How does household farmland rental behavior affect gender differences in labor division and livelihood strategy? Insights from the household production theory

Abstract

Farmland rental participation is a family collective decision, which would lead to gender-differentiated effects on men's and women's labor input in different livelihood activities. Instead of setting rural household as a unified decision-making unit, this study regards household farmland rental behavior as a collective economic decision. By employing household production theory, we try to develop a novel theoretical framework to analyze the influence of farmland rental behavior on gendered labor division and individual livelihood strategy at the intra-household level. Using a case survey data collected in rural China, we empirically investigate how household farmland rental behavior affects male and female farmers’ labor input changes and their livelihood strategies. We found that households engaged in farmland rental would adjust the labor division process and have a gender-differentiated influence on individual farmers’ livelihood strategy engagement. Household farmland rental participation would stimulate rural women's off-farm productivity and promote the equality of gender interest pattern in rural areas.