Elite capture,the“follow-up checks”policy,and the targeted poverty alleviation program:Evidence from rural western China

Decentralized methods for targeting poverty are widely adopted in developing countries to improve the performance of various poverty alleviation programs.A common challenge for implementing successful decentralized targeting is the existence of elite capture.China has recently implemented a nationwide decentralized poverty targeting program,the targeted poverty alleviation(TPA)policy,to achieve the national goal of eliminating absolute poverty by the end of 2020.As the largest decentralized poverty targeting program in the world,TPA's successful implementation was believed to be threatened by elite capture in some earlier reports.Since 2015,a targeting correction mechanism,called"follow-up checks"policy,has been introduced.With the"follow-up checks"policy,the elites and other ineligible households who receive benefits under TPA were removed from the program.This paper investigates the elite capture phenomenon in TPA using village census data from a poverty-stricken county in 2017-two years after implementing the"follow-up checks"policy.We find no evidence of elite capture in TPA.The elites are unlikely to become beneficiaries or receive more benefits than non-elites.Our results contradict earlier findings that reported elite capture in TPA.We argue that the reason is the accountability emphasized by the central government in the"follow-up checks"policy.Our findings imply that having proper accountability is critical for improving targeting performance by global antipoverty initiatives.

The code of targeted poverty alleviation in China:A geography perspective

Geography is suitable for the study of sustainability from a transdisciplinary perspective,which takes the human-land relationship as the core research.As a key obstacle to rural sustainability,poverty is an external manifestation of the coupling maladjustment of elements in human-land territorial systems.As the world’s largest developing country,China eradicated extreme poverty in 2020 and made significant contributions to global poverty reduc-tion.Especially over the last eight years,China has implemented a targeted poverty alleviation(TPA)strategy and has continuously promoted theoretical,organizational and institutional innovations for poverty reduction.From the perspective of geography,this paper extracts the experiences of China’s TPA strategy,represented by the"5W2H"mode.The research concludes that:(1)Precise identification,as the foundation of TPA,aims to in-troduce a registration system to obtain records of all poor households and then answer the"5W"(what,where,why,who,when)issues of the geography of poverty.(2)Precise assistance is the key of TPA,which aims to solve the issue of"how to offer help and support".The barriers to escaping poverty can be accomplished through poli-cies and measures that focus on the diverse causes of poverty and considering different situations.(3)Accurate assessments are an essential means of TPA,relevant to solve"how to measure the end of poverty alleviation",and third-party evaluations play an important role in improving the accuracy of poverty alleviation.(4)The TPA mechanism lies in reconstructing the human-land-industry structures in the impoverished areal system.It is urgent to introduce China’s successful experience and typical modes of TPA for global human-earth system coordination and sustainable development and contribute to building a community of human destiny.

The Mode of Promoting Industrial Targeted Poverty Alleviation through Land Circulation in Western Mountainous Region of China——A Case Study of Luquan Yi and Miao Autonomous County in Yunnan Province

In the industrial targeted poverty alleviation,land circulation is a key process. Based on the national strategy of targeted poverty alleviation,this paper combined the industrial development of targeted poverty alleviation with land circulation. According to the field survey on the current situation of land circulation and promotion of the industrial poverty alleviation in the typical project area of Zhongping Village in Zhongping Town and Jiaowuying Village in Jiulong Town in Luquan Yi and Miao Autonomous County in Yunnan Province,located in the high mountain canyon area of Jinsha River in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River in the west of China. This paper summarized and analyzed the organization and operation mechanism,basic practices and main results of the land circulation and promotion of industrial poverty alleviation model in the typical project area of the county. It also summarized the innovation and successful experience of the model,and then came up with measures to further promote the implementation of the model,so as to provide necessary reference for the implementation of land circulation and industrial targeted poverty alleviation for the poverty-stricken counties in Yunnan Province and similar provinces( cities,regions).

