Is the feminization of labor harmful to agricultural production? The decision-making and production control perspective

作     者：LIU Jia-cheng XU Zhi-gang ZHENG Qiu-fen Lillian Hua 

作者机构：School of Economics and ManagementNanjing Agricultural UniversityNanjing 210095P.R.China School of Public HealthYale UniversityNew Haven 06510USA 

出 版 物：《Journal of Integrative Agriculture》 (农业科学学报（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2019年第18卷第6期

页      面：1392-1401页

核心收录：

学科分类：0710[理学-生物学] 0832[工学-食品科学与工程（可授工学、农学学位）] 0830[工学-环境科学与工程（可授工学、理学、农学学位）] 1004[医学-公共卫生与预防医学(可授医学、理学学位)] 0905[农学-畜牧学] 09[农学] 0906[农学-兽医学] 0901[农学-作物学] 0703[理学-化学] 0902[农学-园艺学] 0713[理学-生态学] 

基　　金：supported by the the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71573133, 71673047 and 71473122)the Center for Food Security Research of Nanjing Agricultural University the Center for Cooperative Innovation of Modern Grain Circulation and Security of Jiangsu Province, China 

主　　题：feminization agricultural labor production decision-making control production management control 

摘      要：Even today,academics continue to debate the effect of feminization of agricultural labor force on agricultural output.By considering the dimensions of participation in decision-making and production,this study divides the various agricultural production models into three types:(i)the traditional model of decisions made either jointly by men and women or by men alone while both genders participate in production,(ii)complete feminization of agricultural decision-making and the production labor force,and(iii)feminization of the agricultural production labor force only.This study investigates the effects of combining or separating decision-making and production in regard to agricultural development in the context of feminization of the agricultural labor force.Using follow-up data collected from 2004–2008 by the Ministry of Agriculture of China,we built a comprehensive panel data model to test our hypotheses.Our research shows that in comparison to traditional agricultural households and fully feminized agricultural labor forces,partially feminized production resulted in lower grain yield and technological advancement.The feminization of agricultural labor does not necessarily have a negative impact on agricultural output,especially since heavy manual labor is being increasingly replaced by agricultural machinery and outsourcing of tasks.The degree of feminization of the decision-making and production processes should be an important consideration when evaluating the purported negative effects of the feminization of agricultural labor.