Effects of host country resource endowment and labor cost on China's investment in overseas cultivated land

Although numerous linear regressions have been conducted to identify driving forces of farmland investment, this study uses panel threshold techniques to explore the nonlinear effects of resource endowment, labor cost, and other potential influencing factors on China's investment in farmland in 40 foreign countries during the period 2008-2016. Results show that increased resource endowment promotes China's investment in overseas farmland, but the correlation gradually weakens in magnitude as levels increase. A lower labor cost attracts greater Chinese investment in farmland, but the degree of influence declines with the continued increase in labor cost. Further, host country corruption, infrastructure level, and urbanization ratio have significant negative impacts on investment, whereas an increase in China's overall economic power significantly increases overseas farmland investment. Policy implications are proposed with respect to implementing environmental responsibility in host countries, creating comprehensive risk assessments, and optimizing the structure of overseas investment portfolios.