1. Introduction
The topic of quality of life has long been a focus of global research and the public [
1,
2,
3]. Countries around the world have introduced a series of policies and measures to improve the quality of life of their citizens. For example, in 1970, the UK enacted the Chronic Disease and Disability Act and promised to provide services to all disabled people (although it ultimately failed; [
4]). In 2004, Germany implemented the Law of Modernisation of Legal Medical Insurance, with the main goal of improving the economic efficiency and quality of medical insurance, thus reducing the proportion of premiums paid and the additional cost of wages [
5]. The public Long-term Care Insurance (LTCI) scheme was launched in Japan in 2000 and South Korea in 2008 to help the elderly lead more independent lives and reduce the burden on family caregivers [
6,
7]. Improving quality of life is a common goal pursued by China and other countries. Since the beginning of its reform and development, China has experienced a period of rapid development in which production became more important than life. However, it is now entering a new stage in which quality of life is considered more important [
8,
9,
10]. The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2017 pointed out that the principal contradiction facing Chinese society has evolved into one between unbalanced and inadequate socioeconomic development and the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life. The pursuit of a better life and the improvement of quality of life have gradually become the consensus of Chinese society and basic requirements for sustainable development.
China is one of the largest developing countries in the world [
11], with more than 500 million people living in rural areas in 2020 (about one-fourteenth of the world’s total population). Improving the quality of life of rural residents and narrowing the gap between urban and rural development are critical to China’s sustainable development. However, most rural Chinese people face worse living conditions than their urban counterparts. For example, Ding et al. [
12] pointed out that protein intake in rural areas of China is generally lower than in urban areas. Wang [
13] found significant health inequality between urban and rural children in China, with urban children being healthier. Fan [
14] pointed out that the dual economic model causes a huge gap between urban and rural social security projects, levels and coverage rates in China. In addition, the levels of public services, employment opportunities and income in China’s rural areas are significantly lower than those in urban areas [
15,
16,
17]. Therefore, the Chinese government has introduced a series of policies and measures to narrow the gap between urban and rural areas and improve the quality of life of rural residents. For example, in 2006, the Chinese government abolished the Regulations on Agricultural Tax, marking the end of a 2000-year-old tradition of taxation in China and ushering in a new stage of development in which industry supports agriculture and cities support the countryside. The rural revitalisation strategy put forward in 2017 aims to make agriculture a more promising industry, give farmers an attractive career and make rural areas a beautiful place for people to live and work in. These policies and measures have also effectively improved the quality of life of farmers [
18,
19,
20]. However, is the same true when China implements land policy, such as land transfer, which is the basis for the inheritance and survival of farmers from generation to generation?
Land circulation refers to the system of transferring the management rights of land to others on the basis of keeping the land contract relationship unchanged. In 2004, the State Council of China issued the Decision on Deepening Reform and Strict Land Management, stipulating that the right to use construction land collectively owned by farmers can be transferred in accordance with the law. In 2014, the Chinese government issued the Opinions on Guiding the Orderly Transfer of Rural Land Management Rights and Developing Moderate Scale Agricultural Operations, calling for the vigorous development of land transfer, moderate-scale agricultural operations and confirmation of contracted management rights within five years. In 2019, the Chinese government deliberated and adopted a decision on amending the Land Administration Law, which came into force on 1 January 2020. As shown in
Figure 1, the area of farmland transferred in China rose from 3.6449 million hectares in 2005 to 35.934 million hectares in 2018—an increase of nearly 10 times. The farmland circulation area as a proportion of the total arable land area increased from 2.80% in 2005 to 26.65% in 2018—an increase of nearly 9.5 times (not including the Tibet Autonomous Region due to a lack of data [
21]). Considering that land circulation can be divided into land transfer and land inflow, this study focuses on “land-lost farmers”. Therefore, this study mainly discusses the impact of land transfer on farmers’ quality of life (FQOL).
2. Literature Review
The concept of “quality of life” first appeared in the economist Galbraith’s book, The Affluent Society [
22]. Quality of life is a complex multidimensional concept and is one of the important and challenging social issues in the 21st century [
23,
24]. Scholars have not reached a consensus on its definition, but most define quality of life from subjective and objective perspectives. For example, Ferrans [
25] defined it from four aspects: physical health, life satisfaction, social and economic satisfaction and family factors. Rejeski and Mihalko [
26] measured the quality of life of the elderly from two aspects: life satisfaction and physical health. Sandau et al. [
27] defined quality of life in five important life areas: physical, emotional, social, cognitive and spiritual. In addition, some scholars believe that the definition of quality of life should include not only subjective factors but also more objective factors. For example, Felce and Perry [
28] believed quality of life should include five dimensions: physical health, material health, social welfare, emotional health, development and activity. Sun et al. [
29] constructed an index of the quality of life of the elderly based on five aspects: cognitive ability, demographic characteristics, health status, behavioural factors and social psychological factors. Eslami et al. [
30] found the realms of material and non-material life are two important determinants of overall quality of life. In addition, some scholars have constructed life quality evaluation systems at the national level, social level and community level [
31,
32,
33]. Although there is no completely unified standard for measuring quality of life, most studies have constructed indices based on multiple dimensions, such as life, work, income, health and cognition, and carried out their analysis and evaluation on that basis.
