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This study examined time-use in off-farm employment of female and male laborers from mountain and upland areas in Sichuan, China. The researchers conducted a tracking survey of 400 households in 2008 and 2012. We calculated the probabilities of rural laborer involving in one of four categories of employment (i.e., on-farm

The sealing performance of gaskets is critical to the safety of PEMFC stacks. Leak through the interface between gasket and BPP or MEA frame has been widely investigated, while gas permeation through gaskets is ignored in most studies. In this work, helium mass spectrometry leak measurement and finite element calculation were used to investigate the leaking and sealing mechanisms. It shows that interfacial leak and gas permeation of gaskets could be distinguished by their difference in terms of steady-state flow rate and stabilization process. Gas permeation is the main leak path of gaskets. The permeation flow rate is non-negligible for the safety of fuel cell stacks and needs to be considered when designing gaskets.

In this study, key aroma compounds of low-salt fermented sour fish were characterized using headspace solid-phase micro extraction (HS-SPME) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), odor activity values (OAV) and aroma recombination and omission experiments. Eighty-eight volatile compounds, including esters, aldehydes, alcohols, acids, furans and pyrazines, were identified by HS-SPME-GC-MS. Eighteen aroma-active compounds were quantified by employing calculation of OAV greater than 1. A recombination aroma model prepared using aroma-active compounds based on the odorless fish matrix sensorially matched the aroma of fermented sour fish with a score of 4.5 out of 5. The omission experiment showed that 7 out of 18 compounds had a significant contribution to the overall aroma (P 0.05). The key aroma compounds of fermented sour fish were concluded to be ethyl acetate (OAV = 189), ethyl hexanoate (OAV = 66), isoamyl acetate (OAV = 424), ethyl butyrate (OAV = 26), hexanal (OAV = 49), 1-hexadecanal (OAV = 14) and 2-pentylfuran (OAV = 13).

Based on the disordered multi-class logistic regression model, using the data from the rural household survey conducted by the Sichuan Rural Development Survey Team in 2016, we analyzed the impact of human capital and social capital on the rural division of labor and gender division of labor in China. In general, human capital factors and social capital factors have important influences on rural family division decision-making and gender division of labor: the improvement of education level promotes the choice of non-agricultural work for both husband and wife. The overall family labor force has a negative impact on the choice of the wife to engage in non-agricultural work alone. Compared with men, women’s family division is affected by more kinds of social capital. The conclusion provides an important policy idea for promoting the rural labor force to achieve stable employment and urbanization strategies in the non-agricultural sector and to promote rural revitalization.

Research on the sustainable livelihoods of rural households is of great significance to mitigating rural poverty and reasonable land expropriation policy helps to realize better livelihoods and sustainable development. Scholars have conducted considerable research on the relationships between land expropriation and farmers’ livelihoods. However, few quantitative studies have used the characteristics of villages as control variables to systematically analyze the impact of land expropriation on farmers’ livelihood capital and strategy in the mountainous and hilly regions of China. This study uses the Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Model (PLS- SEM) to systematically explain the impact of land expropriation on farmers’ livelihoods in mountainous and hilly regions of Sichuan in 2013, with the characteristics of the village including income, accessibility and terrain as control variables. The analysis uses both representative sample data of 240 rural households and spatial data calculated using a 30 m Digital Elevation Model (DEM) by Geographic Information System (GIS). Results are as follows: (1) The land expropriation characteristics are negatively affected by village accessibility. Villages with worse accessibility tend to have fewer land parcels and less land area expropriated. Additionally, land that is expropriated from inaccessible villages tends to receive less compensation. (2) Natural capital is negatively affected by number and area of land expropriation. Natural capital is not only directly affected by village accessibility, but also indirectly affected by village accessibility through the mediating effect of the number and area of land parcels expropriated. (3) Physical capital is positively affected by compensation for land expropriation, and negatively affected by village accessibility through compensation for land expropriation. The worse a village’s accessibility/location is, the less compensation it will receive for land expropriation, resulting in lower physical capital. (4) Financial capital is negatively affected by village accessibility indirectly through compensation for land expropriation. The better the village’s accessibility is, the greater is its compensation for land expropriation and, hence, the greater is its financial capital. (5) Social capital is directly and negatively affected by the number and area of land parcels expropriated, and is indirectly and positively affected by village accessibility through the number and area of land parcels expropriated. This study enhances our understanding of the characteristics of land expropriation and rural households’ livelihood as well as the impact of land expropriation on rural households’ livelihood. These findings provide reference for the formulation of proper policies related to land expropriation and the improvement of rural households’ livelihoods in the mountainous and hilly regions of China.

