Reforms, Investment, and Poverty in Rural China

The literature on Chinese agricultural growth and rural poverty reduction is extensive. Few researchers, however, have attempted to link these topics to public investment. This study argues that, even with the economic reforms that began in the late 1970s, it would have been impossible to achieve ra...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Economic development and cultural change 2004-01, Vol.52 (2), p.395-421
Main Authors: Fan, Shenggen, Zhang, Linxiu, Zhang, Xiaobo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agrarian reform
Agricultural production
Agricultural productivity
Agricultural research
Agriculture
China
Correlation analysis
Crop economics
Crop production
Cultural change
Development studies
Econometrics
Economic development
Economic growth
Economic reform
Education
Egalitarianism
Expenditures
Government
Government spending
Income distribution
Inequality
Investment
Irrigation
Per capita
Poverty
Public infrastructure
Public investments
R&D
Reform
Research & development
Research & development expenditures
Research and development
Rural areas
Rural poverty
Studies
Urban agriculture
Urban areas
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The literature on Chinese agricultural growth and rural poverty reduction is extensive. Few researchers, however, have attempted to link these topics to public investment. This study argues that, even with the economic reforms that began in the late 1970s, it would have been impossible to achieve rapid economic growth and poverty reduction in China had there not been several prior decades of government investment. Before the reforms began, the effects of government investment were inhibited by policy and institutional barriers. The reforms reduced these barriers, enabling investments to generate tremendous economic growth and poverty reduction. Similarly, public investment may have played a large role in reducing regional inequality, an issue of increasing concern to policy makers. The primary purpose of this study is to develop an analytical framework for examining the specific role of different type of government expenditure on growth and poverty reduction in rural China by controlling for other factors such as institutional and policy changes.
ISSN:0013-0079
1539-2988
DOI:10.1086/380593