Research on Strategies for the Development of Selenium-enriched Tea in Ankang City of Shaanxi Province in the Context of Targeted Poverty Alleviation

As an important symbol of agricultural and sideline products in Ankang City,selenium-enriched tea affects the development of regional agricultural and sideline industries.In this paper,the development status and problems of the selenium-enriched tea products of Ankang were analyzed in terms of capital,technology,management and sales mode.This research is of positive significance to the development of selenium-enriched products and other agricultural and sideline products of health value,and plays a very important role in promoting the cultivation of village-level characteristic industries and the effective realization of targeted poverty alleviation.

Analysis on the Present Situation of Targeted Poverty Alleviation in Rural Areas under the Idea of "Party Building + County Sage or Worthy":A Case Study of Qianshan Village,Ganlu Town,Gongqingcheng City of Jiangxi Province

From the reform and opening-up policy until now,targeted poverty alleviation in rural areas has always been regarded as a major and arduous task in China,and it strives to achieve the goal of national poverty alleviation by 2020.To firmly win the strong war of overcoming poverty and realize new leap of targeted poverty alleviation in rural areas,Qianshan Village,Ganlu Town,Gongqingcheng City of Jiangxi Province establishes party building projects with rural characteristics by surrounding action of"overcoming poverty and attacking strong poverty"and taking"party building+county sage or worthy"as link.It uses county sage or worthy to drive development of rural industry,and establishes a complete poverty alleviation mechanism,thereby making poor households get rid of poverty,become rich,and embark on the road of well-off society.In this paper,opportunities and challenges in targeted poverty alleviation work of Qianshan Village are analyzed,and corresponding countermeasures and suggestions are proposed.

Difference of Regional Benefits after Linking Newly-added Cropland Quotas with Amount of Land Used for Construction Based on Targeted Poverty Alleviation: A Case Study of Xinjiang

In order to explore the differences of projects on linking newly-added cropland quotas with the amount of land used for construction in targeted poverty alleviation in different rural areas,this paper selects the social,economic,cultural and ecological evaluation indexes,and introduces the AHP method,to measure the benefits before and after the implementation of the four typical projects on linking newly-added cropland quotas with the amount of land used for construction in Xinjiang. The results show that after the implementation of the project,the social,economic,cultural,ecological and comprehensive benefits of each region have been improved,but the benefits of regions with different economic levels are significantly different. This paper holds that the projects on linking newly-added cropland quotas with the amount of land used for construction in different regions should be considered from the ultimate goal before the establishment and implementation of the project,so as to realize the win-win situation between the urban-rural requisition-compensation balance and the targeted poverty alleviation in rural areas.

Land Use Regionalization in Poor Counties in Mountainous Areas Based on Targeted Poverty Alleviation

Land use regionalization is a strategic measure for the rational use,management and protection of land resources based on local conditions.Based on the needs of targeted poverty alleviation and rural revitalization strategy and the analysis on the natural and socioeconomic conditions,characteristics of land resources,and the current status of land use in Luquan County,corresponding regionalization indices were selected from four aspects:economic environment conditions,socioeconomic conditions,land resources and land use structure,and poverty alleviation and development level,a scientific and feasible index system for land use regionalization was constructed,and land use in Luquan County was regionalized by using systematic cluster analysis method.The results show that the 16 townships(towns)of Luquan County were divided into four land use regions,poverty alleviation region for development of new town and characteristic industries in the southwest(I),agricultural development and ecological poverty alleviation region in central mountainous area(II),poverty alleviation region for development of characteristic agriculture and tourism towns in eastern plateau mountainous area(III),and poverty alleviation region for development of characteristic industries and protection of land economy in the northern alpine valley area(IV).In addition,suggestions were put forward for the rational use of land in each region.

An Empirical Study on Targeted Poverty Alleviation of Chixi Village and Xiadang Village in Ningde City of Fujian Province

Chixi Village and Xiadang Village in Ningde City of Fujian Province were once famous poverty-stricken villages. Both of the villages are poor villages that General Secretary Xi Jinping has been paying attention to. The two villages have helped the poor get rid of poverty by infrastructure construction, ecological migration, and industrial development according to local conditions. However, the two villages have succeeded in the implementation of targeted poverty alleviation according to their own resource characteristics. The study shows that the poverty alleviation processes, poverty alleviation achievements and established future development trend of these two poor villages basically correspond to the trend of poverty alleviation policy in China in the past 30 years, reflect the process of “targeted poverty alleviation” work carried out in China’s rural areas to a certain extent, and has reference significance and theoretical significance for targeted poverty alleviation cases.

