The impact of Internet access on household dietary quality:Evidence from rural China

Over the past few decades,the Internet has rapidly diffused across China.The spread of the Internet has had a profound economic and social impact on Chinese rural areas.Existing research shows that Internet access significantly impacts agricultural production and improves smallholder farmers’income.Beyond these,the Internet can affect other dimensions of social welfare.However,research about the impact of Internet access on dietary quality in rural China remains scarce.This study utilizes multi-period panel data from Fixed Observation Point in rural China from 2009 to 2015 to estimate the impact of Internet access on dietary quality and food consumption of rural households and conducts a causal analysis.Regression models with time and household fixed effects allow robust estimation while reducing potential issues of unobserved heterogeneity.The estimates show that Internet access has significantly increased rural household dietary quality(measured by the Chinese Diet Balance Index).Further research finds that Internet access has increased the consumption of animal products,such as aquatic and dairy products.We also examine the underlying mechanisms.Internet access improves dietary quality and food consumption mainly through increasing household income and food expenditure.These results encourage the promotion of Internet access as a valuable tool for nutritional improvements,especially in rural areas.

Off-farm employment and poverty alleviation in rural China

Two phenomena in the history of China's economic growth during the last four decades are the increase in the share of offfarm employment and the progress in poverty alleviation in rural China.Although both of them have been well documented in the literature,less is known about the linkage between the two.To better understand the role that off-farm employment has played in poverty alleviation in rural China is critically important not only for China but also for those countries that are trying to reduce poverty.Here,we examine the impact of off-farm employment on poverty alleviation in rural China.Using the data from two nationally representative household panel surveys(China National Rural Survey and China Rural Development Survey),this paper provides supporting evidence that off-farm employment contributes to poverty alleviation in rural China.Specifically,if household participation in off-farm employment increases by 10 percentage points,the likelihood for a nonpoor household to fall into poverty will decrease by 0.88 percentage point whereas the likelihood for a poor household to climb out of poverty will increase by 3.5 percentage points.In a word,off-employment can not only prevent rural residents to fall into poverty but also help those already in poverty climb out of it.

The dynamic impact of income and income distribution on food consumption among adults in rural China

Previous studies have demonstrated that income has a significant effect on food demand in rural China. However, little research has focused on the dynamic impact of income and income distribution on food demand in rural China. Using China Health and Nutrition Survey data, this study employs a consistent two-step quadratic almost ideal demand system model, with addressed problems of endogeneity of total expenditure and zero shares, to estimate the food demand elasticities among adults in rural areas with regard to the different income strata. The results show that changes in income and income strata have significant effects on food demand in rural areas. Except for grains, all other food groups, including vegetables, oils and fats, animal products, and other foods, have positive income elasticities, and the rise in the income strata will lead to declining income elasticities for grains, vegetables, oils and fats, and animal products. Based on the estimated income elasticities, the food consumption projections indicate that reducing income inequality in rural society can improve the living standard of low-income people in terms of nutrient intakes.

Status and path of intergenerational transmission of poverty in rural China:A human capital investment perspective

This paper focused on the intergenerational transmission of poverty in rural China by estimating the intergenerational transmission of earnings and stated its mechanism from the perspective of human capital investment before children participated in the labor market.The data used in this study were longitude data collected in 2000 households of 100 villages among 25 counties across five provinces in 2005,2008,2012,2016,and 2019.Qualitative and quantitative methods were adopted.We found a significant intergenerational transmission of earnings in rural China,especially for the pairs of father–children and parents–children.The intergenerational earnings'elasticities were much less than those in urban areas,which indicated better social mobility in rural areas than that in urban China.The children with parents who could earn much were more likely to be invested before they participated in the labor market,gain a high education and have more skills.Three cases further showed that the mechanism of human capital investment in children breaking the intergenerational transmission of poverty and promoting social mobility.

The power of informal institutions:The impact of clan culture on the depression of the elderly in rural China

Exploration of ways to improve the subjective welfare of residents is an important area of current academic research.Using data from the China Family Panel Studies survey conducted in 2010,this paper investigated the impact of clan culture on the mental health of elderly people in rural China.The results demonstrated that clan culture can significantly decrease the depression score of the rural elderly.Further,there was no gender difference with respect to the impact of clan culture on the depression score of the elderly.At the same time,the positive effects of clan culture on the depression score of the elderly have gradually weakened with economic development.Exploration of the mechanisms involved indicated that in areas with stronger clan culture,older people receive more social support.This study enriches our understanding of the impact of informal institutions on the welfare of rural residents.At the same time,it can also provide a certain decisionmaking reference for the government to formulate relative poverty relief strategies in a new stage of poverty alleviation.

