Off-farm employment,agriculture production activities,and household dietary diversity in environmentally and economically vulnerable areas of Asia

Access to off-farm employment has been expected to be a critical approach to ending hunger and all forms of malnutrition,two important targets of achieving Zero Hunger.This study aims to investigate the role of off-farm employment in improving dietary diversity through substitution effect and complementary effect with agricultural production activities and income effect.This study adopts Poisson/Tobit/Probit/OLS regressions and the instrument variable method based on the primary survey data collected among 1,282 households at 12 sites in environmentally and economically vulnerable areas of China,Nepal,Cambodia,Thailand,and Myanmar in 2019.The results show that off-farm employment is positively associated with household dietary diversity and the consumption of flesh meat,fish and other aquatic animals,fruits,and milk and dairy products,which are rich in protein and micronutrients.The results of mechanism analysis show that off-farm employment contributes to household dietary diversity by improving crop diversity,especially for poor households,boosting the probability of livestock raising for households with the middle one-third disposal income,and increasing household income.The positive association between off-farm employment and household dietary diversity is much higher for households with the bottom one-third disposal income,low illiteracy,and from upper-middle income countries.These findings imply that off-farm employment does play a vital role in achieving multiple benefits of poverty alleviation,malnutrition reduction,and agrobiodiversity conservation in environmentally and economically vulnerable areas.However,it may enlarge the gaps in dietary diversity between households with low human capital and from low and lower-middle income countries and those with high human capital and from middle-high countries.

A Review of Informal Employment Research

With the development of the economy and society, employment forms have shown a trend of diversification. Informal employment has become an important form of employment, and governments have introduced policies to protect the rights of informal workers. This paper reviews the literature on informal employment and summarizes the definition, role, and impact of informal employment, governance, rural informal employment, and women’s power in informal employment. The study concludes that the impact of informal employment is twofold. On the one hand, informal employment provides employment opportunities and contributes to economic growth. On the other hand, the wages, working environment, and institutional security of informal workers are inferior to those of formal workers. In addition, most studies have focused on urban spaces, and there are fewer studies on rural informal employment, especially for rural women. Due to gender, education level, and family care, informal employment has become the main employment form of the rural female labor force, and it is particularly important to study their employment status and rights protection.

Human capital, Social Capital and the Informal Employment of Floating Population

The informal employment is an important part of the floating population employment in our country. Based on the survey data of seven cities in the year of 2013 of our country, by establishing Probit regression model this paper analysis the relationship among human capital, social capital and floating population informal employment empirically. The main conclusions are the following two points： in the factors of human capital the floating people who have professional certificate, possessed good health and a higher education level will have a lower probability of engaging in informal employment; in the factors of human capital, the higher the probability of associate with the local people, the higher the probability that the floating population is engaged in informal employment. But the floating population have a lower probability of engaging in informal employment if he（she） got help from organization, be discriminated against by the local people and have a sense of U＇ust in the government of the place where he（she） was engaged. At the end of this paper, the corresponding policy recommendations arc put forward.

Analysis of the Impact of Off-farm Employment of Agricultural Labor on Grain Production in Shandong Province and Henan Province

[Objective] This study aimed to investigate the impact of off-farm employment of agricultural labor on grain production. [Method] Impact of off-farm employment of agricultural labor on grain production was investigated based on path analysis by using data from 200 counties and cities in Shandong Province and Henan Province in 2000 and 2008. [Result] Off-farm employment of agricultural labor affects grain production through agricultural land use patterns, off-farm employment of agricultural labor has negative impacts on grain production through multiple cropping index and positive impacts through the proportion of grain planting area. The positive impacts were greater in 2008. [Conclusion] Prerequisite of the positive impacts of off-farm employment on grain production is the substitution of agricultural mechanization development and agricultural technology advancement for agricultural labor. Orderly land circulation and scale land use should be promoted to avoid the lack of agricultural labor due to off-farm employment.

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.

