Rural Household Differentiation and Poverty Vulnerability: An Empirical Analysis Based on the Field Survey in Hubei, China

Relationship between the health poverty vulnerability and multimorbidity patterns identified with latent class analysis aged 45 years or more adults in Northwestern China: A cross-section study

This study aims to identify multimorbidity patterns and examine whether health poverty vulnerability (HPV) varies among adults aged 45 years or more. Data from 4338 participants were extracted from a Chinese cross-sectional study. Latent class analysis was used to identify multimorbidity patterns based on 11 self-reported chronic diseases. A 3-stage feasible generalized least-squares method was used to measure the HPV. The associations and influencing factors were analyzed using the Tobit model. The mean HPV values were 0.105 ± 0.225 and 0.329 ± 0.357, based on extreme poverty and those of low- and middle-income countries' poverty line, respectively. Four latent multimorbidity patterns were identified, comprising hypertension (57.33%), cardiovascular diseases (19.94%), the musculoskeletal system (13.09%), and spine (9.64%). The HPV value from hypertension (coefficient [Coef] =0.03, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.00-0.05) was significantly higher than that of the musculoskeletal system based on extreme poverty. In addition, the HPV values for hypertension (Coef =0.08, 95% CI = 0.05-0.11), spine (Coef =0.06, 95% CI = 0.02-0.11), and cardiovascular diseases (Coef =0.07, 95% CI = 0.03-0.11) were significantly high based on low- and middle-income countries' poverty line. Age ≥75 years, registered poor households, catastrophic medical expenditure, and toilet style were major risk factors. Although the multimorbidity pattern-induced HPV has been significant improved on extreme poverty, it still poses a very serious challenge with regard to low- to middle-income countries' poverty line. The sensitivity analysis proved the robustness of the results. Policymakers should focus on adults with 3 multimorbidity patterns, namely, registered poor households, age ≥75 years, and catastrophic health expenditure, to adopt targeted interventions to prevent and eliminate HPV.

Effects of health poverty alleviation project from the perspective of vulnerability to poverty: evidence from five Chinese prefectures

BACKGROUND

The Health Poverty Alleviation Project (HPAP) has received widespread attention as a primary means of preventing poverty caused by illness. However, further evidence is required to confirm the effects of HPAP.

OBJECTIVE

This study examines the effectiveness and mechanisms of action of HPAP using data from a special survey conducted in five Chinese prefectures in 2018-2019.

METHOD

This study uses a three-step feasible generalised least-squares method to measure the farm households' vulnerability to poverty. Hierarchical linear regression and propensity score matching were employed to assess the poverty-reduction effects of HPAP. A mediating effects model was used to test how these policies alleviated poverty.

RESULTS

The mean vulnerability to poverty among farm households was 0.367, with 11.89% experiencing both poverty and vulnerability, particularly in areas of deep poverty. This study has found that HPAP significantly reduces poverty and is more effective in reducing the vulnerability of non-poor farm households than poor farm households. Additionally, the results suggest that improving human capital stock and reducing medical expenditure are the two pathways through which HPAP can alleviate farm households' vulnerability to poverty.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that the vulnerability to poverty perspective should be incorporated into poverty alleviation policy formulation. HPAP enhances differentiation and precision. Thus, a long-term mechanism of HPAP should be developed.

Can agricultural mechanization services narrow the income gap in rural China?

This paper examines the impact of agricultural mechanization services (AMS) on rural household income and income gap, utilizing the recentered influence function regression method and publicly available data collected through the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey. The results of this study shed light on various impacts of AMS. First, agricultural mechanization services can significantly increase rural household income, but there is heterogeneity in the impact on rural household income in different quantiles. The effect of income growth on medium-income and low-income groups is greater. Second, agricultural mechanization services help to narrow the income gap between rural households and alleviate income inequality in rural areas. Third, the effect of agricultural mechanization services on reducing the income gap between rural households in the eastern and western regions is significantly stronger than that in the central region. Finally, further analysis based on income source structure reveals that agricultural mechanization services can significantly reduce the non-agricultural income gap of rural households, but the impact on the agricultural income gap is negligible. Our findings highlight the importance of government's efforts in promoting the development of agricultural mechanization service market in order to improve the income inequality in rural areas.

