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Can Poverty be Alleviated in China?

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  • Qin, Cong
  • Chong, Terence Tai Leung

Abstract

The 2000s witnessed the third poverty alleviation wave of China. Compared with its predecessors, the third wave distinguished itself by new interventions and redefined standards for the National Poor Counties. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of the new program using a data set consisting of 1,411 of China’s western and central counties from 2000 to 2010. We combine the propensity score matching method with the difference-in-differences approach, which enables us to avoid selection bias and track the policy impact on variables of interest at each time point. It is found that the non-west local governments were inclined to restrict their economic growth to maintain the special transfer payments disbursed exclusively to the National Poor Counties. It is also shown that the program failed to improve the infrastructure and sanitary conditions in general.

Suggested Citation

  • Qin, Cong & Chong, Terence Tai Leung, 2015. "Can Poverty be Alleviated in China?," MPRA Paper 68458, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:68458
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    Cited by:

    1. Ding, Haoyuan & Qin, Cong & Shi, Kang, 2018. "Who benefit from government-led microfinance projects? Evidence from rural China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 1253-1272.
    2. Huifu Nong & Qing Zhang & Hongjia Zhu & Rong Zhu, 2022. "Targeted Poverty Alleviation and Children’s Academic Performance in China," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 68(4), pages 951-969, December.
    3. Yingfeng Fang & Fen Zhang, 2021. "The Future Path To China’s Poverty Reduction—Dynamic Decomposition Analysis With The Evolution Of China’s Poverty Reduction Policies," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 158(2), pages 507-538, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Average treatment effect on treated; Poverty alleviation; Propensity score matching; Receiver operating characteristic curve; The National Poor Counties Average treatment effect on treated; Poverty alleviation; Propensity score matching; Receiver operating characteristic curve; The National Poor Counties;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • H71 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue

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