Will farmland renting out boost rural households’ income? Evidence from China’s rural areas

This paper estimates the effect of renting out farmland on rural households' income through a difference-in-differences (DID) approach, using data from China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). Our findings support the income growth effect of farmland renting out, which is confirmed by a series of robustness tests. Additionally, the mechanism tests indicate that both the farmland rental income proportion in the total income and the rural household members' probability of non-farm work significantly increase after farmers rent out their farmland. Our study helps to explore the market-based allocation of farmland and provides Chinese evidence and reference for the reform of rural land systems in emerging economies.