Household Income Dynamics in Rural China

This paper examines changes in agriculture and livelihood system in four Chinese villages, on the basis of two waves village-wide household surveys conducted over a decade interval. To identify the factors that are important in accounting for variation in household income change, an income dynamic model is estimated. It is found that education is a main factor affecting household income growth. Increase in schooling years of earners will make the household a larger increase in per capita income. Moreover, industrialization has created more non-agricultural jobs for rural households, while urbanization promoted development of service sector that absorbs a number of rural labors. The results of income dynamic model analysis shows that the initial poor farm gained the most in terms of increase in per capita income over the past a decade. Industrialization and urbanization may provide rural poor more opportunities for their increases in per capita income and help them escaping poverty