China's War on Poverty: Assessing Targeting and the Growth Impacts of Poverty Programs

In this paper, we attempt to assess the effectiveness of China's Poverty Alleviation Programs in contributing to economic growth in poor areas. To meet this overall goal, we briefly describe China's poor area policy and examine how its leaders have implemented one of the developing world's largest poverty alleviation programs. Second, we examine whether or not the poverty programs have been implemented in the parts of China that are truly poor. Finally, we attempt to assess if the poverty programs have affected growth. The major findings are that China's poverty programs do get implemented in areas of the nation that are poor, but there are many poor areas that have been left out of the government's various programs. We also find that poverty programs contribute to economic growth and that economic growth promotes poverty reduction.