Evaluating the Impact of Forest Tenure Reform on Farmers’ Investment in Public Welfare Forest Areas: A Case Study of Gansu Province, China

Abstract

In recent times, forest tenure reform has become one of the most discussed agendas among local and global policymakers. Forest tenure is a contract that specifies who has rights to forestry resources and depicts who should utilize, maintain, and acquire them. It can have a significant impact on whether farmers invest in their forestland. The study’s primary purpose is to explore whether and how the reform of forest rights affects farmers’ investment in public welfare forestry. More specifically, the study thoroughly analyzes the impact of primary and supplementary reforms on farmers’ investment in public welfare forest areas. We have outlined the theoretical framework using the theory of property rights and utilized the fixed-effect model and the Difference in Differences (DID) model to achieve research objectives. However, the empirical setup of the study has comprised time series data of 500 farmers, which was collected via interviews conducted at regular time intervals (2011—before the reform; 2013, 2015, and 2017— after the reform). The collective forest land welfare areas in Gansu Province, China, have been selected as the key data collection area. The study concludes that: (i) although the principle reform of forest tenure can stimulate farmers’ investment intensity in the short term, it is insufficient in the long term. (ii) The supplementary reform of forest tenure can significantly promote farmers’ long-term effective investment. There is a significant difference in forest land investment between the experimental and control groups, and this difference gradually expands over time. The study suggests that the government should pay more attention to the relevance of additional reforms to encourage the growth of forest rights mortgages and circulation. Moreover, the core themes of sustainable development in forestry should be highlighted.

Is Regulation Protection? Forest Logging Quota Impact on Forest Carbon Sinks in China

“…If the forest logging restriction is tightened, it will be more challenging for rural households who plant timber forests to reach their harvesting goals. If rural households' timber forests are classified as public welfare forests in the future, harvesting will be entirely prohibited and their losses will increase [29]. To avoid risk, rational rural households will convert their extant timber forests into economic forests [30].…”

The Impact of Collective Forest Tenure Reform on Timber Production in China: An Empirical Analysis Based on Provincial Panel Data

“…Lin et al (2020), based on empirical research using household data from 18 counties in China, indicated that the CFTR positively impacted forestry management investment [10]. On the other hand, some scholars, using empirical research from household surveys, have shown that the CFTR can increase households' input of production factors in the short term, but this effect gradually weakens over time [11,12]. Xie et al (2016), using instrumental variable methods to control for factors other than the CFTR, examined the impact of the CFTR on afforestation, finding that the CFTR significantly increased the afforestation area by 7.68% in the same year, but the effect disappeared in subsequent years [13].…”

Does the Collective Forestland Tenure Reform Promote Rural Households’ Forestry Inputs? Based on Dual Perspectives of Rural Households’ Divergence and Inter-Generational Differences

“…One study discovered an investment incentive effect by comparing rural household forestry investments before and after the collective forestland tenure reform [16]. In the short run, the principal reform of forestland tenure can increase rural households' investment intensity [17]. It can be seen that collective forestland tenure reform can effectively reduce the information cost due to transaction information asymmetry and promote the development of forestland tenure flow market, thus affecting the allocation structure of forestry production factors.…”