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

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  • 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.

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  • 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
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    Cited by:

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    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. Selod, Harris & Shilpi, Forhad, 2021. "Rural-urban migration in developing countries: Lessons from the literature," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    6. Qiao, Lu & Fei, Junjun, 2022. "Government subsidies, enterprise operating efficiency, and “stiff but deathless” zombie firms," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    7. 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.
    8. Deininger, Klaus & Jin, Songqing & Liu, Shouying & Xia, Fang, 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), January.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. 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).
    12. 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).
    13. 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.
    14. MacDonald, Stephen & Gale, Fred & Hansen, James, 2015. "Cotton Policy in China," MPRA Paper 70863, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Meng, Lei, 2020. "Permanent migration desire of Chinese rural residents: Evidence from field surveys, 2006–2015," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    16. 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.
    17. 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.

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    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

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