Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.2, 2016

Survival, Continuity and Change in the Agricultural Land System of Contemporary China

(Abstract)

Wang Jingyao and Wei Lai

Contemporary China’s agricultural land system has passed through land reform, the cooperative movement, the People’s Commune movement, the household contract management system, etc. Its survival, continuity and change can be explained through a “stickiness generation—stickiness dilution” analytical framework. Institutional environment and path dependence constitute the generative incentive of system stickiness, and have an important role in the existence and continuity of the agricultural land system. The infiltration of informal systems is a crucial variable in diluting system stickiness, with the interaction between informal and formal systems running through the entire course of institutional change. Changes in mental concepts and ideology are important influences on the strengthening, breakdown or construction of formal institutions.