IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/recore/v120y2017icp1-13.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainable livelihoods and rural sustainability in China: Ecologically secure, economically efficient or socially equitable?

Author

Listed:
  • You, Heyuan
  • Zhang, Xiaoling

Abstract

Sustainable production and consumption in the rural regions remains a barely tried yet important issue for contributing to rural sustainability these days. In particular, the sustainable livelihood of rural farmers has not been fully investigated for those in rural areas with high agricultural pollution emissions and a poor ecological quality of agricultural production in China. Also affected are farmers with a low living standard and output, or suffer from social inequity. The sustainable livelihood security (SLS) index therefore provides a useful means of identifying the existence of the conditions necessary for sustainable livelihood or sustainable development. Using the fuzzy comprehensive method, this paper aims to assess the level of sustainable livelihood security of China’s provincial farmers and its three components of ecological security, economic efficiency and social equity. A SLS index is established and the entropy weight method used to determine the weight of the indices and analyze spatial distribution. The results indicate that the sustainable livelihood security index and its components vary between provincial regions, with the western provinces being most adversely affected, sustainable livelihood, economic efficiency and social equity being the least secure (or relatively insecure) in the western provinces while economic efficiency is most secure (or relatively secure) in the eastern and middle provinces, and social equity most secure in the eastern provinces. Concluding remarks suggest policies designed to improve the sustainable livelihood security of farmers according to local regional circumstances.

