Rural Development In China Research Articles

Digital inclusive finance & the high-quality agricultural development: Prevalence of regional heterogeneity in rural China.

Developing digital inclusive finance is one of the most effective ways to alleviate financial exclusion in the agriculture sector. For empirical investigation, data from 30 provinces of Rural China is collected from the period 2011 to 2020. The study constructs five dimensions and 22 indicators in total to critically conduct the impact of digital inclusive finance on high-quality agricultural development. The level of agricultural development is measured by entropy weight TOPSIS, and the impact of digital inclusive finance on its high-quality development is empirically tested. The results show that digital inclusive finance has significantly improved the agricultural sector and, particularly, the Eastern region of China has the greatest impact. Three dimensions of digital inclusion finance have regional heterogeneity in terms of impact on agricultural development in Rural China. Data does not show the simple linear relationship between digital inclusion finance and agricultural development quality. The impact of the former on the latter is characterized by the double thresholds. The digital inclusive finance index is the weakest when it is lower than the first threshold that is 4.7704, and the impact of the second threshold that is 5.3186 on high-quality agricultural development is gradually enhanced. After crossing the second threshold, the impact of digital inclusive finance on high-quality agricultural development in Rural China is significantly enhanced. The development of digital inclusive finance should be strengthened in the Central and Western regions to compensate for regional financial imbalances and promote synergy in the high-quality development of agriculture across the country.

The relationship between home environment and early childhood development of left-behind children under 3 years in rural China

BackgroundHome environment provides stimulation and learning opportunities required for children’s early development. However, few studies have focused on the effects of home environment on left-behind children’s development in rural China. The study aimed to investigate the relationship between home environment and early childhood development of left-behind children under 3 years old in rural China. MethodsInformation about sociodemographic characteristics, caregivers’ mental health, home environment and children’s development was collected. Infant/Toddler Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment Inventory (IT-HOME) was used to assess home environment. Child’s development was evaluated with the Chinese version of the Ages & Stages Questionnaire - third edition. ResultsElevated caregivers’ depressive symptoms were associated with a higher risk of total suspected development delay. An increase of one score in the IT-HOME resulted in a 7% decrease in total suspected development delay. Higher scores in the dimensions of involvement and variety were associated with a lower risk of suspected development delay adjusting for covariates. ConclusionsOur results have implications for home-based intervention aiming at promoting nurturing care as well as caregivers’ mental health, which is required for early development of young left-behind children in rural areas of China.

중국 허난성(河南省) 도시 근교형 농촌 거주환경 만족도 분석† – 태남마을(太南村)을 중심으로 –

The Rural Revitalization Strategy (2018-2022), published by the Chinese State Council in 2018, represents a new period of rural development in China. Suburban areas are more convenient than other rural areas in integrated urban-rural development but are under greater pressure from construction and industrial pollution. As a rural area with a high proportion of rural areas, it would be valuable for Henan province to gain a comprehensive grasp of rural human settlementst while identifying problems and proposing solutions. The purpose of this study is to analyze the satisfaction of the evaluation items based on the usage status and life perception of the residents of Tai Nan village, a suburb-type rural village in Henan province. The study proposes improvement programs based on the evaluation results. As a result of the study, 24 evaluation items were derived and divided into five categories: "Living Service Facilities", "Housing Environment, "Road Environment", "Health & Ecology Environment", and "Social & Cultural Environment". The Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation Method was used to find the overall satisfaction level of the human living environment in Tai Nan village, which was "average", among which "Living Service Facilities" was the most important. "Health & Ecology Environment" was the least satisfied. Based on these results, an improvement plan is proposed in three stages. First, the living service will be improved while strengthening the facility management of the hygiene and the ecological environment. Second, reasonable improvement of housing and the road environment will be applied. Third, programs will be introduced to cultivate residents’ ability to build their own and improve the social and cultural environment. This study provides basic data for the future improvement of rural settlements in the suburban areas of Henan province and is of great significance in gradually improving the the residents’ quality of life.

