Structural change of agricultural land use intensity and its regional disparity in China

Based on the data from the Cost-benefit Data of Farm Produce and the China Agricultural Yearbook, this paper divided the intensity of cultivated land use into labor intensity and capital intensity, and then analyzed their temporal and spatial change at both national and provincial levels between 1980 and 2006. The results showed that： （1） At the national level, labor intensity on food produce decreased from 398.5 day/ha in 1980 to 130.25 day/ha in 2006; and a continuous decrease with a steep decline between 1980 and 1986, a slower decline from 1987 to 1996, and another steep decline from 1997 to 2006. On the contrary, capital intensity shows an increasing trend since 1980. As to the internal composition of capital intensity, the proportion of seed, chemical fertilizer and pesticide input decreased from 90.36% to 73.44% and the proportion of machinery increased from 9.64% to 26.56%. The less emphasis on yield-increasing input and more emphasis on labor-saving input are the main reasons for a slow increase of yield per unit area after 1996. （2） At the provincial level, the developed areas have lower labor intensity and higher capital intensity. The less developed ones have higher labor intensity but lower capital intensity. From the viewpoint of the internal composition of capital intensity, labor-saving input accounts for more proportion in the developed areas than that of other areas. The main reason is that in these developed areas, labor input has become a constraint factor in food production as more and more labors engaged in off-farm work. Farmers increase the labor-saving input for higher labor productivity. However, in the less developed areas, the major constraint is the shortage of capital; food production is still depending on labor and yield-increasing inputs.

Agricultural Land Use Responses to the Rising Labor Opportunity Cost in Sui County,China

Rising labor opportunity cost is one of the most important characteristics of farmers' economic environment in present China,and brings great agricultural land use changes correspondingly.Based on the stratified random sample of rural households in Sui County,this paper estimates the opportunity cost of farm labors,and then analyzes its effect on farmers' agricultural land use decisions.The findings show that the households with higher labor opportunity cost are more likely to reduce labor intensity and increase labor-saving input in their land use decisions.From the descriptive analysis,we also find these households always prefer grain crop planting,reduce yield-raising input or even rent out their cultivated land.As labor and yield-raising input are two essential positive factors for grain production,continuous declining of labor input and yield-raising input caused by rising labor opportunity cost may influence the grain yield per unit area in the future.

China, From Catch-up Growth to Innovation-Driven Economy

Chinese financial system and capital allocation to strategic sectors dominated by state banks made important contributions to the country＇s high economic growth rates during the catch-up stage of the last three decades. High household saving rates, fixed exchange rate regime, and extensive capital controls helped this stage as well. While the structural changes in the labor market conditions by moving from primary sectors to more capital intensive heavy industry, construction, commerce, and other service sectors have been contributed to the economic growth, competition, and productivity, due to the direct state governance or intensive interventions, competition and productivity have been curtailed on certain large industries. Aiming to eliminate this unproductive economic activity, enterprise sector reforms of China targeted restructuring the state enterprise＇s capital, organization, and management system. Besides, the reforms on science and technology system seek to participate in global production and R＆D networks by improving high-tech sectors through creating strong complementarity and collaboration between skilled human capital and educational interferences.

Agricultural land use intensity study in Taibus Banner, and its determinants： a case Inner Mongolia, China

Based on rural household survey data from Taibus Banner, in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China, this study separately categorizes agricul- tural land use intensity into labor intensity, capital intensity, the intensity of labor-saving inputs, and the intensity of yield-increasing inputs, and then analyzes their determinants at the household level. The findings reveal that within the study area： （1） labor intensity is higher and capital intensity is lower than in the major grain-producing and economically developed areas of eastern and central China; （2） the most widely planted crops are those with the lowest labor intensity （oats） and capital intensity （benne）; （3） there are marked differences in agricultural land use intensity among households; a major factor affecting land use decision-making is the reduced need for labor intensity for those households with high opportunity costs, such as those with income earned from non-farming activities which alleviates financial constraints and allows for increased capital intensity. As a result, these households invest more in labor-saving inputs; （4） households with a larger number of workers will allocate adequate time to manage their land and thus they will not necessarily invest more in labor-saving inputs. Those households with more land to manage tend to adopt an extensive cultivation strategy. Total income has a positive impact on capital intensity and a negative impact on labor intensity. House- holds that derive a higher proportion of their total income through farming are more reliant upon agriculture, which necessitates significant labor and yield-increasing inputs. Finally, the authors contend that policy makers should clearly recognize the impacts of non-farming employment on agricultural land use intensity. In order to ensure long- term food security and sustainable agricultural develop-ment in China, income streams from both farming and non- farming employment should be balanced.

China's FDI Net Inflow and Deterioration of Terms of Trade: Paradox and Explanation

Starting from the contradiction between China＇s sustained growth in joreign direct investment （FDI） net inflow and deterioration of the terms of trade, this paper analyzes the characteristics of FDI sectoral structure since the 1990. Moreover, considering the international market competitive environment, this paper gives a concrete analysis of the influence mechanism and concludes that the flowing of FDl into labor-intensive export sectors caused the deterioration of China＇s terms of trade. To improve its terms of trade, China needs to direct FDI inflow into capital- and technology-intensive sectors and service sectors.

An explanation of labor migration and grain output growth:Findings of a case study in eastern Tibetan Plateau

Although there has been rapid rural-urban migration in rural China since the 1980s, the total grain production of China saw a continuous increase. As of today, the relationship between labor migration and grain output growth remains partial and contradictory. The main aim of this empirical study is to examine some specific measures adopted by peasants to deal with labor shortage and maintain grain output growth. Using tracking survey, participatory rural appraisal methods, and land plot investigation, we investigate 274 households and 1405 arable land plots in four villages in two stages in Jinchuan county, southwestern China. The results show that continuous emigration of labor from the four villages caused the abandon- ment of a small amount of land, decreased labor intensity, and reduced multiple cropping index, shifting from ＂corn-wheat＂ multiple cropping pattern to the ＂corn＂ cropping pattern, which means labor shortage in some households. At the same time, owing to surplus labor in the villages, the peasants utilize a series of means to offset the negative impacts of labor migration on grain output, such as cropland transfer, labor exchange in the busy seasons, and the substitution of capital and technology for labor. The econometric analysis also shows that labor migration boosts grain production. This study provides a reasonable explanation of grain output growth under rural-urban migration.

Evaluation of the efficiency of fixed assets of economic sectors based onindex analysis

This article is devoted to the study of the system of indicators characterizing thevolume, structure and efficiency of the functioning of fixed assets of theproduction and non-production areas of the region based on the index analysis.Through factorial index analysis, models of the relationship between the grossregional product, the cost of fixed assets and capital productivity (capitalintensity) of industries producing goods and providing services were obtained,to identify reserves for increasing of the analyzed indicators. The obtainedresults indicate a trend towards significant decrease in capital productivity inthe production sector, which should become the basis for making managerialdecisions at the regional level to attract investment. They can be used in thepractice of macroeconomic analysis and forecasting, for detailing the factors fordetermining the potential of economic sectors, the efficiency of using fixedassets, and attracting investments.