Agricultural Modernization in China--The Adaptive Evolution of Collective Ownership and the Two-Tier Management System

Abstract

In China's agricultural modernization, the collective ownership system and two-tier management system have formed a unique path
through adaptive evolution. Theoretically, based on public ownership of land, it balances efficiency and coordination via the "combination of
unified management and decentralized operation, " with its adaptability stemming from three factors including institutional flexibility. Historically, it has gone through three stages: the household contract responsibility system broke the planned economy (1978-1992); land transfer
and cooperatives improved the system (1992-2012); and the "separation of ownership, contract right, and management right" drove transformation (since 2012), giving rise to models like Beidahuang and Shouguang. Empirically, it improves economic efficiency, ensures social income growth, reduces chemical fertilizer use ecologically, and breaks Western path dependence. To address issues like "non-grain conversion
of farmland, " measures such as policy adjustment, institutional farmland protection, and collective transformation are adopted to achieve winwin for collectives and farmers and consolidate the institutional foundation.