This study discovered a novel chitosanase from Penicillium oxalicum M2 based on a new screening strategy. An extracellular chitosanase was isolated and purified from the fermentation broth of Penicillium oxalicum M2. A 19.34-fold purification was achieved on a cation exchange column. Using sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis, chitosanase was determined at approximately 42 kDa without any subunits. The sequence of peptide in the protein was identified as SALNKNYITNFSTLR by MALTI-TOF/TOF MS. The maximum catalytic activity of the purified enzyme was 60.45 U/mg at the optimum pH and temperature of 5.5 and 60 °C. The enzyme activity held stability in the range of 35-50 °C and pH 3-4.5. Ca

Rural settlement development in mountainous areas is the key to eliminating global hunger and poverty. The spatial reconstruction of rural settlements in mountainous areas can promote rural development in mountainous areas. In this study, the Panxi area—a typical mountainous area in China—was chosen as the study area. The driving forces for the spatial reconstruction of rural settlements in mountainous areas were explored from the perspective of peasant households by combining participatory rural appraisal (PRA) with structural equation modeling (SEM). Results showed that: (1) 62.03% of the 266 peasant households included were willing to have spatial reconstruction, indicating that most peasant households in mountainous areas have a very strong intention towards the spatial reconstruction of rural settlements. (2) Infrastructure, medical conditions, living environment, farming culture, and dietary habits significantly influenced the reconstruction intention of peasant households. In contrast, development opportunities, place attachment, language, and living mode each had a slight influence. (3) Geological disasters were the main driving force for the spatial reconstruction of rural settlements in mountainous areas, whilst the driving force of living cohesion was the smallest. This study provides insights for future planning and construction of rural settlements in the Panxi area and spatial reconstruction practices. It has important practical significance for overcoming poverty and realizing rural revitalization in mountainous areas.

An earthquake in the Jiuzhaigou area caused numerous secondary disasters, such as rolling stones, land collapse, landslides and debris flow, which badly affected the safety of human settlements and influenced the spatial layout of the post-disaster reconstruction. Therefore, carrying out assessments of land and identifying a suitable zone for human habitats were very important. This research creates the territorial suitability assessment and function zoning conceptual model in the earthquake-stricken area, and the new methods of the territorial suitability evaluation system were used to divide the spatial functional zones of the earthquake stricken area, which provide a theoretical guidance and decision-making basis for the reconstruction of the disaster area. The results showed that: (1) The Jiuzhaigou earthquake-stricken area comprises of an ecological area that has a high level of importance to the ecosystem. In the earthquake-stricken area, 65% of national land is at an altitude of 3000–4000 m, and therefore not suitable for a high level of intensive reconstruction, but reconstructed in an eco-friendly manner. (2) The zone suitable for reconstruction comprises mainly of the river valley and the flat terrain of western parts. The land with low suitability is mainly located on steep terrain, such as high mountains and low gullies. The geographic and geomorphic conditions limit the spread of a suitable reconstruction zone. (3) The earthquake-stricken area mainly comprises of a tourism industry gathering area, population gathering area, agriculture and animal husbandry development area, and ecological preservation area with areas of 76 km2, 44 km2, 1591 km2 and 7512 km2, respectively. Scientifically zoning the reconstruction areas using scientific evaluation may provide guidance for the location of reconstruction sites.

