Search

Studying the influence of capital endowment on rural households' willingness to pay (WTP) for rural human settlement improvement (RHSI) will help to seek a breakthrough for implementing a rural environmental management payment system. According to Bourdieu's practical theory, this study establishes a theoretical analysis model and research hypothesis of capital endowment (economic capital, cultural capital, and social capital) and rural households' WTP for RHSI. This study uses the Double-Hurdle Model to empirically analyse the effect of capital endowment on rural households' two-stage WTP for RHSI (the payment inclination and the willingness payment amount). This study found that capital endowment has a significant positive impact on rural households' WTP for RHSI. Economic capital (annual household income, number of agricultural machinery), cultural capital (head of household's education level, migrant work experience, and the degree of current affairs awareness), and social capital (moral restraint, interpersonal trust, and institutional trust) can significantly increase a rural household's payment inclination and willingness payment amount. Accordingly, this study proposes policy recommendations to incorporate rural households' interest demands into the development and implementation process of RHSI projects, and to strengthen the accumulation of the three types of capital endowments of rural households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural human settlement improvement (RHSI) is the basis for enhancing rural households' life quality and promoting their well-being. Studying the impact of the livelihood capital level and structure on rural households' payment willingness for RHSI will help to clarify the effective focus for implementing a payment system for rural environmental governance, which is of great significance for improving rural human settlements and promoting comprehensive rural revitalization. This study reveals the influence mechanism of the livelihood capital level and structure on rural households' willingness to pay (WTP) for RHSI. According to the survey data of rural households in Hubei Province, China, the level and structure of rural households' livelihood capital and their WTP for RHSI are analyzed using the entropy value method and the contingent valuation method. The effects of the livelihood capital level and structure on rural households' WTP for RHSI are tested using the Probit and Tobit models. The results show significant differences in the level and structure of rural households' livelihood capital. More than half of the rural households have a payment inclination for RHSI, but the distribution of the willingness payment amounts shows a clear polarization, with the average payment amount ranging from CNY 14.48 to 28.32 per month. Both the total livelihood capital level and classification levels (natural capital, human capital, financial capital and social capital) significantly positively affect the rural households' WTP. In the livelihood capital structure, both the natural-capital-dominant type and financial-capital-dominant type significantly positively affect the rural households' WTP, and the human-capital-dominant type significantly positively affects the rural households' willingness payment amount. Accordingly, this study proposes policy recommendations for the multi-dimensional improvement of rural households' livelihood capital and the optimization of the livelihood capital structure allocation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid advances in globalization, industrialization, urbanization, and informatization, rural space continues to be occupied by urban expansion, and numerous production elements are aggregated in cities, resulting in global rural decline. The long-standing Chinese urban-rural dual system and urban-first development strategy have exacerbated a downturn in rural areas during the socio-economic transition. Combined with land management systems and innovation policies, whole-region comprehensive land consolidation (WRCLC) has become a crucial tool and platform for rural revitalization, extensively implemented nationwide. From the perspective of farm households, this paper employs the element-structure-function framework in the system theory to theoretically reveal the mechanism by which different WRCLC modes promote rural revitalization. Based on the questionnaire survey data from 1080 farm households in Zhejiang Province, the propensity score matching-difference in difference (PSM-DID) method based on quasi-experiment was employed to explore the impact of different WRCLC modes on the overall rural revitalization and its five dimensions (thriving industry, ecological livability, rural civilization, effective governance, and affluent life). The results show that WRCLC can optimize the rural structure and enhance rural functions by integrating the core elements of rural development to achieve complete rural revitalization. The empirical results show that implementing all WRCLC modes has significantly increased overall and five-dimension rural revitalization levels, with the city-suburb integration mode having a better effect on promoting rural revitalization than the characteristic industry mode and small-town construction mode. Based on this, some relevant policy recommendations have been put forward to enhance the effectiveness of WRCLC in promoting rural revitalization. Our findings will provide a Chinese practice for other countries and regions to develop more effective WRCLC modes and policies for promoting rural revitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty eradication is the primary goal of equitable and sustainable development and has received extensive attention from the international academic community. Rural land consolidation (RLC) is designed to achieve sustainable land use by combining land system reform and policy innovation; this has become an important means to promote China's poverty alleviation. From the perspective of micro-farmers, this paper takes the Sustainable Livelihood Approach (SLA) to reveal the influence of livelihood capital endowment on households' income growth and poverty alleviation under different modes of RLC. According to the survey data of registered poor households in four counties (cities) of Hubei Province and Guizhou Province, this paper uses fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to empirically study several combinations of initial livelihood capital endowment after the implementation of different modes of RLC. The results show that RLC improves households' initial livelihood capital endowment, reduces the vulnerability of the livelihood, thus promoting the accumulation of households' livelihood capital and the optimization of livelihood strategies and urging households to obtain a sustainable livelihood, so as to contribute to poverty alleviation. Whether in the government-dominated mode area or Public-Private Partnership（PPP）mode area, the five types of livelihood capital endowments of households are interdependent and collectively affect income growth and poverty alleviation. However, the requirements for households' initial livelihood capital endowments are far lower after the implementation of PPP mode RLC than those after the implementation of government-dominated RLC. Based on these findings, this paper presents corresponding policy recommendations to improve the effectiveness of RLC poverty alleviation policy, and also provides China's experience and reference for other developing countries to formulate targeted antipoverty policies. • Use the Sustainable Livelihood Approach (SLA) to reveal the impact of livelihood capital endowment (LCE) on households' income growth and poverty alleviation under different rural land consolidation (RLC) modes. • Apply fsQCA to test characteristics and differences of initial LCE combination after implementation of different RLC modes. • Reveal that the dependence of households' income growth and poverty alleviation on initial LCE in PPP mode are far lower than government-dominated mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing concerns about rural human settlement improvement are of great significance in promoting the construction of ecological civilization in China. Rural households are direct beneficiaries and important participants of rural human settlement improvement, and their preferences regarding rural human settlement improvement are critical for the policy-formulating and fund-raising relating to rural human settlement improvement. Nevertheless, little research has been dedicated to analyzing rural households' preferences for the different aspects of rural human settlement. Based on survey data from Hubei province (central China), this study investigates preference heterogeneity and willingness to pay (WTP) for rural human settlement improvement schemes, and further provides a possible explanation for their preference heterogeneity. The results from a Latent class model reveal that the interviewed rural households' preferences fall into four identified types, and their preferences are significantly influenced by rural households', social and economic statuses. The results also show that the average WTP for maintaining the current settlement status is 17.97 yuan per month per household, while the average WTP for improving the settlement status is 92.37 yuan per month per household. Therefore, policymakers should fully respect the will of rural households, and make an overall plan to promote local economic development in the process of creating a policy related to rural households' participation in rural human settlement improvement. This study provides a reference for developing countries and regions to formulate policies that promote rural households' participation in rural human settlement improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]