Zhou, XiaoshiMa, WanglinRenwick, A.Li, Gucheng2021-01-252019-02-152019-02https://hdl.handle.net/10182/13273Off-farm work plays a significant role in diversifying rural income and reducing risks generated from relying solely on agricultural production. Prior studies have examined the association between off-farm work participation and land use behaviors of rural households, but little attention has been paid to the effects of the joint off-farm work decisions of farm couples on land transfer choices. To bridge this gap, this study investigates the determinants of farm couples’ off-farm work participation, using a seemingly unrelated bivariate probit regression model and survey data collected from Hubei province of China. We also estimate the impact of the joint off-farm work decisions of farm couples on land transfer choices by employing a multinomial logit model and controlling for the endogeneity issues of off-farm work variables. The empirical results show that farm couples are jointly making decisions to work off the farm, but their decisions affect household land transfer choices differently. In particular, we show that the husbands participating in the off-farm work are more likely to rent in land, while their wives are less likely to do so. Both the husbands and wives are more likely to rent out land if they work off the farm. Our findings highlight the importance of farm couples’ off-farm work decisions in stimulating the development of rural land rental markets.1-35 (36)en© 2018 Xiaoshi Zhou, Wanglin Ma, Alan Renwick and Gucheng Li. All rights reserved. Readers may make verbatim copies of this document for non-commercial purposes by any means, provided that this copyright notice appears on all such copies.off-farm workfarm couplesland transfer choicesSUBPMNLrural ChinaConference Contribution - published10.22004/ag.econ.285065ANZSRC::0701 Agriculture, Land and Farm ManagementANZSRC::070106 Farm Management, Rural Management and Agribusiness