Research on the association between rural households’ livelihood capitals and livelihood strategies has long been of interest in geography, management, economics, ecology and other disciplines. However, the existing micro-empirical studies are mostly small-scale surveys of rural households; there are much fewer large-scale investigations at the national level. Meanwhile, few empirical studies have analyzed the sensitivity of rural households’ livelihood strategies to various types of livelihood capitals in different types of villages, from the perspective of village type. This study uses survey data from 8031 rural households in 226 villages from 27 provinces (cities) of China; the villages were divided into three types: plain villages, hilly villages and mountainous villages. The livelihood capitals and livelihood strategies of rural households in different types of villages were examined, and ordinal logistic regression models were construed to explore the sensitivity of rural households’ livelihood strategies to various types of livelihood capitals in different types of villages. The results revealed that: (1) the sample of rural households had similar livelihood asset structures and livelihood strategy selections across the different types of villages. Among them, human capital was the most important livelihood asset for rural households, while rural households had the lowest dependence on natural capital; off-farm work was the main livelihood strategy for rural households, followed by on-farm work, while the proportion of households engaged in part-time work was the smallest. (2) Rural households’ livelihood strategies had different sensitivities to various types of livelihood capitals, and there were also differences in the sensitivities among different types of villages. For the total sample, as well as the hill and mountain village sub-samples, human and financial capitals had significant positive impacts on livelihood strategy, while nature and social capitals had significant negative impacts on livelihood strategy; physical capital had no significant impact on livelihood strategy. For the plain village sub-sample, human and physical capitals had significant positive impacts on livelihood strategy, while nature capital had a significant negative impact on livelihood strategy; financial and social capitals had no significant impacts on livelihood strategy. This study enhances our understanding of the characteristics of rural households’ livelihood capital structures and livelihood strategy selections as well as the sensitivity of rural households’ livelihood strategies to various types of livelihood capitals among different types of villages in China. These findings provide reference for the formulation of policies related to the improvement of rural households’ livelihoods in different types of villages.

Background Due to the great burden of family and the conflicts among family, society and career roles resulting from migrant working, rural women suffer more conflicts between work and family and need more social attention. Previous studies of the conflicts between family and work mainly focus on the group of career women, and there is a lack of the research on the conflicts between work and family of rural women, which needs to be systematically and further studied. Methods This study used a sample survey of 380 rural women in rural areas of Sichuan Province to measure rural women’s cognition of work-family, coordination and handling of conflicts, post-conflict choices, and subjective well-being; the study constructs an ordered multi-class logistic regression model to explore the impact of work-family conflict on the subjective well-being of rural women in rural regions. Results The study result shows that: (1) The level of subjective well-being of rural women is generally high, and 70% of women feel satisfied or very satisfied. (2) The factor which impacts the subjective well-being among rural women most is work-interfering-with-family conflict, followed by work-family balance and confidence in conflict coordination. Conclusion This study can enhance our understanding of rural women in rural areas, and provide a reference for formulating policies to improve people’s life satisfaction.

Aging and rural labor migration have become two major demographic features in China. Using data of 400 rural households in Sichuan, China in 2015, this study constructs an ordered probit model containing instrumental variables to analyze the effect of rural labor migration on the health of the elderly in the family, from the perspective of the gender structure of migrant labor. The results indicate that the overall impact of labor migration on the elderly&rsquo, s health is positive, and labor migration in the family has different effects on the health of the elderly by gender. Specifically, the results indicate the following: (1) the joint migration of both male and female labor or the migration of only male labor in a household can have a positive impact, (2) if only female labor migrates, the impact is negative, and (3) although the effect is negative, the migration of only female labor has a more prominent impact on the elderly&rsquo, s self-rated health, whereas the migration of only male labor has a more significant effect on the elderly&rsquo, s activities of daily living. Our findings suggest that the differential influence of labor migration by gender on rural elderly health should be considered to ensure the welfare of the elderly.