Does labor off-farm employment inevitably lead to land rent out?Evidence from China

The focus of land economics is on how to decrease the misallocation of resources to achieve an optimal allocation of resources. Both the theories of new economics of labor migration(NELM) and the conclusions of empirical studies reveal that land resources will inevitably be reallocated(e.g., rented out) if the resources of family labor are reallocated(e.g., off-farm employment). However, this study reveals that off-farm employment does not inevitably lead to land rent out. More precisely, this study uses survey data on 8031 peasant households from 27 provinces in China and explores the relationship between off-farm employment and land rent out by describing spatial features and through empirical analysis(e.g., IV-Probit model and IV-Tobit model). The results show the following: 1) There is an indirect relationship between off-farm employment and land rent out regarding spatial area aggregation, i.e., regions with a higher ratio of off-farm employment also have a lower area of land rent out. 2) Off-farm employment is significantly positively correlated with the behavior of land rent out, but its square is significantly negatively correlated with the behavior, i.e., there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between off-farm employment and the behavior of land rent out, with the turning point being 55.55% offfarm employment. 3) Off-farm employment is significantly positively correlated with the area of land rent out, but its square is significantly negatively correlated with the area, i.e., there is an inverted Ushaped relationship between off-farm employment and the area of land rent out, with the turning point being 56.22% off-farm employment. This study helps explain why China has a high ratio of off-farm employment but a lower rate of land rent out.

How Does Technological Progress Affect Employment and Wage Differences in China＇s Information Industry

Combining the development status of information industry in China and based on theoretical discussions on labor demand and supply as well as the comprehensive analysis on endogenous technological progress and exogenous educational quality, this paper concludes that the technological progress of information industry in China is skill- biased, i.e. technological progress of information industry increases the demand for skilled labor while decreases the demand for unskilled labor, and aggravates the wage difference between these two types of labor. Due to the effect of educational quality, the ratio of skilled labor employment to unskilled labor employment will reach a dynamic equilibrium and the wage difference between skilled labor and unskilled labor will not increase continuously. This paper then proves the foregoing conclusion with data of information industry in 26 provinces （autonomous region, municipality）. Focusing on typical skill-intensive information industry, this paper mainly studies the influence of educational quality, which not only complements the theoretical analysis on dual effects of technological progress on employment, but also provides feasible and practical basis to policies promoting the development of technological progress and full employment in China.

Childcare,Elderly Caring and Off-farm Employment of Rural Couples in China

Based on the representative sample survey data of more than 1 000 farmers in 101 villages of 25 counties of 5 provinces in China,within the framework of family collective decision-making,this paper studied the effects and heterogeneity of childcare and elderly caring on the off-farm employment mode of rural couples. It found that caring the children younger than 3 years old significantly reduces the possibility of offfarm employment of rural couples;conversely,if there is 60-80 years old member in the family,it will significantly increase the possibility of off-farm employment of rural couples or the wives. Caring the children above 12 years old or the elderly older than 80 years old reduces the possibility of off-farm employment of the husbands. Whether there is preschool education service facility in the village has no effect on the off-farm employment of the couples.

Childbearing or Working?——Impact of Childbirth on Rural Women's Interruption of Off-farm Employment

To assess the work interruption information and examine the correlation between childbirth and the off-farm employment interruption of rural women,this article collected 3 820 women's childbirth and employment information over the past 18 years( 1998-2015),using multivariate regression to explore the impact of female individual,family and employment characteristics on probability of employment interruption and duration of interruption. Results indicated that overall,40% of women got interrupted after childbirth in rural areas and the average duration of interruption was about four years. Human capital factors,such as their work experience,first childbirth age and education experience,influence the probability of employment interruption,but these factors do not extend the duration of interruption for women who got interrupted.It is concluded that increasing the human capital of rural women is helpful to increasing their labor force participation rate after childbirth.

Influential Factors in Employment Location Selection Based on “Push-Pull” Migration Theory—A Case Study in Three Gorges Reservoir Area in China

In China, farmers employed in non-farm work have become important socio-economic actors, but few studies have examined the farmers' perspective in making their work location choices. Based on "push-pull" migration theory, this paper utilizes sectional data from a 2013 survey of farmers in China's Three Gorges Reservoir area to empirically analyze the factors influencing migrant workers' choice of employment location. The results indicate that 60.46% of laborers have migrated from their home province, whereas 39.54% have remained in their home province. Focusing on personal, household, and community characteristics—in addition to the economic characteristics of the sample counties—multinomial logistic regression models reveal that farmer-laborers' employment location decisions are influenced by their personal capital endowment(age, years of education and social networks), family structure(the number of laborers, elders, children and students), home village characteristics(location, economic development level and the degree of relief of the land) and home county economic development level. Notably, male and female laborers' location decisions reveal a converging trend, and their differences are not pronounced. Per capita arable land area has little influence on location decisions, whereas the educational level of laborers has a significant impact. The results differ significantly from those found in previous studies.

