The impact of political status and social capital on herders' overgrazing behaviors in the pastoral areas of China

Abstract

Overgrazing has become one of the main factors affecting grassland degradation over the past two decades in China. To solve this problem, the government has implemented a grassland ecological compensation policy and grazing monitoring system that is highly dependent on rural cadres. However, few studies have analyzed the impact of political status (rural cadres' identity) on overgrazing. This study reveals the impact of political status on herders' overgrazing behavior. It evaluates the moderating effect of social capital on this impact using a linear regression model based on survey data from 640 herder households in Inner Mongolia, Gansu, and Qinghai, China. The results show that herders with political status are more likely to overgraze. The level of trust in rural cadres has a positive moderating effect on the influence of political status on herders' overgrazing. Small farms with political status are more likely to overgraze compared to large farms. Grazing monitoring by local government can reduce the overgrazing of herders with political status and weaken the positive effects of political status and the trust level in rural cadres regarding overgrazing. Therefore, local governments should monitor more strictly grazing activities for herders with political status, especially those with small grassland scales, and pay more attention to the role of herders' social capital in constructing a sustainable grassland governance mechanism.

Keywords: China; Herders; Overgrazing; Political status; Social capital.