Rural Cooperative Research Articles

Developing a Rural Healthcare System

Background: Healthcare related welfare is a matter of resource allocation. In modern market economies, redistribution in Western societies is accomplished through state welfare systems to balance the inequality of market resource allocation. However, resource allocation in socialist countries has its own peculiarities. And the relationship between market transformation (social transformation) and resource allocation methods in post-socialist countries is an important academic topic. This paper examines the changes in the rural cooperative medical system（RCMS）in China in order to explore the changes in rural cooperative healthcare governance mechanisms during recent social transformation. Objectives: The main purpose of this paper is to place the rural cooperative health care system（RCMS）in a macroeconomic-political context and to compare the changes in cooperative health care resource allocation mechanisms across time. Methods: The article undertakes a narrative literature review approach and method. The review used the following sources: Web of Science and PubMed. The search used the keywords" rural cooperative medical care system", "community benefits", " public service-based welfare" and "governance",and limited to articles published between January 2019 and June 2022. The selection of articles was based on the inclusion/exclusion criteria (keywords defined and time span of publication). Results: From collectivized cooperative medical care System（RCMS） to today's New Rural Cooperative Medical System（NRCMS), its governance mechanism has changed and the nature of welfare has changed with it. It has also changed from community welfare, where organized grassroots communities supply medical services, to government-led public service-based welfare. Main Contribution to Evidence-Based Practice: The paper shows the process of change in China's rural cooperative healthcarel system（RCMS), mainly analyzing the change of healthcare welfare governance mechanism. Thus ,it provides a reference for governmental health policies development and for international researchers.

Income-related health inequality among rural residents in western China.

Health equality has drawn much public attention in both developed and developing countries. China, the largest developing country, has implemented a new round of health system reform to improve health equality since 2009. This study aims to examine the magnitude and sources of income-related health inequality in western rural regions of China. Data were obtained from the Survey of Rural Economic and Social Development in Western China conducted in 2014, in which 14,555 individuals from 5,299 households in 12 provinces were included. Health outcome variables of interest were self-rated health status, prevalence of chronic disease and four-week illness. Concentration index was calculated to assess magnitude of income-related health inequality, and nonlinear decomposition analysis was performed to identify the sources of health inequality. The Concentration indexes for poor self-rated health status, prevalence of chronic disease and four-week illness were -0.0898 (P<0.001),-0.0860 (P<0.001) and -0.1284 (P<0.001), respectively. Income and education were two main sources of health inequality, accounting for about 25-50% and 15% contribution to the inequality. Ethnicity made <10% contribution to income-related health inequality, and enrollment in New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme contributed to <1%. This study found slight income-related health inequality among rural residents in western China, implying that although China has made substantial progress in economic development and poverty alleviation, health inequality in western rural region should still be concerned by the government. To achieve health equality further, the Chinese government should not only strengthen its reimbursement mechanism of the current health insurance scheme to improve affordability of primary healthcare for residents in western rural regions, but also implement health poverty alleviation policies targeting socioeconomically vulnerable population and ethnic minorities in future.

Drivers of high-cost persistence in rural China: A population-based retrospective study.

High-cost patients account for over 70% of total health expenditures in rural China and have become a key focus of health insurers. Persistently high-cost patients constitute a substantial proportion of medical resources. Hence, exploring high-cost persistence (HCP) and what drives it is considered meaningful and necessary. A population-based retrospective study was carried out. The annual healthcare utilization data of Dangyang New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme from 2012 to 2017 were analyzed. Patients in the top 10% of spending in a given year were considered high-cost patients. Persistence level was estimated using Markov matrices. A total of 19,405 patients categorized as high-cost patients in 2016 were divided into two groups according to whether or not they kept high-cost status in 2017. Finally, a multilevel logistic regression model was used in examining the determinants of HCP. On average, about 31.48% of high-cost patients each year still maintained high-cost status in the subsequent year from 2012 to 2017. The elderly (OR = 2.150), families with more non-labor members (OR = 2.307), families applying for subsistence allowances (OR = 1.245), and patients with blood and immune diseases (OR = 2.614) or malignant tumors (OR = 2.077) were more likely to maintain high-cost status. Hospitalization frequency was found to be a mediator. About one-third of high-cost patients in a given year had persistently high cost status in the subsequent year. Health status and family support were considered the main drivers of HCP. High inpatient service utilization as a mediator was a prominent manifestation of persistently high-cost patients. The accurate identification of persistently high-cost patients is the basis for our management.

