Empirical Estimations of the Relationship between Farm Size and Productivity in China

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K01642
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 07040:Economic policy-related
• Research Institution: Kwansei Gakuin University
• Principal Investigator: Hoken Hisatoshi 関西学院大学, 国際学部, 教授 (90450527)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 中国 / 農業経営 / 構造調整 / 効率性 / 農地

Outline of Final Research Achievements

With the improvement in the legal framework of farmland utilization as well as the increase in off-farm employment, farmland transaction became prevalent since the late-2000s, and specialized farmers began to establish large-scaled farm entities in rural China. The major purpose of this research project is to examine the relationship between farm size and productivity, and evaluate the impacts of large farm entities on grain productions. To achieve the goal, we have conducted large-scaled rural household survey in Jiangsu province, and have examined the efficiency of farmland transaction and the effects of farmland accumulation. The estimation results show that the amount of rental fees significantly satisfies the requirement for marginal productivity of rent-in farmers. Furthermore, the estimation results indicate that inverse U-shaped relationship exists between farm size and productivity, and thus medium-sized farmers are suitable for grain cultivation in this region.

Free Research Field

開発経済学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究課題による研究成果の学術的・社会的意義として、（1）農家の経営規模拡大の前提条件となる農地貸借に関して、貸借のマッチング過程と取引条件の成立状況に注目し、経済理論に基づく定量的な検証を行った結果、経済発展の進展する沿海部の江蘇省では農地の貸出・借入条件を満たす農地貸借市場が成立していること、（2）農家の経営規模と生産性に関する伝統的な関係（逆相関仮説）について、確率的フロンティア生産関数に基づく定量分析を実施した結果、調査対象地域の穀物生産に関して最も生産効率性が高いのは中規模（2ha前後）の経営であることを実証することで、適切な規模での農地集約化の重要性を提起した点が挙げられる。