Research on World Agricultural Economy

Assessing the Impact of Land Titling Policy on Population Urbanization in China: Empirical Analysis Based on a Time-varying DID Model

Cong Ju

Ju

Lu Zhang

School of Economics and Management, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510640, China

Shen Yuan

School of Economics and Management, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China

Jorge Ruiz-Menjivar

Department of Family, Youth, and Community Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; Global Lab on Economic and Behavioral Research, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36956/rwae.v7i1.2386

Received: 25 June 2025; Published: 4 January 2026

Abstract

This study aims to investigate how land titling influences population urbanization in China, with a particular focus on the mechanisms and regional heterogeneity of this effect. While previous research on population urbanization has primarily examined factors attracting people to cities, fewer studies have explored institutional barriers that limit rural-to-urban migration. The land titling policy implemented by the Chinese government represents a major institutional reform that can ease such constraints by enhancing rural residents’ land tenure security. Using panel data from 31 provinces in China from 2006 to 2020, this study employs a time-varying difference-in-differences (DID) model to estimate the impact of land titling on population urbanization. The empirical results show that: (1) Land titling can promote population urbanization. (2) Land titling contributes to population urbanization by strengthening livelihood security and increasing income. (3) The more economically developed an area is, the more the population urbanization can be promoted by land titling. (4) the impact is greater in non-major grain-producing areas than in major grain-producing areas. Policy implications including setting up land rights adjustment committees in developed eastern regions; providing legal aid in less developed areas; establishing standardized land transfer platforms; forming land trusteeship cooperatives in major grain areas; linking land titling with employment support.

Keywords: Property Rights; Urbanization Rate of Registered Population; Livelihood Security; Income; Regional Heterogeneity

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