Study On The Decision-making Behavior Of Herders' Grassland Grazing Utilization Based On The Theory Of Planned Behavior

Since the late 1980s,grassland ecology had been worsening and grassland degradation has intensified.To curb the grassland ecological degradation,the country has carried on the grassland property right system reform,and have issued a series of grassland management policies,which mainly include the"Double-right and One System"in early 90's and the grassland ecological protection policy since 2000.With the implementation of the grassland policies and systems,the grassland utilization behavior of pastoralists in the Xilinguole Pastoral Area has undergone great changes.Grazing methods have undergone several historical processes,from large-scale nomadic utilization to small-scale settled grazingutilization,as well as integrated utilization.Range of grassland use has gradually narrowed,and the number of livestock movements has gradually decreased;herd size management has undergone a transition from a flexible and dynamic livestock rate management to a fixed livestock rate management.A herder is the microeconomic entity of grassland utilization,and his grassland grazing behavior can have a direct impact on grassland ecology and livelihood of herders.Therefore,it is of great theoretical and practical significance to define the characteristicsof utilization decision-making behaviors and behavioral decision-making mechanisms for grassland grazing,and to guide pastoral households to adopt grassland grazing utilization patterns that are both ecologically sound and economically valid.According to the connotation of grassland grazing utilization and the purpose of this study,the grazing utilization behaviors referred to in this paper include two aspects:decision-making of grazing modes and decision-making of herd size.Grasslands with different grassland ecosystem characteristics should have different effective grazing methods.Therefore,this paper selects Xilingol grassland as the study area in Inner Mongolia,takes grassland ecosystem characteristics as the entry point,applies the Theory of Planned Behavior(TPB)and combined with the relevant research results at home and abroad,this dissertation makes an empirical study on the utilization decision-making behavior of grassland grazing.Study findings and conclusions are as follows:(1)On the characteristics of the grassland grazing ecosystem in XilingolXilingol belongs to the typical dry semi-arid grass area,its grasslandgrazing ecological system has obvious non-equilibrium characteristics.There are four main characteristics,such as the regional unbalance of precipitation;non-equilibrium between the interannual and the different seasons of the year;the difference of grassland type and pasture species in different regions,the difference of livestock demand for pasture in different seasons,the frequency and uncertainty of natural disasters.According to the theory of non-equilibrium grassland ecosystem,within a certain time and space scales,the effective way of grassland utilization should be mobile grazing mode and flexible capacity management for most of the grassland pastoral areas in Xilingol.(2)Empirical study on the decision-making behavior of herding wayFirstly,based on the Theory of Planned Behavior(TPB),combined with the characteristics of the decision-making behavior of grazing mode in the study area,the setting of empirical research indicators and the design of variables were explained.Then,this paper improves the basic theoretical model of the grassland grazing utilization,and constructs an empirical research model for the decision-making behavior of pastoral grazing mode and puts forward some theoretical hypotheses:the behavior disposition of the herding way is influenced by attitude,subjective norm,perceived behavioral control and herding indigenous knowledge;behavior disposition of the herding way is an intermediary variable for utilization decision-making behavior of grazing,when the behavior disposition is translated into actual decision-making behavior,it will be influenced by many objective factors such as the characteristics of herding households,the endowment of family resources,grassland circulation and the use of the grass.Finally,using the sample data of 233 herdsmen obtained from field surveys,using the structural equation model(SEM)and the probit model to conduct empirical study on the influencing factors and decision-making mechanisms of herding way.Results show that from the subjective psychological factor,attitude and perceived behavioral control has remarkable effect on the formation of decision-making behavior disposition,but subjective norms and herding indigenous knowledge did not have a significant impact.Specifically,the more explicit the cognition which the seasonal rotation grazing can improve livestock's condition,improve the quality of animal products and sustainable utilization of grassland,the more positive the attitude towards adopting the seasonal rotation grazing mode,the stronger the behavior disposition;the more obvious the perception which the size of the grassland and the flexibility of the grassland circulation are restricted by the contracting system will weaken the behavior disposition of seasonal rotation grazing.The actual decision of the herder's