Grassland management of herdsmen’s decision-making——A case of Tibetan Plateau

The study explores the differences of various types of herbsman’s decision-making and the internal mechanism leading to overgraze employing yield and profit maximization theory. A random sample survey was used to construct multi-choice model. The study also analyzes the impact factors including variables of family income, animal husbandry science and technology promotion, inputs of grassland management, industry behavior, and risk awareness on herbsman’s grazing decision-making. The empirical results showed that: 1)Herders’ production decisions were significantly affected by livestock price. However, due to the small price differences between the different quality livestock, herders pursued the breeding stock excessively instead of product’s quality, which led to the failure of grassland grazing policy. 2)The proportion of Yak rearing had maximum marginal effects on breeding stock. Herdsmen would reduce 5.684 unit of breeding stock if increased 1 unit rearing proportion. 3)The majority of herders tended to choose the economic benefits, and looking for ecological benefits simutaneously. Effective improving the regional ecological economic development strategy is the core of the future participation of herders in pastoral areas of Tibet ecological protection and economic development strategies.