IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v77y2016icp1-16.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Road to Specialization in Agricultural Production: Evidence from Rural China

Author

Listed:
  • Qin, Yu
  • Zhang, Xiaobo

Abstract

Many rural poor in developing countries live in areas far away from markets and isolation is a key limiting factor to their livelihood. In this paper, we use four waves of a primary panel household survey conducted in 17 remote natural villages in China to study how road access shapes farmers’ production patterns, input use, and rural poverty. We adopt a difference-in-difference approach by comparing the outcomes of the households in villages with and without road access, before and after the introduction of each road. Our results show that access to roads facilitates specialization in agricultural production. In natural villages with better road access, farmers plant fewer numbers of crops, purchase more fertilizer, and hire more labor. Consequently, road connections improve household agricultural income and reduce poverty. In addition, road access significantly increases local nonfarm income for the relatively poor households, but not the rich. Overall, our research provides empirical justification on the importance of rural road on agricultural specialization and poverty reduction, especially in isolated and impoverished regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Qin, Yu & Zhang, Xiaobo, 2016. "The Road to Specialization in Agricultural Production: Evidence from Rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 1-16.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:77:y:2016:i:c:p:1-16
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.08.007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X15001886
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.08.007?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 search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ren Mu & Dominique van de Walle, 2011. "Rural Roads and Local Market Development in Vietnam," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(5), pages 709-734.
    2. Zhang, Xiaobo & Yang, Jin & Wang, Shenglin, 2011. "China has reached the Lewis turning point," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 542-554.
    3. Renkow, Mitch & Hallstrom, Daniel G. & Karanja, Daniel D., 2004. "Rural infrastructure, transactions costs and market participation in Kenya," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 349-367, February.
    4. A. Colin Cameron & Jonah B. Gelbach & Douglas L. Miller, 2008. "Bootstrap-Based Improvements for Inference with Clustered Errors," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(3), pages 414-427, August.
    5. Wusheng Yu & Hans G. Jensen, 2010. "China’s Agricultural Policy Transition: Impacts of Recent Reforms and Future Scenarios," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(2), pages 343-368, June.
    6. Chen, Shaohua & Mu, Ren & Ravallion, Martin, 2009. "Are there lasting impacts of aid to poor areas?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(3-4), pages 512-528, April.
    7. Shenggen Fan & Peter Hazell, 2001. "Returns to Public Investments in the Less-Favored Areas of India and China," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 83(5), pages 1217-1222.
    8. Fan, Shenggen & Zhang, Xiaobo, 2004. "Infrastructure and regional economic development in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 203-214.
    9. Foster, James & Greer, Joel & Thorbecke, Erik, 1984. "A Class of Decomposable Poverty Measures," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(3), pages 761-766, May.
    10. Fan, Shenggen & Chan-Kang, Connie, 2004. "Road development, economic growth, and poverty reduction in China," DSGD discussion papers 12, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    11. Benjamin Faber, 2014. "Trade Integration, Market Size, and Industrialization: Evidence from China's National Trunk Highway System," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 81(3), pages 1046-1070.
    12. Douglas Gollin & Richard Rogerson, 2014. "Agriculture, Roads, and Economic Development in Uganda," NBER Chapters, in: African Successes, Volume IV: Sustainable Growth, pages 69-110, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Shahidur R. Khandker & Zaid Bakht & Gayatri B. Koolwal, 2009. "The Poverty Impact of Rural Roads: Evidence from Bangladesh," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(4), pages 685-722, July.
    14. Alain Janvry & Elisabeth Sadoulet, 2006. "Progress in the Modeling of Rural Households’ Behavior under Market Failures," Economic Studies in Inequality, Social Exclusion, and Well-Being, in: Alain Janvry & Ravi Kanbur (ed.), Poverty, Inequality and Development, chapter 0, pages 155-181, Springer.
    15. de Janvry, Alain & Fafchamps, Marcel & Sadoulet, Elisabeth, 1991. "Peasant Household Behaviour with Missing Markets: Some Paradoxes Explained," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 101(409), pages 1400-1417, November.
    16. Dorosh, Paul & Wang, Hyoung-Gun & You, Liang & Schmidt, Emily, 2010. "Crop production and road connectivity in Sub-Saharan Africa : a spatial analysis," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5385, The World Bank.
    17. Xiaobo Zhang & Shenggen Fan, 2004. "How Productive Is Infrastructure? A New Approach and Evidence from Rural India," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 86(2), pages 492-501.
    18. XING, Li & FAN, Shenggen & LUO, Xiaopeng & ZHang, Xiaobo, 2009. "Community poverty and inequality in western China: A tale of three villages in Guizhou Province," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 338-349, June.
    19. van de Walle, Dominique, 2002. "Choosing Rural Road Investments to Help Reduce Poverty," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 575-589, April.
    20. Roberts, Mark & Deichmann, Uwe & Fingleton, Bernard & Shi, Tuo, 2012. "Evaluating China's road to prosperity: A new economic geography approach," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 580-594.
    21. Escobal D'Angelo, Javier & Ponce, Carmen, 2002. "The benefits of rural roads: enhancing income opportunities for the rural poor," Working Papers 37751, Group for the Analysis of Development (GRADE).
