Purpose Economic reforms in rural China have led to the emergence of land and labor markets. The development of rural land rental markets can improve agricultural productivity and equity by facilitating transfers of land to more productive farmers and facilitating the participation in the non-farm economy of less productive farmers. In contrast to the burgeoning development of off-farm labor markets, the development of rural land rental market has lagged. The purpose of this study is to analyze the factors affecting households’ entry and transaction intensity in rural land rental markets, especially the effects of land tenure and off-farm employment. Design/methodology/approach Based on a field survey data of 479 household in Henan Province in 2009, the authors used Cragg’s double hurdle model to identify the determinants for households’ land rental participation and its transaction amount. Findings Off-farm employment is one of main driving factor for household’s land rent-out decision. Tenure insecurity reduces both the propensity and the magnitude of rental market transactions. Land use certificates significantly contribute to participation in land-rental markets and the rental amount. Originality/value This paper treats household land rental market participation as a related two-step process, focusing on both land transfer and its transaction amount. This paper also builds on a broad view, including analysis on both demand and supply side of land rental market.

This paper explores the factors that determine a farm household migration decision, particularly the influence of the current land tenure system in China. Land endowment per labour is used to measure farm size. Reallocation times and expectation of future land reallocation are used to measure the land reallocation situation. Data used in this study are from a farm household survey conducted in 2009 in 17 villages in Northeast Henan province. By using a Heckman two‐stage model, the empirical findings show that there are some differences in terms of the magnitude and direction of determinants significantly affecting the decision to migrate and its duration. China's land tenure arrangements are based on egalitarian land distribution and frequent reallocation stimulates rather than deters migration in the case of land rental market imperfections. However, it is the main reason for the unique temporary and individual migration patterns. With the development of land rental markets, the importance of land transferability becomes prominent. Policies aimed at improving land security and promoting land transfer will also benefit rural labour emigration. Other factors that also have significant influence on labour migration are household size, number of household dependents, household assets and whether a household has a land‐use contract. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.