Research on the Transfer of Rural Land Contracting Rights: Empirical Analysis Based on Shandong Province

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This article addressed the rural land circulation and its influencing factors based on the empirical analysis in Shandong Province. The topic is worth of study and it is a critical issue for modern agriculture and rural revitalization. However, there are many problems need to be addressed before publication. Please see the comments below:

1. The abstract should be more concise and should indicate the most important findings based on the empirical analysis. The strategies proposed are not the key findings derived from the analysis and they should not be the main content of the abstract.
2. The introduction is weak and does not adequately contextualize the study within the existing body of knowledge on urban land circulation. There is a need for a more comprehensive review of relevant literature to establish a strong knowledge background for the research questions and hypotheses. In addition, the last two paragraphs of section 1.1 (line 95-120) should be merged and focused on the key research purposes that could fill the research gaps and show the research novelty.
3. It is unclear what novel perspectives this paper offers in comparison to existing literature. The significance of its findings and the contribution to existing literature are not adequately emphasized. It would benefit from a more explicit articulation of its research objectives and novelty. Additionally, the authors should strive to clearly demonstrate how their findings advance knowledge in the field and offer practical implications for future research or policy-making.
4. The current theoretical framework is weak. The article lacks a strong theoretical framework to support the research questions and hypotheses. A more robust theoretical foundation is needed to underpin the study and guide the analysis of the data. This should also be the basis of the hypotheses H1 and H2.
5. The authors used many academic terms in the article, such as the transfer of rural land contracting right, land circulation, region land transfer, land contract management right circulation, etc. Be careful about their connotation and expression. For terms with the same meaning, keep them consistent throughout the text.
6. The study used the total power of agricultural machinery to measure the scale of land circulation. However, the power of agricultural machinery is the foundation of agricultural modernization. The relationship between the explanatory variable and the explained variable requires a more in-depth elaboration.
7. What about the agricultural chemistry in Section 4.4.2 and Table 2?
8. A discussion section is necessary to thoroughly interpret the results beyond the analytical results. It would benefit from a more critical examination of the results within the context of broader literature. In particular, it should strive to clearly demonstrate how their findings advance knowledge in the field. It is also suggested to connect the findings to broader implications for rural revitalization. This would enhance the manuscript's relevance.
9. The policy recommendations provided at the end of the manuscript are generic and do not offer specific based on the empirical findings. The recommendations lack specificity and are obviously disconnected from the analytical content, which seriously questioned the necessity of the empirical study.
10. The conclusion has the same problems with the abstract. The conclusion should be more concise and should be thoroughly supported by the results presented in the article.
11. In the Conclusion section, the article asserted that it has revealed the core value of land circulation mechanism in promoting the optimization of resource allocation and improving agricultural productivity. However, this value was not clearly elaborated. In addition, the problems and challenges in land circulation concluded here were not supported by any empirical analysis.

Author Response

Dear Reviewers,

First of all, thank you very much for reviewing this article and your valuable comments, we attach great importance to your suggestions for article revision, so we have revised the article one by one for your suggestions, and the following are comments and comments:

1.The abstract should be more concise and should indicate the most important findings based on the empirical analysis. The strategies proposed are not the key findings derived from the analysis and they should not be the main content of the abstract.

Response: Based on your suggestion, we've streamlined the summary and included more key findings.

2.The introduction is weak and does not adequately contextualize the study within the existing body of knowledge on urban land circulation. There is a need for a more comprehensive review of relevant literature to establish a strong knowledge background for the research questions and hypotheses. In addition, the last two paragraphs of section 1.1 (line 95-120) should be merged and focused on the key research purposes that could fill the research gaps and show the research novelty.

Answer: According to your suggestion, we have added more detailed explanations of China's land system to the research background, so as to present the whole picture of China's land system as completely as possible, and at the same time add citations to some academic articles to support our content.

3.It is unclear what novel perspectives this paper offers in comparison to existing literature. The significance of its findings and the contribution to existing literature are not adequately emphasized. It would benefit from a more explicit articulation of its research objectives and novelty. Additionally, the authors should strive to clearly demonstrate how their findings advance knowledge in the field and offer practical implications for future research or policy-making.

