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Do Social Pensions Help People Living on the Edge? Assessing Determinants of Vulnerability to Food Poverty Among the Rural Elderly

Author

Listed:
  • Zhaohua Zhang

    (Shandong Agricultural University)

  • Yuxi Luo

    (Guangxi Normal University)

  • Derrick Robinson

    (University of California)

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of the New Rural Pension Scheme (NRPS) on the ex post food poverty and ex ante vulnerability of the rural elderly across different regions, by applying a nationally representative survey dataset. Using province-specific food poverty lines calculated by a least-cost linear programming approach, the overall estimated vulnerability to food poverty in rural China is 28.7%, with a majority of them being vulnerable due to low expected food expenditure. Regional analysis indicates that more developed regions experience lower food poverty incidence and vulnerability compared with less developed regions. To address the endogeneity of pension payment, a fuzzy regression discontinuity design finds that pension income significantly increased the expected food expenditure amongst the elderly, thus decreasing the vulnerability. Estimation results for heterogeneous groups suggest that the NRPS worked better for the elderly who are chronically poor and those who are vulnerable due to low expected food expenditure.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhaohua Zhang & Yuxi Luo & Derrick Robinson, 2020. "Do Social Pensions Help People Living on the Edge? Assessing Determinants of Vulnerability to Food Poverty Among the Rural Elderly," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(1), pages 198-219, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:eurjdr:v:32:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1057_s41287-019-00226-2
    DOI: 10.1057/s41287-019-00226-2
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    2. Anqi Zhang & Katsushi S. Imai, 2022. "Does a Universal Pension Reduce Elderly Poverty in China?," Discussion Paper Series DP2022-30, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University.
    3. Bo Yang & Xiangnan Wang & Tong Wu & Weihua Deng, 2023. "Reducing farmers' poverty vulnerability in China: The role of digital financial inclusion," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 1445-1480, August.
    4. Sarah Appiah & Theodore O. Antwi-Asare & F. K. Agyire-Tettey & Emmanuel Abbey & John K. M. Kuwornu & Steven Cole & Sloans K. Chimatiro, 2021. "Livelihood Vulnerabilities Among Women in Small-Scale Fisheries in Ghana," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 33(6), pages 1596-1624, December.
    5. Mousumi Das, 2021. "Vulnerability to Food Insecurity: A Decomposition Exercise for Rural India using the Expected Utility Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 167-199, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social pension; The New Rural Pension Scheme; Food poverty; Vulnerability; Elderly;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
    • R28 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Government Policy
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty

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