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The long-term health and economic consequences of improved property rights

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  • Xu, Huayu

Abstract

This paper studies the long-term health and economic consequences of China’s Household Responsibility System (HRS) reform—a property reform that assigned collectively owned farmland to individual households with secure tenures and boosted labor productivity among rural populations. Using regional variation in reform timing and pace, I provide evidence that early-life exposure to HRS improved individuals’ later-life health, education, and labor market outcomes. However, exposure to HRS at critical school ages reduced human capital investment in children, making them less likely to receive education and more likely to remain in agriculture.

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  • Xu, Huayu, 2021. "The long-term health and economic consequences of improved property rights," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:201:y:2021:i:c:s0047272721001286
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2021.104492
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    3. Yinhe Liang & Xiaobo Peng & Meiping Aggie Sun, 2024. "Long-Term Impacts of Growth and Development Monitoring: Evidence from Routine Health Examinations in Early Childhood," CESifo Working Paper Series 10912, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Property rights reform; Household Responsibility System; Early childhood; Long-term outcomes;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • P26 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Property Rights
    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment

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