Research on Rural Leaders, High-Stability Agriculture and Collective Economy as the Path Choice of Rural Revitalization: Practical Exploration Based on Local Rural Development

Purpose - This paper aims to seek the specific path of rural revitalization from the practical experience of local rural development in China. Design/Methodology/Approach - Using the case study method, the authors selected some representative villages in the process of rural social development in China, such as Xiaogang village in Anhui province, Dazhai village in Shanxi province and Liuzhuang village in Henan province, as the main analysis cases, at the same time, the author uses Huaxi Village, Yunnan Dayingjie, Henan Nanjie, Hebei Zhoujiazhuang and Zhejiang Tengtou village as supplementary materials to extract the paths of rural revitalization at the present stage through the analysis and comparison of the main cases. Findings - This article found that rural leaders, high-yield and stable agriculture, and the collective economy as a rural revitalization of the “Troika” is the Absolute way to achieve rural revival. Research Implications - Based on China’s local development, this paper summed up the experience and lessons of local development can better explore the new era of rural revitalization path.

Education development in rural China as an important factor for socio-economic development in the 14<sup>th</sup> Five-Year Plan period

Against the backdrop of major reforms in education development in the 21st century, in the run-up to the adoption of China’s new 14th Five-Year National Economic and Social Development Plan (the 14th Five-Year Plan), plans for education development in rural China have been announced again and again. However, it is no longer just a question of ensuring quality basic education, but also of developing other segments of education as an essential component of the country’s continued economic growth. The authorities are now taking a more comprehensive approach to the development of the country’s rural areas, so the most pressing issues in this regard are included in the agenda: ensuring the quality of education, training personnel in rural areas, creating conditions for improving the skills of those employed in agriculture, as well as issues related to the social features of regional development, creating favorable living, working and social security conditions for the elderly, whose numbers are increasing every year. Such a comprehensive approach to solving the problems of socio-economic development of rural regions will be one of the most important points in the implementation of the new five-year plan.

Can Environmental Protection Behavior Enhance Farmers' Subjective Well-Being?

The significance of environmental protection activities is well known, but little literature has focused on the well-being effects of environmental protection behavior among farmer groups. This study provides new literature support for farmers and rural development issues. Using data from the 2013 China Integrated Social Survey, a systematic and robust examination of the happiness effects of environmental protection behavior among Chinese farmers and their transmission mechanisms was conducted with the help of multiple regression techniques and mediated impact analysis. The study found that Chinese farmers' environmental protection behavior can directly trigger the experience of well-being and also indirectly enhance subjective well-being by improving the quality of life in other areas, thanks to their characteristics in avoiding environmental risks and enhancing social interactions. Increased education may contribute to farmers being more motivated by benefits such as material rewards, experience, and skills, and thus experiencing less well-being from environmental protection behavior. The fact that farmers of all household incomes experience equal well-being from environmental protection behavior is consistent with the view of non-differential well-being experiences in the volunteering literature. The research in this paper adds new evidence to the existing literature and provides an essential reference for policymakers and participants in rural development in China. In addition, studying individual issues in environmental governance in rural China provides a Chinese case study and practical lessons for farmer development in other countries worldwide.

Family-level factors of early childhood development: Evidence from rural China

Family-level factors that characterize the home environment are critical inputs to early language and cognitive development, and potential mechanisms for improving developmental outcomes in vulnerable populations. Many studies conducted in high-income and Western settings highlight stimulating parenting, the home language environment, and parental self-efficacy as possible mechanisms of early development, though less is known about how these family-level factors impact child development in low- or middle-income settings. Even less is known about these family-level factors and early childhood development in rural China, where rates of cognitive and language delay in children aged 0–3 years are as high as 45% and 46%, respectively. Using data collected from 77 rural households with children aged 18–24 months in Southwestern China, this study examines the associations between stimulating parenting, the home language environment, and parental self-efficacy, and early cognitive and language development. The results indicate that stimulating parenting was significantly associated with cognitive, language, and overall development; the home language environment was only significantly associated with language development; and parental self-efficacy was not significantly associated with any developmental outcomes. The implications of such findings reveal mechanisms for supporting healthy child development in rural China.

