abstract: 'Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors (including

  conservation payments) that influence household decisions to participate

  in off-farm work and estimate the impact of participation on household

  welfare under the auspices of the Grain for Green (GfG) program.

  Design/methodology/approach The authors used survey data from 225 farm

  households on the Loess Plateau and addressed the possible sample

  selection and endogeneity problems by employing a jointly estimated

  endogenous switching regression (ESR) model. Findings The findings of

  this paper are as follows: off-farm participation is positively related

  to households'' educational attainment and negatively related to their

  land resource endowment and the presence of children; participation in

  off-farm work exerts positive effects on household income and per capita

  household income, but negative effects on farm productivity; and

  conservation payments show no significant impact on off-farm

  participation, no significant impact on any of the three household

  welfare indicators for off-farm non-participant households, but a

  significantly negative impact for off-farm participant households.

  Originality/value This paper makes two contributions. First, the authors

  address the selection bias and endogeneity problem of GfG participating

  households by employing the ESR method and explicitly estimating the

  treatment effects of off-farm participation on their household welfare.

  Neglecting these problems leads to biased estimates and misleading

  policy implications. Second, this analysis stresses the important role

  of government in reducing market or institutional failure and other

  barriers that impede farmers'' efficient allocation choices instead of

  compensating households for conserving sloping land, shedding new light

  on the most effective policy options to achieve the program''s goals.'
affiliation: 'Li, L (Corresponding Author), Peking Univ, Sch Urban Planning \& Design,
  Shenzhen Grad Sch, Shenzhen, Peoples R China.

  Li, Li; MacLachlan, Ian; Li, Guicai; Guo, Yuanyuan, Peking Univ, Sch Urban Planning
  \& Design, Shenzhen Grad Sch, Shenzhen, Peoples R China.

  Tsunekawa, Atsushi, Tottori Univ, Arid Land Res Ctr, Tottori, Japan.

  Koike, Atsushi, Kobe Univ, Dept Reg Planning, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.'
author: Li, Li and Tsunekawa, Atsushi and MacLachlan, Ian and Li, Guicai and Koike,
  Atsushi and Guo, Yuanyuan
author-email: 920421363@qq.com
author_list:
- family: Li
  given: Li
- family: Tsunekawa
  given: Atsushi
- family: MacLachlan
  given: Ian
- family: Li
  given: Guicai
- family: Koike
  given: Atsushi
- family: Guo
  given: Yuanyuan
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1108/CAER-06-2018-0124
eissn: 1756-1388
files: []
issn: 1756-137X
journal: CHINA AGRICULTURAL ECONOMIC REVIEW
keywords: 'Off-farm employment; Grain for Green; Simultaneous equations;

  Conservation payments; Endogenous switching regression'
keywords-plus: 'LAND CONVERSION PROGRAM; RURAL NONFARM ACTIVITIES; AGRICULTURAL

  PRODUCTIVITY; IMPACT; MIGRATION; INCOME; MARKET; CONSTRAINTS; DECISION;

  POVERTY'
language: English
number: '1'
number-of-cited-references: '59'
orcid-numbers: 'MacLachlan, Ian/0000-0002-8584-4063

  Tsunekawa, Atsushi/0000-0002-7690-0633

  li, li/0000-0002-5976-8474'
pages: 71-89
papis_id: 91ae38513a02905bd54c4d9678b375f5
ref: Li2020conservationpayments
researcherid-numbers: 'MacLachlan, Ian/J-1839-2012

  Tsunekawa, Atsushi/L-8526-2013

  '
times-cited: '3'
title: Conservation payments, off-farm employment and household welfare for farmers
  participating in the ``Grain for Green″ program in China Empirical evidence from
  the Loess Plateau
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000506407500001
usage-count-last-180-days: '10'
usage-count-since-2013: '36'
volume: '12'
web-of-science-categories: Agricultural Economics \& Policy; Economics
year: '2020'