Authors: Natalie Xiaoqi Liu, Helen X. H. Bao, Lei Feng
Year: 2026
Status: Under Review
PDF: Download
Abstract
The land acquisition system plays a crucial role in the transformation of urban and rural land and the protection of farmers’ interests. Research indicates that justice in acquisition procedures significantly impacts farmers’ satisfaction, though more empirical support is needed. This paper constructs a land acquisition bargaining game model incorporating procedural justice and a “farmers’ land acquisition willingness-psychological preference” model based on farmers’ aversion to inequality. Using data from “Thousand Students, Hundred Villages” Survey in 2021, a hierarchical Logit model is constructed to empirically test the effects of procedural justice and farmers’ psychological preferences on their satisfaction with land acquisition, considering the moderating effect of farmers’ cognitive awareness levels and the heterogeneous impact of the nature of acquisition. The study shows that: (1) In terms of procedural justice, when other variables remain constant, compared to local governments that do not provide advance notice or announcements, those that do increase farmers’ satisfaction with land acquisition by 116.8%; consulting with villagers increases satisfaction by 110.3%; publicly disclosing compensation fees increases satisfaction by 108.2%. Regarding farmers’ psychological preferences, compared to farmers who receive lower compensation than other villages, those who receive equal or higher compensation have a 136.5% higher satisfaction with land acquisition. (2) Compared to farmers who are unaware of land acquisition policies, those who are aware and participate in consultations are, on average, 176.1% more likely to be satisfied with the acquisition compared to those who do not participate. (3) In public welfare land acquisitions, farmers are less concerned with procedural justice and psychological preferences compared to non-public welfare acquisitions. The study suggests continuously improving the transparency of land acquisition information, paying attention to the psychological biases of farmers as bounded rational economic agents, further enhancing farmers’ understanding of land policies, and clearly distinguishing different scenarios of land acquisition purposes. Keywords：Land acquisition satisfaction; procedural justice; psychological preferences; land acquisition system; “Thousand Students, Hundred Villages” * Corresponding author (fenglei@ruc.edu.cn).