The effects of risk perception and sense of place on disaster preparedness have been widely reported. However, most studies have only demonstrated weak relationships and it is unknown whether these are applicable to China. This study investigated such relationships in hazard-threatened areas of the Three Gorges Reservoir area in southwestern China. Data were collected from 348 farming households in landslide-prone areas. Binary logistic and Tobit regression models were constructed to determine whether risk perception and sense of place influence landslide preparedness. The results show that: (1) Farming households’ awareness of the need to prepare for disasters was relatively low, and disaster preparedness behaviors were mainly based on self-learning. Among the 348 sampled households, 67% exhibited no disaster preparedness behavior, and only 2% adopted four of the five types of disaster preparedness behaviors. About a quarter of farming households consciously learned disaster-related knowledge. (2) Risk perception and sense of place had important influences on disaster preparedness. Respondents who received higher scores on the perception of the probability of a landslide, the threat of a landslide, and the place dependence variables were more likely to adopt a greater number of disaster preparedness behaviors. Respondents with higher scores on the perception of controllability in the case of a landslide were less likely to adopt a greater number of disaster preparedness behaviors. Additionally, individual and household socioeconomic characteristics—education, loss, distance from hazard site, information acquisition channel, and housing material—were all related to household disaster preparedness behavior. This study contributes to the current literature by improving the understanding of the relationships of risk perception and sense of place to disaster preparedness in farming households threatened by geological disasters in southwestern China.

Rural household land arrangements under different household divisions of labor were investigated in Sichuan Province, a typical mountainous area of Western China. Survey data were used to construct multinomial logistic regression models of the relationships between the attributes of land plots, farmers' households, and land arrangement behaviors. In this study, (1) a total of 1839 land plots available to 240 farmers were sampled. Among these, 79.61%, 15.88% and 4.51% were cultivated, transferred or abandoned, respectively. (2) There are significant correlations between farming household structure and migration income, as well as land arrangement behaviors. Specifically, the more laborers (Labor) there are, the higher the ratios of farming laborers (Agriculture) and part-time laborers to laborers (Pluriactivity), greater numbers of elderly individuals aged 64 + engaged in household agricultural production (Old), the greater the possibility that farmers would choose family farming. The higher the ratio of migrant labor income to total household income (Ratio), the greater the possibility that farmers would choose land transfer or land abandonment. The higher the ratio of non-agricultural laborers to the laborers (Non-agriculture), the greater the possibility that farmers would choose land transfer. This study furthers our understanding of rural household land arrangement behaviors in mountainous areas in the context of China's unique land rights system and high rates of labor migration.

Aimed at solving the practical problems of the water resource shortage and the unreasonable agricultural planting structure in north China, this research looked at adjusting agricultural planting structure to save water. The agricultural structure of Zhangjiakou was optimised in terms of saving agricultural water, reducing pollution and increasing economic output. Taking “reduction of irrigated land + effective utilisation coefficient of irrigation water + planting structure adjustment” as the optimal path, the optimal agricultural planting structures were determined for water-saving scenarios of 15%, 20% and 30%. (1) Vegetables have the largest economic contribution, reaching 58.94%. Potato has the second-highest economic contribution and the largest water footprint, reaching 2461.41 × 106 m3. (2) Potato, vegetables and corn, with the larger TN pollutant accounting for 36.44%, 18.20% and 17.18%, were the main crops whose planting scales that needed to be reduced, while oil plant, fruit, naked oat and bean were the main crops whose planting scale could be increased. (3) From a comprehensive comparison of the amount of water saved and the benefits to the environment, the 15% water-saving plan was the best, and the cumulative reduction of pollution was 766.40 t. It is essential to adopt a combined approach of reducing irrigated land reduction, controlling crop scale and using water-saving irrigation methods to develop green and efficient water-saving practices and along with the implementation of precision agriculture techniques.

