IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/chieco/v23y2012i3p729-741.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can grain subsidies impede rural–urban migration in hinterland China? Evidence from field surveys

Author

Listed:
  • Meng, Lei

Abstract

In this paper I examine if China's grain subsidy program keeps farmers from engaging in migratory work using self-collected panel rural household survey data from Zhijiang, Hubei province. Making use of Zhijiang's unique geographical features, I construct a treatment and a control group and use a difference-in-differences methodology to identify the subsidy effect on migration. My results suggest that the grain subsidy policy does keep farmers at the rural origin.

Suggested Citation

  • Meng, Lei, 2012. "Can grain subsidies impede rural–urban migration in hinterland China? Evidence from field surveys," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 729-741.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:23:y:2012:i:3:p:729-741
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2012.02.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1043951X12000089
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.chieco.2012.02.005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Todaro, Michael P, 1969. "A Model for Labor Migration and Urban Unemployment in Less Developed Countries," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 59(1), pages 138-148, March.
    2. Wusheng Yu & Hans G. Jensen, 2010. "China’s Agricultural Policy Transition: Impacts of Recent Reforms and Future Scenarios," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(2), pages 343-368, June.
    3. Huang, Jikun & Rozelle, Scott & Martin, William J. & Liu, Yu, 2007. "Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in China," Agricultural Distortions Working Paper Series 48478, World Bank.
    4. Stark, Oded & Bloom, David E, 1985. "The New Economics of Labor Migration," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(2), pages 173-178, May.
    5. Huang, Jikun & Wang, Xiaobing & Zhi, Huayong & Huang, Zhurong & Rozelle, Scott, 2011. "Subsidies and distortions in China’s agriculture: evidence from producer-level data," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 55(1), pages 1-19.
    6. Haizheng Li & Steven Zahniser, 2002. "The Determinants of Temporary Rural-to-Urban Migration in China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 39(12), pages 2219-2235, November.
    7. Gabriel Gonzalez-Konig & Quentin Wodon, 2005. "Do Cash Transfers to Farmers Reduce Migration? Procampo in Mexico," Department of Economics and Finance Working Papers EC200501, Universidad de Guanajuato, Department of Economics and Finance, revised Aug 2005.
    8. Hu, Feng & Xu, Zhaoyuan & Chen, Yuyu, 2011. "Circular migration, or permanent stay? Evidence from China's rural-urban migration," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 64-74, March.
    9. Cheng, Fuzhi, 2008. "China: Shadow WTO agricultural domestic support notifications," IFPRI discussion papers 793, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    10. Jim Hansen & Francis Tuan & Agapi Somwaru, 2011. "Do China's agricultural policies matter for world commodity markets?," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 3(1), pages 6-25, February.
    11. Taylor, J. Edward & Martin, Philip L., 2001. "Human capital: Migration and rural population change," Handbook of Agricultural Economics, in: B. L. Gardner & G. C. Rausser (ed.), Handbook of Agricultural Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 9, pages 457-511, Elsevier.
    12. Guy Stecklov & Paul Winters & Marco Stampini & Benjamin Davis, 2005. "Do conditional cash transfers influence migration? A study using experimental data from the Mexican progresa program," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 42(4), pages 769-790, November.
    13. Yaohui Zhao, 1999. "Leaving the Countryside: Rural-to-Urban Migration Decisions in China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 281-286, May.
    14. Nico Heerink & Marijke Kuiper & Xiaoping Shi, 2006. "China's New Rural Income Support Policy: Impacts on Grain Production and Rural Income Inequality," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 14(6), pages 58-69, November.
    15. Kym Anderson, 2009. "Distortions to Agricultural Incentives : A Global Perspective, 1955-2007," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 9436.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kaixing Huang & Wenshou Yan & Jikun Huang, 2020. "Agricultural subsidies retard urbanisation in China," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 64(4), pages 1308-1327, October.
    2. Deininger, Klaus & Jin, Songqing & Liu, Shouying & Xia, Fang, 2015. "Household-level impacts of property rights reform in peri-urban China: Evidence from the Chengdu National Experiment," 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California 205753, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Deininger,Klaus W. & Jin,Songqing & Liu,Shouying & Xia,Fang, 2015. "Impact of property rights reform to support China?s rural-urban integration : household-level evidence from the Chengdu national experiment," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7388, The World Bank.
    4. Yali Zhang & Yihan Wang & Yunli Bai, 2019. "Knowing and Doing: The Perception of Subsidy Policy and Farmland Transfer," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-15, April.
    5. Yi, Fujin & Lu, Wuyi & Zhou, Yingheng, 2015. "Cash Transfers and Multiplier Effect: Lessons from the Grain Subsidy Program in China," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 211877, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    6. MacDonald, Stephen & Gale, Fred & Hansen, James, 2015. "Cotton Policy in China," MPRA Paper 70863, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Selod, Harris & Shilpi, Forhad, 2021. "Rural-urban migration in developing countries: Lessons from the literature," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    8. Meng, Lei, 2020. "Permanent migration desire of Chinese rural residents: Evidence from field surveys, 2006–2015," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    9. Qiao, Lu & Fei, Junjun, 2022. "Government subsidies, enterprise operating efficiency, and “stiff but deathless” zombie firms," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    10. Klaus Deininger & Songqing Jin & Shouying Liu & Fang Xia, 2020. "Property rights reform to support China’s rural ‐ urban integration: household‐level evidence from the Chengdu experiment," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 64(1), pages 30-54, January.
