Research On The Influence Of Social Capital On Farmers’ Agricultural Land Transfer Decision-making

Promoting rural land transfer is not only an important means to optimize the allocation of land resources,but also an important condition to promote farmers’ income and realize the development of agricultural modernization.In the framework of improving the construction of rural land transfer market,a comprehensive and systematic clarification of the factors influencing farmers’ farmland transfer decisions can provide a better scientific basis for promoting farmland transfer.Most scholars have conducted rich research on the driving factors of agricultural land transfer from the perspective of economics,and put forward policy recommendations around property rights system incentives,market improvement of agricultural land transfer,and government guidance.However,unlike the rational man assumption in Western economics,China is a typical human society,and farmers are not fully rational in social production activities.The nature of agricultural land transfer is a comprehensive decision made by both parties to take into account the multiple economic and social returns,and their transaction behavior is also influenced by social factors.Therefore,this study links social capital and farmland transfer decisions to explore whether social capital affects farmers’ farmland transfer decisions? What is the mechanism of its influence? It is important to better explain the decision-making process of agricultural land transfer.This paper was selected from the Humanities and Social Sciences Research Planning Fund Project of the Ministry of Education of China: Research on the Decision-Making Mechanism,Performance Evaluation and Improvement of Agricultural Land Transfer Behavior from the Perspective of Livelihood Capital(Grant No.20YJAZH015),based on the social capital theory and 1017 research data of farmers in Hubei Province,to conduct an in-depth study on the decision making of agricultural land transfer by farmers.Firstly,the entropy value method is used to measure the social capital level of farmers,and on this basis,the Probit model is applied to investigate the effect of social capital in the decision of agricultural land transfer.Secondly,a multiple linear regression model was fitted based on the causal step method and KHB method with non-farm employment as the mediating variable to determine whether there is a mediating effect of non-farm employment on the connection between social capital and the transfer of farms.Finally,the moderating effect undertaken by marketization of agricultural land transfer between social capital and agricultural land transfer decision is analyzed by constructing a group regression model.The main findings are as follows:(1)social capital significantly contributes to farmers’ farmland transfer decisions.The marginal effects of social network,social trust,and social norms on farmland transfer out decision are 0.439,0.461,and 0.460,respectively,and the marginal effects on farmland transfer in decision are 0.528,0.480,and 0.311,respectively;meanwhile,the comparison of effects shows that the effects of social network and social trust on farmland transfer in are stronger than those on farmland transfer out,and the effects of social norms on(2)Non-farm employment has a mediating effect of 0.075 in the process of social capital influencing farmland transfer out,with an indirect effect of 1.58%;nonfarm employment has a masking effect of 0.156 in the process of social capital influencing farmland transfer in,with an indirect effect of 1.93%.(3)Marketization of farmland transfer plays a moderating effect in the process of social capital’s influence on farmland transfer decision.In terms of farmland transfer out,marketization of farmland transfer plays a negative moderating role between social network,social trust and farmland transfer decision,and a positive moderating role between social norm and farmland transfer decision;in terms of farmland transfer in,marketization of farmland transfer plays a negative moderating role between social network,social trust and farmland transfer decision,and no moderating role in social norm and farmland transfer decision.Based on the above empirical analysis,the following policy recommendations are proposed:(1)Cultivate a modernized rural social capital system.First,strengthen the construction of social network strength,network height and network width,and expand information access channels;second,strengthen the construction of social norms,not only to play the leading role of local people,but also to strengthen the guidance role of village collectives,so as to create a good environment for rural farmland transfer;third,realize the reconstruction of trust,cultivate farmers’ contract awareness,and build a trust foundation for the operation of farmland transfer market.(2)Improve the construction of regional agricultural land transfer market and promote the development of rural land market according to local conditions.A standardized and orderly agricultural land transfer market can not only directly promote farmers’ participation in agricultural land transfer,but also enhance the influence of social norms,so it is necessary to strengthen the management of the trading market.(3)To promote non-farm employment of farmers and increase the supply of farmland transferred out,through enhancing skills training,publicizing employment information and improving employment system protection,farmers with low propensity for agricultural production and ability to engage in non-farm production are encouraged to realize effective supply of farmland transfer market.