Effects of Minimum Wage Hikes on the Formalization of Employment

Despite the intention of minimum wage policy to maintain the living standards of low-income groups in the formal sector, this paper has found that the actual result of this policy produces the ＂big push＂ impact on China＇s economy under certain conditions, i.e. it is conducive to achieving the equilibrium of high wage, high consumption and formalization. The result shows that the elasticity of income growth from raising the minimum wage standard is greater for formal sector employees than for informal sector employees and is characterized by a U-shaped pattern in terms of quantiles. Thus, minimum wage hikes have widened wage gaps between and within sectors. Rising minimum wage standards greatly stimulate consumption with each 10% increase expected to bring about an additional urban household consumption of about 1.167 billion yuan in the surveyed four provinces. With local minimum wage hikes, the formal sector of wholesale and retail, hotel and catering services expands and the informal sector contracts, while the real estate sector experiences a ＂reverse formalization＂ trend. Based on the ＂big push theory＂, this paper concludes that against the backdrop of extensive, frequent and substantial minimum wage hikes, demand and sector TFP growth are the major causes of sector heterogeneity.

数字经济发展与就业质量提升:促进还是抑制?

将中国28省份数字经济指数与2015、2017、2019年三期中国社会状况综合调查(CSS)的截面数据相结合,综合运用线性回归模型、有序Probit模型,考察数字经济发展对就业质量的影响。研究发现:数字经济发展对就业质量提升具有促进作用,在总体上能够提高劳动者的收入水平、降低劳动强度、提高社会保障项目参与水平,但对劳动者的工作满意度会产生负向影响。该结果在使用地形起伏度作为工具变量进行内生性检验后依然成立。伴随数字经济发展产生的新就业形态会抑制劳动者的社会保障项目参与,且该抑制作用在非正规就业群体中更为明显;数字经济发展对就业质量的提升效果在不同类型和不同年龄段的就业群体中存在差异。

家庭生育决策、儿童照料方式与女性就业——基于微观家庭调查数据的分析

提高女性就业与生育的正向兼容性对促进人口长期均衡发展具有重要意义。论文基于中国家庭追踪调查数据,采用cmp方法探究儿童照料方式、女性生育与就业决策之间的相互关系。研究发现,女性生育和就业存在双向抑制关系,且对农村户籍的青年女性抑制性更强。隔代照料有助于缓解生育和就业的正向兼容矛盾,而机构照料仅提高了女性就业率,在城市中机构照料伴随高昂成本反而抑制了生育数量。此外,女性正规就业与生育相互抑制,而非正规就业是缓解矛盾的有效途径,尤其是在农村,女性生育与非正规就业相互促进、兼容发展。从动态角度看,因生育中断就业对女性再就业的阻碍具有持续性。建议进一步完善和发展非正规就业市场,短期可鼓励支持家庭隔代照料,长期需发展完善普惠性市场照料,补充“去家庭化”的生育支持。

数字乡村建设与农民工就业质量提升

数字乡村建设一方面通过新业态新模式创造出更多更高质量的就业岗位,另一方面通过拓宽信息渠道促进农民工人力资本和社会资本积累,增强农民工在就业市场上的竞争力和议价能力,因而可以赋能农民工高质量就业。将2018年的县域数字乡村指数数据与中国家庭追踪调查(CFPS)数据进行匹配,从客观和主观两个维度综合评价农民工的就业质量,检验数字乡村建设对农民工就业质量的影响,结果表明:数字乡村建设显著提高了农民工就业质量,该结论在内生性处理和一系列稳健性检验中依然成立;数字乡村建设具有显著的信息改善效应,可以通过拓宽信息渠道、促进人岗匹配、增强社会信任等路径来提高农民工的就业质量;数字乡村建设对女性农民工、在婚农民工、中青年农民工、学历较高的农民工和已接入互联网的农民工具有更显著的就业质量提升作用。因此,应加快推进数字乡村建设,充分发挥其各种积极效应,并有效缩小城乡间和农村地区内部的数字鸿沟,促进数字乡村协调发展。

“互联网+”背景下大学生就业创业指导刍论

互联网的普及和发展对人类生活的方方面面都产生了巨大影响,对于大学生而言,他们的就业创业面临着新的机遇和挑战。互联网+的快速发展虽然给大学生提供了更多的就业创业机会,但大学生所面临的就业创业压力也较大。当前,大学生就业创业指导工作越来越受到国家、社会和高校的重视。高校作为培养人才的主要阵地,对大学生就业创业的指导不可忽视。高校应针对大学生就业创业所需技能,有针对性地开展大学生就业创业指导工作,要积极创新课程设计和指导框架,在互联网+背景下加强信息化应用,努力建立线上线下一体化实践平台,更好地服务于大学生就业创业。