    11. Tian, Qing & Holland, John H. & Brown, Daniel G., 2016. "Social and economic impacts of subsidy policies on rural development in the Poyang Lake Region, China: Insights from an agent-based model," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 12-27.
    12. Wang, Ying & Bilsborrow, Richard E. & Zhang, Qi & Li, Jiangfeng & Song, Conghe, 2019. "Effects of payment for ecosystem services and agricultural subsidy programs on rural household land use decisions in China: Synergy or trade-off?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 785-801.
    13. Xinru Han & Ping Xue & Ningning Zhang, 2021. "Impact of Grain Subsidy Reform on the Land Use of Smallholder Farms: Evidence from Huang-Huai-Hai Plain in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-15, September.
    14. Yi, Fujin & Sun, Dingqiang & Zhou, Yingheng, 2015. "Grain subsidy, liquidity constraints and food security—Impact of the grain subsidy program on the grain-sown areas in China," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 114-124.
    15. Zou, Baoling & Mishra, Ashok K. & Luo, Biliang, 2020. "Grain subsidy, off-farm labor supply and farmland leasing: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    16. Yi, Fujin & Sun, Dingqiang, 2014. "Grain Subsidy, Liquidity Constraints and Food security—Impact of the Grain Subsidy Program on the Grain-Sown Areas in China," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 169779, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    17. Zhang, Jian & Mishra, Ashok K. & Hirsch, Stefan & Li, Xiaoshun, 2020. "Factors affecting farmland rental in rural China: Evidence of capitalization of grain subsidy payments," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:wyi:journl:002171 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Tian, Qing & Holland, John H. & Brown, Daniel G., 2016. "Social and economic impacts of subsidy policies on rural development in the Poyang Lake Region, China: Insights from an agent-based model," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 12-27.
    3. Wang, Xiaxin & Shen, Yan, 2014. "The effect of China's agricultural tax abolition on rural families' incomes and production," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 185-199.
    4. Atsede Desta Tegegne & Marianne Penker, 2016. "Determinants of rural out-migration in Ethiopia: Who stays and who goes?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 35(34), pages 1011-1044.
    5. Wang, Chunchao & Zhang, Chenglei & Ni, Jinlan & Zhang, Haifeng & Zhang, Junsen, 2019. "Family migration in China: Do migrant children affect parental settlement intention?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 416-428.
    6. Maryann Bylander & Erin Hamilton, 2015. "Loans and Leaving: Migration and the Expansion of Microcredit in Cambodia," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 34(5), pages 687-708, October.
    7. SHI, Xiaoping & Heerink, Nico & Qu, Futian, 2007. "Choices between different off-farm employment sub-categories: An empirical analysis for Jiangxi Province, China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 438-455.
    8. Ubaid Ali & Mazhar Mughal & Lionel de Boisdeffre, 2023. "Migrant remittances, agriculture investment and cropping patterns," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(3), pages 899-920, September.
    9. Yang Cheng & Yuxia Lv & Mark Rosenberg & Linke Hou, 2018. "Decision Making of Non-Agricultural Work by Rural Residents in Weifang, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-15, May.
    10. Yi, Fujin & Sun, Dingqiang, 2014. "Grain Subsidy, Liquidity Constraints and Food security—Impact of the Grain Subsidy Program on the Grain-Sown Areas in China," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 169779, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    11. Demirdöğen, Alper, 2011. "Tarımsal Korumacılık, Korumacılığın Ölçümü ve Türkiye [Agricultural Protectionism, Its Measurement and Turkey]," MPRA Paper 35083, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Heather Randell & Leah VanWey, 2014. "Networks Versus Need: Drivers of Urban Out-Migration in the Brazilian Amazon," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 33(6), pages 915-936, December.
    13. de la Rupelle, Maëlys & Quheng, Deng & Li, Shi & Vendryes, Thomas, 2009. "Land Rights Insecurity and Temporary Migration in Rural China," IZA Discussion Papers 4668, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Hagen-Zanker, Jessica, 2008. "Why do people migrate? A review of the theoretical literature," MPRA Paper 28197, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Huang, Kaixing & Yan, Wenshou & Huang, Jikun, 2020. "Agricultural subsidies retard urbanisation in China," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 64(04), January.
    16. Arslan, Aslıhan & Effenberger, Alexandra & Luecke, Matthias & Omar Mahmoud, Toman, 2009. "International labor migration and remittances beyond the crisis: Towards development-friendly migration policies," Open Access Publications from Kiel Institute for the World Economy 32851, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    17. Ana Isabel López García & Pedro P. Orraca-Romano, 2019. "International migration and universal healthcare access: evidence from Mexico’s ‘Seguro Popular’," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(2), pages 171-187, April.
    18. Yi, Fujin & Sun, Dingqiang & Zhou, Yingheng, 2015. "Grain subsidy, liquidity constraints and food security—Impact of the grain subsidy program on the grain-sown areas in China," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 114-124.
    19. Guangzhong Cao & Ming Li & Yan Ma & Ran Tao, 2015. "Self-employment and intention of permanent urban settlement: Evidence from a survey of migrants in China’s four major urbanising areas," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 52(4), pages 639-664, March.
    20. Dong, Qi & Murakami, Tomoaki & Nakashima, Yasuhiro, 2018. "Modeling the Labor Transfers from the Agricultural Sector to the Non-agricultural Sector under Food Supply Constraint in China," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274161, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    21. Xia Sun & Juan Chen & Shenghua Xie, 2022. "Becoming Urban Citizens: A Three-Phase Perspective on the Social Integration of Rural–Urban Migrants in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-19, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Migration; Agricultural subsidy; Rural China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:23:y:2012:i:3:p:729-741. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/chieco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.