For studies researching internal factors, the living environment, working environment and health status are the main factors affecting quality of life. Ng et al. [
34] pointed out the living environment is an important predictor of life quality. Gou et al. [
35] found that housing was the most important factor affecting the quality of life of low-income people. In terms of the working environment, Liang and Xu [
36] found the strongest positive correlation between the working environment and job satisfaction, which has a significant impact on the quality of life of migrant workers. Ahmad et al. [
37] found that stress related to the work environment was an important factor affecting quality of life. In addition, most literature agrees that health status is an important factor affecting quality of life [
38,
39,
40]. Of the external factors investigated, governance capacity, management models and policy interventions all have a certain influence on quality of life. For example, De Guimarães et al. [
41] found in the context of smart cities, smart governance factors have a significant positive impact on residents’ quality of life. Vogt et al. [
42] pointed out a sustainable community management model can effectively improve residents’ quality of life. Gottvall et al. [
43] found the implementation of public health interventions and policies helped improve the quality of life of Syrian refugees. In addition, regional security, public administration efficiency, acculturation strategies and climate change also affect people’s quality of life to a certain extent [
44,
45,
46,
47]. As a result, policies that have a direct or indirect impact on people’s livelihoods or perceptions are likely to affect their existing quality of life.
The Land is the foundation of farmer households. It is not only the basic material guarantee but also a spiritual support that allows farmer households to settle down [
48]. Therefore, land transfer has a significant impact on farmers’ income, pension security, land use efficiency and labour productivity. In terms of income and pension security, analysing the influencing factors of farmers’ land transfer, Peng et al. [
49] found land transfer can improve farmers’ income and strengthen their pension security. They also found the income effect has positive feedback on farmers’ decisions about land transfer. Bingqian et al. [
50] found the per capita net income, per capita wage income and per capita rent income of farmers who participated in the land transfer increased significantly compared with farmers who did not participate in the land transfer. In terms of land use efficiency, Lu et al. [
51] pointed out land transfer is an important approach to farmland management and intensive crop production in China and, further, it promotes the development of agriculture through more efficient and sustainable resource use. Hai-xiab [
52] believes farmers’ land transfer behaviour has obvious positive significance for improving land-use efficiency. Wang et al. [
53] found that land transfer had a positive effect on total household labour productivity and non-agricultural labour productivity. Zhang [
54] found that land transfer can result in higher land productivity, cost–profit margins and total factor productivity. Land-transfer behaviour is a self-selection process by farmers. They choose to transfer their land, transfer their family labour force, land quality and desire for a better life, in the hope that this choice can improve their current situation [
55,
56,
57]. The question remains: does land transfer improve the quality of life of these landless farmers?
The review of the above literature suggests that the changes brought to farmers by land transfer are mainly reflected in material and spiritual aspects. For example, in terms of material aspects, the rent brought by land transfer will improve farmers’ income, free them from the time spent working the land and indirectly improve their non-agricultural income. In terms of spiritual aspects, the land is of special significance to farmers. To a certain extent, owning land is the biggest guarantee for farmers [
58]. For example, groups who voluntarily become “land-lost farmers” face greater risks of unemployment and their social risk perception will become more sensitive [
59,
60,
61,
62]. Therefore, as shown in
Figure 2, land transfer may improve the quality of life of farmers in material aspects while reducing it in spiritual aspects. Their overall quality of life may depend on a trade-off between the two.
5. Discussion
This study used a comprehensive rural social survey data covering 25 provinces in mainland China to study the impact of land transfer on the quality of life of farmers. Compared with previous studies, the marginal contributions of this study are as follows: (1) this study mainly focuses on FQOL and discusses the theoretical mechanism of land transfer on FQOL; (2) this study uses an ESR model to correct the selection bias caused by observable and unobservable factors and evaluates the quantitative impact of land transfer on the quality of life of farmers; (3) this study compares and evaluates the quantitative impact of land transfer on FQOL in two different eras, finding that for farmers born after 1978, land transfer reduces their quality of life, while for farmers born before 1978, land transfer improves their quality of life. The results of this study will help provide research support for the effective implementation of land policies in China and other countries, as well as providing realistic strategies for the sustainable development of rural areas.
