Can the 'Separation of Three Rights' Reform Promote Common Prosperity? —A Perspective Based on the Urban-Rural Income Gap

Abstract

Narrowing the income gap between urban and rural areas is the focus of China's common prosperity. The "Three Rights Separation" policy of rural land has improved the enthusiasm of all subjects to manage land by liberalizing the right to manage land, which will inevitably have an important impact on the income gap between urban and rural residents. Its degree of impact and mechanism of action deserve in-depth study. Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2005 to 2021, this paper first uses a continuous dual difference model to test the impact of the "Three Rights Separation" policy of rural land on the income gap between urban and rural areas; Secondly, by building a panel fixed effect model, this paper explores the mechanism of the "Three Rights Separation" policy of rural land on the income gap between urban and rural areas. The results show that the "Three Rights Separation" policy of rural land has significantly narrowed the income gap between urban and rural areas in China's provinces, which is still valid after the robustness test; The analysis of heterogeneity shows that the negative impact of the policy of "Three Rights Separation" of rural land on the income gap between urban and rural areas is more significant in areas with moderate income gap between urban and rural areas and balanced income gap between urban and rural areas; The analysis of impact mechanism shows that the policy of "Three Rights Separation" of rural land mainly plays a role in narrowing the income gap between urban and rural areas by improving the level of agricultural mechanization. In the process of agricultural and rural modernization, China should adhere to measures such as liberalizing rural land management rights and protecting farmers' land rights and interests, and explore the way to achieve common prosperity in the coordinated development of "three rights" subjects.