Significance,Path and Typical Cases of Integration of Grassroots Party Construction and Targeted Poverty Alleviation Team Construction in Colleges and Universities

The integration of party construction and poverty alleviation and development is an important form of achieving poverty alleviation in China. Based on the actual case of the integration of the party branch construction of the Institute of Targeted Poverty Alleviation and Development of Yunnan University of Finance and Economics and the construction of a third-party evaluation team for targeted poverty alleviation,this paper elaborated the practical significance and integration path design of the grassroots party construction and targeted poverty alleviation thirdparty evaluation team construction in colleges and universities. Besides,it analyzed the typical case of the party branch in the process of building the party branch of the ' double leader' teachers in the national colleges and universities,and vigorously implementing the development of the party branch construction and the third-party evaluation team for targeted poverty alleviation,and promoting double integration and double promotion. Finally,it came up with recommendations for further strengthening the development of the party branch construction and the thirdparty evaluation team for targeted poverty alleviation( including strengthening the party construction responsibility,promoting the solid foundation,promoting deep integration,strengthening mutual promotion,gathering poverty alleviation talents,and strengthen intellectual support),so as to form a new model of poverty alleviation through party construction and practicing the lofty purpose of serving the poor household wholeheartedly,and provide a useful reference for the grassroots party construction in China to promote poverty alleviation.

Reflections on China’s Targeted Poverty Alleviation Strategy from the Perspective of Drawing on Advantages and Avoiding Disadvantages in the New Era

The new era has put forward new requirements for targeted poverty alleviation.Coordinating disaster prevention,mitigation and relief and ecological civilization construction to assist targeted poverty alleviation has become an important direction for alleviating poverty from the perspective of drawing on advantages and avoiding disadvantages.The Outline of the 13th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China has planned and deployed to fully implement the task of poverty alleviation.The current poverty alleviation is extending from fixed-point poverty alleviation to collaborative poverty alleviation and targeted poverty alleviation.Combining the needs of disaster response,climate adaptation,resource utilization,ecological construction,and information utilization in poverty-stricken areas,the role of disaster risk monitoring,forecasting and early warning services is displayed.The disaster prevention,mitigation and relief and poverty alleviation in the new era should be integrated into the national poverty alleviation pattern,actively serve poverty alleviation projects of industry development,relocation and ecological protection,deeply explore the value of disaster risk information and improve the effective supply of disaster prevention,mitigation and relief services,letting disaster prevention,mitigation and relief and ecological civilization construction help the implementation of targeted poverty alleviation.

On the Subjectivity Spirit of Farmers in Targeted Poverty Alleviation

Farmers’subjectivity spirit is the fundamental political and ethical spirit of targeted poverty alleviation.A standardized analysis based on the whole process of targeted poverty alleviation easily reveals that the subjectivity spirit of farmers can be summarized into the spirit of extensive equality of participation,the spirit of complete standardization of procedures,and the spirit of seeking benefits for people as a result.However,the current work on targeted poverty alleviation has confronted with various hidden worries about the farmers’subjectivity dilemma,which leads to the alienation of poverty alleviation work.The key way only to solve the problem is to cultivate the farmers’subjectivity culture and integrate it into the whole process of targeted poverty alleviation.

Present Situation,Problems and Countermeasures of Targeted Poverty Alleviation in Shaxi Township of Lichuan City

Poverty is a major factor restricting the economic and social development of all countries in the world.Eliminating poverty and improving people's livelihood have always been the long-cherished goals of mankind.This paper elaborated the targeted poverty alleviation work in Shaxi Township of Lichuan City mainly from three aspects:targeted identification,targeted assistance,and targeted exit.Besides,it analyzed the problems existing in the practice of targeted poverty alleviation in Shaxi Township,and put forward corresponding countermeasures and recommendations.