Intergenerational continuity of parent-child separation among mother-offspring dyads: Implication for child cognitive development in rural China

The labor migration in China often leads to parent-child separation. Research to date has primarily focused on understanding mental and cognitive outcomes for children exposed to parent-child separation, with little consideration for the cumulative effects of intergenerational continuity of parent-child separation. A total of 2729 children between the ages of 4 and 6, along with one parent (primarily mothers, 86.2%) and/or one primary caregiver (if the child is separated from both parents), were recruited in the rural area of Anhui Province, China. A unique subsample of children (n = 249) with persistent experience of parent-child separation or whose mother reported being left behind by her parents during early childhood were enrolled for cognitive assessment. A total of 239 age-, gender- and residence-matched children without any parent-child separation experience were selected as the control group. Child cognitive performance was examined with the Chinese version of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, Fourth edition (WPPSI-IV). The association between intergenerational continuity of parent-child separation and child cognition was described using multivariate OLS regression models. Compared to mother-offspring dyads without any history of parent-child separation, girls (n = 236/450, 52.4%) who experienced the intergenerational continuity of parent-child separation showed a significant decrease of 5.73 points (95% CI: −9.83, −1.62; p = 0.006) on full-scale intelligence quotient (FSIQ) and a decrease of 5.71 points (95% CI: −9.80, 1.63; p = 0.006) on verbal comprehension index. No similar result was observed in boys. The cumulative effects of parent-child separation among mother-offspring dyads on child cognitive development highlight the need for effective early intervention to break the intergenerational cycle of disadvantage. Sex differences and possible epigenetic mechanisms underlying the intergenerational effects of parent-child separation warrant further investigation.

The impact of agricultural disasters on child development in rural China.

China's uneven development under the urban-rural dichotomy has led to the discouraging development of children in rural areas. China is a large agricultural country and agricultural disasters are relatively common. Rural children aged 10-15 whose families depend on the agricultural economy may experience far-reaching negative effects from these disasters. This study explored the effects of agricultural disasters on rural children's development, including cognitive and noncognitive skills, and academic pressure. Survey data from the China Family Panel Survey and the National Meteorological Administration for 2010-2018 and a fixed-effect panel model with difference-in-differences regressions were used in the study. The fixed effects model results showed evidence that agricultural disasters have a negative impact on rural children's cognitive and noncognitive skills and a positive impact on academic pressure. The statistically significant coefficients are -0.092, -0.938, and 0.223, respectively. School and family environments also explain children's development. Robustness tests confirmed these results. Evidence shows that agricultural disasters have a significant negative impact on rural child development. It may be inferred that these will increase the difficulty of narrowing the urban-rural development gap. China is committed to promoting prosperity for all its people. Special attention should be paid to the consequences of disasters at the child level and appropriate measures should be taken to mitigate possible negative impacts.

Digital Villages Construction Accelerates High-Quality Economic Development in Rural China through Promoting Digital Entrepreneurship

“Digital villages construction” and “high-quality economic development” are both key topics to the sustainable development in China. Chinese has attached great importance to agriculture and rural development in recent years, thus exploring the connections between the two topics from a rural perspective is of practical importance. This paper aims to see if there is a connection between digital village construction and high-quality economic development, and how the digital village construction accelerates the high-quality development of the rural economy. After building the index system, this paper evaluates present development level of digitalization and high-quality economy in rural areas by the Entropy Weight TOPSIS method and empirically tests the direct and indirect effect of rural digital construction on the high-quality rural economic development relatively based on the fixed effect model and the mediation effect model. To study deeply, four major regions and five influence paths are analyzed, respectively. The results show that there is a positive correlation between the construction of digital villages and the high-quality development of rural economy. Meanwhile, the entrepreneurial activity of digital industries is a crucial mechanism for digital villages construction to promote the high-quality development of rural economy. This paper innovatively builds relevant index systems and analyzes the transmission mechanism of digitalization to high-quality development from a rural perspective, though it analyzes at the provincial level, which is less specific. Overall, it will be beneficial for economics researchers who study digital economy and rural development and policy makers who give counsel for economic development.

How Do the Different Types of Land Costs Affect Agricultural Crop-Planting Selections in China?

