How Can Land Titling Alleviate Rural Disputes?—Evidence from China

Land property rights reform has been a key driver of agricultural productivity growth in post-reform China. Clearly defined land tenure arrangements also play a crucial role in maintaining rural social stability. This study assesses the impact of enhanced land tenure security on rural social stability, focusing on both the overall effects and the underlying mechanisms. Leveraging the new round of agricultural land rights confirmation initiated in 2013 as a quasi-natural experiment, we employ a staggered difference-in-difference model using panel data from the National Fixed-Point Survey for 2013–2021 to examine how enhanced land tenure security affects rural conflicts and disputes, which are important indicators of rural social stability. The empirical results indicate that the new round of land titling has significantly reduced the incidence of rural disputes. Mechanism analysis suggests that increased household income, strengthened bargaining power of farmers, and reduced infringements on property rights are the primary channels through which land titling mitigates rural conflicts. Furthermore, the effects are more pronounced in villages characterized by balanced clan power, larger income disparities, and non-suburban locations. These findings highlight the importance of consolidating land property rights and integrating them with local governance to sustain rural social stability.