    22. Jacoby, Hanan G. & Minten, Bart, 2009. "On measuring the benefits of lower transport costs," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 28-38, May.
    23. de Janvry, Alain & Fafchamps, M. & Sadoulet, Elisabeth, 1991. "Peasant Household Behavior with Missing Markets: Some Paradoxes Explain," CUDARE Working Papers 198579, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    24. Harold Alderman & Jere Behrman & Hans-Peter Kohler & John A. Maluccio & Susan Watkins, 2001. "Attrition in Longitudinal Household Survey Data," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 5(4), pages 79-124.
    25. Shi, Hao & Huang, Shaoqing, 2014. "How Much Infrastructure Is Too Much? A New Approach and Evidence from China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 272-286.
    26. Jacoby, Hanan C, 2000. "Access to Markets and the Benefits of Rural Roads," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(465), pages 713-737, July.
    27. Steven Were Omamo, 1998. "Farm-to-market transaction costs and specialisation in small-scale agriculture: Explorations with a non-separable household model," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(2), pages 152-163.
    28. Gibson, John & Rozelle, Scott, 2003. "Poverty and Access to Roads in Papua New Guinea," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 52(1), pages 159-185, October.
    29. Benziger, Vincent, 1996. "Urban Access and Rural Productivity Growth in Post-Mao China," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 44(3), pages 539-570, April.
    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. Vandercasteelen, Joachim & Beyene, Seneshaw Tamru & Minten, Bart & Swinnen, Johan, 2018. "Cities and agricultural transformation in Africa: Evidence from Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 383-399.
    2. Claudia N. Berg & Uwe Deichmann & Yishen Liu & Harris Selod, 2017. "Transport Policies and Development," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(4), pages 465-480, April.
    3. Suchi Kapoor Malhotra & Howard White & Nina Ashley O. Dela Cruz & Ashrita Saran & John Eyers & Denny John & Ella Beveridge & Nina Blöndal, 2021. "Studies of the effectiveness of transport sector interventions in low‐ and middle‐income countries: An evidence and gap map," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(4), December.
    4. María Adelaida Ortega, 2018. "Conectando mercados: vías rurales y producción agrícola en el contexto de una economía dual," Documentos CEDE 16818, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    5. Escobal, Javier, 2005. "The Role of Public Infraestructure in Market Development in Rural Peru," MPRA Paper 727, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Antonio Estache, 2010. "A survey of impact evaluations of infrastructure projects, programs and policies," Working Papers ECARES 2010_005, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    7. Miyazaki, Suguru & Shimamura, Yasuharu, 2014. "Risk, Infrastructure, and Rural Market Integration: Implications of Infrastructure Provision for Food Markets and Household Consumption in Rural Indonesia," Working Papers 81, JICA Research Institute.
    8. Kumari, Anita & Kumar Sharma, Anil, 2017. "Infrastructure financing and development: A bibliometric review," International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, Elsevier, vol. 16(C), pages 49-65.
    9. Joachim Vandercasteelen & Seneshaw Tamru & Bart Minten & Johan Swinnen, 2017. "Secondary towns, agricultural prices, and intensification: Evidence from Ethiopia," LICOS Discussion Papers 39317, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, KU Leuven.
    10. Sawada Yasuyuki & Sugawara Shinya & Shoji Masahiro & Shinkai Naoko, 2014. "The Role of Infrastructure in Mitigating Poverty Dynamics: The Case of an Irrigation Project in Sri Lanka," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 14(3), pages 1-28, July.
    11. Asian Development Bank Institute, 2017. "Myanmar Transport Sector Policy Note: Rural Roads and Access," Working Papers id:11782, eSocialSciences.
    12. Elodie Djemai & Andrew E. Clark & Conchita D'Ambrosio, 2020. "Take the Highway? Paved Roads and Well-Being in Africa," Working Papers DT/2020/11, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).
    13. Shin Takada & So Morikawa & Rika Idei & Hironori Kato, 2021. "Impacts of improvements in rural roads on household income through the enhancement of market accessibility in rural areas of Cambodia," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 2857-2881, October.
    14. Jacqueline Doremus, 2017. "Unintended Impacts: How roads change health and nutrition for ethnic minorities in Congo," Working Papers 1702, California Polytechnic State University, Department of Economics.
    15. Diwakar KC & Tek Maraseni & Chubamenla Jamir & Ritendra Thapa Magar & Florencia Tuladhar, 2020. "Effectiveness of Gravity Goods Ropeways in market participation of smallholder farmers in uplands," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 1393-1414, June.
    16. Isaac Bonuedi & Lukas Kornher & Nicolas Gerber, 2022. "Agricultural seasonality, market access, and food security in Sierra Leone," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(2), pages 471-494, April.
    17. Chamberlin, Jordan & Jayne, T.S., 2013. "Unpacking the Meaning of ‘Market Access’: Evidence from Rural Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 245-264.
    18. Gollin, Douglas & Rogerson, Richard, 2014. "Productivity, transport costs and subsistence agriculture," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 38-48.
    19. Iimi,Atsushi & Lancelot,Eric R. & Manelici,Isabela & Ogita,Satoshi, 2015. "Social and economic impacts of rural road improvements in the state of Tocantins, Brazil," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7249, The World Bank.
    20. Yasuyuki Sawada, 2015. "The Impacts of Infrastructure in Development: A Selective Survey," Working Papers id:6482, eSocialSciences.

    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:eee:wdevel:v:77:y:2016:i:c:p:1-16. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    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.