Does high-value agriculture exacerbate rural household income inequality? Evidence from China’s national advantageous agricultural product zones policy

Rural transformation plays a crucial role in enhancing the income and employment prospects of the rural labor force. We investigate the effects of rural transformation on rural income inequality at the district level in Bangladesh using data from five years of nationally representative Household Income and Expenditure Surveys. The Gini coefficient is used to measure rural income inequality. In contrast, the share of high-value agricultural outputs and the share of rural non-farm employment are used as indicators of rural transformation. We find that rural income inequality is positively associated with the share of high-value agricultural outputs and the share of rural non-farm employment. The non-linear regression result shows an inverted U-shaped relationship between rural transformation and income inequality, which indicates that income inequality initially increases with rural transformation but decreases in the long run. Additionally, we find that rural income inequality is positively correlated with the proportion of household education expenditures, agricultural rental activity, and the share of remittances. This study also reveals that income inequality in rural areas of Bangladesh has a significant negative correlation with the government's social safety net program.

Reducing rural income inequality and its spatial convergence in China during the past two decades

T he environmental issues have received a lot of attention in recent years. Since environmental pollution is one of the issues that may damage the ability of future generations, it is important to examine the determinants of the environment quality. The main objective of this study is to investigate the impact of urban and rural income inequality on natural gas consumption in Iran. To this end, Iranian provincial panel data is used for the period 2006-2015. The income inequality variable is measured with Theil index and Gini coefficient. To estimate the mode the l, Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) system is used. The results indicate a significant negative impact of urban and rural income gap on per capita consumption of natural gas as a benchmark for environmental performance. Furthermore, the current research findings show that the impact of rural and urban income inequality on natural gas consumption depends on income level. There is also a positive and significant relationship between urban level and per capita consumption of natural gas. The findings confirm that there exists an inverted U-shaped relationship between per capita GDP and natural gas consumption.

Tourism’s relationship with income inequality is a hot spot in the academic community; however, few studies focus on how tourism shapes rural income inequality, despite its significant role in rural poverty alleviation. This article investigates the nonlinear effects of tourism on urban–rural income inequality and rural income inequality based on data from China’s provincial regions over the period 1995–2018, using the dynamic panel data approach. This study further examines the regional heterogeneity of such effects. The results demonstrate that for the national sample, there exists a significant cubic curve relationship between domestic tourism and rural income inequality. However, inbound tourism’s relationship with rural income inequality is not significant. Besides, there exists an N-shaped Kuznets curve between domestic or inbound tourism and urban–rural income inequality. The effects of tourism on rural income inequality and urban–rural income inequality vary significantly across the eastern, middle, and western regions. From east to middle to west, the significance of inbound tourism’s influence on income inequality decreases gradually. This study also highlights some critical theoretical and practical implications. Unlike prior studies, this article builds the first comprehensive research framework consisting of tourism, rural income inequality, and urban–rural income inequality.

Do inward looking trade policies affect poverty and income inequality? Evidence from Indonesia's recent wave of rising protectionism

Based on the VAR model, co-integration analysis and error correction model, the article did the research on the relationships of rural financial development, rural credit structure, rural employment structure and rural income inequality, and took a Granger causality test. The result indicates that in the long run, rural finance development has a stable long-run equilibrium with rural income inequality, it is a negative correlation; in the short term, they have short-term fluctuations in the same direction. Besides, Results show that rural formal financial development is not Granger cause for rural income inequality, while rural income inequality is Granger cause of rural formal financial development, it shows that at present, China’s rural formal finance is still at the status of "complying with the demand”, rural formal financial operation lacks efficiency for the rural economy; and impacts rural income gap weakly; A two-way Granger causality relationship between financial structure and rural income inequality shows that township enterprises loan and rural income inequality influence each other mutually.

Using data from the China Family Panel Studies through a national rural survey, we analysed the effects of farmland rental participation and five types of livelihood capital on rural household income. We considered different livelihood strategies and applied the sustainable livelihood framework. Additionally, we used a regression-based Shapley-value decomposition method to examine how farmland rental participation and livelihood capital contribute to the rural income gap. Additionally, we investigated whether farmland rental participation is beneficial in reducing rural income inequality. The results show that farmland rental participation can lead to income benefits for the vast majority of farmers. Furthermore, farmland rental participation is not a primary factor contributing to the rural income gap. Household physical, human, and financial capital emerge as the three factors significantly influencing the income gap. The quantile regression results indicate that providing reasonable guidance to the farmland rental market is beneficial for narrowing the rural income gap. Implementing proactive policies aimed at enhancing the human, financial, and social capital of farmers can theoretically contribute to narrowing the rural income inequality.

