Research Topic: Spatial Poverty Analysis in China
Article 1
Liu, Y., Huang, C., Wang, Q., Luan, J., & Ding, M. (2018). Assessment of Sustainable livelihood and Geographic detection of settlement sites in Ethnically Contiguous poverty-stricken areas in the aba Prefecture, China. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 7(1), 16. doi:10.3390/ijgi7010016
The goal of the Chinese government is to solve the problems of annexation and poverty in rural areas by 2020, including the most poverty concentrated mountainous areas and long-term poverty-stricken areas. Under the framework of sustainable livelihoods, 5 provincial capital cities and 33 livelihood evaluation indicators were constructed. Eight terrain factors were used to integrate the tfis of residential areas, and the geographic detector model was used to distinguish the advantages of 2699 residential areas. factor. Diagnosis and establishment of Poverty Alleviation Policies and models in different regions.
The study specifically studies Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous. According to the central government’s policies on ethnic and religious issues and China’s poverty alleviation strategy, the most likely way to cause poverty is to formulate a scientific development strategy for ethnic regions and adopt targeted poverty alleviation measures to achieve inclusive, green and sustainable development. The framework of sustainable livelihoods reveals the essence of the concept of “livelihoods” from an institutional perspective, and points out that poverty is caused by many factors. It also identifies potential opportunities for poverty eradication and how to use capital and livelihood strategies to achieve the desired results.
According to the local poverty situation, special ecological environment, resource advantages and the internal relationship between development and poverty alleviation, this paper constructs the livelihood capital evaluation index system of contiguous minority poverty-stricken areas from the perspective of sustainable livelihood evaluation. Based on the natural capital, human capital, social capital, material capital and financial capital of 13 counties in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, the livelihood capital of 13 counties in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture is calculated. These five capital indexes and 33 evaluation indexes are put forward on the basis of references and related research results. These indicators are used to compare poverty level and development potential, and provide a basis for formulating poverty reduction and economic development strategies.
By using the SLF(Sustainable Livelihoods Framework, the dataset is divided into three parts: social economic data, spatial data and peasant household data. Based on the analysis, the areas with higher scores of livelihood capital evaluation, relying on the advantages of natural resources and minority cultural resources, have the highest income of ecotourism. Rural tourism is one of the most important and valuable factors to maintain economic growth in these areas, and it is also an important factor to provide many direct benefits for local residents.
Article 2
Liu, Y., Liu, J., & Zhou, Y. (2017). Spatio-temporal patterns of rural poverty in China and targeted poverty Alleviation strategies. Journal of Rural Studies, 52, 66-75. doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2017.04.002
This study systematically studies the current situation, spatial distribution characteristics and driving mechanism of rural poverty in China. The results show that the distribution of China’s rural poor population has obvious spatial agglomeration characteristics.
Poverty is mainly concentrated in the remote mountain areas, border areas and ethnic minority areas in the central and western regions of China, and gradually gathered in the southwest. “Island effect” is likely to appear in China’s poor areas in the future.
By referring to the Poverty Monitoring Report of Rural China, the Yearbook of China’s Poverty Alleviation and Development and the China Rural Statistical Yearbook, the authors build up an exploratory spatial data analysis. Interpreting the global spatial autocorrelations in order to measure the correlations among the neighbour observations in order to find patterns of spatial clustering among regions. The average spatial correlation of the study area is detected, but they are useful only when the spatial correlation of the study area is relatively consistent. If the process is not stable and sustained, then this whole measure may not be representative.
Through the graph interpretation, up until 2014, The number of the population from the 14 CPAPD(Contiguous Poor Areas with Particular Difficulties) decreased to less than 20%. The CPAPD’s total number of the rural poor eliminated more than half with a ratio of 58.8% from 2011 to 2014. However, the mountain area and rock desertification area were still concerning. Those 14 zones all have poor living conditions, frequent natural disasters, poor health, poor economic foundation, poor infrastructure, backward public services and special social structure. According to the analysis, the living poor individuals reveal an obvious regional difference than the others. Especially in the western region, more specifically, southwest China, with frequent natural disasters and concentrated distribution of ethnic minorities.
Another spatial pattern of China’s rural poverty is the division of “Hu Huangyong line” , the map indicates that the southeast has a much higher poverty rate than the northeastern region. In order to confirm this process, authors use Moran’s and LISA plots to indicate provinces both higher than average poor populations and lower than average poor populations.