On the whole, land transfer can indeed improve FQOL; however, the mechanism of its impact cannot be ignored. Although the income and time increases brought by land transfer are important ways to improve FQOL, the invisible psychological effects brought about by the transfer of land management rights cannot be ignored. For example, land-lost farmers will face higher unemployment risks and uncertainties, including greater social risks [
62,
74,
75]. This research also provides new evidence for this view. In recent years, the Chinese government has issued many policies supporting land transfer to ensure that farmers enjoy the benefits they deserve after land transfer. However, once their land is transferred, farmers will lose their land management rights for a long time. The risks and consequences of land transfer cannot be ignored. For example, Heng-zhou [
76] and Yu et al. [
77] pointed out that land transfer poses certain threats to food security, rural ecological environment and rural characteristics. Liu et al. [
78] pointed out that the phenomenon of land transfer harms the interests of farmers and has strengthened the social security function of land. In addition, the impact of climate change on agriculture and rural areas is complex and changeable, adding some unknown risks to land transfer [
79,
80]. Of course, the implementation of any policy is bound to be accompanied by risks and the most important thing is whether they are controllable. This study found that land transfer significantly improved FQOL, but for farmers born after 1978, this conclusion is exactly the opposite. The reason may be that the invisible psychological effects brought about by land transfer are greater than the welfare effects brought about by income and time which, in turn, lead to a decline in FQOL. For farmers born before 1978, the invisible psychological effects brought about by land transfer are smaller than the welfare effects brought about by income and time increases which, in turn, lead to an increase in FQOL. Two main reasons explain this outcome. First, the income of farmers through farming gradually decreases with age and the rent obtained from land transfer can bring higher income to the rural elderly, which can significantly improve their sense of security [
81,
82]. Second, land transfer can liberate the rural elderly from the shackles of traditional farming methods [
83,
84] without needing to find a new livelihood like young farmers, which reduces the social risk perception and uncertainty caused by land transfer. In general, there are differences between the social risks and uncertainties faced by the elderly and the young in rural areas after land transfer, which is the main reason the invisible psychological effects in the elderly brought by land transfer in rural areas are fewer than the welfare effects of increased income and time. In short, land transfer may not only deprive farmers of the opportunity to increase their income from the land but may also affect the professional transformation and long-term security of land-lost farmers. This provides a reference for the governments of China and other countries to implement land policies and improve the quality of life of farmers.
Land transfer promotes the processes of non-agriculturalisation and citizenisation of the rural population, creates good spatial support and human resources for urbanisation, and provides momentum for sustainable urbanisation. Land transfer is also a development trend in China’s agricultural modernisation process, which will inevitably affect the livelihood capital and livelihood strategies of farmers. Formulating and solving the livelihood security issues of farmers is an urgent issue [
85]. Particularly in an environment that does not provide safety guarantees for these land-lost farmers, speeding up land circulation can increase labour productivity. However, these farmers may not find a way out of their livelihood, which will bring about consequences and is risky. Although this study verified that land transfer improves FQOL, for farmers born after 1978 the transfer of land reduces their quality of life. This research explored the relationship between land transfer and FQOL and is a supplement to the existing research on FQOL. Most current studies focus on the impact of land transfer on farmers’ income, satisfaction, happiness and other singular aspects. This research comprehensively studied the impact of land transfer on FQOL by constructing composite indicators. Therefore, this study is helpful as it provides a reference basis for relevant government departments to formulate land policies and measures with the goal of improving FQOL.
Of course, this study also has some shortcomings that could be resolved by further research. Although this article provides empirical evidence from rural areas of China that informs the study of the relationship between land transfer and FQOL, whether this relationship is applicable to other countries or regions remains to be discussed. At the same time, in the future, more extensive research can be carried out on other factors of land transfer such as land quality, area and rent. Although this study is limited by the data obtained and did not explore this further, it is reasonable to expect that more interesting conclusions will be discovered and they will also have richer practical guiding significance.
6. Conclusions and Implications
This study used data from a large survey of rural Chinese residents to quantify the impact of land transfer on FQOL. This study found that after correcting for sample selection bias, land transfer significantly improves FQOL, as follows:
- (1)
For farmers who choose to transfer land out, if they choose not to transfer land out, FQOL may drop by 64.11%.
- (2)
For farmers who choose not to transfer their land, if they choose to transfer their land, FQOL may increase by 0.75%.
- (3)
For farmers born after 1978, if they choose not to transfer their land, their FQOL may increase by 14.471%; otherwise, FQOL may decrease by 45.55%.
- (4)
For farmers born before 1978, if they choose not to transfer their land, their FQOL may drop by 63.29%; otherwise, FQOL may increase by 2.83%.
The above research results also have some policy implications. Although, on the whole, land transfer improved the quality of life of farmers, the risks and challenges they face cannot be ignored. This requires government departments to implement land policies with precision and formulate comprehensive and systematic supporting policies. For example, building a unified social security system that integrates urban and rural areas and includes employment security, housing security, medical security and old-age security would further accelerate the citizenisation process of “land-lost farmers” and improve the quality of citizenisation. More importantly, it is necessary to improve relevant land transfer policies and measures to protect farmers’ legitimate rights and interests.