Can grassland rental achieve a win-win situation between livestock production and grassland ecological conservation? Evidence from pastoral areas in Northern China

Achieving coordination between grassland ecological conservation and livestock production is a global concern. Based on the survey data for 818 herders in China, we empirically analyzed grassland rental’s (GR) impact on herders’ technical efficiency (TE) and overgrazing under a unified framework. Results indicate that GR offers concurrent benefits of improving TE and reducing overgrazing; it helps to achieve a win-win situation between livestock production and grassland conservation. However, GR does little to promote TE by reducing overgrazing. Further analysis reveals that GR’s promotion effect on TE and the inhibition effect on overgrazing are heterogeneous among different income groups and grassland types. GR plays a stronger role in improving TE and reducing overgrazing by low-income herders, which is conducive in narrowing the animal husbandry development gap between rich and poor. The key policy implication is that GR should be encouraged under the condition of strengthening supervision.