The impact of migration on agricultural restructuring: Evidence from Jiangxi Province in China

- We study the key impacts of migration on agricultural restructuring in rural China.
- The left-behind farmers will be more likely to turn to subsistence grain production rather than livestock cultivation.
- A serious agricultural labor shortage has resulted in a substantial decline in agricultural land utilization efficiency.
- Return migrants play an important role in agriculture modernization process.
- The characteristic Chinese institutional system has distorted the optimal allocation of labor and land resources.

This paper explores the key impacts of migration on agricultural production restructuring in Jiangxi province by considering household farm activities choice and crop acreage adjustment behavior. We used the Heckman model to address the sample selection bias and instrumental variable to deal with the reverse causality problem. The results show that, amid China's unique institutional background, the administrative restrictions on the free flow of labor and land hindered agriculture restructuring, forcing the rural family members left behind to turn to less labor-intensive subsistence grain production instead of more capital-intensive livestock cultivation, or to even abandon their farmland. However, we also find the important role of return migrants in the agriculture modernization process. They can provide both financial and human capital to promote more specialized agricultural production. We propose several suggestions for agricultural restructuring in rural China.