CHINA LAND ARRANGEMENTS AND RURAL LABOR MOBILITY

Chinese farm families under the Household Responsibility System have t he land use-rights but not the rights of alienation. If permanently le aving agriculture, they have to return the land to local authorities a nd consequently give up a stream of future land earnings. This paper a nalyzes the deterrent effect of this land arrangement on labor mobilit y by constructing a household model which considers both part-time far ming and permanent migration decisions. The implications of the model are consistent with the recent Chinese experience of rural floating po pulation in cities and the rapid growth of rural nonagricultural emplo yment.