IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i17p12804-d1224125.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Establishment of Nature Reserves on the Urban–Rural Income Gap: Evidence from County-Level Analysis in China

Author

Listed:
  • Bo Cheng

    (School of Accounting and Finance, Xi’an Peihua University, Xi’an 710199, China)

  • Wenhao Xue

    (School of Economics, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China)

  • Yi Zheng

    (School of Applied Economics, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing 100102, China)

  • Zhe Yang

    (School of Economics, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China)

  • Yulu Tian

    (Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Earth Surface System and Environmental Carrying Capacity, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Northwest University, Xi’an 710127, China)

Abstract

While China has seen an economic boom in recent decades, ecological issues are becoming increasingly challenging, with biodiversity seriously threatened. Establishing nature reserves (NRs) is deemed a feasible measure to ease ecological pressure, but few studies have evaluated the impact of the establishment of NRs on the urban–rural income gap. Therefore, based on the county-level panel data from 2010 to 2018, this study analyzed in depth the effects of the establishment of NRs on the urban–rural income gap in China. The results suggested that establishing NRs is beneficial to bridging the income gap between urban and rural areas, especially in the western and the northeastern regions. In contrast to other levels (provincial level, city level, and county level), the establishment of national-level NRs demonstrated a more prominent effect on narrowing the urban–rural income gap. It is thus proposed to improve corresponding laws to strengthen the protection of NRs, especially for those located in the western and northeastern regions, where the increase in eco-economic compensation and development of tourism brands for the ecological tourism industry are of necessity. Taken together, this study provides evidence that the establishment of NRs alleviates the urban–rural income gap in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Bo Cheng & Wenhao Xue & Yi Zheng & Zhe Yang & Yulu Tian, 2023. "The Impact of Establishment of Nature Reserves on the Urban–Rural Income Gap: Evidence from County-Level Analysis in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-12, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:17:p:12804-:d:1224125
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/17/12804/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/17/12804/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Canavire-Bacarreza, Gustavo & Hanauer, Merlin M., 2013. "Estimating the Impacts of Bolivia’s Protected Areas on Poverty," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 265-285.
    2. Yang, Zhe & Li, Qingqing & Xue, Wenhao & Xu, Zhihua, 2022. "Impacts of nature reserves on local residents' income in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    3. Ma, Ben & Cai, Zhen & Zheng, Jie & Wen, Yali, 2019. "Conservation, ecotourism, poverty, and income inequality – A case study of nature reserves in Qinling, China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 236-244.
    4. Tang, Jianjun & Gong, Jiaowei & Ma, Wanglin & Rahut, Dil Bahadur, 2022. "Narrowing urban–rural income gap in China: The role of the targeted poverty alleviation program," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 74-90.
    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. Ben Ma & Yuqian Zhang & Yilei Hou & Yali Wen, 2020. "Do Protected Areas Matter? A Systematic Review of the Social and Ecological Impacts of the Establishment of Protected Areas," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-13, October.
    2. Yang, Zhe & Li, Qingqing & Xue, Wenhao & Xu, Zhihua, 2022. "Impacts of nature reserves on local residents' income in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    3. Sims, Katharine R.E. & Alix-Garcia, Jennifer M., 2017. "Parks versus PES: Evaluating direct and incentive-based land conservation in Mexico," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 8-28.
    4. Jaiswal, Sreeja & Balietti, Anca & Schäffer, Daniel, 2023. "Environmental Protection and Labor Market Composition," Working Papers 0736, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    5. Yergeau, Marie-Eve & Boccanfuso, Dorothée & Goyette, Jonathan, 2017. "Reprint of: Linking conservation and welfare: A theoretical model with application to Nepal," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 229-243.
    6. Pécastaing, Nicolas & Salavarriga, Juan, 2022. "The potential impact of fishing in peruvian marine protected areas (MPAs) on artisanal fishery poverty during El Niño events," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    7. Shyamsundar, Priya & Ahlroth, Sofia & Kristjanson, Patricia & Onder, Stefanie, 2020. "Supporting pathways to prosperity in forest landscapes – A PRIME framework," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    8. Jing Zhang & Bingbing Huang & Xinming Chen & Congmou Zhu & Muye Gan, 2022. "Multidimensional Evaluation of the Quality of Rural Life Using Big Data from the Perspective of Common Prosperity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-21, October.
    9. Estifanos, Tafesse Kefyalew & Polyakov, Maksym & Pandit, Ram & Hailu, Atakelty & Burton, Michael, 2020. "The impact of protected areas on the rural households’ incomes in Ethiopia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    10. Jianxu Liu & Xiaoqing Li & Shutong Liu & Sanzidur Rahman & Songsak Sriboonchitta, 2022. "Addressing Rural–Urban Income Gap in China through Farmers’ Education and Agricultural Productivity Growth via Mediation and Interaction Effects," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-23, November.
    11. Shang Xu & H. Allen Klaiber & Daniela A. Miteva, 2023. "Impacts of forest conservation on local agricultural labor supply: Evidence from the Indonesian forest moratorium," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(3), pages 940-965, May.
    12. Laura Villalobos & Juan Robalino & Catalina Sandoval & Francisco Alpízar, 2023. "Local Effects of Payments for Ecosystem Services on Rural Poverty," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 84(3), pages 753-774, March.
    13. Xinwen Lin & Angathevar Baskaran & Yajie Zhang, 2023. "Watershed Horizontal Ecological Compensation Policy and Green Ecological City Development: Spatial and Mechanism Assessment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-21, February.
    14. Miranda, Juan Jose & Corral, Leonardo & Blackman, Allen & Asner, Gregory & Lima, Eirivelthon, 2014. "Effects of Protected Areas on Forest Cover Change and Local Communities," RFF Working Paper Series dp-14-14, Resources for the Future.
    15. Miguel Cantillo, 2015. "Dynamic Investment with Adverse Selection and Moral Hazard," Working Papers 201501, Universidad de Costa Rica, revised Mar 2015.
    16. Vélez, Maria Alejandra & Robalino, Juan & Cardenas, Juan Camilo & Paz, Andrea & Pacay, Eduardo, 2020. "Is collective titling enough to protect forests? Evidence from Afro-descendant communities in the Colombian Pacific region," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    17. Gaglio, M. & Aschonitis, V. & Pieretti, L. & Santos, L. & Gissi, E. & Castaldelli, G. & Fano, E.A., 2019. "Modelling past, present and future Ecosystem Services supply in a protected floodplain under land use and climate changes," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 403(C), pages 23-34.
    18. Gwenolé Le Velly & Alexandre Sauquet & Sergio Cortina-Villar, 2017. "PES Impact and Leakages over Several Cohorts: The Case of the PSA-H in Yucatan, Mexico," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 93(2), pages 230-257.
    19. Gustavo Canavire-Bacarreza & Luis Castro Peñarrieta & Darwin Ugarte Ontiveros, 2021. "Outliers in Semi-Parametric Estimation of Treatment Effects," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-32, April.
    20. Gonghan Sheng & Heyuan Chen & Kalifi Ferretti-Gallon & John L. Innes & Zhongjun Wang & Yujun Zhang & Guangyu Wang, 2020. "Moving toward a Greener China: Is China’s National Park Pilot Program a Solution?," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-23, December.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:17:p:12804-:d:1224125. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.