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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Who Tipped Over China’S Vegetable Basket?, Qian Forrest Zhang Aug 2012

Who Tipped Over China’S Vegetable Basket?, Qian Forrest Zhang

Qian Forrest ZHANG

No abstract provided.


The Changes And Non-Changes Of China's Rural Land, Qian Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson Aug 2012

The Changes And Non-Changes Of China's Rural Land, Qian Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson

Qian Forrest ZHANG

No abstract provided.


The Political Economy Of Contract Farming In China’S Agrarian Transition, Qian Forrest Zhang Feb 2012

The Political Economy Of Contract Farming In China’S Agrarian Transition, Qian Forrest Zhang

Qian Forrest ZHANG

How does rural China’s political economy determine the motivations and constraints that drive small farmers and agribusiness companies into contract farming and shape its practice and impact? This paper identifies three distinctive features of contract farming in China—varied impact on rural inequality, unstable contractual relations, and lack of competitiveness with other alternatives—and proposes tentative explanations with three features in rural China’s political economy: strong collective institutions, active state support for agriculture, and strong domestic markets. The recent turn in China’s agrarian transition toward vertical integration of agriculture with industries is, however, undermining these conditions and may move China toward more …


Development Of Land Rental Markets In Rural Zhejiang: Growth Of Off-Farm Jobs And Institution Building, Qian Forrest Zhang, Qingguo Ma, Xu Xu Feb 2012

Development Of Land Rental Markets In Rural Zhejiang: Growth Of Off-Farm Jobs And Institution Building, Qian Forrest Zhang, Qingguo Ma, Xu Xu

Qian Forrest ZHANG

We employ survey data collected in 2001 in Zhejiang province to investigate patterns and determinants of land market development. Previous studies have noted the correlation between growth of off-farm jobs and rental-market development at the aggregate level, but failed empirically to demonstrate mechanisms at the disaggregate level. Our analyses find concrete evidence at the household level connecting developments in labour and land markets. Growth in off-farm jobs allow rural households to transfer labour out of farming and prompt them to relinquish land rights, generating a supply of land that drives rental activities. We also go beyond interactions between factor markets …


From Peasants To Farmers: Peasant Differentiation, Labor Regimes And Land-Rights Institutions In China’S Agrarian Transition, Qian Forrest Zhang, John Andrew Donaldson Feb 2012

From Peasants To Farmers: Peasant Differentiation, Labor Regimes And Land-Rights Institutions In China’S Agrarian Transition, Qian Forrest Zhang, John Andrew Donaldson

Qian Forrest ZHANG

The development of factor markets has opened Chinese agriculture for the penetration of capitalism. This new round of rural transformation—China’s agrarian transition— raises the agrarian question in the Chinese context. This study investigates how capitalist forms and relations of production transform agricultural production and the peasantry class in rural China. The authors identify six forms of nonpeasant agricultural production, compare the labor regimes and direct producers’ socioeconomic statuses across these forms, and evaluate the role of China’s land-rights institution in shaping these forms. The empirical investigation presents three main findings: (1) Peasant differentiation : capitalist forms of agricultural production differentiate …


The Transformation Of Urban Vegetable Retail In China: Wet Markets, Supermarkets, And Informal Markets In Shanghai, Qian Forrest Zhang, Zi Pan Feb 2012

The Transformation Of Urban Vegetable Retail In China: Wet Markets, Supermarkets, And Informal Markets In Shanghai, Qian Forrest Zhang, Zi Pan

Qian Forrest ZHANG

The state-monopolised system of vegetable retail in socialist urban China has transformed into a market-based system run by profit-driven actors. Publicly owned wet markets not only declined in number after the state relegated its construction to market forces, but were also thoroughly privatised, becoming venues of capital accumulation for the market operators now controlling these properties. Self-employed migrant families replaced salaried state employees in the labour force. Governments’ increased control over urban public space reduced the room for informal markets, exacerbating the scarcity of vegetable retail space. Fragmentation in the production and wholesale systems restricted modern supermarkets’ ability to establish …