Search

Energy poverty, especially in rural areas, has become a central focus of scholarly and policy discussions. However, there is a significant gap in understanding the impact of religious beliefs on this phenomenon. This paper aims to fill this gap by utilizing household survey data from the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS) spanning three waves (2012, 2014, and 2016) to examine the causal link between religious beliefs and energy poverty, covering clean energy accessibility and affordability among rural residents. Our analysis unveils a substantial positive influence of religious beliefs on the likelihood of experiencing energy poverty, especially concerning accessibility and affordability. This effect is notably pronounced among males, ethnic minorities, and low-income groups. Low income and education are recognized as pivotal mediating factors through which religious beliefs contribute to energy poverty. The findings of this study offer valuable insights for formulating strategies to mitigate energy poverty in rural China, with a particular emphasis on the role of religious beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given that income disparity is expanding and diet‐related environmental footprints are increasing in urban China, this study aims to investigate the heterogeneity in these footprints across various income classes and examine the effect of income distribution on the total environmental footprints. Based on the quadratic almost ideal demand system model and taking into consideration the problems of endogeneity of food expenditure and zero expenditure, we estimate the income elasticities for 10 food categories across seven income classes and project the diet‐related environmental footprints under seven scenarios for various strategies of the income distribution. The results show that per capita diet‐related environmental footprints are greater for higher income classes than for lower income classes, as the former consume more animal‐based food. Compared with high‐income classes, income growth favouring low‐income classes results in a rather significant increase in diet‐related environmental footprints. With further economic growth, the lowest income group makes the greatest contribution to the increase in diet‐related environmental footprints. Thus, policymakers should promote a more sustainable diet on the road to alleviating income inequality to ensure sustainable environmental development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The popularity of Internet usage in rural China is on the rise while improving the nutritional status of Chinese rural residents remains a major issue due to prevalent unbalanced diets and deficiencies in some nutrients. However, there is a scarcity of empirical evidence linking these two aspects. The relationship between Internet usage and dietary quality remains inconclusive in both developed and developing countries. Using data from a survey of 2053 households in rural China, this paper examines the relationship between Internet usage and dietary quality among Chinese rural residents by employing an endogenous switching regression model to address the issue of selection bias. The empirical results reveal that respondents' gender, age, years of education, and household income significantly influenced their decisions to use the Internet, and Internet usage significantly improve dietary quality of their household. The findings of the heterogeneous analysis show that the impact of Internet usage on dietary quality varies based on respondents' dietary knowledge, per capita annual income, and household food expenditure. Through mechanism analysis, we find that Internet usage can improve the dietary quality by increasing the possibility of online food purchasing and fostering a more positive dietary attitude. [EconLit Citations: I12, O15, O33]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging economies often establish commodity futures markets to discover price signals, manage price risks and improve market integration, but establishing a futures market may not be feasible for agricultural perishables. In this study, we evaluated the function of the world's first fresh fruit futures contract for apples. Combining partial cointegration with state-space modelling, we derived time-varying price discovery metrics for the apple futures market. Our findings revealed a limited and time-varying dominance of price discovery by the futures market, while a substantial share of price discovery occurred in the spot market. Moreover, poor convergence of disaggregated spot prices to the futures price suggests that commercial traders in the apple supply chain tended to focus more on the spot market than on the futures market. Thus, emerging economies should be cautious about the new establishment of futures markets for agricultural perishables. Future research using more specific data on the spot market may provide a better insight on the limited function of the futures market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although universities have expanded in size, it is unclear whether the poor have benefited. If there are high returns to college education, then increasing access of the poor to college has important welfare implications. The objective of this paper is to document the rates of enrollment into college of the poor and to identify the hurdles to doing so. Relying on several sets of data, including a survey of college students from universities in three poor provinces in China, we have found that the college matriculation rate of the poor is substantially lower than students from non-poor families; the same is true for rural women and minorities. Clearly, there are barriers that are keeping the rural poor out. The paper also demonstrates that the real hurdles are not during the years of secondary schooling or at the time of admissions to college. The real impediments keeping the rural poor from pursuing a college education arise long before high school--as early as preschool and elementary school years--and are present throughout the entire schooling system.

