The Impact Of Forest Tenure Institutional Arrangements On Household's Forest Management Decision

Collective forestlands are the important land resources, forest production factors and living guarantee of households. The development of collective forestry have significant effect on increasing farmers' income, maintaining ecology security and keeping timber supply stable. Since reform and opening-up of our country, collective forest tenure institution still have the problems of ambiguitiy and trunctation of Forest tenure after many reforms. In the all-round reform of collective forest tenure institution beginning in 2003, individual household management is the main tenure type. Meanwhile, forestland contractual operation right was made sure and household became the main body of forest management. Under a new institutional background, household's forest management decision has become research and concerned focus.In recent years, land tenure and market reform has extensively discussed. They are the measures which protmote forest sustainable management. In past, as the forestry enterprises and village collective economic organizations were the main bodies of forest management. And the forest resources management put emphasis on the forestland management, harvest management, ecological reserve management and key forestry programs etc, while household forest management decision tend to be neglected. Otherwise, there are some researches and fruits about theory, problems, reform direction and policy suggestions of Forest tenure institution, but there are still no researches about how society, economy and policy factors effect on household's forest management decision and its effect mechanism.The objective is building an integrate analysis frame and exploring the factors that affect on collective forest tenure institutional arrangements, household's afforest decision and household's timber harvest decision and impact mechanism of forest tenure institution. Finally, according to the research conclusions, it will bring up some policy suggestions in order to perfect the reform of collective forest tenure institution and promote household to participate in forest management. The data used in the article are from 2 counties, 15 villages, 118 households and 236 forest plots in the regions which have abundant forest, high forest dependency and rapid evolution of forest tenure institution. The main conclusions are as follows:First, after the 1980s, collective forest tenure institution evolved to non-clollectivization. Particularly after 2003, the non-collective management forestland area proportion increased largely. Generally speaking, non-collectivization forms by household undertaking primarily. This article uses panel data model to estimate the factors of collective forest tenure institution evolution in Liaoning. The results indicate that logging quota policy, labor non-agriculture employment, farmers' income level, the average cultivated land area, and forestland condition are the main factors. Logging quota policy hampers the development of non-collectivization management. The many labor non-agriculture employment, high farmers' income level and high education level will promote the development of non-collectivization management.Second, it uses heckman model to estimate the factors of household's afforest decision. The results indicate that private plot, good tenure security, complete forest tenure, low forestry tax, good forest service will promote household's afforestation.Third, it uses probit model to estimate the factors of household whether to harvest and uses tobit model to estimate the household's harvest volumes. The results indicate that private plot, tenure security, timber price, forest ages, forest condition are the main factors. The farmers are willing to harvest the forest in the private plot. Meanwhile, good tenure security, high timber price, good forestland condition, big forest ages will promote the farmers to increase the harvest volumes. Afterward, it uses probit model to estimate the factors of household's harvest willingness. The results indicate that the main infuenciong factors are the same as the results of household's harvest decision model. But the timber price is higher, farmers' harvest willingness is higher as famers hold the waiting attitude. Farmers want to harvest in the large forest plot and bad quality forestland. Other varibles results are sames as the above.In the end, the article puts forward some policy suggestions from three aspects to promote farmers to promote household to engage in forest management on the basis of above analysis. These suggestions are as follows: first, keep forest policy stable; second, perfect logging quota policy; third, release the burden of forestry tax; fourth, strengthen the construction of forest socialized service system; fifth, accelerate the timber market reform.