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An Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of Farmland Protection Policy In China, Man Li

Man Li

This paper examines the effectiveness of the Basic Farmland Protection Regulation in protecting high-quality farmland from urban development in China in the first decade after it came into effect (1995‒2005). The theoretical basis for this study is a spatial urban development model with a splitting equation. The empirical evaluation is conducted with georeferenced, longitudinal data on more than 2,000 counties in the country. Results indicate that the Regulation was effective in preserving farmland with high productivity potential only during the period 1995‒2000. There is no evidence of effectiveness of the Regulation in protecting lands with good irrigation conditions or lands …