Reform of Collective Land for Construction and Rental Housing and the Growth of Farmers’ Property Income: Evidence from China

Increasing farmers’ income has always been the core task of China’s land reform. In 2017, a nationwide pilot project on the use of collective construction land for the construction of rental housing was launched. This study employed the synthetic difference-in-differences method to examine whether the reform contributed to the growth of farmers’ property income. It was found that, compared with non-pilot areas, the property income of farmers in the pilot reform of collective construction land rental housing has increased by about 0.4334% on average, and this conclusion is still valid after a series of robustness tests. The role of the reform in promoting farmers’ property income is more evident in Western China, Southern China and non-major grain-producing areas. By revealing the impact of the reform on farmers’ property income, this paper enriches the literature related to the field of farmers’ income increase and provides a policy reference for narrowing the urban–rural gap and achieving the development of rural revitalization and common prosperity.