Topography, especially altitude, will influence the way, process and characteristics of land cover changes in mountainous area, simultaneously, the vertical difference of land cover changes will affect soil quality and regional ecological environment. Therefore, the gradient relationship analysis between land cover changes and altitude is very important for regional sustainability. This study investigated land cover dynamics based on land cover data from a typical mountainous area in the Guizhou-Guangxi karst mountain area, China, in 2000 and 2010, then explored the relationship between altitude and land cover change and analyzed different drivers of land cover change at different altitudes. Our findings are as follows. 1) From 2000 to 2010, the total area of land cover transition was 7167.04 km(2) or 2.8% of the region. The increasing area of build-up land (926.23 km(2)) was larger than that of forest (859.38 km(2)), suggesting that the urban construction speed was higher than that of reforestation. 2) Intensity of land cover transition in northwestern Guizhou-Guangxi karst mountain area was much larger than that of southeast part and their transition trend was also significantly different, which was consistent with regional population and economy. 3) Human activity was the most dramatic at altitudes between 0-500 m. For 500-1000 m, grassland mainly converted to forest and build-up land. Area of land cover transition was the greatest between 1000-1500 m, while above 1500 m, the transition of grassland was the most obvious. 4) The drivers of land cover change varied. Land cover change was positively correlated with gross domestic product and population density but was inversely related to relief amplitude. There were correlations between land cover change and distance to roads and rivers, and their correlations varied with altitude. By revealing patterns and causes of land cover changes in different altitudes, we hope to understand the vertical dependence of land cover changes, so as to improve land productivity and protect land ecological environment scientifically.

The poverty vulnerability of peasant households has been a common focus for scholars. However, research on vulnerability, its determinants, and policy implications is still rather limited in developing countries. Based on statistics on peasant households threatened by geological disasters at the Three Gorges Reservoir area, this paper studied external risk impacts on peasant households’ poverty vulnerability with relation to migrant work income. The results show that: 1) Agricultural income loss does not significantly impact peasant household poverty vulnerability. However, geological disaster impacts and housing construction or purchase exert significantly positive influences, acting as the dominant influences on peasant household poverty vulnerability. 2) Savings and migrant work income can significantly reduce the impact of external risks on peasant household poverty vulnerability. To be specific, future consumption for peasants with savings is 47.1% (model 3) and 32.5% (model 5) lower than that for peasants without savings, and with every 1% increase in the proportion of migrant work income, future consumption variance for peasant households falls 25.2% (model 3) and 24.9% (model 5) on average. In addition, social networks have no significant remission effects to the poverty vulnerabilities caused by external risks.

Perceptions of risk and attitudes towards natural disasters have been the focus of considerable research. However, only limited academic attention has been given to landslide risk perception. Previous studies mainly focused on the effects of individual- and household-level characteristics on residents' disaster risk perception, and little attention has paid to the influences of community-level mass monitoring and mass prevention systems, especially on the sub-dimensions of risk perception. We selected peasant households from landslide-threatened regions in the Three Gorges Reservoir area and used a multi-dimensional Likert scale to measure peasant households' disaster risk perception. This paper explores influences on risk perception by dividing perception into individual, household, mass monitoring and mass prevention factors. The results indicated that: (1) peasant households' disaster risk perception was composed of 5 dimensions: possibility, dread, unknown, controllability and threat. Among these, dread ranked the highest and possibility ranked the lowest. The total score for peasant households' disaster risk perception was relatively low. (2) When individual and household characteristics were fixed, the presence of mass monitoring and mass prevention systems did not affect peasant households’ overall disaster risk perception, although it did influence its sub-dimensions.

China’s countryside is undergoing massive transformation under the background of rapid urbanization and industrialization; however, urban-rural gaps and regional gaps have become obvious in this process. It is necessary to restructure rural production, living and ecological spaces by investing public goods appropriately, to thereby establish a new platform for building a new countryside and realize urban-rural integration development. Mountainous areas are an important type of human-land relationship system, but the levels of rural economic development and public services in mountainous areas are significantly lower than those in the plains. This paper examines 12 years of data from tracking surveys, adopts a method that combines economics and geography, and conducts dynamic monitoring and evaluations of the efficiency of rural public goods investments in specific mountainous areas. The results show that rural public infrastructure and public services in mountainous areas are increasingly valued and have received considerable support in terms of government financial contributions. Moreover, the burden of investments at the village level continues to decrease, the technical efficiency of rural public investments has risen to relatively high levels, and scale efficiency plays a crucial role in public investment efficiency. Furthermore, natural terrain, location and transportation remain significant factors that influence the efficiency of rural public investments in mountainous areas. However, village-level democratic systems and village governance have gradually become key factors that influence public investment efficiency. Based on such results, this research offers policy recommendations for increasing the efficiency of public fund usage and promoting rural restructuring.

