Does Economic Growth Lead to an Increase in Cultivated Land Pressure? Evidence from China

Abstract

With economic growth, people’s living standards improve, and more cultivated land is needed to meet food demand. Meanwhile, the economic growth and urban expansion in China since 1978 has led to the loss of considerable amounts of cultivated land. Thus, the contradiction between “economic growth” and “food security” becomes increasingly prominent. Studying the impact of economic growth on cultivated land population support pressure is the basis for easing this problem. This study uses the cultivated land pressure index to represent cultivated land population support pressure, and explores the relationship between economic growth and cultivated land pressure based on the panel data of 31 provinces in China from 2000 to 2017. The feasibility generalized least squares estimation and the fixed effect model based on Driscoll and Kraay standard errors are used. The results show that: (1) the impact of economic growth on cultivated land pressure is an N-shaped or U-shaped curve; and (2) there are regional differences in the impact of economic growth on cultivated land pressure. The cultivated land pressure in economically developed regions and main grain production regions responds slowly to the impact of economic growth. Therefore, some policy recommendations are put forward, such as paying attention to cultivated land protection and controlling disorderly urban expansion.

The Relationship Between Macroeconomic Factors and Profitability of Reinsurance Companies in Africa: An Application of System GMM-Model

“…None of the correlation coefficients is near the 0.8 threshold, indicating no signal of multicollinearity among the variables examined in this study. This paper has focused on the two-step SYS-GMM estimator due to a number of its benefits, including the following (Wu et al, 2022):…”

Unveiling Ancestral Sustainability: A Comprehensive Study of Economic, Environmental, and Social Factors in Potato and Quinoa Cultivation in the Highland Aynokas of Puno, Peru

“…It can be seen that the plots are small and there are no farmers with areas larger than 1 ha in the Aynoka of the farming community of Palermo Rio Salado. As economic growth is experienced, people's standard of living indeed tends to improve [46].…”

“…This increase in living standards leads to a greater demand for food to meet the needs of a growing population. More arable land is required to meet this demand [46]. Economic growth and improved living standards lead to an increased demand for food, implying the need to expand arable land and adopt more efficient agricultural practices to ensure long-term food supply.…”