The Impact Of Labor Migration On Farm Households’Adoption Of Labor-saving Technology

The paper analyzes the impact of labor migration on farm households’adoption of labor-saving technologies (including mechanical technologies and labor-saving farming and varieties technologies) based on the survey in Fenghuang village in Chongqing and Jiangyuan village in Sichuan province.The decisions on labor migration and adopting the labor-saving technologies are probably made at the same time by the households and interact with each other, so we think that labor-saving technology adoption decisions are endogenously determined. Therefore, the study choose the simultaneous probit equation with the endogenous variables model to analyze the impact of labor migration on farm households’adoption of labor-saving technologies. Then we discuss the impact of labor migration on farm household’adoption of mechanical technologies and labor-saving farming and varieties technologies respectively.The research conclusions are mainly showed as bellow. Firstly, labor migration and households’ labor-saving adoption are demonstrated to be endogenously determined and they interact each other as both cause and effect. Secondly, labor migration can obviously promote households’adoption of labor-saving technologies. And the impact of labor migration on farm household’adoption of mechanical technologies is not notable. But labor migration can obviously promote households’ adoption of farming and varieties technologies which can save labor force. Thirdly, remittance does not promote households’adoption of labor-saving technologies and it also does not have significant impact on farm households’adoption of mechanical technologies. While households with more remittance have greater chance to adopt labor-saving farming and varieties technologies. Fourthly, households whose labor transfer time are longer are less likely to adopt the mechanical technology and labor-saving farming varieties technologies. The migration of the head of households decrease the possibility of households’adopting farming techniques and varieties technologies that can save labor force, but it does not influence the adoption of the mechanical technology. Fifthly, the development of rural services and factor market significantly affect households to adopt labor-saving technologies. On the one hand, the less convenient agricultural machinery services are, the less possibility of the households’adopting the mechanical technologies and labor-saving farming varieties technologies. On the other hand, households with more lost land which is given to other households are less likely to adopt the mechanical technologies and labor-saving farming varieties technologies.Based on the conclusion of the research, there are five main policy recommendations. First, emphasize the department of agro-technical extensions’role of extending agricultural technology service and pay more attention to explore the effective way of technology popularization. Second, encourage farmland circulation between households. We can realize scaled management regionally by effectively amassing farmland which was abandoned by households after labor migration. Third, energetically spread all kinds of mechanical technologies which must be suitable for local use, and increase agricultural machinery subsidies. Fourth, both keep prices of agricultural production materials and reasonably increase food prices, and vigorously develop the rural credit market. Fifth, improve rural factor-market and strive to realize "cement roads to every village".