What Stayers Do? Capital Endowments and On-Farm Transitions in Rural China

While much research on China has focused on rural to urban migration and transitions of rural households away from agriculture, little is known about the changes within the rural agricultural sector. Yet, the agricultural sector continues to account for a large share of employment. We study the determinants of transitions from subsistence farming into either formal agricultural employment or agricultural self-employment. We pay particular attention to the role of capital endowments. We find that financial capital plays a relatively limited role, compared to natural, human, social and political capital