Invisible windfalls and wipeouts: What is the impact of spatial regulation on the welfare of land-lost farmers?

Spatial regulation produces different advantages in areas with different land resource endowments. It also affects the welfare of stakeholders in different regions. Existing studies mainly focus on the "visible" welfare "windfalls" and "wipeouts" caused by spatial regulation, yet pay little attention on the "invisible" effects. This article selects Tianyang County (a key development zone) and Tiandong County (a restricted development zone) as its principal research areas. These areas have been divided as part of China's major function oriented zone (MFOZ) planning. The MFOZ represents the most significant and broad exercise in spatial regulation. These regions located in Baise City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. After applying Sen's feasibility capability theory as the foundation on which to build a theoretical framework, this article calculates and compares the changes in farmers' welfare before and after losing land in the key development zones (weak spatial regulation) and the restricted development zones (strong spatial regulation) by using a fuzzy mathematics method. The impact of spatial regulation on the "invisible" welfare of land-lost farmers is then analyzed. The results show that: (1) differences in spatial regulation produce "windfalls" in the total welfare of land-lost farmers in the key development zones, but "wipeouts" in the restricted development zones; (2) the "visible" welfare of economic income for land-lost farmers are "windfalls" in the key development zones, but are "wipeouts" in the restricted development zones; (3) the "invisible" welfares of social security, development opportunities, living conditions and psychological conditions are "windfalls" for land-lost farmers in the key development zones, but are "wipeouts" in the restricted development zones; (4) the "invisible" welfare of living environments for land-lost farmers are "wipeouts" in the key development zones, but are "windfalls" in the restricted development zones. This study thereby provides evidence-based insights which can enable countries to formulate spatial regulation systems that promote balanced development among regions, and to fully consider the "invisible" welfare compensation of land-lost farmers as part of land expropriation compensation policies. • This paper applies Sen's feasibility capability theory as the foundation on which to build a theoretical framework, and calculates and compares the changes in farmers' welfare before and after losing land in the key development zones (weak spatial regulation) and the restricted development zones (strong spatial regulation) by using a fuzzy mathematics method. The impact of spatial regulation on the "invisible" welfare of land-lost farmers is then analyzed. • This paper makes the following two contributions. Firstly, there is no prior research on the "invisible" welfare "windfalls" and "wipeouts" caused by spatial regulation. This paper reveals that spatial regulation not only directly affects the "visible" welfare, in terms of the economic income, of land-lost farmers, but also indirectly affects their "invisible" welfare. Therefore, this article aims to enrich research on the direct and indirect multi-dimensional welfare impact of spatial regulation on stakeholders. Secondly, the current welfare compensation policies for land-lost farmers formulated in different areas of spatial regulation do not fully take into account the issue of invisible multi-dimensional welfare compensation, such as social security, development opportunities, living conditions, living environment, and psychological conditions. The research underlying this paper can therefore provide valuable data and insights which can help countries to formulate a spatial regulation system that will promote balanced development among regions, and can also provide a reference point for governments to improve welfare compensation policies for land-lost farmers by including invisible multi-dimensional welfare compensation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]