Recently, the paper "Absentee Contractual Land Rights: A Political Economy Analysis Based on Empirical Observations", jointly authored by Professor Deng Hongtu (first author) and Dr. Xu Baoliang (corresponding author) from SEM, Duan Yubing (PhD candidate) from the School of Economics and Statistics, Guangzhou University, Dr. Zhao Yan, and Dr. Ma Taichao from the Rural Development Institute, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, has been officially published in Issue 3, 2026 of Management World, a top academic journal in China.

Against the persistent impact of the urban-rural dual structure, a large number of rural laborers have long been employed in cities, leaving their land contractual rights in a de facto "absent" status, which has objectively given rise to the phenomenon of "absentee contractual rights". Based on the analytical logic of Marxist political economy, this paper establishes a complete political economy framework for "absentee contractual rights". It analyzes the formation causes and adverse consequences of this phenomenon, and examines the "deviations in land rights expectation" brought about by industrialization and urbanization under the "separation of three land rights" system among contractors, agricultural operators, and local governments, as well as its substantive impact on the transformation of agricultural production modes and the construction of a modern agricultural management system. On this basis, the paper proposes that strengthening the productive functions of various land rights (and related contracted land) through unified ownership coordination and organizational restructuring can minimize deviations in land rights expectation and its distortions to the greatest extent.

Founded in 1985, Management World is sponsored and supervised by the Development Research Center of the State Council. It ranks first among management academic journals in China’s three major social science journal evaluation systems. In the journal evaluation by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, it is acclaimed as the only "top journal" in management. In terms of international influence, it also ranks first among domestic management journals. The publication of this achievement represents an important breakthrough for our school in constructing an independent knowledge system of Chinese economics and serving the national strategy of integrated urban-rural development.

Editor:Xu Baoliang

Editor in Charge: Shao Hanhua, Zhu Shuye

Reviewer: Wang Yushuai, Fu Zhi