A key issue in political economy concerns the accountability that governance structures impose on public officials and how elections and representative democracy influences the allocation of public resources. In this paper we exploit a unique survey data set from nearly 2450 randomly selected...

Great changes have taken place in China’s agricultural and food markets in the past several decades. However, the impact of the transformation brought by modern supply chains on the welfare of farmers in China is unclear. This paper attempts to understand whether or not the recent changes in...

This study seeks to explain the differences in infrastructure quality across China’s villages. Using primary data on three main types of infrastructure projects in rural China, we find that a.) between-project within-village quality differences are small and project design has little...

Non-point source pollution arises from fertilizer application in China. This paper empirical test the major factors which affect fertilizer application amount using econometric models and micro-level data from Jianghan plain in Hubei province by year 2006. The results demonstrate that...

This paper examines how farmers have adapted to the current range of climates across China. A cross sectional method is used to analyze irrigation choice and crop choice across 8,405 farmers in 28 provinces in China. We find that both irrigation and crop choice decisions are climate sensitive....

We develop a general equilibrium households model to analyze the effects of high standards food chains taking seriously into account market imperfections. To measure structural production changes and welfare effects on rural and urban households, our model has two types of agents, five kinds of...

The top down public agricultural extension system in China and its early reforms during the 1990’s has left millions of farmers without access to extension services. An inclusive agricultural extension system was introduced in 2005 to better meet the diverse technology needs of small farmers....

Consumers have increasing demands for product standards. This has important implications for development. This paper develops a formal theory of the process of the introduction of high product standards in developing countries. The model endogenizes the introduction of high standards. Initial...