In conclusion, there are three geographical characteristics related to China’s rural poverty: Eastern Plain with isolated islands in mountain and hilly areas; Central mountain plateau; Western alpine poor areas with frequent natural disasters and complex geographic features. On the other hand, the “islanding effect” may well appear in China’s poverty-stricken regions in the future.
Article 3
Kim, J. (2010). INCOME INEQUALITY IN CHINA. The Journal of East Asian Affairs, 24(2), 29-50. Retrieved February 23, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23258213
In this passage, Jongsung Kim discusses the long-time debate on growing inequality in China, despite the fact that China had a rapid economic growth over the past decades. Those leading factors can vary, such as class, region and socialist platform… One of the biggest problems now in China is the income inequality has widened, especially between rural and urban areas.
The policy makers not only noticed such a wage gap, but also pointed out the uneven success of education between urban and rural areas, as well as coastal and inland provinces.Income inequality has emerged as a serious problem that may threaten social stability and the sustainability of economic development. Factors such as growth, institutional arrangements, income redistribution, social security systems and infrastructure predict the future this situation will widen, by interpreting provincial level data. One of the major stylized facts is the Kuznets curve, analyzing the long-run process of economic development, the data set shows self-reported health status increases with per capita income and that high inequity in a community poses threats to health and increases health-compromising behaviours such as smoking.
The author interprets the issue in different lenses. For example, Regional inequality, difference in natural endowments lead to advantages and disadvantages cross regions; Migration, China established a special identification of hereditary residency, define individuals status of “urban” and “rural”, as well as assigned workplace; Education, huge population leads to strong competition, wage gaps been created depends on which college people attended.
Charts and graphs in the article clearly show the increasing income gap between rural and urban areas, different provinces. Following the empirical analysis, the anthour points out an equation of standard income and inserts a table of income regression analysis, including variables such as work experiences, gender, education level, and residency.
Gini coefficient is another statistical method being used in this passage in order to represent income inequality is higher in coastal provinces than non-coastal provinces, also suggests China has benefited from rapid economic growth. However, not everyone gets the benefit. At the end of the passage, the author indicates the Chinese Government noticed the social tension and put the policy implication.
An experienced journalist, Kim is aware of the limitations of his experiment and reflects on these issues in the text. The author is forthcoming about his methods and supplements his experiences with scholarly research on his places of education, the economy, and the residency of China. Kim’s project is timely, descriptive, and well-researched.
Article 4
Tak-chuen, L. (2000). The Politics of Poverty Eradication in Rural China. China Review, 509-527. Retrieved February 23, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23453381
In this passage, the author discussed the politics related to poverty eradication in China between 1979 to 2000 in detail. Even though the alleviation of poverty had been through a great leap in China, however, the government promised that it will be eradicated in 2000. The chapter will focus on the genealogy and bureaucratic policies through the fieldwork of poverty alleviation policy.
In 1979, when the Chinese government first recognized the issue of poverty, the poverty alleviation policy had been divided into three stages: the initial stage, the development stage and the eradication stage. During the initial stage(1979-1985), special grants were offered by the Ministry of Finance, especially in poverted provinces. Moving on to the development stage, Chinese government established LGEDPA (The Leading Group for the Economic Development of Poor Areas), by sending loans to the poor counties. The remaining issues of this concept reveal that the policy might not be effective enough. For example, since most loans are related to industrial programmes instead of basic health care and food security, many people couldn’t afford to have high interest afterwards. In 1994, the government officially announced that the eradication plan began the final stage. In order to stimulate the economy, the government keeps on adding loans and popularizing the Work of Relief Programme. In this program, individuals who are identified as living in poverty will participate in infrastructural construction in order to receive labor remuneration.
Even though the international community witnessed a tremendous success of the eradication of poverty, the definition and the standard of poverty was still a confusion. Finally, the government adopted the line by the National Statistical Bureau, then the poverty line increased. On the other hand, the disempowerment of the poor; burdens; unequal partnerships were all issues emerged in this process. Tons of income statements from this country remain questionable, while the mechanism function was still being trapped in the same bureaucratic system. In reality, we cannot simply conclude that the poverty in China was completely eradicated because living peasants are facing many challenges in many aspects, since more interest demanded to be repaid and the growing taxation and levies.
The study is not intended to work with these critics to provide an alternative way to reduce the incidence of poverty, assess the effectiveness of poverty alleviation, or propose alternative institutional innovations. As well as the political complexity of power, commercialization and marginalization, bureaucracy and the relationship between the state and society.