Can Insurance Programs Increase Consumption in Rural Areas?
From the Feb 2020 edition of Chinese Rural Economy: Migrant workers with insurance report higher life satisfaction levels, farmers with insurance consume more, and other research
Some readers have told me they would like to have a snapshot of everything published in a top Chinese-language academic journal after it is released, in addition to the 4-5 articles I choose to translate and summarize each month.
I'm going to attempt to do that by summarizing the abstracts. I will try my best to keep up as journals publish.
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Today, we start with the February 2020 edition of Chinese Rural Economy, which is published by the Rural Development Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. February's edition includes:
Can the Purchase of Social Insurance Improve the Subjective Well-being of Migrant Workers?
Using survey data from 2,942 migrant workers, researchers from Tongji University report that migrant workers who purchased different forms of social insurance reported 21.7 percent higher life satisfaction than those that did not. Buying medical insurance had the highest marginal effect on improving satisfaction levels, followed by pension insurance. Disability insurance had the least impact.The Impact of Medical Insurance on Household Consumption of Farmers and Herdsmen from the Perspective of Targeted Poverty Alleviation
In this study involving 730 farmers and herdsmen in Inner Mongolia, researchers from China Agricultural University and Inner Mongolia Agricultural University write that having medical insurance significantly increases farmer and herdsmen consumer confidence levels, household consumption levels, and quality of life. Having medical insurance leads to a significant increase in the consumption of medical services and food purchases among poor households. Among non-poor households, having medical insurance also increases in expenditures in other categories.The Necessity and Realization Path of the Integration of Urban and Rural Social Governance
Dang Guoying, from CASS, writes that differences in urban and rural governance systems will lead to a lack of economic efficiency, a lack of social equality, and social instability. He says that China can address these challenges by better integrating rural areas with urban areas.The Research on the Rural Revitalization Path Based on Collaboration, Participation and Common Interests
Sichuan University professors write that social governance models that involve multi-party participation, including government, villagers, and markets, should be implemented in rural areas to promote farmers' well-being and economic development.Cooperative Types, Governance Mechanisms, and Operating Performance
South China Agricultural University researchers interviewed 221 cooperatives in prefecture-level cities. Cooperatives that used "contractual governance" systems had higher operating performance than those that used "relational governance" systems.Does Internet Use Improve Rural Households' Entrepreneurial Performance?
In this study, researchers from Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University collected survey data from 831 entrepreneurial households in rural areas in Shaanxi, Ningxia, and Shandong provinces. They report that the ability to purchase items via the Internet has a more significant impact on entrepreneurial performance among rural entrepreneurs than the ability to sell items via the Internet.Agricultural Chemical Reduction: The Logic of Scaling Farming Operations
Researchers from South China Agriculture University and Huazhong Agricultural University write that when farmers' plots increase in size, they tend to use fewer chemicals as they scale. To reduce overall chemical use, the authors recommend more joint agricultural planning among farmers.Insisting on the General Direction of Collective Ownership of Socialist Rural Land: Comments on Four Wrong Ideas on Land Privatization
Cheng Enfu from the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Zhang Yang from Hebei Finance University make a legal and economic argument against the privatization of rural land, including against initiatives that some scholars advertise as "land reform," but are instead attempts at privatization in "disguise."Can Protective Investment Promote Tourism Development of Forest Parks?
Researchers from Beijing Forestry University analyze forest park data from 2010-2016 to determine the effect that investments to protect forests have on tourism. They find that investments to protect forests tend to not bring a significant increase in tourism income or number of tourists, and can instead often contribute to a decrease in tourism income.Not a subscriber?