规模经济与规模户耕地流转偏好——基于地块层面的分析

Economies of Scale and Farmland Transfer Preferences of Large-scale Households: An Analysis Based on Land Plots

本文将耕地空间位置的固定性引入规模经济的理论框架,探讨农户转入位置不同或面积不同地块的规模经济效益差别,并分析普通户与规模户对转入地块的位置和面积偏好的差异。理论分析和实证检验均表明,由于存在明显的地块层面的规模经济,转入地面积大或与原有地块位置相连均可以提高技术上的生产效率,降低扣除地租之后的单位产品成本;这种规模经济也会激励农户支付更高的租金来获得面积大或位置相连的耕地。理论分析还表明,对规模户而言,零散小地块与其劳动力相对更稀缺的禀赋特征以及机械替代劳动的技术选择不相洽,因而不受偏好;数据分析也显示,规模户更倾向于转入面积大或与原有地块位置相连的地块。本文的分析结果有助于解释非农就业等引致的、在空间位置上比较分散的耕地为什么常常流向普通户而非向少数规模户集中。

This article introduces the fixed spatial location of farmland into the theoretical framework of economies of scale,discusses the differences in economic benefits of scale among plot locations and among different areas of farm households,and analyzes the differences in preference between ordinary farmers and large-scale farmers for the location and area of transferred plots.Both the theoretical and empirical analysis shows that,owing to the obvious economies of scale at the land level,transferring to large land areas or connecting with the original land location can improve technological productivity and reduce the unit product cost after deducting land rent.The benefits of scale economies will also encourage farmers to pay higher rents to obtain large or connected land plots.The theoretical analysis also shows that for large-scale farmers,scattered small plots are not compatible with the endowment characteristics of their relatively scarce labor force and the technical choice of alternative labor,so they are not preferred.Data analysis also shows that large-scale farmers are more likely to rent larger or connected plots.The results are helpful to explain why arable land plots,which are more dispersed in spatial location in the context of non-agricultural employment,often flow to ordinary farmers rather than to a few large-scale households.