IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/lauspo/v109y2021ics0264837721003719.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Has the Sloping Land Conversion Program in China impacted the income and employment of rural households?

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Lingchao
  • Liu, Can
  • Liu, Jinlong
  • Cheng, Baodong

Abstract

As the largest scale payment for ecosystem services program in the developing world, one of the key objectives of the Sloping Land Conversion Program (the SLCP) is to increase rural households' income and to reallocate their employments. This paper estimates the effects of the SLCP on rural households' income and employment changes using the unique panel dataset of 1001 rural households in six provinces from 1995 to 2014. Following a strict parallel trend and other econometrics tests, the Propensity score matching-Difference-in-differences (PSM-DID) estimation technique was used. Based on the unique panel dataset, this paper expands upon existing studies by estimating the effects of mid-to-long-term and subsidy scheme adjustment of the SLCP on rural households' income and employment. Our empirical results indicate that 1) the SLCP has no significant effect on rural households’ total income, while it has a negative effect on farm income. 2) The SLCP has a positive effect on forestry labor input. 3) Half reduction subsidy of the SLCP has caused different effects on rural households’ income and employment compared with that before policy adjustment. 4) The income effects of the SLCP are indifferent by income, location, demographic or resource endowment sub groups. Policy decision-makers should pay more attention to create more off-farm opportunities for rural households enrolled in the SLCP to maintain the achievements of the SLCP.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Lingchao & Liu, Can & Liu, Jinlong & Cheng, Baodong, 2021. "Has the Sloping Land Conversion Program in China impacted the income and employment of rural households?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:109:y:2021:i:c:s0264837721003719
    DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105648
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837721003719
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105648?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. Marco Caliendo & Sabine Kopeinig, 2008. "Some Practical Guidance For The Implementation Of Propensity Score Matching," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 31-72, February.
    2. Sylvie Démurger & Haiyuan Wan, 2012. "Payments for ecological restoration and internal migration in China: the sloping land conversion program in Ningxia," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 1(1), pages 1-22, December.
    3. Zhang, Qi & Bilsborrow, Richard E. & Song, Conghe & Tao, Shiqi & Huang, Qingfeng, 2019. "Rural household income distribution and inequality in China: Effects of payments for ecosystem services policies and other factors," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 114-127.
    4. Black, Dan A. & Smith, J.A.Jeffrey A., 2004. "How robust is the evidence on the effects of college quality? Evidence from matching," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 121(1-2), pages 99-124.
    5. Kelly, Peter & Huo, Xuexi, 2013. "Land Retirement and Nonfarm Labor Market Participation: An Analysis of China’s Sloping Land Conversion Program," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 156-169.
    6. 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.
    7. Emi Uchida & Scott Rozelle & Jintao Xu, 2009. "Conservation Payments, Liquidity Constraints, and Off-Farm Labor: Impact of the Grain-for-Green Program on Rural Households in China," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 91(1), pages 70-86.
    8. Liu, Zhen & Lan, Jing, 2015. "The Sloping Land Conversion Program in China: Effect on the Livelihood Diversification of Rural Households," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 147-161.
    9. A. Smith, Jeffrey & E. Todd, Petra, 2005. "Does matching overcome LaLonde's critique of nonexperimental estimators?," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 125(1-2), pages 305-353.
    10. Bennett, Michael T., 2008. "China's sloping land conversion program: Institutional innovation or business as usual?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(4), pages 699-711, May.
    11. Tao, Ran & Lin, Justin Yifu & Liu, Mingxing & Zhang, Qi, 2004. "Rural taxation and government regulation in China," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 31(2-3), pages 161-168, December.
    12. Liu, Yansui, 2018. "Introduction to land use and rural sustainability in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 1-4.
    13. Alary, Véronique & Corniaux, Christian & Gautier, Denis, 2011. "Livestock's Contribution to Poverty Alleviation: How to Measure It?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 1638-1648, September.
    14. Mullan, Katrina & Grosjean, Pauline & Kontoleon, Andreas, 2011. "Land Tenure Arrangements and Rural-Urban Migration in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 123-133, January.
    15. Emi Uchida & Jintao Xu & Scott Rozelle, 2005. "Grain for Green: Cost-Effectiveness and Sustainability of China’s Conservation Set-Aside Program," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 81(2).
    16. Sylvie Démurger, 2011. "Payments for ecological restoration and rural labor migration in China: The Sloping Land Conversion Program in Ningxia," Post-Print halshs-00673808, HAL.
    17. Liu, Can & Mullan, Katrina & Liu, Hao & Zhu, Wenqing & Rong, Qingjiao, 2014. "The estimation of long term impacts of China's key priority forestry programs on rural household incomes," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 267-285.
    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. Xu, Chang & Lin, Fanli & Li, Chaozhu & Cheng, Baodong, 2022. "Effects of designating non-public forests for ecological purposes on farmer's forestland investment: A quasi-experiment in southern China," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    2. Rong Zhao & Tianyu Jia & He Li, 2023. "Could the Sloping Land Conversion Program Promote Farmers’ Income in Rocky Desertification Areas?—Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-15, June.
    3. Wenyuan Hua & Zhihan Chen & Liangguo Luo, 2022. "The Effect of the Major-Grain-Producing-Areas Oriented Policy on Crop Production: Evidence from China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-28, August.

