Agriculture (May 2023)
The Influence of Farmers’ Clan Networks on Their Participation in Living Environment Improvement during the Time of Transition in Traditional Rural China
Abstract
Farmers’ participation in public affairs is the combined effect of informal and formal institutions. In order to improve the current situation of low willingness of Chinese farmers to participate in living environment improvement, and to enhance the motivation of farmers and the effectiveness of living environment improvement, this paper incorporates the clan network in the informal institution and the perceivable authority of village chiefs in the formal institution into a unified analytical framework, divides the clan network into two dimensions (scale and strength) and explores the influence of the clan network and the perceivable authority of village chiefs on farmers’ participation in rural living environment improvement. Finally, an empirical test is conducted using survey data from 683 farming households in the provinces of Henan, Shaanxi and Sichuan. The results show that the strength of the clan network and the perceivable authority of the village chiefs have a significant positive effect on the farmers’ participation in rural living environment improvement, while the scale of the clan network does not have a significant effect on farmers’ behavior. The perceivable authority of the village chief has a positive moderating effect between the clan network and farmers’ participation in rural living environment improvement, while the heterogeneity analysis shows that the positive effect of the clan network on farmers’ participation in the rural living environment is reduced for those who have worked outside, far away from the village. It is suggested that the protection of traditional clan relations should be emphasized, and the positive role of clan agents and their influence should be effectively utilized in promoting the improvement of the rural living environment at the grassroots level. Moreover, it is necessary to carry out timely training of professional knowledge and skills for grassroots leaders, propagandize and interpret policies, thus increasing the enthusiasm of farmers to participate in the improvement of the rural living environment.
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