Mechanisms of rural industrial development on farmers’ homestead transfer willingness and policy recommendations: Based on China land economic survey data

The transfer of homesteads is the key way to activate idle homesteads in rural areas, and the vigorous development of rural industries is an important means to promote the transfer of homesteads. From the perspective of rural industrial development, there are not many empirical studies on the impact of farmers’ willingness on homestead transfer, and there is also a lack of combing its mechanism of action. Based on the data of China land economic survey (CLES) in 2022, this study uses econometric methods to deeply analyze the mechanism and effect of rural industrial development on farmers’ willingness on homestead transfer. The findings indicate that: (1) Rural industrial development significantly enhances farmers’ willingness to transfer their homesteads, a result that remains valid after endogeneity and robustness tests. (2) The development of rural industries promotes farmers’ willingness to transfer homesteads by attracting the inflow of foreign labor forces, increasing farmers’ disposable income, and promoting the diversification of homestead use functions. (3) There are obvious individual, family, and village heterogeneities in farmers’ willingness to transfer homesteads. The positive impact of rural industrial development on farmers’ willingness to transfer homesteads is more significant among highly educated farmers, in villages that attach importance to industrial development, and in villages close to the county seat. The government should continue to strengthen policy support for rural industrial development and design differentiated financial, fiscal, credit, and land-use measures tailored to the needs of diverse industrial operators, so as to enhance policy targeting and efficacy and foster the prosperity of rural industries. In parallel, it should improve the benefit-sharing mechanism between rural industrial development and farmers, thereby boosting farmers’ wage, property, and agricultural operating income. It is necessary to establish a close interest-connection mode so that farmers can share the economic dividend brought by the development of rural industries, thereby improving farmers’ enthusiasm to participate in the transfer of homesteads and realizing the benign interaction between the development of rural industries and farmers’ willingness to transfer homesteads. It is also essential to improve the rural homestead transfer trading platform by establishing an online information release system and offline transaction service centers. Such measures would help alleviate farmers’ concerns about homestead transfer, bolster their sense of security, and ultimately encourage both their willingness and actual participation in the process.