lynx   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eme/caerpp/caer-05-2020-0085.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Rural minimum living standard guarantee (rural Dibao) program boosts children's education outcomes in rural China

Author

Listed:
  • Zixuan He
  • Xiangming Fang
  • Nathan Rose
  • Xiaodong Zheng
  • Scott Rozelle
Abstract
Purpose - To combat poverty in China's rural areas, Chinese government has established an unconditional cash transfer program known as the Rural Minimum Living Standard Guarantee (Rural Dibao) Program. Interestingly, despite the importance of education in breaking cycles of poverty, little is known about Rural Dibao's impact on rural children's education. This study investigates Rural Dibao's impact on rural children's learning outcomes by first examining targeting issues within the program, exploring a causal relationship between Rural Dibao and learning outcomes, and then exploring potential mechanisms and heterogeneous effects. Design/methodology/approach - Fixed effects model and propensity score weighting method and data from China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) from the years 2010 and 2014 were used. Findings - The results suggest that the Rural Dibao program suffers from high levels of targeting error, yet is still effective (i.e., program transfers generally still go to people in need). The fixed effects and propensity score weighting models find that program participation raises rural children's standardized test scores in CFPS Chinese-language and math tests. In investigating mechanisms, increased education expenditure seems to connect Rural Dibao participation to increased learning results. The heterogeneity analysis shows that poorer, non-eastern, not left behind, younger or male children benefit from the program (while others have no effect). Originality/value - These findings suggest that Rural Dibao participation boosts rural children's learning, which could indicate a long-term anti-poverty effect, and that if the program can resolve targeting problems, this effect could be even greater.

Suggested Citation

  • Zixuan He & Xiangming Fang & Nathan Rose & Xiaodong Zheng & Scott Rozelle, 2021. "Rural minimum living standard guarantee (rural Dibao) program boosts children's education outcomes in rural China," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 13(1), pages 54-77, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:caerpp:caer-05-2020-0085
    DOI: 10.1108/CAER-05-2020-0085
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/CAER-05-2020-0085/full/html?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/CAER-05-2020-0085/full/pdf?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1108/CAER-05-2020-0085?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 look for a different version below or

    for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rebecca Blank, 2003. "Selecting Among Anti-Poverty Policies: Can an Economist be Both Critical and Caring?," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 61(4), pages 447-469.
    2. Barham, Vicky & Boadway, Robin & Marchand, Maurice & Pestieau, Pierre, 1995. "Education and the poverty trap," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 1257-1275, August.
    3. Gordon B. Dahl & Lance Lochner, 2012. "The Impact of Family Income on Child Achievement: Evidence from the Earned Income Tax Credit," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(5), pages 1927-1956, August.
    4. Kakwani, Nanak & Li, Shi & Wang, Xiaobing & Zhu, Mengbing, 2019. "Evaluating the effectiveness of the rural minimum living standard guarantee (Dibao) program in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1-14.
    5. Westmore, Ben, 2018. "Do government transfers reduce poverty in China? Micro evidence from five regions," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 59-69.
    6. Golan, Jennifer & Sicular, Terry & Umapathi, Nithin, 2017. "Unconditional Cash Transfers in China: Who Benefits from the Rural Minimum Living Standard Guarantee (Dibao) Program?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 316-336.
    7. King, Gary & Nielsen, Richard, 2019. "Why Propensity Scores Should Not Be Used for Matching," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 27(4), pages 435-454, October.
    8. Qin Gao & Shiyou Wu & Fuhua Zhai, 2015. "Welfare Participation and Time Use in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 124(3), pages 863-887, December.
    9. Barham, Vicky & Boadway, Robin & Marchand, Maurice & Pestieau, Pierre, 1995. "Education and the poverty trap," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 1257-1275, August.
    10. Li, Lili & Huang, Lei & Shi, Yaojiang & Luo, Renfu & Yang, Meredith & Rozelle, Scott, 2018. "Anemia and student's educational performance in rural Central China: Prevalence, correlates and impacts," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 283-293.
    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. Chong, Zhi Zheng & Lau, Siew Yee, 2023. "A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Educational Effects of Unconditional Cash Transfers," MPRA Paper 113587, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Wu, Zheng & Zhang, Yihua & Zhang, Mingyu, 2024. "Unveiling the causal effects of China’s minimum living standard guarantee on household transportation expenditures: A causal forest analysis," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 1-13.
    3. Xuan Huo & Huawei Han & Qin Gao, 2023. "Does Welfare Participation Affect Adolescent Educational Aspiration? Evidence from Panel Data in China," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 16(3), pages 1171-1202, June.
    4. Xiaodong Zheng & Shuangyue Shangguan & Zheng Shen & Hualei Yang, 2023. "Social Pensions and Children’s Educational Outcomes: The Case of New Rural Pension Scheme in China," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 502-521, June.

