Based on survey data from 327 rural households in the areas affected by the Wenchuan Earthquake and Lushan Earthquake in Sichuan Province, this study systematically analyzed disaster risk perception, sense of place, evacuation willingness, and relocation willingness among residents in these earthquake-stricken areas. Further, this study constructed an ordinal logistic regression analysis to probe the correlations between residents’ disaster risk perception or sense of place and evacuation willingness and relocation willingness, respectively. The results showed that (1) faced with the threat of earthquake disasters, residents have a strong willingness to evacuate and relocate. Specifically, 93% and 78% of the residents in the Wenchuan Earthquake and Lushan Earthquake areas were willing to evacuate and relocate, respectively, whereas 4% and 17% of the residents were unwilling to evacuate and relocate, respectively. (2) Place dependence and the severity of disaster occurrence were significantly positively correlated with residents’ evacuation willingness, while the interaction term between place dependence and the severity of disaster occurrence was negatively related to residents’ evacuation willingness. Specifically, when everything else remains constant, every one-unit increase in place dependence and severity corresponds to increases in the odds of willingness to evacuate by factors of 0.042 and 0.051, respectively; every one-unit increase in place dependence × severity corresponds to a decrease in the odds of willingness to evacuation by a factor of 0.004. (3) Place identity was significantly negatively correlated with residents’ relocation willingness, while place dependence and severity of disaster occurrence were positively related to residents’ relocation willingness. The interaction term between place dependence and the severity of disaster occurrence as well as the interaction term between place identity and severity of disaster occurrence were significantly negatively correlated with residents’ relocation willingness. Specifically, every one-unit increase in place identity corresponds to a decrease in the odds of willingness to relocate by a factor of 0.034, while every one-unit increase in place dependence and severity corresponds to increases in the odds of willingness to relocate by factors of 0.041 and 0.028, respectively, and every one-unit increase in place dependence × severity and place identity × severity corresponds to decreases in the odds of willingness to relocate by factors of 0.003 and 0.003, respectively.

Rural households are micro-organizational systems that are composed of different family members. Against a background of fragmented land patterns and massive labor migration in China, it is of great significance for the sustainable development of regional economies to explore the optimal selection of livelihood strategies by rural households. Using a survey containing data from 8031 rural households from 27 provinces in China, this study analyzed the characteristics and spatial distribution trends of the land management scale, family life cycle, and livelihood strategy selection of rural households, and constructed Tobit econometric models to explore the correlations among these factors. The results show: (1) Rural households’ land management scale was primarily small-scale and, as it expanded, the proportion of the total cash income coming from agricultural activities increased. A relative majority of rural households were in the middle period of the family life cycle, and relatively few rural households were in the starting and empty nest periods. The proportion of the total cash income of rural households coming from agricultural pursuits while in the stable and the empty nest periods was relatively large, reaching 40.51% and 38.92%, respectively. In most provinces sampled, rural households’ livelihood strategies were non-agriculturally based, and the land management scale was mainly less than 0.67 ha. (2) Rural households’ land management scale positively correlated with their livelihood strategy selection. When other conditions remained unchanged, with every 1 ha increase in land management scale, the proportion of agricultural cash income in total family cash income increased, on average, by 3.7%. In comparison with rural households in the empty nest period, the proportions of agricultural cash income in the total family cash income of rural households in other family life cycles were relatively small. Specifically, for rural households in the starting, rearing, burden, stable, and maintenance periods, the proportion of agricultural cash income in the total family cash income decreased, on average, by 6.8%, 6.7%, 9.2%, 3.5%, and 16.3%, respectively.

Based on the survey data of 540 peasants in Sichuan Province, the probit and unordered multi-classification logistic model regression models were used to explore peasants’ differentiation on the transformation of willingness and behavior of land transfer and to provide a theoretical and empirical basis for promoting land intensification and large-scale management. The results show the following: (1) There is a significant negative correlation between the intention and behavior of part-time peasants, multiple occupations peasants, and non-agricultural peasants. (2) Part-time peasants and non-agricultural peasants promoted the change in willingness and behavior of land transfer out; part-time peasants, multiple occupations peasants, and non-agricultural peasants all promoted the willingness and behavior transformation of land transfer in. (3) The heterogeneity analysis results show that different household heads ages, the proportion of labor force in the total population of the household, and the terrain of cultivated land significantly impact peasants’ willingness and behavior of land transfer. Peasants’ non-agricultural differentiation is an important way to promote the rapid development of land transfer. The government should strengthen skills training and guidance services, broaden the channels for peasants to increase income, optimize the market environment of land transfer, and improve the social security system related to land transfer in order to promote the industrialization and large-scale development of agriculture.

Land consolidation (LC) is a major land policy in China, yet “consolidated but still abandoned” farmland remains observed in some hilly areas, implying that engineering upgrading alone may be insufficient to sustain cultivation. This study argues that LC affects abandonment not only by improving plot conditions but also by reshaping the feasibility and organization of mechanized operations through socialized agricultural machinery services. Using a 2024 micro-survey of 1167 households and 5014 plots in hilly Sichuan, we develop and test a framework linking “LC–machinery service scale–abandonment behavior”. Machinery service scale is measured by service depth, service breadth, and service quality. Empirical results show that LC significantly lowers plot abandonment. LC increases all three service dimensions, but abandonment reduction is mainly transmitted through deeper and broader service provision, rather than service quality. Moreover, LC is more effective for flat and remote plots and among ordinary smallholders, highlighting strong context dependence. These findings contribute micro-level evidence that integrating LC with service system development is crucial for translating land engineering improvements into sustained land use in hilly rural China.

Reducing farmland abandonment and improving land resource utilization efficiency are critical pathways for safeguarding national food security. This study aims to identify the mechanism through which Land Consolidation (LC) affects farmers’ abandonment behavior at the land parcel scale, providing empirical evidence for improving LC policies and optimizing abandonment governance strategies. Using micro-survey data from 5014 land parcels in Sichuan Province collected in 2024, this study employs Probit, IV-Probit, and other econometric models to conduct empirical analysis, combining mechanism tests and heterogeneity analysis to systematically evaluate the suppression effects of LC. The results show that: (1) On the whole, LC significantly inhibits farmers’ abandonment behavior, with a notable decrease in the probability of abandonment for renovated land parcels. (2) The mechanism analysis indicates that LC alleviates farmers’ resource constraints and labor bottlenecks by expanding parcel size, operational scale, and improving the degree of land parcel consolidation, thereby reducing abandonment risk. (3) The heterogeneity analysis reveals that LC shows stronger suppression effects on abandonment behavior in flat land parcels, remote land parcels, and among ordinary farmers. In conclusion, LC is not only an essential measure for improving land quality and agricultural production efficiency but also a key policy tool for reducing farmers’ abandonment, stabilizing land use, and ensuring food security. Future efforts should promote targeted consolidation strategies, strengthening differentiated governance for varying land attributes and farmer types to achieve accurate and efficient abandonment management.