Many educational systems have struggled with the question about how best to give out financial aid. In particular, if students do not know the amount of financial aid that they can receive before they make a decision about where to go to college and what major to study, it may distort their decision. This study utilizes an experiment (implemented by the authors as a Randomized Control Trial) to analyze whether or not an alternative way of providing financial aid--by providing an early commitment on financial aid during the student's senior year of high school instead of after entering college--affects the college decision making of poor students in rural China. We find that if early commitments are made early enough; and they are large enough, students will make less distorting college decisions. (Contains 5 tables and 3 figures.)

One of the main features of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) is that certain products are excluded from tariff concessions. But why do some products receive more protection than others in FTAs? In this paper, we use disaggregated agricultural product data and a political economy analytical framework to examine the determinants of product exclusions from tariff reductions in China's FTAs. Taking into account the political costs of the incumbent government, our results show that products associated with trade creation and politically sensitive products are more likely to be excluded from tariff concessions in FTAs. Furthermore, we show that the Chinese government tends to use its negotiating power to achieve various objectives by seeking more economic benefits from large trading partners and making more concessions to small ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Given the fact that the income disparity has become extremely severe in rural China, the purpose of this paper is to examine heterogeneity in food consumption among various income classes and to investigate the impact of changes in income distribution patterns on food demand in rural China.Design/methodology/approach In this study, the authors partition the households into five income classes according to the distribution of household per capita net income. Using household data drawn from the China Health and Nutrition Survey in 2011, a two-stage demand model is applied to estimate a food demand system for each of the income classes. After obtaining the estimated income elasticities of eight studied food groups for each income class, the authors then examine the responsiveness of food demand to the changes in income distribution by means of four scenarios with varying income distribution.Findings The empirical results indicate that substantial differences in food consumption exist across various income classes. Specifically, the lowest-income households are more sensitive to price and income changes for most studied food groups than the highest-income households are. In general, income responsiveness is higher for meats, aquatic products and dairy products. Based on estimated income elasticities, the projected food consumption under different income distribution patterns shows that changes in income distribution have significant influences on food consumption. In addition, the authors conclude that a more equal distribution of income would be associated with a higher demand for food in rural China.Originality/value This paper employs a two-stage demand model to estimate food demand in rural China by income classes. The results imply substantial differences in food demand for various income classes. Therefore, income distribution should be taken into account instead of an average estimation for the population as a whole when investigating food demand in rural China. Given the significant changes in income distribution in rural China, this study provides several important policy implications to alleviate income inequality and poverty, as well as to improve nutrition for lower-income classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether the US Farm Bill 2008 has any impacts on china's agriculture, is highly related to the china's rural poverty alleviation and it deserves to be explored to see what will happen. According the existing empirical studies in the past, we expect that the US Farm Bill 2008 will exert an influence on the agricultural production and rural poverty in developing countries, especially china. In order to fully capture such an effect, we link two equilibrium models together: the multinational CGE model - GTAP and the china's partial equilibrium model -- the china's Agricultural Policy Simulation and Projection Model (CAPSiM). A scenario based on the US Farm Bill 2008 will be constructed and compared with the baseline. A more liberalized scenario is also built for the simulation. The results have shown that the US Farm Bill 2008 has a little positive impact on the china's farmer income, and that the more liberalized the policy is, the more china will benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's rural reforms expose farm households to an increased risk of administrative land reallocation and adjustment. This study explores the impact of land reallocation on technical efficiency, based on a panel data set from rural households in Zhejiang, Hubei, and Yunnan provinces between 1995 and 2002. Our research indicates that the development of a land rental market could serve as a substitute for administrative land reallocation in optimizing the distribution of land resources. The results from the stochastic frontier production function show that land reallocation does have effects on