An Empirical Study of New Rural Collective Economic Organization in Alleviating Relative Poverty among Farmers

Abstract

In the context of achieving common prosperity, this article explores the implementation path of the new rural collective economic organization designed to alleviate relative poverty by improving the livelihood strategies of farmers from the perspectives of the development level, operational capability, and governance ability of collective economic organizations. The article provides empirical evidence for how the new rural collective economic organizations can optimize governance and connect with the livelihood strategies of farmers to alleviate relative poverty. The data in this article are from the “China Family Database” of Zhejiang University and the “China Family Finance Survey” of Southwest University of Finance and Economics in 2017. Based on theoretical hypotheses, the HLM model is used to empirically test the mechanism of the new rural collective economic organization in alleviating relative poverty among farmers. The results indicate that, from the perspective of the direct action path, the development level, operational capability, and governance ability of the new rural collective economic organization have a significant direct impact on alleviating relative poverty. In addition, from the perspective of cross-layer interaction paths, the development level of new rural collective economic organizations can significantly strengthen the role of family operational income in suppressing relative poverty. Operational and governance capabilities can significantly enhance the role of household transfer income in inhibiting relative poverty. Therefore, the new rural collective economic organizations should adapt to local conditions, vigorously develop advantageous industries that can provide more non-agricultural employment opportunities to increase the operational income of farmers, introduce highly educated managers, and establish a sound financial management system to ensure the expected benefits for farmers as well as increase their long-term benefits.