grazing mode will be significantly affected by the behavior disposition.Behavioral disposition is the intermediary variable of behavioral decision-making,when the behavior disposition is translated into actual decision-making behavior,it will be influenced by many objective factors such as the age of the head of the household,the grazing experience of the head of the household,the area of grassland in which the family contracts and whether to rent pasture.The younger the head of the household,the more the grazing experience,the larger the contracted grassland area,the more likely the herder to rent the grassland,the more likely the herder will adopt the seasonal rotation.Among them,behavior disposition and contracted grassland area have the biggest influence on decision-making behavior of herding way.This conclusion can be explained,although most of the herdsmen agree with the many benefits of the seasonal rotational grazing,and they have a positive intention,there are still some herders who can't realize the seasonal rotation grazing because of the limitation of grassland scale.(3)Empirical study on the decision-making behavior of herd scaleFirstly,based on the Theory of Planned Behavior(TPB),combined with the characteristics of the decision-making behavior of herd size in the study area,the setting of empirical research indicators and the design of variables were explained.Then,this paper improves the basic theoretical model of the grassland grazing utilization,and constructs an empirical research model for the decision-making behavior of pastoral herd size and puts forward some theoretical hypotheses:the behavior disposition of the herds scale is influenced by attitude,subjective norm,perceived behavioral control,herding indigenous knowledge,the identification of the "balancing grass and livestock" policy and the dependence on the market;the decision-making disposition of herdsmen's herd size is the intermediary variable of herd-scale decision-making behavior,when the behavior disposition is translated into actual decision-making behavior,it will be influenced by many objective factors such as the characteristics of herding households,the endowment of family resources,the area of the leased pasture and the structure of grazing animals.Finally,using the sample data of 233 herdsmen obtained from field surveys,using the structural equation model(SEM)and the multiple regression model to conduct empirical study on the decision-making behavior of the herd size.Results show that from the subjective psychological factors,only the attitude and the herder's dependence on the market had a great effect on behavior disposition,other subjective psychological variables are statistically insignificantfor the formation of decision-making intention of herdsmen's herd size.Specifically,the behavior disposition of the herders is affected by combination of factors such as livelihood,precipitation,grassland productivity,post-disaster recovery production and grassland ecology.It is not just the pursuit of the maximization of economic profits as the only goal.The more sensitive the herdsmen are to the changes of the market price,the more they tend to increase the number of livestock.However,herder's final decision-making behavior will not be affected by subjective behavior disposition.Behavioral disposition do not have mediating effects.Herder's final ultimate decision-making behavior depends on the level of education,the per capita net income,the area of grassland in which the family contracts and the number of family labor and other objective factors.The higher level of education,the higher level of household income,greater the size of the family contract grassland and the larger number of the family labor force,the more number of livestock they graze.Among them,household income and the area of grassland in which the family contracts have the most impact.(4)Case analysis of theutilization behavior of grassland grazingThis dissertation selected Yihesumu Gacha as a case area.It clearly implements the grassland contracting system and still retains the seasonal rotational grazing and the herd size is larger.From this survey,17 herdsmen were selected at random and a questionnaire survey was conducted on the herdsmen.The interviewees were the relevant cadres in the Gacha and the flag,and the elders of the Gacha chief and accountant during the collective period to understand the history of the grassland contracting system.According to the interview data and survey data,this dissertation analyzes the decision-making process of herding grazing and analyzes the economic validity and ecological rationality of different grazing methods.The results of the analysis show that during the decision-making process of grassland grazing utilization behavior,the herding indigenous knowledge,the experience of the herder and the independent management thought have significant influence on the key events.The seasonal rotation grazing method can not only increase the net income of the livestock,but also protect the grassland and improve the carrying capacity of the unit grassland.The herdsman can adjust the stocking rate of the warm season and the stocking rate of the cold season in a flexible and dynamic way to avoid the risk of natural disasters and utilize the grassland resources effectively.