In recent years, the issue of employment quality for workers has received increasing attention from the government and academia. As a social resource, a social network can provide people with social support and help job seekers find better jobs by transmitting the information on job opportunities. However, currently, there are few empirical studies on employment quality from the perspective of social networks. Based on data from 194 samples from 400 households in Sichuan Province in 2015, this paper constructs an employment quality index system from the six dimensions of labor wages, working time, employment stability, employment environment, career development, and social security. In addition, from the perspective of the structural features and the overall characteristics of the social network, OLS (Ordinary Least Squares) and the path analysis model are used to quantitatively explore the mechanisms of action paths of the social network in terms of the non-agricultural employment quality of part-time peasants. The results show that: (1) the social network scale and the relative network of part-time peasants are found to positively affect employment quality. (2) Age, gender, and education level have indirect impacts on the employment quality loop through network heterogeneity and network scale. In addition, network heterogeneity and health status indirectly impact employment quality through a network scale. (3) By synthesizing the direct and indirect impacts, the comprehensive impacts of each factor on employment quality, in decreasing order, are: village&ndash, county distance &gt, village terrain &gt, family population &gt, network scale &gt, education level &gt, skill &gt, network heterogeneity &gt, health status &gt, age &gt, gender. The results suggest that we should pay attention to the role of social network resources in improving employment quality, and should implement various measures to expand peasants&rsquo, social networks, so as to achieve high-quality employment.

Based on survey data collected in 2016 from 100 villages across five provinces in China, this paper uses binary logistic model to explore the main factors related to the supply and quality of rural residential solid waste collection (RRSWC) services, especially focusing on the role of village population structure characteristics. It is indicated from the results that village population structure characteristics are significantly correlated with RRSWC services, specifically: (1) the total registered population of village households is significantly positively correlated with the supply of RRSWC services, however, the correlation between the registered population and the quality of RRSWC services is negative and the more the labors working and living outside the village, the less likely the village is to provide RRSWC services, (2) the villagers&rsquo, educational levels and RRSWC services show no significant correlativity at the present stage, (3) the preferential policies brought by population structure advantage play a positive role in the supply of RRSWC services but is not clearly related to the quality of RRSWC services, especially in the villages with a larger minority population. In addition, the study finds that, the economic development level of a village and the characteristics of village leaders are also positively correlated with the supply and quality of RRSWC services and, the natural and traffic conditions have no significant correlation with RRSWC services. This study can act as a reference for the further promotion of the development of RRSWC services in China.

China is transitioning from a traditional agrarian society into a modern industrial urban society. The main objective of this study is to establish a simple index to characterize the integrated transformation in a fixed area during China's process of urbanization and industrialization. This research focuses on key aspects of the urban rural integration that is occurring land usage, production efficiencies, employment, and household registration structures to establish a "Relative Rurality Index" (RRI). It assesses these measures in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area of Chongqing (TGRAC). This index is not used to identify absolute urban or rural zones spatially, but to represent the gradients between the min a fixed area. RRI evaluations conducted in 2000 and 2010 indicate that a decade of development has led to an across-the-board decline in rurality in all TGRAC counties. Imbalances in area developments have also increased, with a clear rurality spatial differential, and basic correspondence between the spatial distribution of rurality and the urbanization of strategic deployments. Policy and non-Linear regression analyses show that changes in the rurality of the TGRAC are consistent with the derivative of the central government's strategic programs and policies. In short, the urban rural system in the TGRAC has undergone deep and lasting change. The results of this study show that the rurality characterized by RRI is both more accurate and comprehensive than the urbanization level presented in government statistics. Based on an in-depth analysis of the urban rural systems, this study provides an effective framework for policy-making that will support healthy urbanization and industrialization in China. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

With the continued growth of protected areas (PAs) in China in terms of the number, coverage and varieties of protected objects, how to efficiently manage the protected areas to ensure both resource protection and environmental protection has become a crucial research question. By applying a geographic perspective in an analysis of the development and evolution of protected areas in China, this paper presents the results of an analysis focused on the status and the types of current approaches to the management of natural protected areas to reveal the problems that exist in their management and to further explore an integration strategy for the protected area network. It proposes that the future management of protected areas should prioritize their legal status, the sustainable livelihood of individuals living in close proximity to them, and the establishment of a unified database to achieve grid and information management of the protected areas.