农村劳动力数字素养、就业能力与非农就业

基于2018年和2020年中国家庭追踪调查(CFPS)数据,实证检验数字素养对农村劳动力非农就业的影响与作用机制。结果发现:农村劳动力的数字素养能显著促进其非农就业,且对其非正规就业的促进作用大于正规就业。数字素养主要通过促进农村劳动力的学历匹配、拓宽农村劳动力的学习路径、丰富农村劳动力的社会网络,提升农村劳动力的就业能力,进而促进其非农就业。异质性分析发现,数字素养对女性和中青年农村劳动力正规就业的促进作用更加显著,对低学历农村劳动力的非正规就业促进作用更为明显。

零工经济下农民工灵活就业研究进展

零工经济进入了井喷式增长的阶段,对劳动力市场和经济复苏产生了广泛而深远的影响。然而,数字技术进步和互联网平台发展对农民工灵活就业选择产生哪些影响,通过什么渠道影响,是一个亟须回答的重要问题。文章系统梳理了零工经济和灵活就业的由来和发展,总结和归纳了零工经济的前沿研究领域,包括零工经济下灵活就业选择及收入的研究,分析了学界关于零工经济对收入差距是“缩小”还是“拉大”的不同意见,从技术进步对劳动力的替代效应、生产力效应对就业的促进作用、技能互补对就业结构转型的影响、搜寻匹配机制对劳动的配置效应四方面讨论了零工经济下灵活就业的经济效果,为有序推进多渠道灵活就业和农民工市民化提供科学依据和决策参考。

信息获取渠道对农机社会化服务的影响研究——基于非农就业视角

基于江汉平原372户水稻种植户调查数据,运用有序Probit模型实证考察信息获取渠道对农户农机社会化服务采纳程度的影响,并从非农就业视角探讨信息获取渠道对农户农机社会化服务采纳程度的影响机制。研究结果表明:媒介渠道、组织渠道和人际渠道对农户农机社会化服务采纳程度具有促进作用,经过稳健性检验结果依旧显著;媒介渠道、组织渠道和人际渠道对农户农机社会化服务采纳程度的促进作用通过非农就业实现。进一步异质性分析发现,信息获取渠道对农业收入占比低的农户农机社会化服务采纳程度具有正向影响,而对农业收入占比高的农户农机社会化服务采纳程度具有负向影响;信息获取渠道对受教育程度低的农户农机社会化服务采纳程度影响较小,而对受教育程度高的农户农机社会化服务采纳程度影响显著。因此,建议拓宽农户信息获取渠道,鼓励农户多渠道就业,并针对不同农户实行差异化扶持政策。

基于用户兴趣模型的大学生就业信息推荐方法

为提高推荐就业信息与大学生偏好就业信息的匹配程度,文章将个体就业需求作为前提条件,设计一种基于用户兴趣模型的大学生就业信息推荐方法。首先,利用兴趣模型中的关联规则,对高校提供的就业信息中兴趣特征点进行匹配;其次,在既定的分类规则下,根据就业文本信息的内容对其进行类别划分;最后,根据用户浏览高校就业信息、在就业招聘界面的停留时间等,针对大学生偏好进行计算。对比实验结果表明:本文中设计的推荐方法应用效果良好,按照规范使用该方法进行大学生就业信息推荐,能够增加推荐就业信息与大学生偏好就业信息的匹配程度,为大学生提供更加优质的就业服务,提高大学生就业质量。

高校学生就业指导服务工作质量现状调研

通过问卷调查法了解高校学生就业指导服务工作质量现状,运用SPSS 27.0软件进行数据分析。结果表明,大学生对高校学生就业指导服务工作质量的认知高于理论中值,处于中等偏上水平。就业指导课程、职业生涯规划、就业指导与服务、就业信息发布与举办招聘会的均值均高于理论中值,但从均值与理论中值差值来看,就业指导课程、就业信息发布与举办招聘会三方面的满意度相对较低。由独立样本t检验可知,性别、生源地、是否是独生子女及家庭经济条件均不会对高校学生就业指导服务工作质量产生影响。