What Efforts has the Chinese Government Made to Reduce Educa­tional Inequality in Poor Areas?

Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949,China’s per capita education level has risen from less than two years to 9.91 years.However,as the province with the lowest per capita education level in China,Tibet has only reached the level of 6.75 years per capita.This illustrates the worrying educational inequality that still exists between China’s poorer and more developed regions.This educational inequality can also be expressed by the Gini coefficient of education.In order to eliminate this educational inequality,the Chinese government has made great efforts.The Chinese government has expanded the demand for education through the right incentive system and the nine-year compulsory education law.On the other hand,the Chinese government directly or indirectly grants subsidies to education suppliers and demanders to achieve the purpose of increasing education output.Based on the positive externality of education itself,the Chinese government attaches great importance to the cultivation of human resources for offspring,and hopes to transform China’s quantity-based demographic dividend into quality-based demographic dividend,and finally realize sustained economic growth.We believe that some education-related policies promulgated by China have indeed reduced educational inequality in poor areas to some extent,but there is still potential for progress in further addressing educational inequality in poor areas by the Chinese government.

Dynamic evolutions of ecological carrying capacity in poor areas using ecological footprint model at Ruyang County of China

In this study,the ecological footprint(EF)from 2004 to 2013 of a poor county chosen from Central China was measured and analyzed by using the methodology and theory of EF.The results showed that in the past 10 years,the county’s ecological footprint per capita was growing gradually,increasing from 0.7053 hm^(2)in 2004 to 1.4473 hm^(2)in 2013,with growth clearly accelerated in recent years.During the same period,the ecological carrying capacity per capita reduced from 0.6351 hm^(2)to 0.5018 hm^(2).Additionally,regional development had been in a state of ecological deficit,per capita ecological deficit increased from 0.0702 hm^(2)to 0.9456 hm^(2).This led to contradictions between regional socio-economic development and sustainability of natural ecosystems,meaning the development of the region is unsustainable.Measures to reduce the ecological deficit were proposed to coordinate regional industrialization,urbanization,ecological environmental protection,and to promote the sustainable development in the region(e.g.adjusting industrial structure and consumption structure,promoting economic transformation,scientific planning and management of land).The results could provide a scientific basis for studies on ecological carrying capacity of the poor areas in Central China.

Influence of social capital on the livelihood strategies of farmers under China's rural revitalization strategy in poor mountain areas: A case study of the Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture

Social capital in the form of social resources or social networks is one of the most important livelihood capital of farmers, which can increase the labor productivity of poor households and increase income. It is important to explore the reasons underlying the livelihood strategy choices of farmers from the perspective of social capital under China’s rural revitalization strategy. In this study, the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, a povertystricken mountainous area in southwestern China, was selected as the case study area, and multivariable linear regression models were constructed to analyze the influence of social capital on livelihood strategies.The results are as follows:(1) Individual social capital had a positive effect on non-agricultural livelihood strategies. On average, with a one-unit increase in individual social capital, the ratio of farmers’ nonagricultural income to total productive income(Income_Rto) increased by 0.002% and 0.062%,respectively. Collective social capital, with the Peasant Economic Cooperation Organization(PECO) as the carrier, had a negative effect on the non-agricultural livelihood strategies of farmers;on average, with a oneunit increase in PECO, Income_Rto decreased by approximately 0.053%. However, this effect was only significant in the river valley area.(2) The income differences among the different livelihood strategy types were explained by the livelihood strategy choices of farmers. As non-agricultural work can bring more benefits, the labor force exhibited one-way migration from villages to cities, resulting in a lack of the subject of rural revitalization. It is necessary to implement effective measures to highlight the role of PECO in increasing agricultural income for farmers. Finally,based on the above conclusions,policy recommendations with respect to livelihood transformation of farmers and rural sustainable development are discussed.

Analyzing multidimensional measures of poverty and their influences in China's Qinba Mountains

We use the Alkire–Foster poverty measure and decomposition method to study multidimensional poverty in the Qinling–Daba contiguous poor area of China's Henan Province.We examine absolute,relative,and multidimensional poverty focusing on heads of household and family characteristics as constituents of escaping each.We find that the multidimensional poverty index declines to a low level as values of k increase.Combining first-order random dominance with second-order stochastic dominance quickly determines rankings in the multidimensional poverty index.Increasing non-agricultural income emerges as the most important influence on escaping rural poverty,whereas households with elderly and children are at greatest risk for falling into poverty.