Do credit constraints affect households'economic vulnerability?Empirical evidence from rural China

Poverty alleviation is still one of the major challenges in developing countries,especially in transitional economy like China.From the perspective of anti-poverty,this paper examines the impact of formal credit constraints(FCCs)and informal credit constraints(IFCCs)on economic vulnerability(EV)using the data from the China Household Income Project(CHIP)survey for 2013(CHIPs 2013)of rural households.The potential endogeneity problem of credit constraints(CCs)is addressed by applying the control function approach within an ordered probit model.The results show that both FCCs and IFCCs have a robust positive and significant impact on the EV of rural households and that the impact of FCCs is greater than that of IFCCs.To identify the potential mechanisms through which CCs affect EV,the seemingly unrelated regressions are used and the potential intercorrelation among these mechanisms is examined.We find that the impact of CCs on EV is partly mediated by health,trust,per capita financial assets and per capita income,whereby health and per capita income contribute to most of the total indirect effect.Thus,policies focus on supply-side and demand-side to improve credit accessibility could reduce rural households'EV,especially through its positive effect on health and per capita income.

LANDSCAPE ECOLOGICAL CONSTRUCTION IN RURAL CHINA:THEORY AND APPLICATION

In landscape with overpopulation, intensive management for economic production, and where even small natural-vegetation patches are scarce, ecological conservation generally must be developed in the course of economic development. Thus “landscape ecological construction” has evolved in China. This approach adds spatial elements and alters landscape pattern to strengthen inter-ecosystem linkages, improve functioning of damaged ecosystems, and increase productivity and stability of the whole landscape. Five examples of managed landscapes in China are presented: dike-pond systems in a river delta; multi-pond system in a rice paddy landscape; field-grass-wood grid system on unstable sand dunes; shelterbelt network in a crop field area; and field-grass-wood mosaic system on highly erodible hilly farmland. These indicate that ecological conditions can be improved along with increased economic production. Altering landscape structure and ecological flows by introducing small landscape elements in distinct spatial patterns is considered a key to the results. This reshaping of the land has focused on changing patch size, regularity of arrangement, biological and hydrological corridors, and networks, the matrix and grain size. It suggests that such changes can increase negative feedbacks and increase stability. Finally, planning and design principles are pinpointed for the landscape ecological construction process.

Preliminary Study on Crime Prevention of Left-behind Children in Rural China

In the process of social and economic development in China,there appears the inevitable problem of crime of left-behind children.Extensive researches and disputes prove that it is,to a greater extent,a social phenomenon resulted from social factors. It is recommended to improve the treatment of migrant workers and solve the problem of school admission for their children,provide effective legal education for those left-behind children whose problem can not be solved in a short term,and supplement the guardianship role to control the crime rate of leftbehind children. Another more effective method is to resume effective control of people's social life through the rural cultural tradition,to fundamentally prevent crime of left-behind children.

Nail Selenium Level and Diabetes in Older People in Rural China

This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the association between selenium levels and diabetes in an older population with life-long natural exposure to selenium in rural China. A total of 1856 subjects aged 65 years or older from four Chinese rural counties with different environmental selenium levels were evaluated. Analysis of covariance models and logistic regression models were used to examine the relationship between nail selenium levels and serum glucose, serum insulin, insulin resistance [using the Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance （HOMA-IR）], and the risk of diabetes. The mean nail selenium level was 0.461μg/g and the prevalence rate of diabetes was 8.3% in this population. The mean nail selenium level was significantly higher in the group with diabetes than in the group without diabetes （P〈0.0001）. The adjusted odds ratios for diabetes were 2.65 （95% Cl： 1.48 to 4.73）, 2.47 （95% CI： 1.37 to 4.45）, and 3.30 （95% Cl： 1.85 to 5.88） from the second selenium quartile to the fourth quartile, respectively, compared with the first quartile group. The mean serum glucose and HOMA-IR in the higher selenium quartile groups were significantly higher than those of the lowest quartile group. However, no significant differences in insulin were observed among the four quartile groups. A long-term, higher level of exposure to selenium may be associated with a higher risk of diabetes. Future studies are needed to elucidate the association between selenium and insulin resistance.

Impact of the New Cooperative Medical Scheme on Health Care Service Utilization in Rural China

Using the 2000, 2004, and 2006 CHNS longitudinal survey data and econometric methods （random-effect probit regression model and DID methods）, this study conducted an empirical analysis to estimate the impact of NCMS. The major conclusions are as follows. First, predisposing factors, enabling factors, health care need factors, and lifestyle factors affect health care utilization. Second, results using DID methods indicate that NCMS did not affect health care service utilization （outpatient and inpatient） of individuals when ill, but it might increase the possibility of getting a health examination. Third, there is no difference in health care service utilization （both outpatient and inpatient） between the NCMS enrollment group and the non-enrollment group in both working age group （15-59） and the elderly group （60 and over）. Therefore, it can be said that NCMS did not affect the health care utilization in both the group. However, NCMS positively affects disease prevention behavior （visiting the hospital to receive a health examination） in the working age group, but the effect did not appear in the elderly group.