technical efficiency. The different signs for different provinces indicate that the impact of land reallocation on technical efficiency is an empirical issue and depends on the specific institutional settings and the overall economic environment in each province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This work is devoted to the analysis of the different labor market participation regimes of Chinese farm households over the reform process in the 1980s and 1990s. Using household data over the period 1986–2002 from the province Zhejiang, we apply a multinomial logit model to empirically examine household, farm, and regional characteristics affecting the probability that farmers participate in one of four alternative labor market regimes. As generally accepted, off-farm participation is the dominant form of farm households’ labor market participation. But rural households show additionally a significant impact on rural employment mainly linked with non-agricultural household business. Results suggest that labor market decisions are significantly related to several family, farm, and village characteristics. In particular, we find education to be a key determinant of participation. Furthermore, results point to a higher probability of female household members to take up off-farm work. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The work is devoted to the dynamics of labor market participation of Chinese rural households. Based on a theoretical farm household framework the choice between four distinct labor market participation states is empirically analyzed. Using household data over the period 1995–2002 from the province Zhejiang we apply a discrete time hazard approach to analyze households' labor market participation histories. In particular, we investigate the movements between autarky and participation in general and, more specifically, the shifts between part-time and full-time farming. Estimation results suggest significant duration dependence, more precisely, a decreasing risk of moving from one state to another with an increasing time a household occupies one of these states. Further, the likelihoods of starting any participation in labor markets and to start part-time farming are considerably higher than to end participation or to return to full-time farming. In addition, we find that labor market participation decisions are significantly related to several household and farm characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sudden breakout of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) rapidly spread across the globe, leaving no country behind in being affected by the global pandemic in the year 2019–20. As COVID-19 commenced, within months two major Asian giants initiated the norms of social distancing and lockdowns in their societies. The indiscriminate nature of the current pandemic has not only impacted the health and quality of life of people but has also disrupted the global economy, supply chains, and countries all over the world. In food and beverage manufacturing industries, the unanticipated disruption has encumbered its lock on the global food supply chain and service sector as major cities shut down for several months in China and India. Human existence is dependent upon food, which renders energy for activity, growth, and all functions of the body. Although both China and India have shown eminent response to tackle the ongoing pandemic, the food supply chain remains vastly exposed to significant COVID-19 risks. This research primarily investigates the ongoing COVID-19 scenario in two major economies (China and India), delivering insight into the pandemic's impact within the food and beverage manufacturing sectors, and explores the policies adopted and strategies undertaken for sustainability in food supply chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To secure effective and sustainable climate change policies, it is of the utmost importance to create synergies between socioeconomic and environmental development goals. Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) programs are being promoted as a suitable mechanism furthering, among others, carbon offsetting and poverty reduction in ecologically fragile areas of developing countries. Rural households are compensated for the loss of property and business income through income transfers and potential job opportunities connected to environmental programs. While the potential pro-poor effects of such policies are well recognized, the impact of PES on extremely poor households has not been systematically reviewed. Drawing on a pooled cross-sectional dataset of 5225 households in the Province of Sichuan, this paper analyzes the income and distributional effects among poor households in rural China participating in a forest carbon sink (FCS) program. To be able to make causal inferences, we employ an Instrumental Variable (IV) approach to control for potential endogeneity and self-selection. Our results indicate a strong need to adjust the PES program: While moderately poor rural households benefit from program participation, extremely poor rural households, in fact, suffer net losses. The main reason is that income reduction resulting from limited access to forest resources is compensated mainly via wage income from participating in forest tending work. Extremely poor households with low labor ability cannot make use of these job opportunities, and thus they'll not only fail to benefit but even incur losses from a PES program. While PES programs can be a viable tool for poverty reduction in underdeveloped regions due to their overall pro-poorness, they need to be accompanied by additional benefits for extremely poor rural households to avoid net losses among marginalized population groups especially. