The price gap between state-owned and collective farmlands: Evidence from Xinjiang and Heilongjiang, China

With the ongoing advancement of China's agricultural modernization in recent years, researchers have recognized the importance of state-owned farmlands. However, there has been a lack of research investigating the differences between state-owned and collective farmlands in terms of price. To explore the effect of ownership differences on farmland price, this study constructs a four-dimensional theoretical framework that uses natural endowment, land utilization, economic environment, and asset expectations as the factors influencing prices. Moreover, to analyze the formation of price gaps in the framework, we include the differences between stateowned and collective farmlands in terms of the cropping structure, inputs, operation scale, and endowment effects. On this basis, we conduct an empirical test with a mediating effects model using 1103 data samples from the Xinjiang and Heilongjiang provinces in China. The results show the following: (1) As a production factor and living asset, the farmland price is affected by four factors: natural endowment, land utilization, economic environment, and asset expectations. (2) The price of state-owned farmlands is 3000 yuan/hm2/a, which is lower than that of collective farmlands. The main drivers of the price gap are the limited autonomy of the planting structure, insufficient factor input incentives, the effect of weak endowment, and the scale effect of state-owned farmlands. However, the scale effect of state-owned farmlands plays a positive role in narrowing the price gap. (3) Compared with the production scale of non-grain plots, that of grain plots makes it easier to exert their advantages, and the price gap for grain plots is smaller than that of non-grain plots. Therefore, it is necessary to emphasize the resource attributes of farmlands, weaken the function of assets, and increase the return of the output to agricultural producers while ensuring food security by increasing the scale of farmland operations.

Automated summary

This study constructs a four-dimensional theoretical framework to explore the differences between state-owned and collective farmlands in terms of price. By analyzing factors like cropping structure, inputs, operation scale, and endowment effects, it is found that the price of state-owned farmlands is lower than that of collective farmlands, and increasing the scale effect of state-owned farmlands can help narrow the price gap.