Organized Land Transfer and Improvement in Agricultural Land Allocation Efficiency: Effects and Mechanisms

Against the backdrop of pervasive land fragmentation and high transaction costs, organized land transfer has emerged as a growing trend in China’s agricultural land market, facilitating the transition toward moderate-scale farming. Based on survey data from 1472 households across 72 villages in Jiangsu Province, this study investigates the impact of organized land transfer on agricultural land allocation efficiency and explores the underlying mechanisms. The results show that organized land transfer significantly enhances agricultural land allocation efficiency. This finding proves to be robust across a series of robustness analyses. Specifically, organized land transfer enhances land allocation efficiency, primarily by enhancing transfer stability, expanding the transfer scale, and broadening the transfer scope. Moreover, our analysis of moderating factors reveals that the strength of the village collective economy positively moderates the relationship between organized land transfer and efficiency, whereas lineage networks exert a negative moderating influence. Addressing equity implications, this study also examines the model’s impact on farmers’ autonomy. The findings indicate that organized land transfer significantly suppresses transfer willingness, particularly in those with low incomes and the elderly. These results carry significant policy implications: when promoting organized land transfer, it is crucial to balance the strengthening of village collectives’ intermediary role with robust regulatory frameworks designed to safeguard farmers’ land rights and autonomy.