Analysis of Farmers’ Preference for the Transfer of Forest Rights Based on the Selective Experiment Method

This study used the selective experiment method to analyze the preference and acceptance of 478 households in 10 sample counties in Liaoning Province for different transfer rights. The results show that: the price of forestland transfer, the number of forestry supportive policies, the degree of urban and rural social security coordination, the possibility of going out to work, the difficulty of being a city-dweller, and the degree of closure of resources utilization policies have significant impacts on farmers’ preference for forestry rights transfer, of which forestland is transferred out. The impacts of price, the number of forestry supportive policies, urban and rural social security planning, and the possibility of going out to work are positive, whilst the impacts of the difficulty of settling in the city and the degree of closure of resource utilization policies are negative. The forest land area per family, forestry subsidies and total household income significantly influencing the farmers’ preference for the transfer of forest rights, of which, the impact of household forestland area on farmers’ willingness to transfer forest rights is negative, whilst the impact of forestry subsidies and total household income is positive. It is suggested that, to promote farmers’ outflow of forest rights, related supporting policies should be improved, and we must coordinate the urban and rural welfare levels to protect the basic living and welfare of farmers.