Does Land Transfer Enhance the Sustainable Livelihood of Rural Households? Evidence from China
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report (New Reviewer)
The paper has great interest but olny 2 points needs to be clear
1) sustainability it is 3 parts (ecology economy social) about environmental sustainability you touched in the lines 81 and 166 but no in results and conclusion
2) second point - indicator Average health status of the workforce with the scale-- 1 = very poor, 2 = poor, 3 = fair, 4 = better, 5 = very good
Please give explanation more clear in the paper why this indicator is objective? (yu have this indicator in 1.2.3.. tables
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Reviewer 2 Report (New Reviewer)
Authors probed the impact of land transfers on livelihoods by following before and after approach. They developed livelihood index and assessed the livelihoods and found that land transfer enhance the livelihoods index.
The paper as such is good and publishable. But one additional argument needs to be incorporated in the discussions. That is livelihoods improvement after land transfer is a function of locational characteristics like nearness to urban centres. Is there is no urban centre and no employment opportunities there is little possibility of livelihoods improvement after land transfer. See and cite the paper Reddy, A. A. (2018). Involuntary resettlement as an opportunity for development: the case of urban resettlers of the New Tehri Town. Journal of Land and Rural Studies, 6(2), 145-169.
Also regarding livelihoods index, please discuss how it is different from Farmers Distress Index.
moderate editing is required.
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This manuscript is a resubmission of an earlier submission. The following is a list of the peer review reports and author responses from that submission.
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Nice paper! Only few suggestions and comments.
1. Clarify how recent is the land transfer phenomena in China, who is considered the owner or user of agricultural land, what is the juridical base of land transfer.
2. Provide a brief information about the scale of land transfer process in China with reference to the studied province (how many families involved since the and transfer allowed).
3. I have doubt that the 'family size' variable could be relevant for this study. To my mind, because of demographic policy, until the very recent years there was no difference in family size because of "one family - one child" principle (except ethnic minorities regions).
Author Response
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Reviewer 2 Report
1. The term Land Transfer is used 91 times in the paper but is never defined. We need to know specifically what this means in the China context.
2. integrated integration? What does this mean?
3. The weighting process is not justified or clearly explained. Why this approach and not others.
4. Citation of sources justifying and supporting methods is very weak.
5. Many assertions of fact and theory are not supported by citation.
6. Long paragraphing imposes inordinate costs on the reader. Keep paragraphs focused with 3-5 sentences.
7. Sampling descripts says that the townships were stratified. By what dimension and how picked? See Rossi et al. Handbook of Survey Research, see Sudman or one of the other chapters on Sampling.
8. Given lack of citations, many of the measurement and analytic choices seem manufactured for the occasion. Clear, nominal definitions needed for terms and approaches.
9. There is a good paper here, but the reader needs more clarification and direction to follow what was done and why.
10. The World Bank has some quality insights into the types and definitions of social capital. Find and incorporate in your discussion. The usage here is a bit superficial, not justified, nor well linked to other research.
11. Paragraph 3.1 is not good science. It uses a lot of buzz words, no citations, a drive-by parade of seeming good practices. Make this honest, forthright, and justified. Critical.
Define key terms with citation.
Some unusual usage without reference to previous research.
Shorter paragraphs will facilitate communication.
Author Response
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Reviewer 3 Report
1. Please pay attention and check if the article is written in accordance with the editorial requirements of the publisher.
2. Editorial changes should be made to the notation of the literature.
3. Have analyzes been compared in other regions/countries? How is it on other continents?
Author Response
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Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
This revision is better, but still has some problems.
In the first use and nominal definition of the term land transfer please use conveyance of property rather than transfer of land. It is a cardinal rule not to use the term in the definition.
Do not use the defiendum in the defiens, i.e. the term to be defined in its definition.
Still problem with extraordinarily long paragraphs. 3-5 sentence please. Digestible chunks of thought. Does the author want to inform or confound the reader?
You may enjoy a quality steak, but you do not eat it in three bites.
In the sampling, spell out PPS on first use. Probability in proportion to size of what? I think you mean population of each successive sampling unit, but if so, say so.
Were the questionnaires dropped off and then picked up by the enumerators? Or what? Did the enumerators review the completed forms with the respondent and clarify incomplete or not understood items? How many contacts were made with each respondent household?
The technical aspects of the weighting are now well-explained. What is still lacking is a clear first sentence that states the motive, intent, or benefit of what is then described.
Minor editing of English language required
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