Land costs in agricultural production are rapidly becoming apparent and increasing in light of the market’s rapid development in rural China. This study examines how agricultural operators’ farming decisions are affected by explicit and implicit costs associated with land transfers. This study first categorizes explicit and implicit land costs theoretically and demonstrates that both types of land costs affect farmers’ crop-planting selections. The study then uses the most recent household survey data from the Chinese Family Database (CFD) and the China Household Finance Survey (CHFS), released in 2017, to empirically test the theoretical analysis and examine the mechanisms underlying the impact of land costs on crop-planting selections. This study makes the case that higher land costs, both explicit and implicit, cause agricultural operators to grow more crops for cash and less for food. The impact of land costs on planting selection can vary depending on the heterogeneity of production areas and geography. In terms of production area heterogeneity, the explicit cost of land has a greater influence on planting decisions in non-major food-producing areas, whereas the implicit cost of land has a greater influence on planting decisions in major food-producing areas. In terms of topographic heterogeneity, the less flat the terrain, the more growers would choose to grow cash crops. A complementary relationship between the two forms of costs is also suggested by this study’s confirmation that explicit and implicit land costs can positively reduce each other’s impact on cropping decisions. Additional mechanism research revealed that explicit and implicit land costs impact crop crop-planting selections. The explicit cost of land primarily affects the local land transfer market effect, whereas the implicit cost of land affects the land transfer service.

How Urban Expansion Triggers Spatio-Temporal Differentiation of Systemic Risk in Suburban Rural Areas: A Case Study of Tianjin, China

Rapid urban expansion has strongly impacted rural development in China’s suburbs. The increasing probability of socio-ecosystem hazards, such as the shrinking and fragmentation of ecological space, the outflow of labor force, the disintegration of traditional society, and the decline in collective economy has become a systemic risk restricting the sustainable development of rural areas in the suburbs. At present, the influence of urban expansion on rural systemic risk in the suburbs is not clear, which is not conducive to putting forward differentiated and targeted strategies for rural revitalization. Therefore, in this study, we propose the ecological, industrial, social, and livelihood elements of rural systemic risk in the suburbs and construct a multi-dimensional risk resistance analysis framework involving functionality, stability, and sustainability. Taking 93 villages in the western suburbs of Tianjin as an example, and using spatial econometric methods such as remote sensing interpretation, GIS analysis, multiple linear regression, and random forest model testing, we analyze the relationship between external transportation construction, urban employment attraction, construction of land growth, rural risk factors, and the dimension of risk resistance. Finally, the influence of urban expansion on the spatial–temporal differentiation of rural systemic risk and the risk management strategy are discussed. The results show that the difference in the urban expansion intensities is the main factor of the spatial differentiation of rural systemic risk in the suburbs. With the acceleration of the land replacement rate between urban and rural areas, the proportion of urban construction of land is increasing, leading to various degrees of change in the rural land use pattern and the ecological security pattern. Meanwhile, because of the urban employment attraction, part of the rural labor force continues to decrease, leading to the spatial differentiation of rural industrial risks and social risks aggravated. Precise risk management strategies are put forward according to the systemic risks in different types of villages. In villages with a high proportion of urban construction land and inefficient land consolidation, ecological restoration projects should be carried out. For villages severely divided by transit roads, internal spatial connections should be strengthened by constructing public transport. For villages with good accessibility, the allocation of rural non-agricultural industries and service facilities should be strengthened to mitigate the impact of urban expansion on the rural social structure. From the perspective of risk management, the research results will provide a basis for making decisions regarding rural public policymaking and spatial resource allocation in the suburbs of developing countries.

Impact of Off-Farm Employment on Farmland Transfer: Insight on the Mediating Role of Agricultural Production Service Outsourcing

Understanding the effects of the off-farm employment of rural laborers on agricultural land use is essential to promote farmland transfer and enhance rural development in China. This study aims to investigate the direct impact of off-farm employment on farmland transfer and the mediating role of agricultural production services outsourcing (APSO) by using the Probit and Tobit model approaches. This study uses field survey data of 960 rural households in 12 counties of the four main grain producing provinces of China. Findings of this study show that off-farm employment has a significant positive effect on the transfer of land out from households and a significant negative effect on the transfer of land into households. Furthermore, APSO has a significant mediating effect on the influence of off-farm employment on farmland transfer behavior. Specifically, APSO can reduce the positive impact of off-farm employment on agricultural land transfer and weaken the negative impact of off-farm employment on agricultural land transfer-in. The findings of our study also show that the mediating effect of different outsourcing of production links services on the impact of off-farm employment on agricultural land transfer is heterogeneous. Based on the findings of the study, it is contended that the APSO can reshape the supply and demand structure of rural land rental markets and policymakers should focus on the role of ASPO in shaping policies to promote land transfer.

