Sidestepping the heat waves and cold snaps: how does extreme climate influence agricultural labor reallocation in China
Abstract
Purpose
In the process of making agricultural production decisions in rural households, severe weather conditions, either extreme cold or heat, may squeeze the labor input in the agricultural sector, leading to a reallocation of labor between the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. By applying a dataset with a wide latitude range, this study empirically confirms the influence of extreme temperatures on the agricultural labor reallocation, reveal the mechanism of farmers’ adaptive behavioral decision and therefore enriches the research on the impact of climate change on rural labor markets and livelihood strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
This study utilizes data from Chinese meteorological stations and two waves of China Household Income Project to examine the impact and behavioral mechanism of extreme temperatures on rural labor reallocation.
Findings
(1) Extremely high and low temperatures had led to a reallocation of labor force from agricultural activities to non-farm employment, with a more pronounced effect from extreme high temperature events. (2) Extreme temperatures influence famers’ decision in abandoning farmland and reducing investment in agricultural machinery, thus creating an interconnected impact on labor mobility. (3) The reallocation effect of rural labor induced by extreme temperatures is particularly evident for males, persons that perceives economic hardship or labor in economically active areas.
Originality/value
By applying a dataset with a wide latitude range, this study empirically confirms the influence of extreme temperatures on the agricultural labor reallocation, and reveals the mechanism of farmers’ adaptive behavioral decision and therefore enriches the research on the impact of climate change on rural labor markets and livelihood strategies.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The paper is supported by National Social Science Fund of China (No. 22BJL075; No. 23AJY010), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 72364035), Fujian Social Science Planning Fund Project (No. FJ2023A010), Yunnan Fundamental Research Projects (No. 202301AT070421). And we are very thankful to the editor and anonymous reviewers for their helpful input.
Citation
Wei, X., Zeng, C. and Wang, Y. (2024), "Sidestepping the heat waves and cold snaps: how does extreme climate influence agricultural labor reallocation in China", China Agricultural Economic Review, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/CAER-10-2023-0298
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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