Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Allen M. Featherstone / This thesis examines the effect of off-farm income on a farming operation’s ability to repay their debt. The thesis develops a regression model that includes net farm income, debt repayment capacity with carryover working capital, off-farm income sources and a number of other independent variables that help define each individual borrower. The model provides an evaluation of the current farming environment and examines various income opportunities available to borrowers affects repayment capacity. This study found that the presence of off-farm income can increase the probability that the operation will be able to repay their debts. The model indicates that if off-farm income is present, the borrower’s debt repayment capacity ratio increases. This thesis further explores the model and the results produced from not only off-farm income but several different variables within the borrower’s scope of business. Results suggest that many other factors that are not available in the sample also play a large role in predicting an operation’s ability to repay debt. The study determined that the presence of one source of off-farm income was positive and statistically significant in explaining repayment capacity. An operation with a strong outside income source and one spouse working full time on the farm is more financially stable and will likely be more successful at repaying their debts.

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Diese Doktorarbeit trägt durch eine Analyse der chinesischen Landgenossenschaften zum Verständnis von Politik und Prozessen im Ko-Management natürlicher Ressourcen bei. Im Mittelpunkt dieser Arbeit steht die Frage wie der lokale Kontext und Haushaltscharakteristika mit der Implementierung von Landgenossenschaften interagieren. Ich adressiere diese Frage in drei empirischen Forschungsartikeln. Im ersten Artikel untersuchen ich die Wirkung verschiedener lokaler Kontextvariablen in verschiedenen Dörfern auf den Anteil der Landflächen, der von einer Landgenossenschaft verwaltet wird. Es wird gezeigt, wenn lokale Eliten, wie Regierungsbeamte, Dorfkader oder gebildete Menschen, Genossenschaftsvorsitzende sind, ist der Anteil von Land, der an die Genossenschaft übertragen wird, deutlich größer. Im zweiten Artikel wenden ich uns der Haushaltsebene zu und untersuchen Bestimmungsfaktoren der Mitgliedschaft in einer Genossenschaft und die Auswirkungen der Mitgliedschaft auf die Allokation der verfügbaren Arbeitskraft. Ich stelle keinen allgemeinen Effekt von Genossenschaftsmitgliedschaft auf die Wahrscheinlichkeit der außerlandwirtschaftlichen Berufstätigkeit des Haushaltsvorstandes fest. Im dritten Artikel analysieren ich, wir den Zusammenhang zwischen Partizipation in Entscheidungsprozessen und Haushaltseinkommen aus Landgenossenschaften. Ich zeige, wohlhabendere Mitglieder und solche mit Mitgliedschaft in der kommunistischen Partei haben eine höhere Wahrscheinlichkeit an Entscheidungsprozessen teilzunehmen. Genossenschaftsmitglieder weniger von ihrer Mitgliedschaft profitieren, wenn sie nicht in Entscheidungsprozesse involviert sind. Zusammenfassend zeigt diese Dissertation, dass der lokale Kontext einen Unterschied in der Implementierung von Landgenossenschaften macht. Um die Genossenschaften zu fördern sollten politische Entscheidungsträger die Heterogenität der lokalen Bevölkerung. / This thesis contributes to the understanding of politics and processes in the co-management of natural resources through an analysis of Chinese land cooperatives. The focus of this work is the question of how local context and household characteristics interact with the implementation of land cooperatives. I address this question in three empirical research articles. In the first article, I examine the effect of different local context variables in different villages on the share of land area managed by a rural cooperative. It is shown that when local elites, such as government officials, village cadres or educated people, are co-operative chairmen, the proportion of land transferred to the cooperative is significantly larger. In the second article, I turn to the household level and examine determinants of membership in a cooperative and the impact of membership on the allocation of available labor. I do not state any general effect of cooperative membership on the probability of the head of household's non-agricultural employment. In the third article, I analyze the connection between participation in decision-making and household income from land cooperatives. I show that wealthier members and members of the Communist Party are more likely to participate in decision-making. Cooperative members benefit less from their membership if they are not involved in decision-making. In summary, this dissertation shows that the local context makes a difference in the implementation of land cooperatives. To encourage cooperatives, policy makers should consider the heterogeneity of the local population.

The history of now-developed countries implies a common transformation path of economic development. That is, within an economy, as wage grows in non-farm sectors, labour migrates out of agriculture. With fewer workers, agricultural land resources may concentrate into the hands of fewer but larger farm operations (agricultural land consolidation), with more investment and higher production specification. However, the development process of China is less likely to trace the same path as it does in these countries, given its distinctive institutions. To examine the development process in the unique context of China, this dissertation focuses on two questions: (1) how do China’s rural workers self-select into off-farm employment (OFE)? (2) How does agricultural land consolidation occur in China? In addressing the first question, I use Roy’s self-section model to analyze the following three occupational choices of China’s rural residents: farming only, local OFE, and migratory OFE. Based on household survey data from 101 communities in rural China in 2004 and 2007, the empirical results show that individual and household characteristics are important self-selecting factors for OFE participation. More importantly, I find that the increase of OFE in China is largely consistent with market-driven expectations. In addressing the question of whether and why the consolidation of farm operations develops in China’s agriculture, I assess the divergence between the size of farm operations from equal entitlements. The theoretical model predicts that a higher opportunity cost of farm labour, in the form of the urban wage, exerts a positive influence on consolidation of farm operations through rental arrangements. A Gini index is used to measure the inequality of farmland operations relative to equal farmland entitlements, with greater inequality being consist with higher consolidation of farm operations. Empirical results support the theoretical prediction, specifically, a 1000-yuan increase in the annual urban wage, holding all other influences constant, increases the Gini index by 0.012 (mean=0.26) over the 2004-2007 period.