China rural trends

Author: Zhan Junying
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: The transfer of agricultural surplus labor is a phenomenon common to the economic development of various countries and a global historical process. However, compared to other countries, China has a massive stock of agricultural surplus labor while possessing very limited per capita agricultural resources. Moreover, with population growth, improved agricultural labor productivity, and a reduction in arable land resources, the issue of agricultural surplus labor will tend to worsen. Therefore, the task of transferring agricultural surplus labor in China is extremely challenging. How to properly address the employment issues of agricultural surplus labor is a highly complex problem that China will face for a considerable period in the future. This book focuses on the following aspects: (1) Different forms of agricultural industrial organization and their performance; (2) Different agricultural technology choices and their relationship with the transfer of agricultural surplus labor; (3) The interrelationships between different agricultural organizations, technological progress, and the transfer of agricultural surplus labor; (4) The connotation of China's agricultural surplus labor and the types of driving forces behind its transfer; (5) Strategic choices in the transfer of agricultural surplus labor in relation to agricultural organization and technological progress. It aims to provide references for formulating appropriate agricultural industrial organization and technological policies in China.
The transfer of agricultural surplus labor is a phenomenon common to the economic development of various countries and a global historical process. However, compared to other countries, China has a massive stock of agricultural surplus labor while possessing very limited per capita agricultural resources. Moreover, with population growth, improved agricultural labor productivity, and a reduction in arable land resources, the issue of agricultural surplus labor will tend to worsen. Therefore, the task of transferring agricultural surplus labor in China is extremely challenging. How to properly address the employment issues of agricultural surplus labor is a highly complex problem that China will face for a considerable period in the future. This book focuses on the following aspects: (1) Different forms of agricultural industrial organization and their performance; (2) Different agricultural technology choices and their relationship with the transfer of agricultural surplus labor; (3) The interrelationships between different agricultural organizations, technological progress, and the transfer of agricultural surplus labor; (4) The connotation of China's agricultural surplus labor and the types of driving forces behind its transfer; (5) Strategic choices in the transfer of agricultural surplus labor in relation to agricultural organization and technological progress.
Given the historical lessons from the industrialization process of developing countries, it has been observed that research on the transfer of agricultural surplus labor has largely focused on the pull effect of non-agricultural industries, while the push and attraction effects of internal agricultural organization and technological progress have been insufficiently studied. This has led to shortcomings in theoretical research and biased policy measures, which are detrimental to the smooth progress of agricultural development and industrialization. This book argues: (1) The definition of China's agricultural surplus labor should be: agricultural laborers whose marginal return to farming within the household (income minus costs) is lower than the expected marginal return of non-agricultural labor in rural areas and urban "peripheral industries." This definition better reflects the characteristics of China's agricultural surplus labor. (2) To improve research on the transfer of agricultural surplus labor, while also addressing the issue of coordinated development between industry and agriculture during industrialization, the book dynamically studies the development relationship between the agricultural and industrial sectors based on China's economic environment. It focuses on the evolution of agricultural industrial organization, technological progress, and their relationship with the transfer of agricultural surplus labor, analyzing the potential promoting and hindering effects of these factors. Combined with short-term and long-term industrialization development, corresponding policy recommendations are proposed. (3) Given the current high pressure on urban employment in China, the book proposes a dual-gradient cross-transfer model and points out that expanding the internal absorption capacity of agriculture through organizational innovation and technological progress is an effective measure for achieving shallow-level transfer of agricultural surplus labor in the current stage. (4) It addresses the defect of overemphasizing external factors and neglecting internal factors in the study of agricultural surplus labor transfer, breaks through the biases of Western development economics theories on the relationship between agriculture and employment, and expands and deepens research on the transfer of agricultural surplus labor and further industrialization, providing references for formulating appropriate agricultural industrial organization and technological policies in China.
The overall perspective of this book is that the process of agricultural labor transfer directly manifests as a continuous decline in the proportion of agricultural labor in the total labor force, ultimately leading to the dissolution of the dual economy and the realization of industrialization. We emphasize the improvement of agricultural organization and technological progress to enhance the depth and breadth of employment within the agricultural sector. This is not to keep agricultural surplus labor tied to the land but to create conditions for their more effective transfer to higher levels. We believe that in the coming period, accelerating the "second entrepreneurship" of rural enterprises and continuing to leverage their dominant role in absorbing agricultural labor remains an effective pathway for transferring agricultural surplus labor in China. We argue that the "urban agglomeration" model of agricultural surplus labor transfer is an inevitable trend of historical development. Therefore, based on China's national conditions, we propose that the transfer of agricultural surplus labor in China must follow a path centered on small towns as the main channel and supported by large and medium-sized cities. This can be achieved by concentrating rural enterprises to boost the employment capacity of small towns and promoting the optimal allocation of agricultural labor resources through "village-town mergers." A strategy of combining control and development remains a strategic choice for the medium and long-term transfer of agricultural surplus labor in China.
Based on China's economic environment, this book dynamically studies the development relationship between the agricultural and industrial sectors, focusing on the evolution of agricultural industrial organization, technological progress, and their relationship with the transfer of agricultural surplus labor. It analyzes the potential promoting and hindering effects of these factors and proposes corresponding policy recommendations in line with both short-term and long-term industrialization development.