Minority Rural Tourism Development Planning Based on Targeted Poverty Alleviation: A Case Study of Chaikeng She Village in Jiaocheng District of Ningde City, Fujian Province, China

Developing tourism to help ethnic minorities' rural areas get rid of poverty and achieve prosperity is one path for targeted poverty alleviation in the ethnic rural regions with economic backwardness. Ethnic minorities' rural areas have benefited from the national poverty alleviation policies and subsidies, the economy has made certain progress and the ethic minorities' living standard has been improved to a certain extent. However, the economic and social development still lags behind overall. Research and practice have proved that the ethnic minorities' rural tourism development planning is a forward-looking option for minority villages to implement poverty alleviation, get rid of poverty and become better off and achieve sustainable development.

New Approaches to Targeted Poverty Alleviation in the Age of Big Data——On Improving the Results of Targeted Poverty Alleviation Programs(10)

Since the State Council issued the Action Plan on Promoting the Development of the Big Data Industry,big data-enabled information integration and processing applications have increasingly become the basic strategic resources for the building of a modern governance system in China.When it comes to poverty reduction,given that we are currently at a critical stage in the battle to eradicate poverty,it's important that we apply the big data way of thinking and big data technology to the development and integration of poverty alleviation resources.This paper examines the need to apply big data technology in targeted poverty alleviation and discusses how big data technology can be integrated into targeted poverty alleviation programs and how the big data way of thinking meshes with the idea of targeted poverty alleviation.It is believed that the application of big data technology can significantly improve the results of targeted poverty alleviation programs and that the building of big data-powered poverty alleviation platforms is a new approach to implementing the targeted poverty alleviation strategy.This paper calls for changing our way of thinking regarding targeted poverty alleviation and points out the directions for targeted poverty alleviation in the age of big data,with a view to promoting the extensive application of big data technology in the field of poverty reduction and improving the results of poverty alleviation and eradication programs.

Factor Capitalization,Industry Development and Targeted Poverty Alleviation——Based on the Investigation of Danzhai County,Guizhou Province

At present,targeted poverty alleviation is a major development strategy in China.Based on the investigation of Danzhai County in Guizhou Province,this paper argues that industry development is the fundamental measure through which to implement the poverty alleviation program.Industry development includes both the development of local industries in povertystricken areas and the development of industries in other regions of China.Local development is mainly achieved when the invisible superior resources become visible and the notable superior resources are capitalized in povertystricken areas,in which,the capitalization of factors and resources relies on fundamental governmental investments which will create a profit space for the poverty-stricken areas through the down-to-countryside cadres' precise guidance for the use of poverty alleviation funds to help identify a breakthrough for industry development,and particularly the attempts to focus on the development of high-end industries under the lower-end production mode to form a community with common interests aiding poverty alleviation.Development in other regions can be mainly achieved through various modes such as "tax-finance-poverty alleviation," "industry-employment-poverty alleviation" and "industry-enterprise direct investment-poverty alleviation" to offer indirect or direct support for poverty alleviation in poverty-stricken areas.An appropriate handling is required to deal with many problems related to the local industry development in targeted poverty alleviation and the targeted poverty alleviation in industry development.

Analysis and countermeasures on targeted poverty alleviation in southwest China: An empirical experience from Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the patterns and factors of targeted poverty alleviation strategy in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture,a key area from national contiguous special povertystricken areas in China.Data collection took place in August 2015,July 2016 and June 2018,a literature search was carried out between March 2018 and May 2018,peer-reviewed publications in English were considered but to keep down the length of the paper and reduce redundancy,not all literature sources we collected are listed as references.The results show that progress of targeted poverty alleviation and development work in Nujiang Prefecture is generally smooth and obvious.Completing the"13 th Five-Year Plan"for poverty alleviation and development on schedule is also full of challenges and still needs a lot of effort.This study analyzes current situation and challenges for carrying out targeted poverty alleviation strategy in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture.These contribute to the efficiency and effectiveness in poverty alleviation work in frontier minority area of China.