Answer: We have added content to the article about the novelty of the article.

4.The current theoretical framework is weak. The article lacks a strong theoretical framework to support the research questions and hypotheses. A more robust theoretical foundation is needed to underpin the study and guide the analysis of the data. This should also be the basis of the hypotheses H1 and H2.

Reply: Based on your comments, we have revised the content of the theoretical framework and refined more theoretical details.

5.The authors used many academic terms in the article, such as the transfer of rural land contracting right, land circulation, region land transfer, land contract management right circulation, etc. Be careful about their connotation and expression. For terms with the same meaning, keep them consistent throughout the text.

Reply: First of all, thank you for your comments, we apologize for such a translation error, and we have revised the English translations of all professional academic terms with the same meaning throughout the article to make them consistent.

6.The study used the total power of agricultural machinery to measure the scale of land circulation. However, the power of agricultural machinery is the foundation of agricultural modernization. The relationship between the explanatory variable and the explained variable requires a more in-depth elaboration.

Answer: We have → "3.1, variable analysis" → in "3. Research methods". (1) The following contents are added to the "explanatory variables" paragraph: to explain the two-way causal relationship between land transfer and agricultural mechanization (land scale drives mechanization application, mechanization inversely stimulates the expansion of circulation scale), controls endogenous interference through the instrumental variable method (lag period total power of agricultural machinery) and dynamic panel model (GMM), and cites the panel data of Shandong Province from 2010 to 2022 (Pearson coefficient = 0.83, p<0.001) and trend chart to verify the effectiveness of proxy variables. The above revisions deepen the explanation of the relationship between variables from the level of theoretical mechanism and empirical method.

7.What about the agricultural chemistry in Section 4.4.2 and Table 2?

Answer: The English translation of agricultural chemistry has been revised to chemicalization of agriculture, which mainly refers to the dependence on chemical substances (such as chemical fertilizers, pesticides, agricultural films, etc.) and their application level in the agricultural production process, which is an important indicator to measure the application of modern agricultural technology and environmental impact.

8.A discussion section is necessary to thoroughly interpret the results beyond the analytical results. It would benefit from a more critical examination of the results within the context of broader literature. In particular, it should strive to clearly demonstrate how their findings advance knowledge in the field. It is also suggested to connect the findings to broader implications for rural revitalization. This would enhance the manuscript's relevance.

Answer: In response to this question, we have revised the discussion section to more closely link the content of the full text and highlight the innovation of the article.

9.The policy recommendations provided at the end of the manuscript are generic and do not offer specific based on the empirical findings. The recommendations lack specificity and are obviously disconnected from the analytical content, which seriously questioned the necessity of the empirical study.

Response: We have revised the policy recommendations section in line with your suggestion, incorporating the results of the empirical analysis output to form a more convincing policy recommendations section.

10.The conclusion has the same problems with the abstract. The conclusion should be more concise and should be thoroughly supported by the results presented in the article.

Response: We have streamlined the conclusions section to make the findings of the article clearer.

11.In the Conclusion section, the article asserted that it has revealed the core value of land circulation mechanism in promoting the optimization of resource allocation and improving agricultural productivity. However, this value was not clearly elaborated. In addition, the problems and challenges in land circulation concluded here were not supported by any empirical analysis.

Answer: Due to the limited space of the article and the strong limitations of the research, we cannot carry out a more detailed extended analysis of this part, but we pay more attention to multi-directional research in the follow-up research.

Acknowledgments: First of all, thank you very much for your attention and guidance on this article, your suggestions are very important for our academic progress, and thank you for your support and help to us!

