Research On Farmers’ Farmland Investment Behavior Of Reservoir Resettlement Area

The immigration of water conservancy and hydropower projects,also known as reservoir immigration,refers to the residents who have be relocated to other people according to plans of the government and the owner,with the loss of all or part of the functions of the residents due to the construction of water conservancy and hydropower projects.Resettlement of reservoirs is an important part of the development of water conservancy and hydropower project construction,and a key fundamental work in the development of hydropower resources.Such large-scale immigration has attracted more and more attention from all walks of life,at the same time,the social impact caused by the immigration problem has been unprecedentedly increased,with immigration resettlement and post-support work facing unprecedented pressure.For a long time,“agricultural resettlement” is the most basic and most common resettlement mode in the practice of resettlement in rural areas of China.As a consequence,it has largely solved the practical difficulties of resettlement during specific historical periods and has provided various undertakings for rural areas,and has made a great contribution to its development.The effectiveness of this “ground-based,farm-based” approach is based on the reality of farmers’ surviving endowments and livelihood capital in rural areas.It allocates a certain amount of land resources to restore and rebuild their productive capacities and living standards.Since the implementation of the family contract system in China,farmers have become the main body of production and business activities in rural areas.In the resettlement of reservoirs,farmers are the most basic decision-making units in land development,utilization and protection.Farmers’ understanding of the value of land will affect their willingness to invest and ultimately determine their investment in farmland.The transformation of rural households’ investment in farmland plays a key role in the proper resettlement and rural revitalization of resettlement areas.To fundamentally solve the practical dilemma of the “earth-based” resettlement model and improve the effectiveness and efficiency,it is necessary to deeply perceive the intrinsic mechanism of decision-making on farmer’s farmland investment behavior,increase the farmers’ perceived value of farmland investment,and reduce perceive risks,change the farmer’s inherent agricultural investment mode,as well as speed up the promotion of the“based on the soil” diversified mixed resettlement mode,so that a limited amount of land resources can play a greater utility value;at the same time,based on the differences in decision-making on farmland investment behavior among rural households and immigrants,targetedly improve resettlement compensation systems and later-stage support policies,making resettlement activities a common development opportunity for both resettlers and aborigines.This paper takes 460 valid sample farm households as the research object in Shimen,Lixian and Linli County of Zaoshi water conservancy project in Hunan Province,based on the theory of perceived value and farmers’ behavior,and uses the Structural Equation Model(SEM)research method to study the farmland investment behavior of farmer households in reservoir resettlement area.According to the analysis of existing literature and related theories,this paper firstly summarizes the action logic paradigm of individual behavior,such as “cognitive level→cognitive trade-off→perceived value→behavior will→behavioral response”,and constructs a Theoretical Model of Rural Farmers’ Investment Behavior Decision from the perspective of farmers’ individual behavior decision process.Secondly,based on the survey data,this paper estimates the path coefficients between the various potential variables of the model and constructs a“decision model for rural household investment behavior in the resettlement area”.This empirical model,which based on SEM,passes the Robustness Test and shows that the causal relationship between the latent variables is significant and can explain the internal logical mechanism of the farmer’s farmland investment behavior decision-making in the resettlement area.By estimating the parameters of each of the main factors and value factors in the model,we can know the direct,indirect and total effects of each variable,and thus analyze the influence of the cognitive factors of rural farmland value on their behavioral decisions.On the basis of this,this paper deduces the logical chain of farmer’s farmland investment behavior difference in the resettlement area,and analyzes the difference of farmland investment behavior between the resettlement area and the two types of farmer households through multi-group SEM analysis methods from the changes in the level of welfare of rural households before and after immigration.We have obtained the following basic conclusions from this study:(1)The productive investment of farmer households to agricultural land in the resettlement area is the result of rational decision-making based on cognition.The logic of action of farm households investing in immigrant settlements follows the logical paradigm of “cognitive level→cognitive trade-off→perceived value→behavior will→behavioral response”.Farmers’ perceptions of land value have a direct and indirect impact on their willingness to invest in farmland and their investment behavior,and the farmers’ perceptions of the value of farmland are the result of a comprehensive tradeoff between perceived benefits and perceived risks.(2)Farmers in the resettlement area are more sensitive to risk factors and are typical“risk averters”.The perceived value of farmer households’ investment in farmland in the resettlement area is the most important factor affecting their investment behavior.When faced with decisions on farmland investment behavior,farmers generally have a “risk aversion” mentality and are more sensitive to risk factors when making decisions,which means that under the same expectations they will be more inclined to adopt conservative farmland investment,even shows a state of “powerlessness” that has the will but fails to act.(3)The value cognition of farmer households in the resettlement area for the value of farmland investment behavior is multi-faceted,and its behavioral decision-making is the result of the joint action of economic,psychological and situational factors.The economic characteristics of "high cost","high labor consumption" and "low effect" of agricultural production in the resettlement areas and the uncertainties of disasters,market conditions,and harvests are the major obstacles that affect the farmer’s farmland investment behavior.The economic benefits of agricultural farming in saving household living expenses,obtaining agricultural income,and enjoying the government’s preferential agricultural policies have greatly promoted the farmer’s farmland investment behavior.However,the “income risk”,“social bottom layer” and “labor complexity” of agricultural production in the resettlement areas have brought greater psychological risks to farmers,which have largely inhibited the farmer’s farmland investment behavior,as a result,farmers’ enthusiasm for production is reduced.(4)Farmers in the resettlement area are still affected by traditional concepts in the decision-making process of farmland investment behavior,but the overall effect level is low.The role of agricultural farming in realizing the psychological value of traditional farmers’ social value,external respect,physical and mental health,etc.,to a certain extent,promoted the farmer’s investment behavior in the resettlement area.;At the same time,the traditional “complex for the land” of the peasant groups still positively affects their agricultural investment behavior to a certain extent;The function of agricultural farming in ensuring the employment of rural household labor,food safety,and land appreciation also has a positive effect on rural household investment behavior.However,overall,compared with other cognitive factors,the above factors have a relatively low promoting effect on rural households’ investment behavior in rural resettlement areas.(5)There are significant differences in the mechanism of farmland investment between immigrants and indigenous in the resettlement area.The indigenous farmer’s farmland investment behavior is based on "objective rationality" which contains subjective cognition and decision after comprehensive consideration of both the gains and losses(gains and benefits,cost and risk)of farmland investment.The immigrants farmer’s investment behavior is more apt to be dominated by the investment cost and risk factors of the farmland,which is based on the subjective cognition of "subjective rationality" decision,and shows a more intense "risk aversion" psychology in farmland investment.Indigenous and immigrant households have both shown a certain degree of“powerless” in their investment in farmland,but the status of immigrant farmers is even more pronounced.In order to realize proper resettlement and rural revitalization and promote the reform and innovation of the agricultural resettlement mode in China,this paper presents corresponding countermeasures and recommendations from the government,project owners and farmers:(1)The government should provide basic guarantee,reduce the risk of farmers,and create a good social and market environment.(2)The owner of the project should perfect the plan,enrich the content and form of the land resettlement,and implement the fair compensation;(3)The farmers should improve their cognition level,establish objective rationality and actively participate in the agricultural production in resettlement area.