*5.2. Implications*

As mentioned of this study, the reform is not an end, but a method to achieve the ultimate mission. Unlike previous studies, this study focuses on the contribution of reform to agricultural modernization and explores the impact mechanism of reforms on agricultural modernization. It innovatively links the farmland rights system reform with the three objectives of agricultural production, studies the impact mechanism of reform accelerating objectives of agricultural production, and evaluates the effect degree of reform promoting agricultural modernization based on the results. Meanwhile, this study constructs an indicators system to quantitatively analyze the impact of the reform on agricultural modernization, which overcomes the shortcomings of previous studies that excessively relied on the literature and documents to evaluate reform performance. Furthermore, this study sorts out the process of farmland rights system reform from decentralization to centralization in Yuyang District and summarizes the experiences of practice. It does note that the reform is an infant attempt in China, and rural collectives that have completed the shift in farmland rights from decentralization to centralization by market means are still in the minority, so the result of this study confirms the effectiveness of the reform design of the central government and provides some advanced experiences for other regions.

There are some limitations that are deserving of further study. Firstly, agricultural modernization has diverse demands on land use, including production, life, ecology, etc. [54], but this study only explores impact mechanism of farmland reform on agricultural modernization from the perspective of agricultural production, so the choice of study perspective is lack of diversity. Therefore, future studies should attempt to explore the impact mechanism of the reform on agricultural modernization in a comprehensive perspective, including all objectives of agricultural modernization. Secondly, the indicators system for evaluating reform performance constructed in this study is not perfect because of the single perspective of the study. It can only indirectly evaluate the effect of the reform on agricultural modernization by analyzing the impact of reform on agricultural production. Further studies should conduct a comprehensive indicators system based on diverse perspectives for evaluating reform performance. Finally, it is premature to evaluate the result of the reform on the example of one district, so further studies should consider how to explore this issue in a wider space.

#### **6. Conclusions**

In this study, it analyzes the process of promoting the optimal allocation of farmland from the farmland rights system reform from decentralization to centralization based on the shift theory of land rights and analyzes the methods of the new agricultural business entities to promote the agricultural modernization, then deduces the theoretical approach of farmland rights system reform from decentralization to centralization promoting agricultural modernization based on these analyses. Meanwhile, a multi-dimensional indicator system is established to evaluate reform performance. According to a theoretical approach and an indicator system, the reform practice of Yuyang District has been sorted out and evaluated, which proves that the practice is scientific and feasible. The study has shown that the farmland rights system reform from decentralization to centralization has alleviated the fragmentation of farmland and coordinated the new agricultural business entities to develop appropriate scale management of farmland, and it has assisted the pursuit of high level of yield, efficient production, and environment friendly objectives of agricultural production that promote the realization of agricultural modernization. Therefore, the farmland rights system reform from decentralization to centralization is an important prerequisite for agricultural modernization, which indirectly promotes the realization of agricultural modernization.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, L.C.; methodology, L.C. and C.C.; data curation, L.C.; writing—original draft preparation, L.C.; writing—review and editing, L.C., C.C. and B.Z.; supervision, B.Z.; resources, F.Y., W.W. and C.Z. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by the Project with the title of "Research on The Path of Standardized and Efficient Utilization of Land Resources in Yuyang District" from Office of Policy Research of Yuyang District in Yulin City of Shaanxi Province in China, 2022 Soft Science Project of Agricultural Collaborative Innovation and Promotion Alliance of Shaanxi Province in China (No. LMR202203), Key Research and Development Program of Shaanxi province in China (No. 2022ZDLNY02-01) and Project of Yulin Agriculture and Rural Bureau of Shaanxi Province in China (No. YLYHYTYQY2022).

**Informed Consent Statement:** Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

**Data Availability Statement:** The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to management rules of research group.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **Notes**


#### **References**


**Yaya Jin 1, Bangbang Zhang 1,\*, Hanbing Zhang 2, Li Tan <sup>3</sup> and Jialin Ma <sup>1</sup>**


**\*** Correspondence: bangbang.zhang@nwafu.edu.cn

**Abstract:** The project-based construction land-use policy of 'increasing versus decreasing balance' (IVDB) is pivotal to easing the contradiction between urban and rural land in China. Understanding the relationship between the scale and revenue of the balanced quota is crucial for increasing the efficiency of quota-allocated, and further improving, IVDB performance. However, existing studies have rarely revealed the impact of the balanced quota's scale on its revenue, supported through empirical evidence. In this study, we analyzed the relationship between the scale and revenue of the balanced quota and used the quadratic econometric model to explore the inverted U-shaped impact of the scale of the balanced quota on the revenue of the 1907 IVDB projects in Zhejiang province. The results show that: (1) the relationship between the quota's scale and the revenue shows an inverted 'U' type in Zhejiang. On the premise of considering three control variable groups, the optimally balanced quota of Zhejiang province is 7.19 ha. (2) There is spatial heterogeneity in the optimal scale of the balanced quota in Zhejiang and the appreciated scale of the quota in northeast and southwest Zhejiang is 9.50 ha and 6.03 ha, respectively. Then we discussed problems associated with the scale and revenue of the project-based balanced quota under the implementation of the IVDB policy. The study enriches the performance analysis of IVDB policy from the point of view of economic perspective and tries to provide a scientific basis for the appropriate size quota for local government. Finally, comprehensive consideration of inputs to allocate the balanced quota, optimizing the rural resettlements spatial planning, and strengthening central-government supervision is put forward.

**Keywords:** increasing versus decreasing balance (IVDB); balanced quota; revenue; inverted U-shaped curve; Zhejiang province
