mainly shows that former single agricultural profession shifts to non-agricultural one and there form many kinds of professional roles in the countryside or town. To probe into the influencing factors of farmers'professional differentiation is of both theoretical and practical significant.The dissertation first delimits the notion of farmers and the notion of farmers'professional differentiation. Secondly, taking Qingdao area as an example, it studies the macro-factors which influence the current farmers'professional differentiation. Thirdly, based on the research statistics of farmers'residence in villages, it sets up a calculating economic model, analyzes the influences of micro-factors, such as level of education, marital status, age, residence and so on, on the farmer's professional differentiation and manifests the laws and features of farmers'professional differentiation at a particular time and space by systematically analyzing the decisive factors. Fourthly, it analyzes influences of farmers'professional differentiation on farmer household consumption and the agricultural production by setting up a farmer household model. At last, it proposes policies and suggestions to guide and promote farmer's professional differentiation. Here are the major contents and results of the research:It delimits the notion of farmers and the notion of farmers'professional differentiation. The influencing factors of farmers'professional differentiation in contemporary China can be classified into macro ones and micro ones. Macro influencing factors include economic factors, such as the rate and level of economic growth, restructuring of economic structure, the change of the economic growth mode, the income difference between urban and rural population, the imbalance of regional economic development and so on, and systematic factors, such as household registration system, different social security systems in urban and rural areas, labor market system, farmland system, and so on. Micro influencing factors include personal characteristics, such as gender, age, marital status, level of education, party member identity and so on, family characteristics, such as the total farmland of the family, per-capita farmland of family members, the number of labors, the number of the children and the old and so on, and the residence characteristics, such as the distance from towns, the number of buses passing by a village, the number of village ownership enterprises and so on.The macro factors influence farmers'professional differentiation as follows: (1) Economic growth is the fundamental motivation for farmer's professional differentiation in Qingdao area. (2) The restructuring of economic structure provides more space for farmer's professional differentiation and guides it towards different professions. (3) The narrowing down of the need for labors owning to the change in the pattern of economic growth is unfavorable to farmer's professional differentiation, but it urges farmers to improve themselves and helps to realize the sustainable differentiation. (4) The income difference between urban and rural areas directly results in farmers'professional differentiation. The imbalance of economic development in different areas is also an important economic factor for farmers'professional differentiation. (5) Household registration system, different labor market systems in urban and rural areas and social security make the main obstacles for farmer's professional differentiation. (6) Farmland system has complicated influences on farmer's professional differentiation. On one hand, farmland is a kind of security for farmers in the primary stage of professional differentiation. On the other hand, it makes farmers reluctant to completely leave their farmland, which universalizes the diversity of farmers'professions and hinders further development of professional differentiation.Micro factors influence farmers'professional differentiation as follows: (1) The personal factor of farmers is the decisive factor of professional differentiation. Farmer's professional differentiation is determined by the personal factor while the family and residence factors are less important. (2) As far as the personal factor of farmers is concerned, gender, age, level of educational, party member identity have prominent influences on farmer's professional differentiation while marital status has no effect. There is less restraint for male farmers than the female in undertaking non-agricultural professions. The older the farmer is, the harder the professional differentiation is realized. The level of education plays an important role in farmer's professional differentiation. The better-educated and party-member farmers tend to be easy to join in the professional differentiation. (3) In terms of family factor, the per-capita farmland of family members and the number of children under the age of seven have apparent negative effect on farmer's professional differentiation. That is to say, the more per-capita farmland and the more children under seven, the more difficult the professional differentiation is. The more the burden coefficient of family labors and the more the number of the old above the age of sixty-nine, the more difficult the professional differentiation is, but their negative influence is not prominent. The numbers of the old of 61-69 years old and party member identity are important factors in promoting farmers'professional differentiation but their positive influence is also not prominent. Whether a farmer is the head of a household is of no influence on farmer's professional differentiation. (4) As for residence factor, regional condition has significant influence on farmer's professional differentiation. Farmers near cities are more likely to be differentiated than those who are far away. But whether farmers are near or far away from towns has no apparent influence and the number of village ownership enterprises has positive influence on farmer's professional differentiation.Farmer's professional differentiation influences agricultural production and daily life in many aspects. Professional differentiation changes the traditional farming production mode and makes it more diversified. The reduction of labors in farming will, to some extent, affect plantation production, such as crops production. Farmer's professional differentiation makes a large number of labors leave their farmland and then paves the way for rational use of farmland. It becomes an important way to promote the rational and effective distribution of rural labor forces and improve labor productivity. Besides, farmer's professional differentiation diversifies farmers'income sources, raises their income, changes the consumption patterns and improves their quality. Farmer's professional differentiation also widens the gap between the rich and the poor in the countryside.Our government's basic policy to guide and promote farmer's professional differentiation is to respect farmers and do it through constant reform. The policy should give high priority to the real needs in the process of professional differentiation and to the fact that farmer's professional differentiation is in its primary stage and of high instability and low thoroughness. For one thing, the purpose of the policy is to stabilize and encourage those differentiated farmers. For another, the policy aims to make undifferentiated farmers to join the professional differentiation. The main contents include reforming household registration system, innovating of farmer's security system, improving farmland circulation system, perfecting information network of urban and rural integration labor market, strengthening farmers'training and education and enhancing farmers'quality.
Keywords/Search Tags:Farmers, Professional Differentiation, Influencing Factors
PDF Full Text Request
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