The Influence of Land Attachment on Land Abandonment from the Perspective of Generational Difference: Evidence from Sichuan Province, China

The deepening of rural population aging and the lack of labor transfer cause the phenomenon of land abandonment to become more serious, which threatens regional and even national food security. Based on the survey data of 540 farmers in Sichuan Province, the theoretical analysis framework of land attachment, intergenerational difference and land abandonment was constructed, and Probit and Tobit models were constructed to empirically analyze the influence of land attachment and intergenerational difference on land abandonment. Research results show that: (1) 10.9% of the farmers abandoned their arable land, with an average area of 0.17 mu; the interviewed farmers are mainly of the middle-aged generation; the scores of the three dimensions of farmers' land attachment were all at the above average level. (2) Land dependence has no significant effect on land abandonment, while satisfaction and embeddedness have significant negative effects on land abandonment. (3) There are generational differences in the influence of land attachment on land abandonment. Among them, the land attachment of the middle-aged generation had no significant effect on land abandonment; the satisfaction and embeddedness of the older generation of farmers have negative effects on land abandonment; the satisfaction of the new-generation farmers has a significant negative effect on farmland abandonment. Based on this research, countermeasures and suggestions are put forward: (1) Pay attention to the emotional appeals of farmers and improve their well-being. (2) Cultivate new types of agricultural business entities and stimulate the potential of new human resources.

Public Health Services, Health Human Capital, and Relative Poverty of Rural Families

With the successful completion of the battle against poverty, after 2020, the focus and difficulty of China's poverty governance will change from solving absolute poverty to alleviating relative poverty. Analyzing and studying the alleviation of relative poverty from the perspective of public health services is in line with the current needs of consolidating and expanding poverty alleviation in China, and it is also of great significance to building a long-term solution mechanism for relative poverty. In this study, basic panel data were constructed by using the data of five CFPS surveys in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018 and matched with the macro data. The correlation between public health services and rural households' relative poverty was also analyzed by using logit regression analysis and the KHB mediation effect decomposition method. The results show that (1) public health services play a significant role in promoting the accumulation of health human capital, improving individual feasible ability, and alleviating the relative poverty of rural families; (2) the improvement of public health services is conducive to the alleviation of the relative poverty of rural families; (3) we should continue to increase investment in public health care in underdeveloped areas and strive to promote the balanced development of public health services, so as to further consolidate and expand the achievements of poverty eradication.

Land Attachment, Intergenerational Differences and Land Transfer: Evidence from Sichuan Province, China

It is of great significance to explore the influencing factors of land flow to promote moderate-scale agricultural operation. However, few studies have explored the quantitative influences of land attachment and intergenerational difference on land transfer. Based on the survey data of 540 rural households in Sichuan Province, this study uses factor analysis method to divide land attachment into land satisfaction, land rootedness, and land dependence, and further empirically tests the impact mechanism of land attachment and intergenerational difference on land flow by using Probit model and Tobit model. The results are as follow: (1) land attachment is significantly correlated with land flow-out, but not with land flow-in. (2) Different dimensions of land attachment have different impacts on land flow-out. Among them, land rootedness and land dependence have significant negative impacts on farmers’ land flow-out behavior and land flow-out area, while land satisfaction has a significant positive impact on farmers’ land flow-out behavior and has no significant impact on the land flow-out area. (3) Different generations of land attachment have different impacts on land flow-out. Among them, the land attachment of the new-generation farmers has no significant impact on land flow-out. Among middle-aged farmers, land dependence had a significant negative impact on land flow-out behavior and area, and land rootedness had a significant negative impact on land flow-out behavior; however, land satisfaction had a significant positive impact on land flow-out behavior and area. Among the older generation of farmers, land dependence has a significant negative impact on land flow-out behavior and area, while land satisfaction and land rootedness have no significant impact on land flow-out behavior and area. Therefore, in promoting the practice of land flow, we should pay attention to the differences of farmers’ emotional demands, improve the supporting policies of land flow by classification, reduce farmers’ dependence on “land security”, solve farmers’ concerns on land flow, and promote the rational flow of land factors.