Income inequality may hinder rural development and education is seen an important tool in rural development processes as well as it become an effective way in reducing rural income inequality. Human capital theory suggests that higher education can increase income, and it will decrease income inequality. The first objective of this study is to examine the effect of education on rural income inequality in Indonesia. This study also examines the relationship between environmental deterioration and rural income inequality. Studies about the impact of higher levels of inequality on environmental deterioration are not new, but the opposite studies are rare. Therefore, the second objective of this study is to examine the effect of environmental deterioration on rural income inequality in Indonesia. This study applies panel data from 32 provinces in Indonesia during 2012 to 2018. The results show that higher education resulting in lower rural income inequality in Indonesia. Furthermore, the finding also shows that the efforts to reduce environmental deterioration resulting in lower rural income inequality in Indonesia. This study suggests that it is vital to improve education level and to apply nature-friendly approaches to reduce income gaps in rural areas so the rural development goals can be achieved.

In recent years, the scale of rural labourers returning to their hometowns has expanded steadily, while rural income inequality remains high. Using data from the China Household Finance Survey, this study primarily employs RIF regression to investigate the impact of rural labourers’ migration experience on rural income inequality and the underlying mechanisms. The findings indicate that migration experience contributes to income growth by improving income stability, amplifying risk appetite, and encouraging entrepreneurial behaviour among rural labourers. As this effect is stronger for low- and middle-income groups, it significantly alleviates rural income inequality, reducing the rural income Gini coefficient by approximately 0.06. Further tests indicate that migration experiences oriented towards education, migration to more economically developed regions, or migration at a younger age exert a stronger mitigating effect on wage income inequality. These findings offer profound policy implications: it is imperative to remove institutional barriers to labour mobility and facilitate migrant workers’ return to rural areas. This strategy is crucial not only for advancing rural revitalization, but also for improving the rural income distribution.

Since 1979, when an output-related contract system was introduced in rural China, the average household income per capita of rural regions, as well as income inequality among regions, have increased substantially. A growing imbalance has emerged in the regional pattern of economic development, and this has led to serious inequality in rural areas. The problem has received much attention from both Chinese and foreign scholars, as well as from policymakers. Much research and analysis has focused on two issues. One is the trend with respect to interregional income inequality, with emphasis on the breakdown of inequality into between-region and within-region components. The other concerns the main reasons for the rise in rural inequality. Previous studies (e.g., Zhang, 1992; Zhu, 1992; Tsui, 1993, 1997; Rozelle, 1994; Wei, 1996; World Bank, 1997; Li et al. 1998) have analyzed the sharpening inequality in per capita income of households in different rural areas, and basically come to a common conclusion, namely, that income from off-farm activities — especially from township enterprises — has become an increasing and dominant contributor to overall rural income inequality. The growing contribution of rural non-agricultural activities to overall rural income inequality can largely be explained by the increasingly uneven regional development of such activities. Experience in other developing countries shows that off-farm activities, especially those of labor-intensive mediumand small-scale enterprises, often exert an equalizing influence on income distribution. The Taiwan example is typical. During the period from 1964 to 1980, when industrialization was proceeding rapidly, income inequality among Taiwan residents sharply fell. The fast-growing labor-intensive industrial enterprises on the island exerted a strong equalizing influence on income distribution (Fei et al., 1979; Zhu, 1997). The question is, why has the same practice

Background The digital economy represents a pivotal pathway for mitigating rural income inequality and advancing common prosperity. As a prerequisite capability in the digital era, whether digital literacy can effectively alleviate imbalances in income distribution among rural households has emerged as a critical academic question within the context of rural revitalization. Methods Drawing on panel data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) spanning 2014 to 2020, this study empirically examines the impact of digital literacy on rural income inequality. The Kakwani index was employed to measure income inequality, while the Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS) method and the Extended Regression Model (ERM) were utilized to address potential endogeneity. Furthermore, heterogeneity analyses and mechanism tests were conducted. Results (1) Digital literacy exerts a significant inhibitory effect on rural income inequality, a finding that remains robust after controlling for endogeneity. (2) Heterogeneity analysis indicates distinct regional and demographic variations in the income-equalizing effect of digital literacy, with more pronounced impacts observed in central regions and among rural households with lower educational attainment. (3) Mechanism testing reveals that non-cognitive abilities significantly attenuate the inhibitory effect of digital literacy on income inequality; specifically, higher levels of non-cognitive abilities correspond to a diminished efficacy of digital literacy in narrowing the income gap. Conclusion Enhancing rural digital literacy and optimizing the allocation of new human capital constitute effective strategies for narrowing the rural income gap. Concurrently, it is essential to consider the moderating role of non-cognitive abilities. By implementing differentiated empowerment to achieve the inclusive sharing of digital dividends, this study offers theoretical support and policy references for advancing rural revitalization and common prosperity.