Study of the Effect of the Employees Social Capital on the Entrepreneurial Performance of Rural Cooperatives Regarding the Mediating Role of Employees Organizational Commitment

Study of the Effect of the Employees Social Capital on the Entrepreneurial Performance of Rural Cooperatives Regarding the Mediating Role of Employees Organizational Commitment

Collaborative networking among agricultural production cooperatives in Iran

This research seeks to determine mechanisms in developing collaborative networking among agricultural production cooperatives in Iran. The research design was survey method and a network consisting of agricultural cooperatives has been defined as the core of the network. The statistical population of the study included managers of cooperatives which were administrated by the “Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare” and the “Rural Cooperative Organization” of the Alborz Province (N = 540). From this target population, 176 managers of cooperatives were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling. A questionnaire was developed to determine the technical, economical, educational, legal, social, and policy making mechanisms that presented the collaborative networking model. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by experts in the field of Agricultural cooperative. To calculate the reliability coefficient of the questionnaire, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, which is used for multi-scale questions, was used. The mean of Cronbach’s alpha coefficients in this study was 0.803. The results showed that policy making with a coefficient of 0.539, economic with a coefficient of 0.499, legal with a coefficient of 0.208, and educational mechanisms with a coefficient of 0.130 had the most impact, while technical and social mechanisms had no role in developing the collaborative networking.

Analysing the Technical Efficiency of Rural Cooperative Banks in India

Using data envelopment analysis, this paper investigates the technical efficiency of rural cooperative banks in India from 2013 to 2019. The results indicate a continuous deterioration in efficiency as well as a large asymmetry between states regarding the technical efficiency estimates. Our results highlight the need for improving risk management and lending operations of banks for sustainable increase in the performance of the cooperative banking sector in India.

The economic burden of malaria inpatients and its determinants during China's elimination stage.

Malaria burden is still worrisome, while empirical evidence from malaria-eliminated countries including China may provide inspiration for the world. This study aimed to investigate China's malaria hospitalization costs and explore its determinants. Stratified multistage sampling across provincial, municipal, and county hospitals was conducted in 2017. All the malaria medical records were retrieved from 2014 to 2016 in 70 hospitals. Parametric and non-parametric methods were employed to estimate hospitalization costs, and the non-parametric bootstrap was used to compare hospitalization costs among sample areas and assessed the uncertainty of its differences. Quantile regressions were conducted to identify the determinants of hospitalization costs. The median hospitalization costs of 1633 malaria inpatients were 628 USD. Medication and laboratory tests accounted for over 70% of total expenditure. The median reimbursement rate was 41.87%, and this number was even lower in higher-level hospitals (<35%) and among the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (<40%). Finally, health insurance type, hospital tier, clinical units, unknown fever, and comorbidity were the main determinants of hospitalization costs. The disparity of health protection for malaria hospitalization between rural and urban areas was noteworthy. Equivocal diagnosis and comorbidity are contributors of high cost as well. A reasonable payment system and enhanced capacities to treat malaria in a cost-effective way are suggested to reassure malaria economic burden.

A positive association between hunger in childhood and frailty in old age: Findings from the Chinese longitudinal healthy longevity survey

Childhood hunger not only directly affects the physical and mental health of children and adolescents but also has a long-term negative effect on later health outcomes. In this cross-sectional study, we used a nationally representative Chinese sample to examine the relationship between hunger in childhood and frailty in older adults. The data were obtained from the 2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey. The frailty index with 44 health deficits was used to identify frailty. Childhood hunger was measured by the question "Did you often go to bed hungry as a child?" Insurance status was categorized as New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS), Urban Basic Medical Insurance Scheme (UBMIS), others, and no insurance. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate the adjusted relationship between childhood hunger and frailty. A total of 7,342 older people aged 65 years and older were analyzed in this study. Older people who experienced childhood hunger were more likely to have frailty than those who did not (OR = 1.13, 95% CI: 1.02-1.26), after adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics, family/social support, socioeconomic status, insurance status, and health behaviors. The association of childhood hunger with frailty was found in the 65-79 years group (OR = 1.21, 95% CI: 1.03-1.43), women (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.08-1.45), individuals with rural residence (OR = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.03-1.31), agricultural work (OR = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.00-1.34), financial dependence (OR = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.02-1.37), and those participating in NRCMS (OR = 1.35, 95% CI: 1.16-1.56). Participants with hunger in childhood who were 80 years or older (OR = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.65-0.98) had lower odds of frailty. NRCMS (OR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.02-1.98) showed increased odds of childhood hunger-related frailty. Exposure to hunger during childhood is linked to frailty among older adults, and age, financial support, and insurance status may mediate this relationship. Targeted interventions and policies to address frailty in older adults should be implemented.

