Land Inequality and Its Influencing Factors in Rural China in Modern Times: A Systematic Review

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The article takes for granted many of the concepts that are handled in the work, but a reader who is not an expert in the history of China does not have to know them. The very periodization chosen for the bibliographic review proposed by the work can be confusing from an international perspective. The "modern times" in Europe are generally the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, while in China they refer to the period after 1913. However, much of the work is dedicated to the 1930s and 1940s. It should be better clarified what is actually the chosen chronology. And by the way, of course, the reader should be offered a summary of the political context surrounding the period under study.

The bibliographic review that the work proposes is initially well conceived, but it does not get to the heart of the problem that generates or can generate inequality in the distribution of land. There are historical territories in which the concentration of land in very few hands has not generated more poverty than in territories dominated by a more equitable distribution of land. The problem is not, therefore, the quantitative distribution of the land itself, but rather the access rights to the land that property rights generate. From this point of view, more than in the distribution of the land, the authors should influence the models of management, exploitation and transfer of access rights to the land. In this way, it would be possible to delve into the most relevant question that the debate on property inequality should raise: which models of property management generate more poverty?

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

The reviewed article is very interesting. I would like to point out several elements that should help the authors to improve the paper. 

In the reviewer's opinion, the presented article requires reorganization of both the abstract and the main body of the article, which should provide more clarity.   

Please read the Instructions for Authors relating to the sections of the research manuscript, the order and titles of the included sections and follow them.

Please indicate more clearly the originality of the research presented. Do the results of the analysis provide an advance in current knowledge, and to what extent?   

The theoretical framework of the research process pursued would need to be indicated.  

The formatting of the literature should be checked.

What is the nature of the presented study - review article or research article 

Abstract should be organized, it should include 1) research problem (in a general way mentioned topic of the paper), 2) purpose of the paper, 3) method and research area, 4) general description of research results (general conclusions without describing them, what is their contribution to economic practice) 5) it is possible to indicate what new contributions the paper makes to economy and science 

 Introduction. It seems that the introduction should be cleaned up. In a general way, the authors lead the reader into the analyzed research problem (maybe it would be possible to extend it). 

The introduction should include the purpose of the study, time of the study, indication of the choice of research method (should be more clearly indicated). Lack of research questions or research hypothesis makes it difficult to evaluate the article. 

It would be good to indicate the legal aspects of the raised topic.

 Literature review. The reviewer does not quite find this part. 

Throughout the article you can find elements that can be attributed here 

Method and material. Seems to be improved and organized.

It would be good to indicate more clearly the purpose of the paper and why the authors chose the indicated methods of analysis and what are their advantages, disadvantages.

Please state the softwares and their variants used for statistical analysis.

What are the stages of the analysis, and perhaps organize this part according to them.

What are the years of analysis, what is the area of analysis 

Results. What elements (variables) determine the indicated problem?

Based on which land evaluation methods presented in the study (see section 3.3.)

It would be good to clearly indicate what is the point 3, research result or literature review 

In point 3.4. a new method of analysis is presented - which is not mentioned in the material and method section 

What are the factors determining the processes within the presented main topic in the article 

Discussion. What is the nature of the research conducted, national, local, regional? There should be a reference to the research results of other authors.  

 Conclusions . In addition to general conclusions, references to obtained results, indication of problems the authors had during the analysis, or who can use the research, In the conclusions section please indicate the originality of presented research.  Do the results of the analysis provide an advance in current knowledge, and to what extent? Can the research be related to the international literature, and to what extent? What are the limitations / problems / shortcomings of the implemented study? Who can benefit from the presented research results?

In this section the authors refer to the Giani coefficient - no description in the material and method section 

References. Please refer to the Instructions for Authors on MDPI reference writing style and application.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The author's responses to my revision suggestions are convincing and show that the new version of the manuscript has taken them into account.

Author Response

Thank you very much for the valuable suggestions of the reviewer. According to modifications of  the reviewer, the quality of our articles has been greatly improved. In addition, we would like to thank the reviewer for recognition and affirmation of our revision work.