Skip Navigation



Oxford Economic Papers Advance Access published online on July 8, 2009
Oxford Economic Papers, doi:10.1093/oep/gpp021
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Groom, B.
Right arrow Articles by Zhang, S.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© Oxford University Press 2009 All rights reserved

Relaxing rural constraints: a ‘win-win’ policy for poverty and environment in China?

Ben Groom*, Pauline Grosjean{dagger}, Andreas Kontoleon{ddagger}, Timothy Swanson, and Shiqiu Zhang§

*Department of Economics, School of Oriental and African Studies, Russell Square, London, WC1H 0XG; e-mail: bg3{at}soas.ac.uk
{dagger}University of California Berkeley, Department of Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics
{ddagger}Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge
¶Department of Economics and Faculty of Law, University College London
§College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University

JEL classifications: C33, J22, O22


  Abstract

The link between institutional and market failures, rural poverty and environmental degradation suggests a ‘win-win’ policy intervention: relax local ‘constraints’ and achieve poverty alleviation and environmental goals. We evaluate the ability of the Sloping Lands Conversion Programme (SLCP) in China, a reforestation payments programme, to relax constraints on off-farm labour markets and achieve these dual objectives. Our model of the agricultural household allows for heterogeneous exposure to constraints and impacts. The model predicts that the impact of the SLCP on off-farm labour supply will be larger for constrained households if constraints are relaxed. To test the predictions we combine a switching regression with difference in differences. Applied to panel data, this technique allows identification of the heterogeneous impact of the SLCP on constrained and unconstrained households. Our results identify some support for the ‘win-win’ hypothesis in the case of the SLCP, and how the targeting of the programme can be improved.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.