IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/aareaj/342992.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Great Chinese Famine (1959–1961) and farm households’ adoption of technology: evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Hu, Xinyan
  • Chen, Xiangpo
  • Yao, Siqi Ya
  • Zhang, Gaiqing

Abstract

The diffusion of new technology is an important driver of agricultural development, especially in the developing world. In this research, we follow the persistence of major historical events, employing a difference-in-differences method to carefully examine the long-term effect of China’s 1959–1961 famine on farm households’ current decisions to adopt technology. Further, we combine a mediating regression procedure with a bootstrap method to explore the mechanism of impact in this relationship. Overall, this study provides strong empirical evidence that the Great Famine attenuated technology adoption; moreover, a 1% increase in exposure to famine in childhood and adolescence resulted in a 0.137% decrease in the probability of technology adoption when controlling for village dummies. An analysis of mediating effects reveals that risk preferences account for the channel of famine persistence.

Suggested Citation

  • Hu, Xinyan & Chen, Xiangpo & Yao, Siqi Ya & Zhang, Gaiqing, 2021. "The Great Chinese Famine (1959–1961) and farm households’ adoption of technology: evidence from China," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 66(01), January.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aareaj:342992
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.342992
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/342992/files/The%20Great%20Chinese%20Famine.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.342992?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Adnan, Nadia & Nordin, Shahrina Md & Ali, Murad, 2018. "A solution for the sunset industry: Adoption of Green Fertiliser Technology amongst Malaysian paddy farmers," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 575-584.
    2. Lisa A. Cameron, 1999. "The Importance of Learning in the Adoption of High-Yielding Variety Seeds," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 81(1), pages 83-94.
    3. Kibrom A. Abay & Guush Berhane & Alemayehu Seyoum Taffesse & Kibrewossen Abay & Bethelhem Koru, 2018. "Estimating Input Complementarities with Unobserved Heterogeneity: Evidence from Ethiopia," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(2), pages 495-517, June.
    4. Attila Ambrus & Erica Field & Robert Gonzalez, 2020. "Loss in the Time of Cholera: Long-Run Impact of a Disease Epidemic on the Urban Landscape," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(2), pages 475-525, February.
    5. Bhattamishra, Ruchira & Barrett, Christopher B., 2010. "Community-Based Risk Management Arrangements: A Review," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 923-932, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Xinyan Hu & Xiangpo Chen & Siqi Yao & Gaiqing Zhang, 2022. "The Great Chinese Famine (1959–1961) and farm households’ adoption of technology: evidence from China," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 66(1), pages 93-117, January.
    2. Sedai, Ashish Kumar, 2021. "Who Benefits from Piped Water in the House? Empirical Evidence from a Gendered Analysis in India," ADBI Working Papers 1273, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    3. Mebratie, Anagaw D. & Sparrow, Robert & Yilma, Zelalem & Alemu, Getnet & Bedi, Arjun S., 2015. "Enrollment in Ethiopia’s Community-Based Health Insurance Scheme," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 58-76.
    4. Christopher B. Barrett & Christine M. Moser & Oloro V. McHugh & Joeli Barison, 2004. "Better Technology, Better Plots, or Better Farmers? Identifying Changes in Productivity and Risk among Malagasy Rice Farmers," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 86(4), pages 869-888.
    5. Stephan Heblich & Stephen J Redding & Daniel M Sturm, 2020. "The Making of the Modern Metropolis: Evidence from London," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(4), pages 2059-2133.
    6. Abate, Gashaw T. & Bernard, Tanguy & Makhija, Simrin & Spielman, David J., 2023. "Accelerating technical change through ICT: Evidence from a video-mediated extension experiment in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    7. Huang, Yi, 2021. "Salience of hazard disclosure and house prices: Evidence from Christchurch, New Zealand," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    8. Unknown, 2023. "Farmer’s adoption of agricultural insurance for Mediterranean crops as an innovative behavior," Economia agro-alimentare / Food Economy, Italian Society of Agri-food Economics/Società Italiana di Economia Agro-Alimentare (SIEA), vol. 25(2), October.
    9. Adnan, Nadia & Nordin, Shahrina Md & Anwar, Abdullah, 2020. "Transition pathways for Malaysian paddy farmers to sustainable agricultural practices: An integrated exhibiting tactics to adopt Green fertilizer," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    10. Guizar-Mateos, Isai & Miranda, Mario J. & Gonzalez-Vega, Claudio, 2013. "The Role of Credit and Deposits in the Dynamics of Technology Decisions and Poverty Traps," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 149860, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    11. Fenton, Adrian & Paavola, Jouni & Tallontire, Anne, 2017. "The Role of Microfinance in Household Livelihood Adaptation in Satkhira District, Southwest Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 192-202.
    12. Melesse, Mequanint B. & Cecchi, Francesco, 2017. "Does Market Experience Attenuate Risk Aversion? Evidence from Landed Farm Households in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 447-466.
    13. Shian Zeng & Chengdong Yi, 2022. "Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the housing market at the epicenter of the outbreak in China," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 2(6), pages 1-20, June.
    14. Gbêtondji Melaine Armel Nonvide, 2021. "Adoption of agricultural technologies among rice farmers in Benin," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 2372-2390, November.
    15. Danai Manyumwa, Harrison & Siziba, Shephard & Unganai, Leonard & Mapfumo, Paul & Mtambanengwe, Florence, 2018. "The impacts of community-based cash management tools on smallholder rural farmers’ access to livelihood assets," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 13(2), June.
    16. Agustín Indaco & Francesc Ortega & Süleyman Taṣpınar, 2021. "Hurricanes, flood risk and the economic adaptation of businesses," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 21(4), pages 557-591.
    17. Kuddo, Arvo, 2009. "Structural educational reform : evidence from a teacher's displacement program in Armenia," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 47164, The World Bank.
    18. Maertens, Annemie & Michelson, Hope, 2016. "Learning about Integrated Soil Fertility Practices: Evidence from a RCT in Malawi," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235475, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    19. Taboada, Cristal & Mamani, Armando & Raes, Dirk & Mathijs, Erik & Garcia, Magalí & Geerts, Sam & Gilles, Jere, 2011. "Farmers’ willingness to adopt irrigation for quinoa in communities of the Central Altiplano of Bolivia," Revista Latinoamericana de Desarrollo Economico, Carrera de Economía de la Universidad Católica Boliviana (UCB) "San Pablo", issue 16, pages 7-28, Noviembre.
    20. Kijima, Yoko & Otsuka, Keijiro & Sserunkuuma, Dick, 2011. "An Inquiry into Constraints on a Green Revolution in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of NERICA Rice in Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 77-86, January.

    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:ags:aareaj:342992. 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: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaresea.html .

    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.