Suggested Citation

  • You, Heyuan & Zhang, Xiaoling, 2017. "Sustainable livelihoods and rural sustainability in China: Ecologically secure, economically efficient or socially equitable?," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 1-13.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:recore:v:120:y:2017:i:c:p:1-13
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2016.12.010
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344916303871
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.resconrec.2016.12.010?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. Dwayne Benjamin & Loren Brandt, 2002. "Property rights, labour markets, and efficiency in a transition economy: the case of rural China," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 35(4), pages 689-716, November.
    2. Yanyan Gao & Jianghuai Zheng & Maoliang Bu, 2014. "Rural-urban income gap and agricultural growth in China," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 6(1), pages 92-107, January.
    3. Sylvie Démurger & Jeffrey D. Sachs & Wing Thye Woo & Shuming Bao & Gene Chang & Andrew Mellinger, 2002. "Geography, Economic Policy, and Regional Development in China," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 1(1), pages 146-197.
    4. Chu, Junying & Wang, Jianhua & Wang, Can, 2015. "A structure–efficiency based performance evaluation of the urban water cycle in northern China and its policy implications," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 104(PA), pages 1-11.
    5. Alison Shaw & Patti Kristjanson, 2014. "A Catalyst toward Sustainability? Exploring Social Learning and Social Differentiation Approaches with the Agricultural Poor," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(5), pages 1-33, May.
    6. Tao Yang, Dennis, 2004. "Education and allocative efficiency: household income growth during rural reforms in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 137-162, June.
    7. Heyuan You, 2016. "Quantifying Poverty Temporal Changes in Association with Rural Transition in Guangxi, China," Mathematical Problems in Engineering, Hindawi, vol. 2016, pages 1-11, September.
    8. de Brauw, Alan & Huang, Jikun & Rozelle, Scott & Zhang, Linxiu & Zhang, Yigang, 2002. "The Evolution of China's Rural Labor Markets During the Reforms," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 329-353, June.
    9. Hatai, L.D. & Sen, Chandra, 2008. "An Economic Analysis of Agricultural Sustainability in Orissa," Agricultural Economics Research Review, Agricultural Economics Research Association (India), vol. 21(2).
    10. Haji Vahabzadeh, Ali & Asiaei, Arash & Zailani, Suhaiza, 2015. "Green decision-making model in reverse logistics using FUZZY-VIKOR method," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 125-138.
    11. Yaoqi Zhang & Wei Geng & Yueqin Shen & Yanling Wang & Yu-Cheng Dai, 2014. "Edible Mushroom Cultivation for Food Security and Rural Development in China: Bio-Innovation, Technological Dissemination and Marketing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(5), pages 1-13, May.
    12. Lindenberg, Marc, 2002. "Measuring Household Livelihood Security at the Family and Community Level in the Developing World," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 301-318, February.
    13. Yang Zhou & Ning Li & Wenxiang Wu & Haolong Liu & Li Wang & Guangxu Liu & Jidong Wu, 2014. "Socioeconomic development and the impact of natural disasters: some empirical evidences from China," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 74(2), pages 541-554, November.
    14. Pulselli, Federico Maria & Ciampalini, Francesca & Tiezzi, Enzo & Zappia, Carlo, 2006. "The index of sustainable economic welfare (ISEW) for a local authority: A case study in Italy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 271-281, November.
    15. Gallup, John L. & Sachs, Jeffrey D. & Mellinger, Andrew, "undated". "Geography and Economic Development," Instructional Stata datasets for econometrics geodata, Boston College Department of Economics.
    16. Yanyan Gao, 2010. "Urban Bias, Rural-Urban Income Gap and Agricultural Growth: the Resource-Diverting Effect of Rural-Urban Income Gap in China," Monash Economics Working Papers 34-10, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    17. Haji Vahabzadeh, Ali & Asiaei, Arash & Zailani, Suhaiza, 2015. "Reprint of “Green decision-making model in reverse logistics using FUZZY-VIKOR method”," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 104(PB), pages 334-347.
    18. Liang, Xiao & van Dijk, Meine Pieter, 2011. "Economic and financial analysis on rainwater harvesting for agricultural irrigation in the rural areas of Beijing," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 55(11), pages 1100-1108.
    19. X. Liu & K. Wirtz, 2007. "Decision making of oil spill contingency options with fuzzy comprehensive evaluation," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 21(4), pages 663-676, April.
    20. Nguyen, Tin & Cheng, Enjiang & Findlay, Christopher, 1996. "Land fragmentation and farm productivity in China in the 1990s," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 169-180.
    21. Unknown, 2005. "Forward," 2005 Conference: Slovenia in the EU - Challenges for Agriculture, Food Science and Rural Affairs, November 10-11, 2005, Moravske Toplice, Slovenia 183804, Slovenian Association of Agricultural Economists (DAES).
    22. Jiantuo Yu, 2013. "Multidimensional Poverty in China: Findings Based on the CHNS," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 112(2), pages 315-336, June.
    23. Stefanos Stefanidis & Dimitrios Stathis, 2013. "Assessment of flood hazard based on natural and anthropogenic factors using analytic hierarchy process (AHP)," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 68(2), pages 569-585, September.
    24. Ferrol-Schulte, Daniella & Wolff, Matthias & Ferse, Sebastian & Glaser, Marion, 2013. "Sustainable Livelihoods Approach in tropical coastal and marine social–ecological systems: A review," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 253-258.
    25. Qu, Futian & Kuyvenhoven, Arie & Shi, Xiaoping & Heerink, Nico, 2011. "Sustainable natural resource use in rural China: Recent trends and policies," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 444-460.
    26. Cofie, O. & Adeoti, A. & Nkansah-Boadu, F. & Awuah, E., 2010. "Farmers perception and economic benefits of excreta use in southern Ghana," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 161-166.
    27. Huang, Qing & Wang, Ranghui & Ren, Zhiyuan & Li, Jing & Zhang, Huizhi, 2007. "Regional ecological security assessment based on long periods of ecological footprint analysis," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 24-41.
    28. Wu, Xihui & Wu, Faqi & Tong, Xiaogang & Wu, Jia & Sun, Lu & Peng, Xiaoyu, 2015. "Emergy and greenhouse gas assessment of a sustainable, integrated agricultural model (SIAM) for plant, animal and biogas production: Analysis of the ecological recycle of wastes," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 40-50.
    29. West, Loraine A & Wong, Christine P W, 1995. "Fiscal Decentralization and Growing Regional Disparities in Rural China: Some Evidence in the Provision of Social Services," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 11(4), pages 70-84, Winter.
    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. Dang, Yuxuan & Zhao, Zhenting & Kong, Xiangbin & Lei, Ming & Liao, Yubo & Xie, Zhen & Song, Wei, 2023. "Discerning the process of cultivated land governance transition in China since the reform and opening-up-- Based on the multiple streams framework," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    2. Zongxiang Wang & Wei Li & Jianwu Qi, 2022. "Evaluation and Strategic Response of Sustainable Livelihood Level of Farmers in Ecological Resettlement Area of the Upper Yellow River—A Case Study of Liujiaxia Reservoir Area, Gansu Province," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-25, December.
    3. Minghui Ou & Yexi Zhong & Hongzhi Ma & Wenhui Wang & Manyu Bi, 2022. "Impacts of Policy-Driven Transformation in the Livelihoods of Fishermen on Agricultural Landscape Patterns: A Case Study of a Fishing Village, Island of Poyang Lake," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-16, August.
    4. Ghazali, Samane & Zibaei, Mansour & Azadi, Hossein, 2023. "Impact of livelihood strategies and capitals on rangeland sustainability and nomads' poverty: A counterfactual analysis in Southwest Iran," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    5. Sanjib Mondal & Pritam Ghosh & Pratima Rohatgi, 2023. "Village‐level livelihood security: A case study on a wasteland‐dominated forest fringe region of rural India," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(5), pages 1019-1036, June.
    6. Zhang, Da & Huang, Qingxu & He, Chunyang & Wu, Jianguo, 2017. "Impacts of urban expansion on ecosystem services in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration, China: A scenario analysis based on the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 115-130.
    7. Zehua Wang & Fachao Liang & Sheng-Hau Lin, 2023. "Can socially sustainable development be achieved through homestead withdrawal? A hybrid multiple-attributes decision analysis," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-18, December.
    8. Jing Li & Guoqiang Ma & Jinghua Feng & Liying Guo & Yinzhou Huang, 2022. "Local Residents’ Social-Ecological Adaptability of the Qilian Mountain National Park Pilot, Northwestern China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-17, May.
    9. Yazhou Zhou & Yong Huang & Wenyuan Liu, 2024. "Understanding the Conflict between an Ecological Environment and Human Activities in the Process of Urbanization: A Case Study of Ya’an City, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-19, August.
    10. Xiuling Ding & Qian Lu & Lipeng Li & Apurbo Sarkar & Hua Li, 2022. "Evaluating the Impact of Institutional Performance and Government Trust on Farmers’ Subjective Well-Being: A Case of Urban–Rural Welfare Gap Perception and Family Economic Status in Shaanxi, Sichuan a," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-20, December.
    11. Jue Wang & Haiwei Jiang & Yuan He, 2023. "Determinants of Smallholder Farmers’ Income-Generating Activities in Rubber Monoculture Dominated Region Based on Sustainable Livelihood Framework," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-17, January.

