This paper explores how the People’s Republic of China (PRC) can turn the challenges posed by the current global economic crisis into opportunities for a more prosperous future. The paper proposes a one-time sharp increase of government investments in the country’s successful albeit...

Based on relatively recent household survey data (1986-2000) in rural China, this paper analyzes the composition and inequality in non-land wealth. We first document the evolution of rural households wealth during the sample period. Our results show that the housing assets have played a dominant...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate weather risks facing Chinese farmers, and to determine whether farmers would have a preference for weather insurance over other types of agricultural insurance. Design/methodology/approach – The data are based on 1,564 farm households...

Since the 1950s, agricultural growth in East Asia (China, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan) has reduced rural poverty and created a strong base for economic development. To gain a better understanding of the nature of this growth, we examine the sources of change in agricultural...

Since the 1950s, agricultural growth in East Asia (China, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan) has reduced rural poverty and created a strong base for economic development. To gain a better understanding of the nature of this growth, we examine the sources of change in agricultural...

India and China have the largest farm-household populations in the world and in many areas also the poorest. Among the many factors that affect farm livelihoods access to credit has been identified as a significant barrier. While there has been a significant literature on credit constraints in...

At times, development economists have argued informal loans serve the same role as informal insurance. Empirical research shows that the motives for using informal loans are that rural households want to share risks when external shock occurs. We construct a nation-wide panel dataset based on...

While much research on China has focused on rural to urban migration and transitions of rural households away from agriculture, little is known about the changes within the rural agricultural sector. Yet, the agricultural sector continues to account for a large share of employment. We study the...

While much research on China has focused on rural to urban migration and transitions of rural households away from agriculture, little is known about the changes within the rural agricultural sector. Yet, the agricultural sector continues to account for a large share of employment. We study the...

By overcoming the barriers that limit access to financial liquidity and human resource, the Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP) can promote rural livelihood diversification. This paper examines this effect using a household survey data set spanning the 1999 implementation of the Sloping land...