Property rights and market frictions: Evidence from the universe of land dispute files in China
中文摘要
本研究展示了保障土地产权如何缓解农村土地租赁市场中的摩擦,尤其是以出租方与承租方之间纠纷的形式。通过将一套全面的土地租赁纠纷记录数据、农场层面面板数据以及完整的农业企业注册数据相结合,我们发现中国土地确权改革之后租赁纠纷有所减少。我们通过区分与产权相关的纠纷(如产权归属不明、边界问题或征收)与合同执行纠纷(如租金收取)来印证这一发现。进一步分析表明,该效应在农户与农业企业之间的租赁协议中尤为显著,尤其是涉及非本地主体的协议。
Abstract
This research demonstrates how securing land property rights can mitigate frictions in rural land rental markets, specifically in the form of landlord-tenant disputes. By combining a comprehensive data set of land rental dispute records, farm-level panel data, and complete agricultural firm registration data, we find that rental disputes decreased following China's land titling reform. We corroborate this finding by distinguishing between property rights-related disputes (e.g., ownership ambiguity, boundary issues, or expropriation) and contractual enforcement disputes (e.g., rent collection). Further analysis reveals that the effect is particularly pronounced in rental agreements between farmers and agricultural firms, especially those involving non-local entities.