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forest Farm Carbon Sink (FFCS) projects are one of the effective ways to achieve carbon neutrality and mitigate global warming. Though the existing literature has widely discussed the effect of FFCS on the allocation of agricultural factors, such as land, labor employment structure and income structure, little is known about whether FFCS projects could have an effect on agricultural development. Based on the panel data of 140 counties in Sichuan province, China, from 2002 to 2018, we examined the causal effect on agricultural total factor productivity (TFP), and revealed their dynamic effect and underlying mechanisms. Propensity score matching and the difference in difference (PSM-DID) method were used to address the endogeneity problem of FFCS implementation. Results showed that FFCS projects increased agricultural TFP by 1.7%–2.4%. Health, saving and industrial structure were the important channels through which FFCS projects affect agricultural TFP. Our findings suggest that policies promoting FFCS projects can increase agricultural TFP while achieving environmental goals—a win-win situation. • The causal effect of FFCS projects on agricultural development was examined. • A theoretical framework was constructed to quantify FFCS projects and agricultural development. • FFCS projects significantly increased agricultural TFP by 1.7%–4.9%. • FFCS projects affect agricultural TFP in short term but not in the medium and long term. • Health, saving and industrial structure were the important channels underlying the effect of FFCS projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Many educational systems have struggled with the question about how best to give out financial aid. In particular, if students do not know the amount of financial aid that they can receive before they make a decision about where to go to college and what major to study, it may distort their decision. This study utilizes an experiment (implemented by the authors as a Randomized Control Trial) to analyze whether or not an alternative way of providing financial aid—by providing an early commitment on financial aid during the student''s senior year of high school instead of after entering college—affects the college decision making of poor students in rural China. We find that if early commitments are made early enough; and they are large enough, students will make less distorting college decisions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Although rapid urbanization is often considered as one of the most important drivers for changing dietary patterns, little attention has been paid to rural areas despite the profound transformation they have undergone. Using longitudinal data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) for the period from 2004 to 2011, this study seeks to better understand the relationship between the urbanization of rural areas and dietary transition, with the focus on nutrition intake and dietary quality. Our results suggest that with increasing urbanization, rural residents tend to have on average lower calorie intakes but higher dietary quality. Specifically, increasing urbanization consistently reduces carbohydrate consumption and reduces fat consumption after a turning point; protein consumption first decreases and then increases after the turning point with increasing urbanization. Urbanization shows a significant and positive effect on the Healthy Eating Index (HEI). In addition to sociodemographic changes, we find that changing consumer preferences and knowledge serve as important determinants in explaining the dietary transition in rural China from 2004 to 2011. In our study, urbanization appears to positively affect rural residents' healthy food preferences and dietary knowledge. This study is a first attempt for better understanding the nutrition transition resulting from accelerating urbanization in rural China; several limitations and areas for future research have been highlighted.

Childhood and adolescence overweight and obesity have implications for both health consequences and economic burden. Although it has been an emerging public health problem for primary school children in rural China and the importance of the diet-health link has been stressed for many years, rigorous analysis of the dietary diversity and obesity among children is rare. To clarify this issue, this study provides a better understanding of the functional linkage between dietary diversity and obesity by analyzing data from nearly 8500 rural primary students (aged from 10 to 13 years old) covering three provinces in China. Our estimation results show that there is a significantly negative correlation between dietary diversity and the probability of being overweight among primary students. In particular, for subgroups with higher dietary diversity, the negative correlation between dietary diversity and the incidence of overweight or obesity is stronger, and the absolute value of the coefficient is greater. The results also suggest that the increase in the consumption frequency of all dietary categories can significantly lead to a lower proportion of overweight. Thus, we conclude that higher dietary diversity can help to lower the risk of overweight and obesity among primary school children, presumably through increasing the daily frequency of food intakes and developing a more diverse dietary pattern.