 

Wang Shiyuan

Liu Zhaoyang

Samuel Esteban Rodríguez

      May 02, 2025

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The design of the article lacks clarity. The theoretical framework is overly brief, merely listing "theories" without contrasting them. Each paragraph should include at least three bibliographic citations and present no fewer than three distinct ideas. The methodology section is vague; it should detail the formulas and models to be employed. The results section is excessively lengthy and incorporates theories, which creates confusion. Additionally, it is crucial to specify whether tests for multicollinearity or heteroskedasticity were conducted on the models.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Dear Reviewers,

First of all, thank you very much for reviewing this article and your valuable comments, we attach great importance to your suggestions for article revision, so we have revised the article one by one for your suggestions, and the following are comments and comments:

1.The design of the article lacks clarity. The theoretical framework is overly brief, merely listing "theories" without contrasting them.

Answer: According to your suggestion, we have revised the theoretical framework of the article, elaborated more on the theories involved in the article, and compared and analyzed the similarities and differences between the theories involved.

2.Each paragraph should include at least three bibliographic citations and present no fewer than three distinct ideas.

Reply: Thank you very much for your suggestion, we have added references to some chapters and updated the bibliography based on your suggestion.

3.The methodology section is vague; it should detail the formulas and models to be employed.

Answer: Based on your suggestion, we have rewritten the article methodology section to elaborate on the construction of the model in more detail, and the method of data processing in the article is explained in detail.

4.The results section is excessively lengthy and incorporates theories, which creates confusion. Additionally, it is crucial to specify whether tests for multicollinearity or heteroskedasticity were conducted on the models.

Response: In response to this suggestion, we have simplified the results section of the article, explained the multicollinearity test process, and presented a table.

Acknowledgments: First of all, thank you very much for your attention and guidance on this article, your suggestions are very important for our academic progress, and thank you for your support and help to us!

 

Wang Shiyuan

Liu Zhaoyang

Samuel Esteban Rodríguez

       April 25, 2025

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

General comment: needs more context for the journal's global readership. 

Specific comments:

1) Needs clarification of circulation/transfer of rural contracting rights: does this refer to land use change or farmer control of land rights? Non-Chinese readers may be confused. 
2) Background needed on Shandong (readers' knowledge is not to be assumed): why this province chosen for the study? population size and economic importance, rapid growth since  1960 (after significant depopulation in wartime and famine period) 
3) Provide a table of the '16 prefecture cities'. Explain relation of rural to urban in this study (I understand covers all land and all 16 prefectures in the province)
4) Quantitative analysis consumes over half of the article, but policy recommendations  do not necessarily follow: section 5 should link more closely with and follow from section 4.  
5) Clarify relation between farmers/rural land use and transfers to non-farming uses. Who controls circulation/transfer processes? 
6) References need attention. A third are only in Chinese and should at least include short title in English language. Clarify ref.21 (Indonesian Bahasa? why 'deleted journal'). 
7) Suggest revise and simplify the title, my suggestion 'Managing land use change through circulation/reform of contracting rights: An empirical study of Shandong Province (China)' 
8) Abstract: over a third lists policy recommendations not fully elaborated in main body of article.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Generally OK but clarification needed on transfer/circulation mechanism, how it works in practice (or not)

Author Response

Dear Reviewers,

First of all, thank you very much for reviewing this article and your valuable comments, we attach great importance to your suggestions for article revision, so we have revised the article one by one for your suggestions, and the following are comments and comments:

1.Needs clarification of circulation/transfer of rural contracting rights: does this refer to land use change or farmer control of land rights? Non-Chinese readers may be confused.

Reply: In accordance with your suggestion, the basic definition of the transfer of rural land contract rights has been added, see the first paragraph of the research background of the article for details.

2.Background needed on Shandong (readers' knowledge is not to be assumed): why this province chosen for the study? population size and economic importance, rapid growth since  1960 (after significant depopulation in wartime and famine period) Provide a table of the '16 prefecture cities'. Explain relation of rural to urban in this study (I understand covers all land and all 16 prefectures in the province)

Reply: We have added a detailed introduction about Shandong Province to the research background of the article according to your suggestion, and listed a brief information table of the 16 cities in Shandong Province, see the research background of the article in 1.2.1 for details

3.Quantitative analysis consumes over half of the article, but policy recommendations  do not necessarily follow: section 5 should link more closely with and follow from section 4.