Integrated development of inclusive finance and green finance promotes rural revitalization

In 2016, China put forward the topic of green finance and inclusive finance at the G20 Summit in Hangzhou. Since then, more and more scholars in China have paid attention to the possibility and influence of the integrated development of green finance and inclusive finance. In recent years, China has gradually established a domestic green financial market system through a series of measures such as issuing green financial standards, disclosure requirements and encouraging green financial product innovation. According to data from the National Statistical Bulletin, by the end of 2021, the loan balance of major rural financial institutions (rural credit cooperatives, rural cooperative banks, rural commercial banks) was 2.42496 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.6607 billion yuan compared with the beginning of the year. From the perspective of Liaoning Province, at the end of 2020, the balance of loans in domestic and foreign currencies of banking financial institutions in Liaoning was 520.94 billion yuan, an increase of 262.68-billion-yuan year-on-year, an increase of 5.3% year-on-year. The growth rate slowed down, with a decrease of 4.9 percentage points compared with the previous year. Firstly, we select a series of indicators and use entropy method to calculate the weight of each indicator. According to the analysis and processing of historical data, the quantization results of core explained variables, core explained variables and control variables are obtained. Descriptive statistics are made according to China Rural Statistical Yearbook and Peking University Digital China GSP Financial Index (2011-2020). Then, four spatial econometric models, namely spatial Dubbin model, spatial autoregression model, spatial correlation model and spatial error model, were applied to analyze the development relationship between digital inclusive finance and rural revitalization. Based on the evaluation system of rural revitalization, the development level of rural revitalization was obtained by combining the relevant data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2021. Finally, the application of LR inspection, LM test to verify the reliability of the regression results, and considering the effect of partial differential decomposition method is used to the calculation results are decomposed, the weights in different space under the condition of digital Pratt &amp; Whitney directly influence to the time of rural financial revitalization policy and policy space spillover effects, further analysis Pratt &amp;Whitney financial relationship with the revitalization of the development of the rural.

Integrated development of inclusive finance and green finance promotes rural revitalization

In 2016, China put forward the topic of green finance and inclusive finance at the G20 Summit in Hangzhou. Since then, more and more scholars in China have paid attention to the possibility and influence of the integrated development of green finance and inclusive finance. In recent years, China has gradually established a domestic green financial market system through a series of measures such as issuing green financial standards, disclosure requirements and encouraging green financial product innovation. According to data from the National Statistical Bulletin, by the end of 2021, the loan balance of major rural financial institutions (rural credit cooperatives, rural cooperative banks, rural commercial banks) was 2.42496 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.6607 billion yuan compared with the beginning of the year. From the perspective of Liaoning Province, at the end of 2020, the balance of loans in domestic and foreign currencies of banking financial institutions in Liaoning was 520.94 billion yuan, an increase of 262.68-billion-yuan year-on-year, an increase of 5.3% year-on-year. The growth rate slowed down, with a decrease of 4.9 percentage points compared with the previous year. Firstly, we select a series of indicators and use entropy method to calculate the weight of each indicator. According to the analysis and processing of historical data, the quantization results of core explained variables, core explained variables and control variables are obtained. Descriptive statistics are made according to China Rural Statistical Yearbook and Peking University Digital China GSP Financial Index (2011-2020). Then, four spatial econometric models, namely spatial Dubbin model, spatial autoregression model, spatial correlation model and spatial error model, were applied to analyze the development relationship between digital inclusive finance and rural revitalization. Based on the evaluation system of rural revitalization, the development level of rural revitalization was obtained by combining the relevant data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2021. Finally, the application of LR inspection, LM test to verify the reliability of the regression results, and considering the effect of partial differential decomposition method is used to the calculation results are decomposed, the weights in different space under the condition of digital Pratt &amp; Whitney directly influence to the time of rural financial revitalization policy and policy space spillover effects, further analysis Pratt &amp;Whitney financial relationship with the revitalization of the development of the rural.

Efficiency measures and influencing factors for rural land outsourcing: Evidence from China, 2003–2015

In the context of China’s vigorous promotion of its rural revitalization and land transfer policy, land outsourcing is a perspective worthy of attention to understand China’s rural land production and agricultural development. Based on rural land outsourcing in China from 2003 to 2015, this study adopts DEA efficiency analysis and Tobit regression analysis to measure the efficiency of rural land outsourcing in China as well as discuss its influencing factors. The results show that 1) from 2003 to 2015, the efficiency of rural land outsourcing in China has risen, especially in the eastern region, where the efficiency has the best performance. Overall, technical efficiency has hindered the improvement of rural land outsourcing efficiency. 2) The development of rural land outsourcing is restricted by factors such as the newly increased arable land area in rural areas, the foreign labor force, and rural managers, while land outsourcing income cannot significantly promote the expansion of land outsourcing. 3) Large rural agricultural enterprises or cooperatives enhance the efficiency of land outsourcing. Under the food security policy, realizing the technological increment of land outsourcing and land economy can effectively promote the scale and production efficiency of land outsourcing.

