Feminization of Agriculture,Relational Exchange,and Perceived Fairness in China: A Case in Guangxi Province*

Abstract This study examines the inconsistency between the unequal allocation of family labor and a lack of perceived unfairness among spouses of male‐outmigrant couples in rural Guangxi, China. It explores relational (versus transactional) exchange processes conditioned by husband‐wife mutual dependence. Using both qualitative and quantitative data collected in three villages, this study finds that among male‐outmigrant couples the gendered division of labor‐“men work and women plough”‐serves as a collective strategy to cope with poverty. Consequently, instead of engaging in direct exchange using privatized resources, marriage partners indirectly reciprocate each other through culturally prescribed family roles. Relational exchange emphasizes the equality of obligations and nonmarket strategies, which are likely to strengthen relational harmony by enhancing marriage partners' appreciative feelings of each other's contributions to the well‐being of the family, thus promoting perceived fairness despite the uneven allocation of family tasks.