Making good use of idle rural residential land is of great significance for the economical and intensive use of rural land and the comprehensive realization of rural areas. Based on the data from China Land Economic Survey (CLES), this study employs the Probit model and mechanism testing model to systematically examine the revitalization effect and specific mechanisms of idle rural residential land from the perspective of new agricultural business entities development. Results show that the development of new agricultural business entities significantly promotes the revitalization of rural residential land. The underlying mechanism is that these entities influence farmers’ decisions to revitalize idle residential land by promoting farmland transfer-out and employment. Further analysis shows that the revitalization effect of new agricultural business entities exhibits significant group heterogeneity. Specifically, the effect is more pronounced among farmers in plain areas, inner suburbs, and older-generation. Based on these findings, this study proposes to take the cultivation and expansion of new agricultural business entities as the starting point to drive the revitalization of rural residential land, strengthen the coordinated design of policies related to farmland transfer, farmers’ employment and rural residential land, and accurately identify the entities and objects for revitalizing and utilizing rural residential land to enhance policy effectiveness. This study provides new ideas for revitalizing idle rural residential land and is also of reference significance for countries in sub-Saharan Africa and developing countries in Southeast Asia.
Zheng et al. (Tue,) studied this question.