Entrepreneurial agents, asset modification and new path development in rural China: The study of Gengche model, Jiangsu Province

This paper, through a case study of the Gengche Township in north Jiangsu (Subei), unveils how a less-favored region breaks out of the old industry path of waste recycling and processing and embarks on a green new one specializing in E-commerce. Drawing on key concepts in evolutionary economic geography, we propose a conceptual framework that addresses how entrepreneurial agents enact the processes of asset modification at multiple scales for new green path development in a rural context. Based on on-site interviews and survey, our analysis reveals that rural lead entrepreneurs and state elites pioneered and opened windows of opportunities for change, then legitimized by the state with wider support towards old path breaking. These state interventions enforce the bottom-up process of new green path development. In this process, extra-regional knowledge linkages and assets help facilitate the E-commerce development. It is concluded that rural new path development processes are not only contingent on local pre-conditions but are tempo-spatially dependent on collective actions of entrepreneurial multi-actors in identifying, transplanting and modifying local and non-local assets. The Gengche case demonstrates that rural new green path development in China requires the formation of strong system-level rural agency engaging in multi-scalar asset modification.

Internet use and consumption diversity: Evidence from rural China

AbstractThe Internet is integral to modern living. While the Internet is ubiquitous in China's urban areas, its uptake is still lagging in the country's rural regions—the development potential of the Internet remains untapped, and despite China's steep economic growth during the 21st century, the living standards in its rural regions remain low. The Internet can accelerate rural development in China. This study is focused on analyzing whether and to what extent Internet use affects consumption diversity, an indicator of the quality of life, in rural China. To this end, we employ the instrumental‐variable‐based two‐stage endogenous treatment regression model to analyze the 2018 China Family Panel Studies survey data. The modeling approach allows us to account for the endogeneity of Internet use. The results show that consumption diversity is positively associated with Internet use. Furthermore, it rises with household income, household size, and wealth. Whether the Internet is accessed via smartphones or computers has no bearing on household consumption diversity. We also find that education, household income, and wealth increase one's predicted probability of using the Internet. The results also point to regional differences in consumption diversity and the likelihood of using the Internet.

How Parental Migration Status Affects Early Development of Rural Children: The Indirect Role of Family Socioeconomic Status and Home Environment

ABSTRACT Research Findings: This study examined how family socioeconomic status and home environment may help explain the indirect relationship between parental migration status and rural Chinese children’s holistic development. A total of 198 preschool-age children and their primary caregivers were recruited from three rural preschools in Jiangsu Province in China. The results indicated that parental migration was negatively associated with family socioeconomic status. When the family’s socioeconomic background is low, the less favorable and stimulating home environment the family can provide for children, resulting in detrimental effects on the child’s development. The findings not only provide support for the family system theory to explain the relationship between parental migration and child development, but also reveal family socioeconomic status and home environment as potential sequential pathways. Practice or Policy: The study calls for attention to children’s development in rural China, considering the complexity of the parental migration status. The findings can facilitate rural parent education in the context of rural education revitalization. Primary caregivers in rural areas should become aware of the critical value of a family’s structural and process factors, adjust their parenting attitudes and behaviors, create a positive home environment for the child, and eventually align to reduce the risk factors and enhance the well-being of rural children.

The role of construction industry and construction policy on sustainable rural development in China.

