Impact of Governance Structure of Rural Collective Economic Organizations on Trading Efficiency of Collective Construction Land of China

Abstract

In order to enable urban economic development, the use of the right value and asset value of rural collective construction land (RCCL) is increasingly becoming apparent and this market is experiencing rapid development. However, the arrangement of the governance structure of rural shareholding cooperatives (RSCs) can seriously affect the efficiency of collective construction land market transactions, since the governance of RSCs is related to the interests of farmers. Protecting the rights and interests of farmers while improving the governance efficiency of RSCs is a considerable challenge worldwide. To better deal with this challenge, this study used a field survey in Nanhai District, Guangdong Province, China, to estimate how the governance structure of RSCs affect the efficiency of RCCL market transactions. Tobit models were constructed, and the results show that (1) most of the governance functions of RSCs were not separate from the administrative management of the village committees, which leads to low efficiency of RSCs’ governance; (2) leaders of rural collective economic organizations played a key role in governance efficiency; (3) from the perspective of collective land property rights, most village shareholders did not have decision-making power or supervisory authority in the RCCL transfers because they could not complete access to transaction information. Furthermore, most villagers felt that the amount of income distributed was unreasonable, and the rights and interests of farmers and village shareholders were not guaranteed by the RSCs. Therefore, we suggest that the Chinese authorities should strengthen their current efforts to construct a more open and fair governance structure of the RSCs and thus improve their market transaction efficiency. Our work provides some insights into ways to improve the governance structure and market transaction efficiency of RSCs, which can further contribute to the development of the RCCL market in other areas of China and worldwide.

Land market misallocation, regional integration, and economic growth: Evidence from the Yangtze River Delta Region, China

“…On the other hand, the rural sector and rural residents share the value‐added income brought by the construction land transactions in an unreasonable proportion (Deng et al., 2023; Gu et al., 2015; Wang et al., 2018; Yep & Fong, 2009; Zhang, 2018). Agricultural land is a basic production factor for farmers.…”

“…How to properly compensate landless rural households is one of the major challenges for future policy. Although the corresponding policies began to support rural collectives as landowners to conduct limited construction land transactions and raise the compensation standard for land expropriation (Gao, Liu, & Chen et al., 2020), village collectives and rural residents should be allowed to be actively and freely involved in the transaction process (Deng et al., 2023), and the process should be more transparent and democratic. In government‐led land coupling projects (i.e., the government bears the main cost of land consolidation and development), village collectives and rural residents should share a fair and reasonable percentage of the net value‐added income, for example, setting a minimum percentage (such as 40%), which can be adjusted according to different regions and projects.…”

Effects of rural collective economy policy on the common prosperity in China: based on the mediating effect of farmland transfer

“…This gap is primarily attributed to the low incomes of rural residents, rather than the high incomes of urban residents. Additionally, it is worth noting that the disparity within the countryside is not primarily caused by wealthy farmers being excessively rich, but rather by the fact that poor farmers have very low incomes (Li, 2017;Zhu et al, 2019;Zhou et al, 2021;Peng et al, 2022a) At the same time, the rural collective economy development policy plays a crucial role in increasing farmers' income and reducing the disparity between urban and rural areas (Deng et al, 2023). Rural collective economy refers to the economic organization development form in which the collective organization and its members implement various forms of cooperation in production, supply, and marketing under the premise of rational utilization of collective resource elements.…”

“…The progress of China's rural collective economy can be divided into three stages (Deng et al, 2023), as shown in Figure 1. Prior to the reform and opening up, China's rural areas had established a traditional collective organization based on the communalization, which experienced a phase of rapid development (Hong et al, 2023).…”

Quota and Space Allocations of New Urban Land Supported by Urban Growth Simulations: A Case Study of Guangzhou City, China

“…Since the 1990s, China has entered into a rapid urbanization process, converting a substantial amount of cultivated and ecological land into urban land, driving economic and social development in cities [3]. However, in some regions, the disorderly allocation of urban land has resulted in problems such as grain reduction [4], ecological degradation [5], and the low efficiency of land use [6]. These problems challenge the sustainable development of cities [7].…”