In China, farmers employed in non-farm work have become important socio-economic actors, but few studies have examined the farmers' perspective in making their work location choices. Based on "push-pull" migration theory, this paper utilizes sectional data from a 2013 survey of farmers in China's Three Gorges Reservoir area to empirically analyze the factors influencing migrant workers' choice of employment location. The results indicate that 60.46% of laborers have migrated from their home province, whereas 39.54% have remained in their home province. Focusing on personal, household, and community characteristics-in addition to the economic characteristics of the sample counties-multinomial logistic regression models reveal that farmer-laborers' employment location decisions are influenced by their personal capital endowment (age, years of education and social networks), family structure (the number of laborers, elders, children and students), home village characteristics (location, economic development level and the degree of relief of the land) and home county economic development level. Notably, male and female laborers' location decisions reveal a converging trend, and their differences are not pronounced. Per capita arable land area has little influence on location decisions, whereas the educational level of laborers has a significant impact. The results differ significantly from those found in previous studies.

Farmland abandonment is a universal socio-economic phenomenon in various countries in the world. However, there is a lack of the large-sample empirical research on rural households' farmland abandonment in China, and few studies have explored the quantitative influences of labor migration on rural households' farmland abandonment. This study uses the survey data of 8031 rural households from 27 provinces (cities) in China. It analyzes the spatial distribution characteristics of labor migration and farmland abandonment on the basis of provinces (cities). Moreover, it constructs the iv-probit models and the iv-tobit models to quantitatively explore the influences of off-farm employment and part-time employment on rural households' farmland abandonment. The results show that: Labor migration and farmland abandonment in various provinces (cities) of China present the trend of spatial area agglomeration. The regional differences of off-farm laborers are significant, whereas the regional differences of part-time laborers are relatively small; Labor migration would promote rural households' farmland abandonment. When other conditions remain unchanged, with every 10% increase in off-farm employment and part-time employment, the average probability of rural households' farmland abandonment increases by 4% and 5%, respectively, and the average farmland area that rural household abandons increases by 3% and 5%, respectively. This study can enhance the understanding of the relationship between labor migration and rural households' farmland abandonment in China, so as to provide reference for the rational allocation of labor resources and the formulation of the policies related to ensuring food security.

Cropland abandonment driven by urbanization and the massive outflow of laborers to cities is a widespread phenomenon around the world. However, few studies have used national large-scale sample survey data to quantitatively analyze the relationships between labor migration and cropland abandonment comparing village types. Using 8031 farm households survey data from 27 provinces in rural China, and dividing village types into mountain, hilly and plain villages, Iv-probit and Iv-tobit models were constructed to analyze the relationships between labor migration and cropland abandonment. The distance effect was also verified. The results show: (1) Farm households abandonment of cropland in all types of villages presents the trend: mountain villages> hilly villages> plain villages, where the proportion of farm households with abandoned cropland in these three types of villages is 8%, 13% and 17%, respectively. The cropland abandonment size in all types of villages shows the trend of mountain villages > plain villages > hilly villages. (2) Farm households’ part-time and off-farm labor migration in the three types of villages can significantly promote their cropland abandonment. This marginal effect presents the trend of mountain villages> hilly villages> plain villages, illustrating a certain "distance effect". Finally, this study discusses how to restrain cropland abandonment and puts forward some corresponding countermeasures.