    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. Wang, Ying & Zhang, Qi & Bilsborrow, Richard & Tao, Shiqi & Chen, Xiaodong & Sullivan-Wiley, Kira & Huang, Qingfeng & Li, Jiangfeng & Song, Conghe, 2020. "Effects of payments for ecosystem services programs in China on rural household labor allocation and land use: Identifying complex pathways," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    2. Lu, Gang & Yin, Runsheng, 2020. "Evaluating the Evaluated Socioeconomic Impacts of China's Sloping Land Conversion Program," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    3. repec:gat:wpaper:1509 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Pokrivcak, J. & Michalek, J. & Ciaian, P., 2018. "The impact of producer organisations on farm performance: A case study of large farms in Slovakia," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277485, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. Giefer, Madeline M. & An, Li, 2022. "Divergent impacts of the grain to green program, landholdings, and demographic factors on livelihood diversification in rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    6. Yuchen Gao & Zehao Liu & Ruipeng Li & Zhidan Shi, 2020. "Long-Term Impact of China’s Returning Farmland to Forest Program on Rural Economic Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-17, February.
    7. Zhang, Qi & Bilsborrow, Richard E. & Song, Conghe & Tao, Shiqi & Huang, Qingfeng, 2019. "Rural household income distribution and inequality in China: Effects of payments for ecosystem services policies and other factors," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 114-127.
    8. Zhang, Qi & Wang, Ying & Tao, Shiqi & Bilsborrow, Richard E. & Qiu, Tong & Liu, Chong & Sannigrahi, Srikanta & Li, Qirui & Song, Conghe, 2020. "Divergent socioeconomic-ecological outcomes of China’s conversion of cropland to forest program in the subtropical mountainous area and the semi-arid Loess Plateau," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    9. Démurger, Sylvie & Pelletier, Adeline, 2015. "Volunteer and satisfied? Rural households' participation in a payments for environmental services programme in Inner Mongolia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 25-33.
    10. Liu, Zhen & Lan, Jing, 2015. "The Sloping Land Conversion Program in China: Effect on the Livelihood Diversification of Rural Households," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 147-161.
    11. Zinda, John Aloysius & Zhang, Zhiming, 2019. "Explaining heterogeneous afforestation outcomes: How community officials and households mediate tree cover change in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 385-398.
    12. Cheng Chen & Hannes J. König & Bettina Matzdorf & Lin Zhen, 2015. "The Institutional Challenges of Payment for Ecosystem Service Program in China: A Review of the Effectiveness and Implementation of Sloping Land Conversion Program," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-28, May.
    13. Zhen Liu & Arne Henningsen, 2016. "The effects of China's Sloping Land Conversion Program on agricultural households," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 47(3), pages 295-307, May.
    14. Liu, Zhen & Li, Qiuming & Lan, Jing & Abu Hatab, Assem, 2020. "Does participation in the sloping land conversion program reduce the sensitivity of Chinese farmers to climate change?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    15. Chen, Cheng & Matzdorf, Bettina & Meyer, Claas & König, Hannes & Zhen, Lin, 2018. "How socioeconomic and institutional conditions at the household level shape the environmental effectiveness of governmental PES: China’s Sloping Land Conversion Program," SocArXiv jzvqh, Center for Open Science.
    16. Zhang, Qi & Song, Conghe & Chen, Xiaodong, 2018. "Effects of China’s payment for ecosystem services programs on cropland abandonment: A case study in Tiantangzhai Township, Anhui, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 239-248.
    17. Michalek, Jerzy & Ciaian, Pavel & Pokrivcak, Jan, 2018. "The impact of producer organizations on farm performance: The case study of large farms from Slovakia☆," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 80-92.
    18. Liu, Yue & Yao, Shunbo & Lin, Ying, 2018. "Effect of Key Priority Forestry Programs on off-farm employment: Evidence from Chinese rural households," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 24-37.
    19. Anders Stenberg & Xavier Luna & Olle Westerlund, 2012. "Can adult education delay retirement from the labour market?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 25(2), pages 677-696, January.
    20. Sylvie Démurger & Haiyuan Wan, 2012. "Payments for ecological restoration and internal migration in China: the sloping land conversion program in Ningxia," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 1(1), pages 1-22, December.
    21. Andrea Ichino & Fabrizia Mealli & Tommaso Nannicini, 2008. "From temporary help jobs to permanent employment: what can we learn from matching estimators and their sensitivity?," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(3), pages 305-327.

    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:lauspo:v:109:y:2021:i:c:s0264837721003719. 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: Joice Jiang (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/land-use-policy .

    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.