Urban and Rural Household Savings in China: Determinants and Policy Implications

Purpose Doubling farming households’ income through occupational diversification to the non-farm sector has been advocated to be of paramount importance in an agrarian economy such as India. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effects of non-farm activities on rural household incomes in four different Indian states by using a propensity score matching technique and developing an endogenous switching model. Design/methodology/approach The research is based on secondary data taken from four quinquennial rounds of employment and unemployment surveys conducted by the National Sample Survey Organization. Findings The matching results indicate a maximum monthly rise in per capita income of Rs. 60 in Gujarat and a minimum increase of Rs. 18 in Rajasthan among rural households employed in the non-farm sector as compared to the farm sector. The findings confirm that rural non-farm structural diversification cannot be viewed as a blueprint for increasing rural household incomes in different states. Further, it suggests the need to segmenting the different states on the basis of agricultural development for increasing rural incomes. Research limitations/implications The study argues that Indian states with a strongly developed farm sector i.e. Gujarat and Punjab are not ideally suited to undergo structural changes in their economic pursuit. The estimates suggest that the transition of rural households from farm to non-farm-sector activities is a very weak strategy in agriculturally developed states of Gujarat and Punjab, whereas non-farm diversification becomes a pivotal strategy for increasing rural household incomes in less agriculturally developed states such as Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. A contrasting point that arises from these evidence is that although diversification to the non-farm sector leads to higher income, but the resultant figures are very scanty. Originality/value The present study contributes to the existing literature by providing evidence and policy implications on rural non-farm diversification in India and its impact on the rural household income. The study can help the policymakers in framing policies aiming at increasing the income of the rural household through the structural transition of the rural economy.

Download Full-text

Policy implications of China's rural household coal governance from the perspective of the spillover effect

Energy ◽

10.1016/j.energy.2021.122946 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 122946

Author(s):

Jiashi Han ◽

Xiaochao Hou ◽

Lei Zhang

Keyword(s):

Spillover Effect ◽

Rural Household ◽

Policy Implications

Download Full-text

Urban and Rural Household Savings in China

IMF Working Papers ◽

10.5089/9781451920703.001 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 88 (25) ◽

pp. 1 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

International Monetary Fund

Keyword(s):

Rural Household ◽

Household Savings

Download Full-text

Farmer education and household agricultural income in rural India

International Journal of Social Economics ◽

10.1108/ijse-12-2013-0278 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 42 (6) ◽

pp. 514-529 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Sitakanta Panda

Keyword(s):

Negative Relationship ◽

Rural Household ◽

Policy Implications ◽

Women Farmers ◽

Farm Income ◽

Content Type ◽

Agricultural Income ◽

Indian Context ◽

Farmer Education ◽

Land Size

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the differences in the rural household agricultural income by farmers’ education while exploiting a nationally representative household survey data set, i.e. the India Human Development Survey-2005, in the rural Indian context. The author seeks to answer the question: how much variation in the household net agricultural income per acre of land cultivated can farmers’ education explain? Design/methodology/approach – The author has employed the ordinary least squares regression model with village fixed effects. The author also analysed the data using some exploratory statistics. Findings – The author finds that farmers’ education significantly increases the net household farm income per acre of land cultivated last year. The results are robust to the inclusion of the five educational degree categories (dummies) in lieu of the years of schooling variable. The results are also robust to its decomposition into that for men and for women separately. Women farmers’ education has an amplified impact on farm incomes. The author also confirms the inverse relationship between the household agricultural income and land area cultivated, which is consistent with the huge literature on the negative relationship between land size-class and farm productivity. Practical implications – In a developing country with a not-so-modernized agriculture sector and low adoption of newer farming technologies, this validated importance of education in explaining the differences in rural farm earnings has guiding policy implications in that a positive return to farmer schooling signals the need for increased investments in the farmers’ education and awareness so as to enhance farm incomes and productivity. The special policy thrust on education of women and women farmers is critical to ensuring higher farm incomes and outcomes. Originality/value – The literature on the impact of farmers’ education on rural household agricultural income is very sparse. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this issue has not been addressed before in the Indian context. The author explains the contribution of farmer education to farm income in rural Indian households. The author also revisits the negative relationship between farm income and land size holdings in the Indian agriculture.

Download Full-text