Research On The Effection Of Relational Network On Households’ Involvement Inclination In Small-scale Irrigation And Water Conservancy Facilities

Irrigation and water conservancy facilities is the basis for agricultural development. They are important factors to ensure national food security. The operation efficiency of small-scale irrigation and water conservancy facilities which are in the fields of distributed have a direct impact on improving agricultural production and households’ income and living standards. However, China’s irrigation and water conservancy facilities which are very old cannot meet the needs of agricultural development. households’ involvement in the supply of small-scale irrigation and water conservancy facilities is regarded as an effective measure to solve this problem. However, current situation indicates that such households are not actively involved in small-scale irrigation and water conservancy facilities. Inconsistency between individual choice and collective choice with regards to small-scale irrigation and water conservancy facilities supply may be a factor. Consequentially, a relational network based on geography, kinship, and affinity ties can motivate households to take part in small-scale irrigation and water conservancy facilities supply by combining separated individuals into a united unit. Thus, in this paper, rural households’ inclination to take part in small-scale irrigation and water conservancy facilities supply is assessed with incorporation of a rural household relational network.A two-step Heckman Model is employed to analyze the factors that affect rural households’ involvement inclination in small-scale irrigation and water conservancy facilities supply based on 702 survey responses collected from 34 villages in the Ningxia and Shandong provinces and the basis of relevant theories. The involvement inclination includes that whether are households willing to participate in small-scale irrigation and water conservancy facilities supply and the investment level.Through empirical analysis, three sets of results were obtained. First, on the whole, the relational network exerts significant influence on rural families’ small-scale irrigation and water conservancy facilities investment inclination. Moreover, results from estimates with and without the addition of control variables show relative robustness. Second, the extent of influence of individual variables varies. Specifically, the more the input in the relational network and the larger the scale of the relational network, the more willing households are involved in small-scale irrigation and water conservancy facilities supply and the more they intend to invest. Results suggest that the higher the relational network intensity the more willing they are to be involved, but the less they intend to invest. Third, supply inclination is also affected by personal attributes, family characteristics, and village features, and the influence of such variables differ greatly.