    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. Huawei Han & Qin Gao, 2020. "Does Welfare Participation Improve Life Satisfaction? Evidence from Panel Data in Rural China," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(5), pages 1795-1822, June.
    2. Dian Chen & Xiangming Fang, 2025. "Social assistance and non-agriculture employment in rural China: evidence from the Rural Minimum Living Security (Rural Dibao)," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-11, December.
    3. Hemmer, Hans-Rimbert, 1996. "Preismechanismus, Institutionen und Armut in Entwicklungsländern," Discussion Papers in Development Economics 19, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Institute for Development Economics.
    4. Dong Zhang & Hongfeng Zhang & Ziran Meng & Jianxu Liu, 2024. "Psychological Poverty Traps in Rural Farm Households: Implications for Sustainable Agricultural Development and Rural Revitalization in China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-33, December.
    5. Martin Zagler & Georg Dürnecker, 2003. "Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(3), pages 397-418, July.
    6. Elise S. Brezis & Joël Hellier, 2013. "Social Mobility at the Top: Why Are Elites Self-Reproducing?," Working Papers 2013-12, Bar-Ilan University, Department of Economics.
    7. Valerie Mueller & Abusaleh Shariff, 2011. "Preliminary Evidence On Internal Migration, Remittances, And Teen Schooling In India," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 29(2), pages 207-217, April.
    8. Eric V. Edmonds & Nina Pavcnik & Petia Topalova, 2010. "Trade Adjustment and Human Capital Investments: Evidence from Indian Tariff Reform," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(4), pages 42-75, October.
    9. Li, Yan & Huang, Yuyang, 2025. "Social security, digital literacy, and relative poverty in China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    10. Cheng, Xiaoyu & Wang, Jianying & Chen, Kevin Z., 2022. "Does villager social capital hinder poverty targeting? Evidence from poverty-stricken county of Western China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    11. Edmonds, Eric V., 2008. "Child Labor," Handbook of Development Economics, in: T. Paul Schultz & John A. Strauss (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 57, pages 3607-3709, Elsevier.
    12. repec:dau:papers:123456789/5552 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Banerjee, Abhijit V., 2004. "Educational policy and the economics of the family," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 3-32, June.
    14. Escobal, Javier & Saavedra, Jaime & Suárez, Pablo, 2005. "Economic Shocks and Changes in School Attendance Levels and Education Expenditure in Peru," MPRA Paper 56481, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Eric V. Edmonds & Norbert Schady, 2012. "Poverty Alleviation and Child Labor," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 4(4), pages 100-124, November.
    16. Rossana Patron, 2014. "On the institutional limits to human capital," Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación volume 9, in: Adela García Aracil & Isabel Neira Gómez (ed.), Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación 9, edition 1, volume 9, chapter 45, pages 867-878, Asociación de Economía de la Educación.
    17. Nicolas Bauduin & Joël Hellier, 2006. "Skill Dynamics, Inequality and Social Policies," Working Papers 34, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    18. Toni Mora, 2008. "Factors conditioning the formation of European regional convergence clubs," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 42(4), pages 911-927, December.
    19. Anderberg, Dan & Balestrino, Alessandro, 2001. "Self-Enforcing Intergenerational Transfers and the Provision of Education," CEPR Discussion Papers 3107, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Bardhan, Pranab & Bowles, Samuel & Gintis, Herbert, 2000. "Wealth inequality, wealth constraints and economic performance," Handbook of Income Distribution, in: A.B. Atkinson & F. Bourguignon (ed.), Handbook of Income Distribution, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 10, pages 541-603, Elsevier.
    21. Dammert, Ana C. & Galdo, Jose, 2013. "Child Labor Variation by Type of Respondent: Evidence from a Large-Scale Study," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 207-220.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:eme:caerpp:caer-05-2020-0085. 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: Emerald Support (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.
    Лучший частный хостинг