Poverty Alleviation Law Being Fundamental Condition for Ensuring Sustainable Development of Targeted Poverty Alleviation

Targeted poverty alleviation is a wise and far-reaching basic national policy formulated by the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. It is a strategic project and strategic goal for the Chinese people to completely shake off poverty and backwardness and move towards a prosperous and powerful country,as well as the historical mission of socialism to defeat capitalism. However,targeted poverty alleviation is a grand project involving the entire society. To ensure the ultimate realization of the goal of targeted poverty alleviation,only policies and programs are far from enough. Corresponding legal systems must also be established,which is the fundamental condition for targeted poverty alleviation and sustainable development.

Realize Facilitated Targeted Poverty Elimination with Targeted Poverty——Alleviation: A New Anti-Poverty Approach for Rural China

Since the Reform and Opening-up, remarkable achievements in poverty alleviation have been made in China. China's success in mass poverty reduction can be attributed to its rapid economic growth, large-scale regional poverty alleviation and development, sound social security policies, widereaching farmer-benefiting policies and the equal land allotment system. However, with income inequality on the rise, poverty reduction effect made by the economic growth is declining: More targeted poverty alleviation policies are needed by China. Targeted poverty alleviation aims to improve the effect and efficiency of poverty alleviation through precise identification of poverty-stricken populations and comprehensive supportive measures. To tackle a variety of challenges such as the poor cultivation among povertystricken populations, the complex causes for poverty, and inflexible capital management, China should improve its poverty alleviation mechanism by innovating poverty identification methods, support approaches, capital management and performance assessment.

Satisfaction of targeted poverty alleviation policies and its influencing factors based on farmers' perspective:Questionnaire survey and research on 1720 farmers in Shaanxi Province of China

Based on the first-hand data of the household survey of targeted poverty alleviation policies,five dimensions were analyzed from the residential regions,the individual characteristics,the household income characteristics,the poverty status and the farmers' relevancy to poverty alleviation policies.Through descriptive statistics and correlation analysis,the satisfaction of targeted poverty alleviation policies and its influencing factors have been inspected.It is found that the farmers,on the whole,are satisfied with the targeted poverty alleviation policies.Their satisfaction for the implementation of local poverty alleviation policies is in a moderate high level,however at the same time they expect the policies to be improved.The impoverished farmers in southern Shaanxi have higher satisfaction towards the poverty alleviation policies.Those farmers' awareness,participation,and benefit are positively related to the level of satisfaction towards policies.The implementation of the poverty alleviation from the government is not only favorable for its people,but also the country.It can greatly enhance the recognition of the government's legitimacy and local government's credibility.To formulate and implement the targeted alleviation policies,the relationship between farmers,especially impoverished farmers,and such policies should be taken into consideration.The starting point and judging criteria of poverty alleviation job should be based on questions whether the farmers know,need,and have the willing to participate in and satisfy with the policies.Those farmers' right to know,participate,benefit and judge should be protected,and it will continuously promote the efficiency of implementing poverty alleviation.

“The Source of Flowing Water”:How Targeted Poverty Alleviation Helps China’s Rural Poor Access Credit

Based on the China Household Finance Survey(CHFS)data of 2011-2017,this paper investigated the effects of China’s targeted poverty alleviation policy on rural credit access and amount using the“difference-in-differences”methodology.This study found that the targeted poverty alleviation policy increased the availability and amount of formal credit to poor households and reduced the proportion and amount of their borrowing through informal channels,and that the effects increased amid the policy’s implementation over time.This paper further found that the policy effects were more significant for China’s western regions,reflecting a positive role of targeted poverty alleviation in coordinating pro-poor finance across regions.Compared with poor counties,poor households from non-poor counties experienced a greater increase in their probability and amount of formal credit access,reflecting China’s approach of reducing regional poverty before targeting more precisely at individual poor households.This paper also uncovered that no significant“elite capture”effect had existed in the allocation of formal agricultural credit under targeted poverty alleviation,but extremely poor households experienced no significant change in their access to formal credit.While the targeted poverty alleviation policy has helped create a sound rural credit market,it should further improve access to formal finance for extremely poor households.