Recently, rural development has depended on the construction industry's success due to the high employment rate in the construction industry and its development role in the rural areas, and this phenomenon needs research focus. Hence, the current article examines the impact of the construction industry (construction industry revenue and growth) and construction policy (construction industry subsidies) on sustainable rural development in China. The study also used the control variable of gross domestic product (GDP) and industrialization. The article has collected secondary data from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and World Development Indicators (WDI) from 1991 to 2020. The article has applied the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test to examine stationarity and quantile autoregressive distributed lag (QARDL) model to investigate the association among variables. The results revealed that the construction industry revenue, growth, construction policy GDP, and industrialization positively link sustainable rural development in China. Thus, the findings exposed that if the country's construction industry improved, rural development also increased accordingly. This study guides the policy development authorities to develop effective policies related to improvement in the construction industry that will enhance sustainable rural development.

Sustainability of Chinese Village Development in a New Perspective: Planning Principle of Rural Public Service Facilities Based on “Function-Space” Synergistic Mechanism

Public service facilities are important carriers of sustainable rural development. However, the “holistic” planning principle for cities has resulted in the inefficient use of public service facilities in villages. Under the guidance of the sustainable development of rural areas in China, relying on the theory of “destination attractiveness” in tourism studies, this research puts forward the assumption that the real logic of the operation of rural facilities lies in the synergistic attraction between function and space for villagers. This study applied research methods such as field survey, questionnaire survey, importance–performance analysis, space syntax, and Spearman correlation analysis. It builds the “demand-frequency” coupling model of the facilities and explains the functional attractive attributes and degrees of four types of facilities in the coupling between different demands and use frequencies. Through analyzing the accessibility and traffic potential of rural facilities and the correlation between facility numbers and their spatial distribution characteristic parameters, the study reveals the synergistic mechanism between the functional and spatial attraction of the “selected facilities”. It is to clarify the planning principle of rural public service facilities based on villagers’ demands, to put forward the basic guarantee framework for different combinations of “functional attributes and spatial distribution” under the goal of good facility operation, and to achieve the goal of improving the resource efficiency and upgrading the level of the rural living environment. Eventually, it contributes to the sustainable development of rural China with theoretical and methodological support.

Parenting style and the cognitive development of preschool-aged children: Evidence from rural China

The correlation between parenting style and child cognitive development has been widely documented in Western societies. There has been far less research, however, in non-Western societies and none at all in rural China. This study aimed to investigate the association between parenting style and child cognitive development in rural China. Participants were 1272 preschool-aged children and their primary caregivers. Children were 49 to 65 months old (51% male), and all were ethnically Han. Primary caregivers reported their parenting style, and children were assessed on their cognitive skills. Two alternative approaches (two dimensions and four categories) were used to examine the correlation between parenting style and child cognitive development. The results show a positive correlation between an authoritative parenting style and child cognitive development and show a negative correlation between an authoritarian parenting style and development. When the mother is the primary caregiver, more educated, or from a wealthier family, she is more likely to use an authoritative parenting style and less likely to use an authoritarian one. In addition, the authoritative style has a stronger correlation with the cognitive developmental outcomes of girls than of boys. The findings encourage researchers to conduct future work on how to implement parenting training interventions that are able to ascertain whether parents in rural China can be taught to adopt an authoritative parenting style. Future research should also seek to identify whether an authoritative parenting style produces (in a causal manner) any significant long-term benefits to the cognitive development of children in rural China.

Facilitating inclusive ICT application and e‐Commerce development in rural China

AbstractApplication of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in general and e‐commerce development in particular are increasingly becoming one of the important driving forces of transforming rural economy in China. Based on two sets of household survey datasets in 2015–2019, this study documents the overall trends of major ICTs’ and e‐commerce adoption in rural China and farmers’ selling fruits online in more developed e‐commerce villages in two provinces, and examines the enabling and constraining factors for farmers adopting ICTs and using e‐commerce to sell products. The results show that, although the increase has been impressive, there is still plenty of room for the diffusion of ICTs and e‐commerce. Empirical analyses suggest that human capital, social networks, resource endowments, ICT infrastructure and location are the main determinants of a household's or an individual's adoption of ICTs, and the producer's selling his/her fruits through e‐commerce. Moreover, this study provides new and strong evidence of intergenerational support for older and less educated farmers from their children to engage in online sales. However, this study also points out that a new digital divide on the spread of ICTs and e‐commerce has emerged across regions and among farmers in rural China. The article concludes with several policy implications for fostering rapid and inclusive ICT application and e‐commerce development in rural areas in the coming digital era.