IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v177y2024ics0305750x23003339.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social capital's role in mitigating economic vulnerability: Understanding the impact of income disparities on farmers' livelihoods

Author

Listed:
  • Zhang, Yunhui
  • Zhao, Wei

Abstract

The primary objective of this study is to scrutinize the connection between social capital and the quality of life within marginalized communities, aiming to understand their mutual influence. It investigates how social capital influences the vulnerability of farmers' livelihoods using data from the 2018 CHIPS (China Household Income Project) survey, which was made available in 2020. The outcome indicates that farmers' endangered life can drastically decrease without getting stupefied. Moreover, the study underscores the substantial impact of social capital in reducing livelihood vulnerability across the eastern, central, and western regions. However, its efficacy appears less pronounced in the western region compared to the central region, suggesting a more significant influence in the center than in the eastern region. Furthermore, the study reveals that an income gap can affect the accumulation of social capital, and a moderate income gap is most favorable for farmers in building social ties and forming social capital. However, a widening income gap increases the cost and benefits of building social ties, and substantial differences can be obtained if the costs exceed the benefits, and this situation negatively influences the social capital of poor farmers. Overall, the findings confirm the hypothesis that social capital belongs to the poor but highlight the limitation of social capitalization for farmers with vulnerable livelihoods due to the widening income gap. In summary, this research underscores the significance of social capital in mitigating the economic vulnerability faced by impoverished farmers. It also highlights the need for policies focused on enhancing social capital to take into account the influence of income inequality on the accumulation of social capital. These discoveries carry significant implications for addressing poverty and promoting long-term rural development not only in China but also in other regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Yunhui & Zhao, Wei, 2024. "Social capital's role in mitigating economic vulnerability: Understanding the impact of income disparities on farmers' livelihoods," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:177:y:2024:i:c:s0305750x23003339
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2023.106515
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X23003339
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2023.106515?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. Bruce E. Hansen, 2000. "Sample Splitting and Threshold Estimation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 68(3), pages 575-604, May.
    2. Veeshan Rayamajhee & Alok K. Bohara, 2021. "Social capital, trust, and collective action in post-earthquake Nepal," 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. 105(2), pages 1491-1519, January.
    3. Yang, Xiuna & Gustafsson, Björn & Sicular, Terry, 2021. "Inequality of opportunity in household income, China 2002–2018," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    4. Songyang Lyu & Sungik Kang & Ja-Hoon Koo, 2022. "Social Capital Inequality According to Hukou in Unequal Economic Environments in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-14, October.
    5. Christiaan Grootaert & Gi-Taik Oh & Anand Swamy, 2002. "Social Capital, Household Welfare and Poverty in Burkina Faso," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 11(1), pages 4-38, March.
    6. Karagiannidou, Maria & Wittenberg, Raphael, 2022. "Social insurance for long-term care," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 114896, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Huiqin Li & Peter Nijkamp & Xuelian Xie & Jingjing Liu, 2020. "A New Livelihood Sustainability Index for Rural Revitalization Assessment—A Modelling Study on Smart Tourism Specialization in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-18, April.
    8. Stephen Polasky & Gretchen Daily, 2021. "An Introduction to the Economics of Natural Capital," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(1), pages 87-94.
    9. Lianying Yao & Xiaoxiao Ma, 2022. "Has digital finance widened the income gap?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(2), pages 1-20, February.
    10. Asiedu, Edward & Sadekla, Sylvester S. & Bokpin, Godfred A., 2020. "Aid to Africa’s agriculture towards building physical capital: Empirical evidence and implications for post-COVID-19 food insecurity," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    11. Jean-Pierre Aubry & Kevin Wandrei, 2021. "Do All State and Local Workers Receive an Annuity in Retirement?," State and Local Pension Plans Briefs slp79, Center for Retirement Research.
    12. Jean-Pierre Aubry & Kevin Wandrei, 2021. "Do All State and Local Workers Receive an Annuity in Retirement?," Issues in Brief ibslp79, Center for Retirement Research.
    13. Longjunjiang Huang & Cong Liao & Xuan Guo & Yanlin Liu & Xiaojin Liu, 2023. "Analysis of the Impact of Livelihood Capital on Livelihood Strategies of Leased-In Farmland Households: A Case Study of Jiangxi Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-29, June.
    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. Qinghao Wang & Chentao Zhang & Mingyue Gong & Beiqi Zhu, 2024. "Village Organization and Sustainable Growth of Farmers’ Income: An Empirical Study Based on Dynamic Survey Data of the Labor Force in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-25, October.

    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. Mao Wu & Ying Ma & Yu Gao & Zhanhui Ji, 2024. "The impact of digital economy on income inequality from the perspective of technological progress-biased transformation: evidence from China," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 67(2), pages 567-607, August.
    2. Chiu, Chien-Liang & Chang, Ting-Huan, 2009. "What proportion of renewable energy supplies is needed to initially mitigate CO2 emissions in OECD member countries?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(6-7), pages 1669-1674, August.
    3. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2020. "Insurance Policy Thresholds for Economic Growth in Africa," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(3), pages 672-689, July.
    4. Patrick Zschech & Kai Heinrich & Raphael Bink & Janis S. Neufeld, 2019. "Prognostic Model Development with Missing Labels," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 61(3), pages 327-343, June.
    5. Dominique Guegan & Florian Ielpo, 2007. "Further evidence on the impact of economic news on interest rates," Post-Print halshs-00188331, HAL.
    6. Francisco Javier Forcadell & Fernando Úbeda, 2022. "Individual entrepreneurial orientation and performance: the mediating role of international entrepreneurship," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 875-900, June.
    7. Kelbesa Megersa & Danny Cassimon, 2015. "Public Debt, Economic Growth, and Public Sector Management in Developing Countries: Is There a Link?," Public Administration & Development, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 35(5), pages 329-346, December.
    8. Young-Joo Kim & Myung Hwan Seo, 2017. "Is There a Jump in the Transition?," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(2), pages 241-249, April.
    9. Jess Benhabib & Mark M. Spiegel, 2009. "Moderate Inflation and the Deflation-Depression Link," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(4), pages 787-798, June.
    10. Aslanidis, Nektarios, 2007. "Business Cycle Regimes in CEECs Production: A Threshold SURE Approach," Working Papers 2072/5318, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    11. Z. Jun Lin & Shengqiang Liu & Fangcheng Sun, 2017. "The Impact of Financing Constraints and Agency Costs on Corporate R&D Investment: Evidence from China," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 17(1), pages 3-42, March.
    12. Fanny Landaud & Son Thierry Ly & Éric Maurin, 2020. "Competitive Schools and the Gender Gap in the Choice of Field of Study," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 55(1), pages 278-308.
    13. Mindaugas Butkus & Diana Cibulskiene & Lina Garsviene & Janina Seputiene, 2021. "Empirical Evidence on Factors Conditioning the Turning Point of the Public Debt–Growth Relationship," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-22, December.
    14. Xuan Zhang, 2023. "The impact of digital finance on corporate labor productivity: evidence from Chinese-listed companies," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 50(3), pages 527-550, September.
    15. Polemis, Michael & Tselekounis, Markos, 2019. "Does deregulation drive innovation intensity? Lessons learned from the OECD telecommunications sector," MPRA Paper 92770, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Hsu, Chih-Chiang & Yau, Ruey & Wu, Jyun-Yi, 2009. "Asymmetric Exchange Rate Exposure and Industry Characteristics : Evidence from Japanese Data," Hitotsubashi Journal of Economics, Hitotsubashi University, vol. 50(1), pages 57-69, June.
    17. Davide Fiaschi & Andrea Mario Lavezzi & Angela Parenti, 2020. "Deep and Proximate Determinants of the World Income Distribution," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 66(3), pages 677-710, September.
    18. Massacci, Daniele, 2017. "Least squares estimation of large dimensional threshold factor models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 197(1), pages 101-129.
    19. Wang, Shuhong & Tian, Wenqian & Lu, Binbin, 2023. "Impact of capital investment and industrial structure optimization from the perspective of "resource curse": Evidence from developing countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    20. Zhang, Xiaobei & Wang, Xiaojun, 2021. "Measures of human capital and the mechanics of economic growth," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).

    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:wdevel:v:177:y:2024:i:c:s0305750x23003339. 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/worlddev .

    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.