Response: As you suggested, we have introduced some of the findings in Section 4 into the recommendations in Section 5 as the basis for the policy recommendations.

4.Clarify relation between farmers/rural land use and transfers to non-farming uses. Who controls circulation/transfer processes?

Reply: A detailed description of China's rural land system has been added to the research background of the article as you suggested, see Background 1.1 for details

5.References need attention. A third are only in Chinese and should at least include short title in English language. Clarify ref.21 (Indonesian Bahasa? why 'deleted journal').

Answer: The references have been translated into English according to your suggestion, because some references are only published in Chinese journals, there are only Chinese titles, and secondly, the language used in this article is English and does not involve Indonesian.

6.Suggest revise and simplify the title, my suggestion 'Managing land use change through circulation/reform of contracting rights: An empirical study of Shandong Province (China)'

Answer: Thank you very much for your suggestion, but considering that the focus of this article is the empirical analysis of rural land circulation in Shandong Province, and its core content mainly revolves around the land system, after discussing with the professor of the article, the core content of the article and the academic views we want to express are inconsistent with the topic you suggested, so we do not adopt this suggestion.

7.Abstract: over a third lists policy recommendations not fully elaborated in main body of article.

Response: As you requested, we have simplified the summary section of the article and provided more clarity on the content of the policy recommendations.

Acknowledgments: First of all, thank you very much for your attention and guidance on this article, your suggestions are very important for our academic progress, and thank you for your support and help to us!

 

Wang Shiyuan

Liu Zhaoyang

Samuel Esteban Rodríguez

       April 25, 2025

 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors have revised the manuscript accordingly. It is recommended to be published.

Author Response

Reviewer 1 replied to comments (2nd Round)

Dear Reviewers,

First of all, thank you very much for reviewing this article and your valuable comments, we attach great importance to your suggestions for article revision, so we have revised the article one by one for your suggestions, and the following are comments and comments:

1. The authors have revised the manuscript accordingly. It is recommended to be published

Reply: Thank you very much for your recognition of our work and thank you for your hard work!

Acknowledgments: First of all, thank you very much for your attention and guidance on this article, your suggestions are very important for our academic progress, and thank you for your support and help to us!

 

Wang Shiyuan

Liu Zhaoyang

Samuel Esteban Rodríguez

      May 13, 2025

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This manuscript presents an empirical investigation into the factors influencing the transfer of rural land contracting rights in Shandong Province, China. It situates the topic within the broader objectives of rural revitalization and agricultural modernization. The topic is both relevant and timely, especially in the context of China's evolving rural land policies and the global discussions around sustainable land use and agricultural productivity.

The paper exhibits strong theoretical grounding, clear structure, and makes a valuable empirical contribution by utilizing regional panel data from 16 cities over a significant time span. However, there are several areas in need of improvement to meet the standards of a high-impact journal like Sustainability.

Major Revisions Needed

1. Language and Style (High Priority)

• The manuscript requires professional English editing. Numerous grammatical errors, awkward phrasings, and direct translations from Chinese weaken the academic tone.
• Example: “The scale of land transfer has increased significantly recently, but problems such as land fragmentation...”
• Suggestion: “Although the scale of land transfer has increased significantly in recent years, issues such as land fragmentation and market inefficiencies persist.”
• Some passages are verbose or redundant, which reduces clarity and readability.

2. Originality and Literature Positioning

• While the empirical application is valuable, the literature review is not sufficiently international. Most references are Chinese sources or domestic policies.
• Add comparative literature from other developing countries on rural land transfers or land market efficiency (e.g., from Sub-Saharan Africa, India, or Latin America).
• Incorporate at least five additional peer-reviewed international journal articles from the last five years (e.g., Land Use Policy, World Development).

3. Clarity of the Research Questions and Hypotheses

• While hypotheses H1 and H2 are stated, their connection to the literature and theory needs to be more explicitly developed.
• Recommendation: Rephrase and clarify the hypothesis section with a bullet-point or numbered format and direct linkage to literature gaps.