Earthquake disaster insurance can effectively reduce the impact of earthquake disasters on rural households. Exploring rural households&rsquo, willingness to purchase earthquake disaster insurance in earthquake disaster areas provides an understanding of the motivations underlying the implementation of an insurance policy. However, few studies have examined the perspectives of rural households, in order to explore the correlations between the rural households&rsquo, livelihood capital, their disaster risk perception, and their willingness to purchase earthquake disaster insurance. A cross-sectional survey data including 241 rural households from the most severe disaster counties (cities) during the 5 &bull, 12 Wenchuan earthquake was examined with regard to rural households&rsquo, livelihood and disaster risk perception, and ordinal logistic regression models were constructed to explore rural households&rsquo, willingness to purchase earthquake disaster insurance, as well as the driving mechanism behind this willingness. The results showed that 34.44% of rural households were very willing to purchase earthquake disaster insurance, and 7.05% of rural households were very reluctant to purchase earthquake insurance. Rural households&rsquo, livelihood capital and risk perceptions were the most important factors affecting their willingness to purchase earthquake disaster insurance. Rural households with higher scores on natural capital, physical capital, possibility, and worry were more likely to purchase earthquake disaster insurance. Specifically, keeping all other variables constant, every one unit increase in nature capital and physical capital corresponded to an increase in the odds of willingness to purchase earthquake disaster insurance by a factor of 0.14 and 0.06, respectively, every one unit increase in possibility and worry corresponded to an increase in the odds of willingness to purchase earthquake disaster insurance by a factor of 0.03 and 0.04, respectively. This study contributes to the current literature by increasing the understanding of the relationships between Chinese rural households&rsquo, livelihood capital and risk perceptions, and their willingness to purchase earthquake disaster insurance.

With the expansion of the concept of sustainable development, it has become increasingly important to investigate the means for achieving sustainable eco-economic development. On the basis of Landsat imagery of Hengduan Mountain area of China acquired in 1990, 2000, and 2010, we analyzed the coordination relationships, evolution characteristics, and aggregation modes of the economy and ecology in this region using ecosystem service value (ESV) and ecological economic harmony (eco-economic harmony, EEH) models. The following results were obtained. (1) There was a significant transition in land cover, wherein grassland increased the most and farmland decreased the most, by 1.18 × 104 km2 and 9.41 × 103 km2, respectively. These trends were related to urban expansion and the implementation of ecological measures; (2) From 1990 to 2000, there was a deterioration in the ecological system, whereas after 2000, the ecosystem improved due to implementation of the Chinese government’s “Returning Farmland to Forest (Grassland)” scheme, thereby illustrating the importance of forest to ecosystem stability; (3) Spatially, the EEH index showed a dual-core structure centered on a low conflict zone and potential crisis zone, which signified that there was a trend of coordinated development between the economy and ecology; however, this was not stable; (4) There were four types of EEH evolution zones—low conflict, potential crisis, slight improvement, and significant improvement zones—of which the improvement zones accounted for 55.15% of the area, thereby indicating that over time the economy has played a positive role in shaping the ecological environment; (5) The spatial aggregation modes of EEH evolution were band coordinated mode, group uncoordinated mode and group improvement mode, which meant the relationship of ecology and economy was always in lowest coordinated state in a banded form, in uncoordinated state and a significant increase in a block form, respectively. These modes were intended to provide a reference for the sustainable development in southwest China.

This study aims to investigate two important issues: what are the determinants of public goods investment and what is the government's investment behavior in mountainous areas. The impacts of natural conditions, target, and demand elements on public goods investment are analyzed with statistical method, and the determinants of public goods investment in the areas are obtained by using population-weighted and stepwise regression models with Eviews6.0 software with survey data in 2008 and calculated data based on GIS of 20 typical villages in mountainous regions in Sichuan, China. The results showed: (1) natural conditions are the important determinants of public investment. Mountainous villages with steep slope have relatively high levels of investment; (2) concentration of population and the educational levels of the village leaders also have important impacts on public goods investment; (3) the government is more concerned with public investment resources particularly in areas characterized by fragile ecological environment and poor agricultural output. These results suggest that the current investment strategy helps to reduce disparities in regional development.