This study examines the impact of granting forest certificates on farmer income. Linear regression and mediating effect models were used to analyze repeated survey data of 505 households in 50 villages in Jiangxi Province in 2017 and 2018. We examined the impacts of granting forest certificates on forestry income and the total income of rural households, taking into account forestland leases. We draw the following conclusions: first, granting forest certificates has a significant positive effect on total household income but not on forestry income. Second, farmers prefer forestland leasing in their behavior. Granting forest certificates can promote forestland lease out, but the effect on forestland lease in is not obvious. Third, granting forest certificates contributes to the increase in total household income through forestland lease out. Our analysis suggests that the government should increase the proportion of granted forest certificates and improve the policies related to the lease of forestland so as to realize an increase in farmer income.

Although collective forest tenure reform (CFTR) has improved the legal tenure security of forestland, its impact on increasing farmers’ income is unsustainable. This study used a multiple linear regression model to empirically analyze data from 505 farmers in Jiangxi Province, examining the impact of legal, actual, and perceived tenure security on rural household income, and incorporating migration into the framework. The findings indicate that both actual and perceived tenure security have a substantial positive impact on the total rural household income and forestry income. However, it is worth noting that legal tenure security only has a positive effect on forestry income. Furthermore, outside-of-county labor migration can serve as a mediator for the income effects of actual and perceived tenure security. However, the mediating effect of intra-county labor migration is not considerable. The study found that the increase in income due to the security of actual tenure security is significant for the group of people who own less than 50 mu of forestland. However, both actual and perceived tenure security have a significant impact on income for the group of people who own more than 50 mu of forestland. The aforementioned findings indicate that, in the ongoing extensive advancement of collective forest right reform, it is crucial to prioritize the execution of forest reform policies at the local level and enhance farmers’ awareness and comprehension of said policies. In addition, the government should enhance the monitoring system for policy implementation and intensify efforts in publicizing these policies, in order to fully utilize the benefits of CFTR.

With the increasing occurrence of labor migration (LM), off-farm employment has emerged as a crucial means to augment the income of agricultural households, bridge the urban-rural divide, and achieve rural regeneration. This study utilized a multiple linear regression model and quantile regression model to examine the effect of LM location on rural households’ income. The analysis is based on research data from Jiangxi Province in 2018. The outcomes reveal that both intra-country LM and outside-of-county LM could make a substantial contribution to the increase of overall household income. However, the coefficient of impact for outside-of-county LM is greater. The findings of this study successfully passed the rigorous tests for robustness and endogeneity. Furthermore, the quantile regression analysis indicates that the greatest income-generating impact of intra-county LM occurred at the 90% quantile, whereas the highest income-generating impact of outside-of-county LM appeared at the 75% quantile. The study aims to determine if there is a variation in the income impact of LM in samples with distinct features. Specifically, it investigated the scale of forestland management and the LM of the household head. The results show that the promotion effect of intra-county LM on the total income of rural households was only observed in the sample group with a forestland area larger than 50 mu. Additionally, outside-of-county LM could only promote the growth of the total income of rural households in the sample group in which the head of household has not experienced labor migration. Hence, to enhance the growth of income for rural households amidst China’s urbanization, policymakers should facilitate the controlled migration of labor from rural areas to urban areas while also encouraging the migration of labor within rural areas.