4. Methodological Transparency

• The use of total power of agricultural machinery as a proxy for land transfer scale is problematic and raises endogeneity concerns.
• Suggestion: Justify this variable more rigorously or consider alternative or complementary metrics such as “land transfer ratio,” “contracted area transferred,” etc.
• Clarify the empirical identification strategy: How does the model deal with possible reverse causality or omitted variable bias?

5. Data Sources and Robustness

• While data sources are mentioned, a summary table of variables, definitions, units, and sources should be added.
• More robustness checks are needed, including:
• Testing for multicollinearity,
• Exploring instrumental variables (if possible),
• Performing year-wise sensitivity analyses.

6. Policy Recommendations

• The policy implications are currently descriptive and lack analytical depth.
• Develop a targeted policy section with concrete recommendations based on your regression results (e.g., how provincial governments should tailor transfer systems to maximize efficiency or protect vulnerable groups).

7. Figures and Tables

• Improve the formatting and clarity of all tables and figures.
• Include summary statistics for key variables,
• Visualize trends over time (e.g., line charts of land transfer rate, income, or modernization indicators).

 

Minor Suggestions

• Consistently use “land transfer” instead of sometimes repeating “rural land contracting right transfer.”
• Clarify the distinction between “land use right,” “land contracting right,” and “land management right” early in the introduction.
• Ensure all references are correctly cited in APA 7th edition.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Comments on the Quality of English Language

• The manuscript requires professional English editing. Numerous grammatical errors, awkward phrasings, and direct translations from Chinese weaken the academic tone.
• Example: “The scale of land transfer has increased significantly recently, but problems such as land fragmentation...”
• Suggestion: “Although the scale of land transfer has increased significantly in recent years, issues such as land fragmentation and market inefficiencies persist.”
• Some passages are verbose or redundant, which reduces clarity and readability.

Author Response

Reviewer 2 replied to comments (2nd Round)

Dear Reviewers,

First of all, thank you very much for reviewing this article and your valuable comments, we attach great importance to your suggestions for article revision, so we have revised the article one by one for your suggestions, and the following are comments and comments:

1. Language and Style (High Priority)

The manuscript requires professional English editing. Numerous grammatical errors, awkward phrasings, and direct translations from Chinese weaken the academic tone.

Example: “The scale of land transfer has increased significantly recently, but problems such as land fragmentation...”

Suggestion: “Although the scale of land transfer has increased significantly in recent years, issues such as land fragmentation and market inefficiencies persist.”

Some passages are verbose or redundant, which reduces clarity and readability.

Answer: We have re-edited the English version of the article and asked Professor Samuel to calibrate the English part, hoping to meet your requirements!

2. Originality and Literature Positioning

While the empirical application is valuable, the literature review is not sufficiently international. Most references are Chinese sources or domestic policies.

Add comparative literature from other developing countries on rural land transfers or land market efficiency (e.g., from Sub-Saharan Africa, India, or Latin America).

Incorporate at least five additional peer-reviewed international journal articles from the last five years (e.g., Land Use Policy, World Development).

Answer: Thanks for the suggestion, I would like to state that the main research object of this article is the impact of China's local land system reform on China's local areas, and the main purpose of publishing this article is to let the world better understand the evolution of China's land system and the impact of the implementation of these systems on the Chinese people. We have made detailed inquiries and appropriately cited the journals you mentioned.

3. Clarity of the Research Questions and Hypotheses

While hypotheses H1 and H2 are stated, their connection to the literature and theory needs to be more explicitly developed.

Recommendation: Rephrase and clarify the hypothesis section with a bullet-point or numbered format and direct linkage to literature gaps.

Methodological Transparency

The use of total power of agricultural machinery as a proxy for land transfer scale is problematic and raises endogeneity concerns.

Suggestion: Justify this variable more rigorously or consider alternative or complementary metrics such as “land transfer ratio,” “contracted area transferred,” etc.

