Intergenerational differences in the homestead policy cognition of farmers within the context of institutional change: empirical evidence from villages in Jiangxi province, China

A complete understanding of homestead policy is crucial for farmers and is key to China’s rural homestead system reform. However, intergenerational cognitive differences have hindered reform progress as the changes to the system are complex. Based on Distributed Cognition Theory, this study established a theoretical framework to explain the formation of farmers’ homestead policy cognition and constructed an indicator system addressing personal power, regional power, and cultural power dimensions. Based on 2445 questionnaires across 345 villages in 37 counties of Jiangxi province, China, this study employed an OLS regression model to analyze factors influencing intergenerational differences in farmers’ homestead policy cognition and the ISM model to explore the mechanisms and driving forces. First, homestead policy cognition of older generation farmers (OFs) was significantly lower than that of new generation farmers (NFs). Second, personal, regional, and cultural power exerted more significant influence on the homestead policy cognition of OFs, when compared to NFs. OFs who reported higher education, participation in the formulation of village rules and regulations, and acquisition of homestead by application exhibited higher homestead policy cognition. Finally, regional power was found to be the root factor contributing to the formation of homestead policy cognition between the two generations studied. The policy cognition formation mechanism of OFs was found to be “regional power - personal power - cultural power - policy cognition.” Conversely, the policy cognition formation mechanism of NFs was found to be “regional power - cultural power - policy cognition.” These results suggest that government agencies should respect intergenerational cognitive differences, improve the policy publicity system, and adopt targeted measures to address the specific cognitive characteristics of different generations. This study explored the intergenerational differences in farmers’ homestead policy cognition, as well as the mechanisms for their formation, offering insights for rural land system reforms in other countries.