The effects of China's Sloping Land Conversion Program on agricultural households

In the late 1990s, China aimed to mitigate environmental degradation from agricultural production activities by introducing the world's largest “Payments for Environmental Services? program: the Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP). We develop a microeconomic Agricultural Household Model, which can model the production, consumption, and nonfarm labor supply decisions of agricultural households in rural China in a theoretically consistent fashion. Based on this theoretical model, we derive an empirical specification, which we econometrically estimate using the Hausman–Taylor method and a large longitudinal farm household data set. The empirical results significantly differ between regions, but are generally consistent with the results of our theoretical comparative static analysis, for example, that the SLCP significantly decreases agricultural production. While the SLCP only increases nonfarm labor supply and total consumption in some regions, these effects could not be observed in others. The recent reduction of the SLCP compensation payment rates generally had negligible effects on agricultural production and off‐farm work and only very small effects on household consumption.     

Investigating the Impact of Income on Savings Using a Chinese Household Level Dataset

This article uses the China Household Financial Survey (CHFS) to examine the savings behavior of Chinese Households. Using a standard cross-sectional empirical approach to modeling permanent and transitory income, we show that one way of explaining the relative high savings rate in China is by recognizing that in fast growing economies, individuals may have higher transitory income from which they save a large proportion. The estimation also contains a range of household specific variables which can be used to understand the impact of socio-economic characteristics such as urban vs rural dwelling, age, and the educational level.     

The Media's Role in Influencing Perceptions of Housing Values and the Resulting Impact on the Macroeconomy

The housing market is a major component of the economy and persistent negative media reports can adversely affect perceptions and expectations of homeowners as to the value of their home. As a result, households reduce their expenditures and increase their savings in an effort to rebuild lost wealth. In the short run the economy suffers and the recession is magnified. This paper demonstrates, through an empirical study, how negative media reports regarding the deteriorating conditions of the national housing market affects what households feel their housing is worth.     

Trade openness and household welfare within a country: A microeconomic analysis of Vietnamese households

The positive effects of trade liberalisation on several dimensions of poverty have initiated studies of the trade–poverty relationship. Trade liberalisation accompanies institutional reforms that help to reduce institutional barriers against the poor. This study examines the impacts of trade openness and institutional reforms on rural household welfare at the provincial level through the analysis of the determinants of welfare of rural households in Vietnam. The study employs a model of micro-determinants of growth and tests it on the data from the Vietnam Household Living Standards Surveys (VHLSSs) of 2006 and 2010. What makes the study different from some other studies of the same vein is that it attempts to directly capture the institutional effect on welfare. The study finds that, in the provinces with high institutional reforms and trade openness, the welfare of rural households improved. Institutional reforms in Vietnam appeared to be sluggish in the late 2000s. In particular, both access to land and lower informal charges were the important determinants of welfare improvement over time. These findings suggest that Vietnam should maintain its development by accelerating the process of institutional reforms, thereby helping poor households to improve standards of living.     

农村劳动力质量对规模农户生产效率影响研究

随着我国工业化与城镇化加速推进,农村领域大量劳动力以不同速度流向了非农产业,农村劳动力要素禀赋质量发生了巨大变化,农村劳动力要素禀赋质量的异质性对规模农户粮食生产效率的提高产生了深刻的影响。文章基于460户调查数据,运用Q型聚类方法将劳动力质量类型分为男性经验丰富型、女性经验丰富型、男性经验欠缺型、女性经验欠缺型四种类型,并利用随机前沿生产函数模型,计量检验了不同劳动力质量类型、劳动态度及劳动力市场发育等变量对家庭生产效率的影响。研究结果表明:男性经验丰富型与女性经验丰富型对家庭经济增长效率提升产生了显著的正效应,效应值分别为0.290、0.170,而男性经验欠缺型与女性经验欠缺型对生产效率提升产生了明显的负向影响,效应值分别为-0.110、-0.153,劳动态度、劳动力市场发育变量与家庭生产效率提升呈现了较强正、负相关性,效应值分别为0.590、-6.738。     

What Drives Micro-Angel Investments?

Despite of the significant role of informal venture capital in the financing of new entrepreneurial ventures, there is little research explaining the factors determining the propensity of individuals to make microangel investments. Building on two theoretical frameworks, a social psychological theory of planned behavior and an economic theory on the determinants of demand for risky assets in household portfolios, we develop a set of hypotheses predicting the propensity of individuals to make informal investments in new businesses owned by others. In our analysis we test whether the determinants of micro-angel investments are similar when investing in a business owned by a close family member versus more distant business. The hypotheses are tested using data from 6007 interviews of Finnish adults carried out in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor program in 2000–2002. The findings show that the theoretical frameworks have more power in explaining investments in firms not owned by close family members. The study provides new understanding of the differences in the drivers of different types of micro-angel investments.     

地理区位、农户特征与贫困分布——基于西海固720个农户的分析

地理区位、农户特征是决定贫困分布的重要因素。本文以宁夏西海固8个国家扶贫工作重点县72个观察村的720个农户资料为样本数据,按照地理区位和农户特征为标志对贫困指标进行分解研究,以观察贫困人口分布状况,分析贫困机理,从微观上制定具体的扶贫措施。研究发现,地理区位和农户特征决定了农户贫困规模和程度的差异性,这种差异性是确定西海固农村扶贫开发对象和重点的参考依据。     

我国小家电产品的国际竞争力分析

本文通过对我国小家电在国际市场上的占有率以及主要国家和地区小家电的显性比较优势指数(RCA)和贸易专门化指数(TSC)的分析,发现我国小家电在国际市场上的竞争优势明显高于其他国家。我国小家电的竞争优势源于其低成本和低价格。但从长远角度考虑,我国的小家电应该在技术研发、市场拓展方面做更多的努力。     

农户民间借贷需求影响因素的经验分析——基于河南省的调查

采用河南省农村的社会调查资料,运用Logit模型,对农户民间借贷需求影响因素进行了实证检验。结果表明:社会资本拥有量、家庭状况和信贷环境均是影响农户民间借贷需求的主要因素。尤其,具有一定社会地位的家庭、收入水平较高的家庭、负担水平较重的家庭以及所在村存在"高利贷"等因素对农户获得民间借贷的可能性具有非常显著的作用。     

流动人口不同归属情景下中国各地区人口老龄化形势

利用国家统计局提供的2000年人口普查0.95‰抽样原始数据,分析了人口流动对于中国不同地区人口老龄化形势的影响,按照“流动人口”的不同归属对于老龄化形势的影响效果,将全国分为三类地区:包括上海、北京、广东等大城市在内的“流动人口”减轻其老龄化压力的地区;江西、安徽、四川、湖南等“流动人口”加剧老龄化压力的地区;河北、内蒙古等“流动人口”对人口老龄化形势影响不明显的地区。