Integrated water resources management for sustainable development of in western rural China

Management in water resources development of Jinghe watershed of western t：ural China is examined with Participatory Rural Appraisal method -- a rare applied method in China and questionnaire survey of stakeholders Combination of these two survey methods derives good restlts as it coutd avoid personal bias in identifying and ranking the issues on a concrete bas＇is in following up households＇ survey. Statistic Package for Social Sciences gSPSS） was used for data analysis. Results indicate that since the early 1980s, issues of water scarcity, river pollution, soil erosion, insufficient participation of stakeholders in water resources use and management, as well as centralized water planning and management system have created difficulties for Sustainable development of the watershed. The stakeholders and local governments are fully aware of the challenges and are committed to achieving a solution through integrated water resource management （IWRD）. The concept anti the application of IWRD for rural China are reviewed and analyzed, and a fram cessful implementatio involvement and capacity building in water sector, which heed to fully, integrate various management functions within the watershed.

International Seminar on Labour Migration in Rural China

ＩｎｔｅｒｎａｔｉｏｎａｌＳｅｍｉｎａｒｏｎＬａｂｏｕｒＭｉｇｒａｔｉｏｎｉｎＲｕｒａｌＣｈｉｎａ￥／／ＡｎｉｎｔｅｒｎａｔｉｏｎａｌＳｅｍｉｎａｒｏｎｔｈｅＭｉｇｒａｔｉｏｎｏｆＲｕｒａｌＬａｂｏｕｒｅｒｓｉｎＣｈｉｎａｗａｓｈｅｌｄｉｎＢｅｉｊｉ...

Parental Migration’s Effects on the Academic and Non-Academic Performance of Left-Behind Children in Rural China

This study investigates the impact of parental labor migration on the academic achievements and non-academic growth of left-behind children in fourth and seventh grades. Employing survey data collected from rural China in 2014, 2015, and 2016, we examine the effect of parental absence on children's academic achievement using Propensity Score Matching(PSM) and Difference in Difference(DID) methods. The results demonstrate that left-behind children whose parents have migrated for one year have statistically significantly lower academic scores. Academic scores drop lower for fourthgrade students and students from higher-income families. There are also adverse effects on left-behind children's confidence, teacher-student relationships, subjective well-being, and educational expectations if parents migrate for one year. Surprisingly, if parental migration lasts longer(totaling two years), these adverse effects disappear, and student's educational expectations even improve. These results may be because, over time, the adverse effects that occur immediately after parental migration are offset by the positive effects of migration(i.e. higher income). These conclusions can inform migrant parents on ways to utilize their resources to improve the academic performance of their left-behind children.

Ethnic Difference of Disease Prevalence in Rural China: Examples and Explanations

Ethnic difference of disease prevalence has attracted great attentions in recent years in China, but few researches have summarized analysis available on ethnic difference of disease prevalence in rural China. The PubMed Central, Wiley Inter science, Science direct, Biomed central, CNKI and Springer-link were searched to identify studies published between January 1984 and October 2014 on ethnic inequality of health status in rural China. Distinct ethnic differences of disease prevalence exist in rural China. Results across disciplines put different explanations on the ethnic differences from ethnicity, infant feeding, and inequality in maternal health services utilization angles. The ethnic inequality of health status in rural China can be reduced by policy makers to allocate more resources towards health service in ethnic rural China.

When democratic deliberation encounters Confucian moral governance:Rethinking consultative politics in rural China

The last decades have witnessed the flourishing of consultative democracy(xieshang minzhu,a concept similar to deliberative democracy)in China,with ambitions for implementing consultative politics and governance.In the West,mainstream deliberative democracy studies largely overlook the fact that deliberation is an elusive and polysemic notion,which develops into various practices in different social and cultural contexts.Therefore,a non-Western-centred approach needs to be adopted to further investigate deliberative experimentation in rural China.Based on the four months of fieldwork conducted in several villages in rural China,this paper argues that China’s rural villages have inherited a strong Confucianism-based idea of deliberation and consultation.With case studies from the sociological-political perspective,this paper also aims to shed some new light on the compatibilities between modern democratic governance approaches and the informal,hierarchical and highly moralised forms of public order in the rural Chinese acquaintance society.Incorporating these empirical observations could bridge the gap between Western and Chinese perspectives on the theory and practice of deliberative democracy.