Participating in health insurance and health improvements for the relatively poor population: A propensity score analysis.

This study examined the causal relationship between participation in the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS) and health status among relatively poor population in rural China. Data were obtained from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) conducted in 2018, which contained 4,507 samples. This study used propensity score matching (PSM) to examine the net effect of participation in the NRCMS on the health of the relatively poor population, and this effect was tested for equilibrium using nearest neighbor matching, radius matching, and kernel matching. This study showed that participation in the NRCMS has a significant and positive effect on the health status of the relatively poor population and the positive health effect may come from three channels, including the increased frequency of physical activity, the fact that an individual is more likely to seek medical care at a lower level of visit, and a plan to reduce health care expenditures.

Village Projects Observed in Eritrea: Post-Conflict Pathways towards Democratic Rural Development

Eritrea’s rural development trajectory has fallen short of fully meeting the basic needs of its peasants and pastoralists, let alone national food security objectives. This article builds on earlier research on rural development projects in a select number of villages. These projects were primarily characterised by a state-centric technocratic logic that did, to some degree, embed “hard” infrastructure in the villages, but which paid less attention to building village-level capacity or organisational autonomy. Looking beyond these impasses, the present article suggests an inward-oriented national development model centred on the home market, rural co-operatives, and food sovereignty. As yet ‒ at the time of writing ‒ another major war afflicts Eritrea and Ethiopia, the presence of the political will for such a transition is by no means guaranteed.

The effect of basic medical insurance on the changes of primary care seeking behavior: An application of hierarchical age-period-cohort analysis.

In order to encourage residents to go to primary care facilities, China has set up differentiated basic medical insurance reimbursement ratios. The study aims to use the dynamic point of view of longitudinal data to examine the changes in the impact of basic medical insurance on primary care. The data for this study comes from the Chinese Family Panel Study (CFPS) in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018. We adopted Hierarchal Age-period-cohort-Cross-Classified Random Effects Models (HAPC-CCREM) to examine the changes in the impact of basic medical insurance on primary care. Compared with non-insured groups, participants of the New Rural Cooperative Medical System (coefficient = 0.730) have a relatively high incidence of primary care seeks, while Urban Residents' Basic Medical Insurance (coefficient = −0.482) and Urban Employees' Basic Medical Insurance (coefficient = −0.663) are lower, respectively. Age, period over time and cohort have a more obvious moderating effect on primary care seeks. The study of primary care behavior is an important direction for the construction of a hierarchical medical system. As basic medical insurance is the source of power for the hierarchical medical system, we can provide certain direction for policy formulation on the changes of basic medical insurance in primary care behavior.

Analysis the Problem of “Shelling” of Specialized Farmers’ Cooperatives and Its Governing Countermeasures: Take Guizhou Province as an Example

The problem of “shelling” of specialized farmers’ cooperatives is that farmers’ cooperatives neither insist cooperation essence nor farmer actual participation, and there is no normal operation. The “shelling” problem of farmers’ cooperatives in Guizhou Province is manifested in the three phenomena of “titular form”, “be more in name than in reality” and “unsustainable form”. For the unsustainable farmers’ cooperatives, we can take measures such as improving the organizational structure and management system, exploring joint construction mechanism among the rural credit cooperatives, supply and marketing cooperatives and farmers’ cooperatives, exploring technical services, strengthening the connection of interests and cultivating talent through multiple channels to solve the difficult problems existing in “organization, capital, market, talent, motivation” of the farmers’ cooperatives, achieving the high-quality development.&#x0D;

Research Report on Financial Performance of MUDRA Yojna for the time period of 2015-2019

Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) is a flagship scheme of Government of India to “fund the unfunded” by bringing such enterprises to the formal financial system and extending affordable credit to them. It enables a small borrower to borrow from all Public Sector Banks such as PSU Banks, Regional Rural Banks and Cooperative Banks, Private Sector Banks, Foreign Banks, Micro Finance Institutions (MFI) and Non Banking Finance Companies (NBFC) for loans upto Rs 10 lakhs for non-farm income generating activities. The scheme was launched on 8th April, 2015 by the Hon'ble Prime Minister. In India many things revolve around mere perceptions, while getting into detail it often paint a different picture. It is a common misperception people have that large industries create more employment, though the truth is that “in India only 1.25 crore people find employment in large industries, whereas small enterprises employed 12 crore people”. In India, small businesses play an important role by providing employment to a large number of people. It is the second largest sector engaging uneducated and unskilled people after agriculture. Further, millions of low income earning group person aspire to set up small businesses but are unable to start, mostly due to credit limitations. Since banks do not find them eligible for credit loan. After identifying the importance of self employment people and small business units, government of India launched MUDRA Yojana to address the financial and other constraints. This paper is an attempt to know about the MUDRA Yojana and its key objectives. The paper highlights the role and importance of MUDRA bank towards small business units, it also review the Mudra yojna for the year of 2015-2019 in terms of many aspects.

Siberian peasantry during the First world war and revolution: details of a social and political portrait

The article presents an analysis of the social and political processes that took place in a Siberian village during the years of World War I and the revolution of 1917. It is noted that migration from the central regions of the country had a great influence on formation of the rural population of the region at the turn of the 19th20th centuries, and the social structure of a Siberian village was more complex than in the center, in addition to traditional ones, there were such large social groups as old-timers and settlers, who differed not only in their property status, but also in their mentality. The absence of landownership and access to the Russian and world markets after the construction of the Siberian railway ensured the intensive development of agriculture. This was facilitated by the broad development of rural cooperatives. The World War I had a dual effect on Siberian peasantry. On the one hand, mass mobilization, having deprived villages of a million workers caused an acute labor shortage in the countryside, on the other hand, the rise in prices for agricultural products contributed to enrichment of villages and accelerated its social differentiation. The attitude of the peasantry to the key events of the Russian revolution is analyzed. The process of transformations in a Siberian village from March 1917 to May 1918 has been reconstructed. The struggle of political parties for the peasant masses is shown. The activities of rural self-government bodies (committee, zemstvo, council) and peasant unions are studied. It is concluded that the Siberian peasantry, after the overthrow of the autocracy, was drawn into political processes regardless of their desire, and more often in spite of it. In the mess of changing authorities, taking a wait-and-see position, it did not participate in the struggle of the opposing sides and, regardless of whoever was in power, evaded paying taxes and other obligatory contributions. Siberian villages remained aloof from social upheavals longer than the city. It not only relied on its own material resources, but in the conditions of the weakening of power verticals, it tried to find internal regulators of social relations, which included such archaic forms as rural gatherings and lynching. Material interest remained a priority for the peasants, against which moral norms could be subject to significant adjustments. Relations with the authorities and the outside world as a whole were built on these principles. The peasantry consistently defended the economic independence that they received after the overthrow of the autocracy from any external encroachment.

“We Are in the Darkness”: The Impact of Fair Trade from the Perspective of Coffee Growers in the Kilimanjaro Region

Studying the impacts of Fairtrade on rural communities requires examining how Western ethical businesses and eco-friendly social movements affect farmers’ livelihoods. This research took place in coffee-growing communities in Tanzania and aimed to understand local farmers’ prospects for their collaboration with Fairtrade. Although the Fairtrade initiative aims to strengthen cultivation skills to increase the quality and price of coffee production, farmers and leaders of the rural cooperatives critically assessed the mitigated impacts of the ethical trade on the development of their lives and communities. The article, based on ethnographic research in the Moshi District, argues that beyond changes induced by the ethical business organization, farmers are trapped in “darkness” due to having insufficient information on their trading partner and limited ability to empower and transform their cooperatives.

Research on Strengthening Financial Management of Rural Credit Cooperatives in Financial Crisis

Research on Strengthening Financial Management of Rural Credit Cooperatives in Financial Crisis

Trends of rural electric cooperatives in the United States from 1990 to 2019: An empirical analysis

In the United States, rural electric cooperatives have been an integral part of the energy system for almost a century, starting as an effort to electrify rural areas before World War II.Because they are democratically organized, energy cooperatives give communities ownership of their energy, as well as empower and educate individuals to be more responsible with energy consumption. In the United States, rural electric cooperatives have been part of the energy system for almost a century. This analysis uses the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Form EIA-861 database to contextualize the changes in the cooperative sector in the past three decades and help to understand the evolving scenario. Overall, cooperatives represented 28% of the total utilities from 1990 to 1995, progressively reaching 38% from 2016 to 2019. As a whole group, cooperatives share some similarities and, at the same time, a large degree of heterogeneity across cooperatives.