    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. Jia, Lili, 2012. "Land fragmentation and off-farm labor supply in China," Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), volume 66, number 66.
    2. Jia, Lili & Petrick, Martin, 2014. "How does land fragmentation affect off-farm labor supply: panel data evidence from China," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 45(3), pages 369-380.
    3. Jia, Lili & Petrick, Martin, 2011. "How land fragmentation affects off-farm labor supply in China: Evidence from household panel data," 51st Annual Conference, Halle, Germany, September 28-30, 2011 114522, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).
    4. Wang, Xiaobing & Herzfeld, Thomas & Glauben, Thomas, 2007. "Labor allocation in transition: Evidence from Chinese rural households," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 287-308.
    5. Alan de Brauw & John Giles, 2017. "Migrant Opportunity and the Educational Attainment of Youth in Rural China," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 52(1), pages 272-311.
    6. Feng, Shuyi & Heerink, Nico & Ruben, Ruerd & Qu, Futian, 2010. "Land rental market, off-farm employment and agricultural production in Southeast China: A plot-level case study," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 598-606, December.
    7. Alan de Brauw & John Giles, 2018. "Migrant Labor Markets and the Welfare of Rural Households in the Developing World: Evidence from China," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 32(1), pages 1-18.
    8. Zhang, Xiaobo & Kanbur, Ravi, 2005. "Spatial inequality in education and health care in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 189-204.
    9. Qichun He & Meng Sun, 2016. "Central Planning Legacies: The Lingering Effects Of The Great Leap Forward In China," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(2), pages 182-203, April.
    10. Liu, Qiyang & Lucas, Karen & Marsden, Greg & Liu, Yang, 2019. "Egalitarianism and public perception of social inequities: A case study of Beijing congestion charge," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 47-62.
    11. Wang, Xiaobing, 2007. "Labor market behavior of Chinese rural households during transition," Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), volume 42, number 92321.
    12. repec:wyi:journl:002079 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Pedroni, Peter & Yao, James Yudong, 2006. "Regional income divergence in China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 294-315, April.
    14. Jarreau, Joachim & Poncet, Sandra, 2012. "Export sophistication and economic growth: Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 281-292.
    15. Wang, Xiaobing & Yu, Xiaohua, 2011. "Scale Effects, Technical Efficiency and Land Lease in China," 2011 International Congress, August 30-September 2, 2011, Zurich, Switzerland 115736, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    16. Andersson, Fredrik N.G. & Edgerton, David L. & Opper, Sonja, 2013. "A Matter of Time: Revisiting Growth Convergence in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 239-251.
    17. Guariglia, Alessandra & Poncet, Sandra, 2008. "Could financial distortions be no impediment to economic growth after all? Evidence from China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 633-657, December.
    18. Chloé Duvivier Duvivier & Mary-Françoise Renard & Shi Li, 2012. "Are workers close to cities paid higher non-agricultural wages in rural China?," CERDI Working papers halshs-00673698, HAL.
    19. Caroline Stern & Mikko Makinen & Zongxin Qian, 2017. "FinTechs in China – with a special focus on peer to peer lending," Journal of Chinese Economic and Foreign Trade Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 10(3), pages 215-228, October.
    20. Yan Xin & Dongchuan Wang & Lihui Zhang & Yingyi Ma & Xing Chen & Haiqing Wang & Hongyi Wang & Kangjian Wang & Hui Long & Hua Chai & Jianshe Gao, 2022. "Cooperative analysis of infrastructure perfection and residents’ living standards in poverty-stricken counties in Qinghai Province," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 3687-3703, March.
    21. Batisse, Cecile, 2002. "Dynamic externalities and local growth: A panel data analysis applied to Chinese provinces," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 13(2-3), pages 231-251.

    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:recore:v:120:y:2017:i:c:p:1-13. 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: Kai Meng (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/resources-conservation-and-recycling .

    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.