Clarify the empirical identification strategy: How does the model deal with possible reverse causality or omitted variable bias?

Answer: In response to the above questions you mentioned, first of all, we would like to thank you for pointing out some of the loopholes in this article, but due to the positioning of this article and our supervisor as an academic journal article, due to the limitation of space and research time, we have not improved some of the data analysis you mentioned in depth, but this is also the focus of our next few articles, I would like to express my gratitude to you, I hope you can understand!

4. Data Sources and Robustness

While data sources are mentioned, a summary table of variables, definitions, units, and sources should be added.

More robustness checks are needed, including:

Testing for multicollinearity,

Exploring instrumental variables (if possible),

Performing year-wise sensitivity analyses.

Answer: In response to the above questions you mentioned, first of all, we would like to thank you for pointing out some of the loopholes in this article, but due to the positioning of this article and our supervisor as an academic journal article, due to the limitation of space and research time, we have not improved some of the data analysis you mentioned in depth, but this is also the focus of our next few articles, I would like to express my gratitude to you, I hope you can understand! We've done the multicollinearity test and put it in the article.

5. Policy Recommendations

The policy implications are currently descriptive and lack analytical depth.

Develop a targeted policy section with concrete recommendations based on your regression results (e.g., how provincial governments should tailor transfer systems to maximize efficiency or protect vulnerable groups).

Answer: In response to your suggestion, we have improved the policy recommendation’s part, and we have analyzed the recommendations more closely based on the results of regression analysis, and the specific implementation methods of the recommendations have been clarified.

6. Figures and Tables

Improve the formatting and clarity of all tables and figures.

Include summary statistics for key variables,

Visualize trends over time (e.g., line charts of land transfer rate, income, or modernization indicators).

Answer: In response to your suggestion, due to space constraints and descriptive statistics and data visualization are not very helpful for model estimation and result analysis, descriptive statistics and data visualization are not used for research analysis, thank you again for your suggestion!

7. Minor Suggestions

Consistently use “land transfer” instead of sometimes repeating “rural land contracting right transfer.”

Clarify the distinction between “land use right,” “land contracting right,” and “land management right” early in the introduction.

Ensure all references are correctly cited in APA 7th edition.

Answer: Thank you for your suggestion, in order to ensure the uniformity and accuracy of the wording of the full text, we have consulted a large number of references, and at the same time accepted the review suggestions put forward by the first round of reviewer 1, and finally decided to use the term rural land contracting right transfer to ensure the accuracy of the wordingThe differences between land use right," "land contracting right," and "land management right" have been explained in the context of the article, and all references are cited in APA.

Acknowledgments: First of all, thank you very much for your attention and guidance on this article, your suggestions are very important for our academic progress, and thank you for your support and help to us!

 

Wang Shiyuan

Liu Zhaoyang

Samuel Esteban Rodríguez

       2025.05.12

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 3

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Thank you for addressing the suggestions previously submitted. I would only recommend

I recomend to include a limititation at the end: This study is limited by the availability of micro-level data on individual farmer decisions. Future research could incorporate household survey data or longitudinal interviews to enrich the understanding of behavioral drivers of land transfer.

Author Response

Reviewer 2 replied to comments (3nd Round)

Dear Reviewers,

First of all, thank you very much for reviewing this article and your valuable comments, we attach great importance to your suggestions for article revision, so we have revised the article one by one for your suggestions, and the following are comments and comments:

1. I recomend to include a limititation at the end: This study is limited by the availability of micro-level data on individual farmer decisions. Future research could incorporate household survey data or longitudinal interviews to enrich the understanding of behavioral drivers of land transfer.

Reply: Dear reviewers, according to your suggestion, we have added this part to the research limitations and future research directions of the article to make the article more rigorous.

Acknowledgments: First of all, thank you very much for your attention and guidance on this article, your suggestions are very important for our academic progress, and thank you for your support and help to us!

 

Wang Shiyuan

Liu Zhaoyang

Samuel Esteban Rodríguez

       2025.05.21

 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx