The road to specialization in agricultural production: Evidence from rural China

Because many rural poor live in areas far away from markets, we investigate whether better road access could help improve their livelihood and reduce rural poverty. We use three waves of a primary panel survey at the household level conducted in 18 remote natural villages in China to study how road...

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Autores principales: Qin, Yu, Zhang, Xiaobo
Formato: Artículo preliminar
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154040
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author Qin, Yu
Zhang, Xiaobo
author_browse Qin, Yu
Zhang, Xiaobo
author_facet Qin, Yu
Zhang, Xiaobo
author_sort Qin, Yu
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Because many rural poor live in areas far away from markets, we investigate whether better road access could help improve their livelihood and reduce rural poverty. We use three waves of a primary panel survey at the household level conducted in 18 remote natural villages in China to study how road access shapes farmers’ agricultural production patterns and input uses and affects rural poverty. Our results show that access to roads is strongly associated with specialization in agricultural production. In natural villages with better road access, farmers plant fewer numbers of crops, purchase more fertilizer, and invest more money in labor. In combination with such factors, road connections improve household agricultural income—in particular, cash income—and contribute to poverty reduction in the surveyed villages. However, better access to rural roads does not appear to bring about significant changes in nonagricultural income.
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spelling CGSpace1540402025-11-06T05:59:07Z The road to specialization in agricultural production: Evidence from rural China Qin, Yu Zhang, Xiaobo roads farm inputs rural areas rural poor household income household surveys poverty reduction Because many rural poor live in areas far away from markets, we investigate whether better road access could help improve their livelihood and reduce rural poverty. We use three waves of a primary panel survey at the household level conducted in 18 remote natural villages in China to study how road access shapes farmers’ agricultural production patterns and input uses and affects rural poverty. Our results show that access to roads is strongly associated with specialization in agricultural production. In natural villages with better road access, farmers plant fewer numbers of crops, purchase more fertilizer, and invest more money in labor. In combination with such factors, road connections improve household agricultural income—in particular, cash income—and contribute to poverty reduction in the surveyed villages. However, better access to rural roads does not appear to bring about significant changes in nonagricultural income. 2012 2024-10-01T13:59:07Z 2024-10-01T13:59:07Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154040 en Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Qin, Yu; Zhang, Xiaobo. 2012. The road to specialization in agricultural production: Evidence from rural China. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1221. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154040
spellingShingle roads
farm inputs
rural areas
rural poor
household income
household surveys
poverty reduction
Qin, Yu
Zhang, Xiaobo
The road to specialization in agricultural production: Evidence from rural China
title The road to specialization in agricultural production: Evidence from rural China
title_full The road to specialization in agricultural production: Evidence from rural China
title_fullStr The road to specialization in agricultural production: Evidence from rural China
title_full_unstemmed The road to specialization in agricultural production: Evidence from rural China
title_short The road to specialization in agricultural production: Evidence from rural China
title_sort road to specialization in agricultural production evidence from rural china
topic roads
farm inputs
rural areas
rural poor
household income
household surveys
poverty reduction
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154040
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