The author uses household-level data from a nationally representative survey to analyze the impact of nonfarm income on income inequality in rural Egypt. After pinpointing the importance of nonfarm income to the rural poor, the author decomposes total rural income among five sources, nonfarm, agricultural, livestock, rental, and transfer. He shows that while nonfarm income represents the most important inequality-reducing source of income, agricultural income represents the most important inequality-increasing source. A 1 percent marginal increase in nonfarm income will cause the Gini coefficient of overall income to fall by 12.8 percent. But a 1 percent marginal increase in agricultural income will cause the Gini coefficient to rise by 15.8 percent. The reason for this difference has to do with land, which is distributed very unevenly in this study. Regression analysis of the determinants of income shows that land ownership is positively and statistically related to the receipt of agricultural income but has no statistical relationship to the receipt of nonfarm income. This leads the author to three conclusions: 1) If policymakers are interested in reducing poverty and improving income distribution in rural Egypt, they should focus on nonfarm income - which not only accounts for almost 60 percent of total income for the rural poor but also favorably affects income distribution. 2) Nonfarm income is an inequality-reducing source of income in a land-scarce setting such as rural Egypt because inadequate land"pushes"poorer households out of agriculture and into the nonfarm sector. 3) Agricultural income contributes most to rural income inequality because it is highly correlated with land ownership and with total rural income.

Purpose- Income distribution inequity in low income societies spreads poverty faster therefore it is essential to indicate the relation between economic growth and income distribution in low income societies like rural societies which gain income through agricultural activities. On the other hand, recent studies show that societies amenity or deprivation is effective on the relation between growth and income distribution. So the aim of this study is to indicate the relation between rural income distribution and Iran agricultural sector growth dividing to regions with amenity or deprived. Design/methodology/approach - Due to economic literature income distribution and economic growth has interactional effect on each other and the relation between them is different in regions with amenity and deprived. To explain the relation between rural income distribution and agricultural sector growth in this study two equations are introduced, the first equation analyzes the effective factors on agricultural sector growth and the second equation examine the factors determining rural income inequality. These equations are estimated by provincial data divided to regions with amenity and deprived during 2008-2016 and simultaneous equations approach of panel data is used. Finding-The results show that, in low amenity and deprived provinces agricultural sector growth reduces the inequality while agricultural sector growth has no significant effect on inequality in provinces with amenity. Also inequality increase lead to economic growth in deprived regions, but in regions with amenity the effect of inequality on growth is not significant. Besides, the results of estimation imply that government's expenditure in provinces increase rural income inequality and development expenditure only in deprived and low amenity provinces cause rural income inequality decrease and in other rural is not significant on inequality index. Practical implications- Based on the results of this study and in order to reduce rural income inequality and the growth of agricultural sector, it is necessary to consider the distribution of public facilities and infrastructure in order to enjoy deprived and low amenity rural regions.

The objective of the study is to investigate the associations among rural poverty, agriculture growth and income inequality in Pakistan as problems that have emerged in Pakistan during 1990s and 2000s (i.e., the reduction of agricultural share in GDP, widening income disparities and increasing vulnerability) by adjusting for the influences of rural development, sanitation and education. The regression result indicates that rural development and national income per capita has a negative association with poverty and income inequality, and a positive association with agriculture growth in Pakistan. Similarly, FDI has a positive impact on rural development, income inequality and poverty. External debt has positive associations with the poverty and income inequality in rural Pakistan. Finally, health expenditures have a positive relationship with the poverty and inequality which indicates that Pakistan’s health reforms are intrinsically anti-poor.

This study employed Nigeria’s household data from the RIGA database to examine the effect of off-farm income on rural poverty and income distribution. Specifically, the study employs the Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) poverty measurement indices to examining the effect of off-farm income on rural poverty and Gini decomposition techniques for the effect of off-farm income on rural income distribution. Our findings suggest that offfarm income as a part of total household income significantly contributed towards reducing the incidence, depth and severity of poverty as evident in the outcomes of the poverty measures for the wage and self employment activities. Same cannot be said for rural income inequality, as off-farm income on aggregate level is observed to increase rural income inequality. Results of the decomposition by income sources revealed that with the exception of self-employment income, other off-farm incomes have unequalising effect on income distribution, an outcome attributed to entry barriers which prevents poor households from undertaken the lucrative kind of off-farm work. Programmes of government and nongovernmental organisations aimed at growth and development of the off-farm sector needs to have an aspect well targeted at the poor rural households to assist them in removing the entry barriers, placing them in a better position to maximise the opportunities in the off-farm sector.