Impact of farmer differentiation on farmland abandonment: Evidence from Fujian's hilly mountains, China

With global urbanization, increasing farmer differentiation—characterized by varying degrees of part-time employment among farmers—has coincided with a rising trend of farmland abandonment worldwide. However, the relationship between farmer differentiation and farmland abandonment remains unclear, particularly with respect to the factors influencing this connection. This paper provides a theoretical and systematic analysis of the effects, mechanisms, and heterogeneity of farmer differentiation on farmland abandonment. Using unique survey data, we conducted an empirical analysis employing the Probit model, Tobit model, and instrumental variable (IV) estimation. The key findings are as follows: (1) Farmer differentiation has a significant positive effect on both farmland abandonment behavior and the scale of abandonment, a conclusion that holds after endogeneity and robustness tests are conducted. (2) An increase in farmer differentiation promotes the non-agricultural labor transfer, resulting in greater farmland abandonment; concurrently, it also encourages farmland transfer and boosts village collective agricultural investment, which mitigates abandonment. (3) Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the abandonment of farmland by low-differentiation farmers is influenced primarily by natural conditions, whereas the proportion of non-agricultural income significantly positively affects the abandonment scale for high-differentiation farmers. This study enhances the understanding of the relationship between farmer differentiation and farmland abandonment, providing some evidence for managing farmland.