IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/aieabj/276272.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Structural change and agricultural diversification since China’s reforms

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Lihua
  • Bellotti, Bill
  • Komarek, Adam M.

Abstract

Structural change is considered the major engine in fostering a country’s growth. In the agricultural sector, diversification is the commonly used development strategy to increase rural sector’s flexibility, and to respond to improving technologies and market conditions. This study examined agricultural development and transformation during China’s socio-economic reforms. In particular, it empirically investigated whether the change of China’s agricultural structure is consistent with structural change theory and observed outcomes from other countries. The degree of agricultural diversification was quantitatively measured at a regional scale using the Herfindahl index. An underdeveloped province in northwest China was studied to provide insights into the interaction among structural change, agricultural diversification, and implemented development policies. Aggregate-level analyses suggest that China’s agricultural transformation pattern is consistent with those of other developing countries. A specific provincial-level analysis shows that environmentally and economically disadvantaged regions are slower to diversify their economy than better endorsed regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Lihua & Bellotti, Bill & Komarek, Adam M., 2016. "Structural change and agricultural diversification since China’s reforms," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 5(2), September.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aieabj:276272
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.276272
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/276272/files/16366-40479-1-PB.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.276272?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. Dwayne Benjamin & Loren Brandt, 2002. "Property rights, labour markets, and efficiency in a transition economy: the case of rural China," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 35(4), pages 689-716, November.
    2. Lee Branstetter & Nicholas Lardy, 2006. "China's Embrace of Globalization," NBER Working Papers 12373, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Lin, Justin Yifu, 1988. "The Household Responsibility System in China's Agricultural Reform: A Theoretical and Empirical Study," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(3), pages 199-224, Supplemen.
    4. Brandt,Loren & Rawski,Thomas G. (ed.), 2008. "China's Great Economic Transformation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521885577, September.
    5. Culas, Richard J., 2006. "Causes of farm diversification over time: an Australian perspective on an Eastern Norway model," AFBM Journal, Australasian Farm Business Management Network, vol. 3(1), pages 1-9.
    6. Alwyn Young, 2000. "The Razor's Edge: Distortions and Incremental Reform in the People's Republic of China," NBER Working Papers 7828, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Rulon D. Pope & Richard Prescott, 1980. "Diversification in Relation to Farm Size and Other Socioeconomic Characteristics," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 62(3), pages 554-559.
    8. Justin Yifu Lin, Fang Cai, and Zhou Li, 1996. "The Lessons of China's Transition to a Market Economy," Cato Journal, Cato Journal, Cato Institute, vol. 16(2), pages 201-231, Fall.
    9. Coelli, Tim & Fleming, Euan, 2004. "Diversification economies and specialisation efficiencies in a mixed food and coffee smallholder farming system in Papua New Guinea," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 31(2-3), pages 229-239, December.
    10. Lin, Justin Yifu, 1992. "Rural Reforms and Agricultural Growth in China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(1), pages 34-51, March.
    11. C. Peter Timmer, 1997. "Farmers and Markets: The Political Economy of New Paradigms," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 79(2), pages 621-627.
    12. Colin A. Carter & Bryan Lohmar, 2002. "Regional Specialization of China's Agricultural Production," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 84(3), pages 749-753.
    13. Syrquin, Moshe, 1988. "Patterns of structural change," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Hollis Chenery & T.N. Srinivasan (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 7, pages 203-273, Elsevier.
    14. Brandt,Loren & Rawski,Thomas G. (ed.), 2008. "China's Great Economic Transformation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521712903, September.
    15. repec:aei:rpbook:24862 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Gary H Jefferson, 2008. "How Has China's Economic Emergence Contributed to the Field of Economics?," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 50(2), pages 167-209, June.
    17. McMillan, John & Whalley, John & Zhu, Lijing, 1989. "The Impact of China's Economic Reforms on Agricultural Productivity Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(4), pages 781-807, August.
    18. Simon Kuznets, 1959. "On Comparative Study of Economic Structure and Growth of Nations," NBER Chapters, in: The Comparative Study of Economic Growth and Structure, pages 162-176, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Bert Hofman & Jinglian Wu, 2009. "Explaining China's Development and Reforms," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 27938.
    20. Pingali, Prabhu L. & Rosegrant, Mark W., 1995. "Agricultural commercialization and diversification: processes and policies," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 171-185, June.
    21. C. Peter Timmer, 2009. "A World Without Agriculture: The Structural Transformation in Historical Perspective," Books, American Enterprise Institute, number 43120, September.
    22. Colin A. Carter & Funing Zhong & Jing Zhu, 2012. "Advances in Chinese Agriculture and its Global Implications," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 34(1), pages 1-36.
    23. Prabhu L. Pingali, 1997. "From Subsistence to Commercial Production Systems: The Transformation of Asian Agriculture," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 79(2), pages 628-634.
    24. Alwyn Young, 2000. "The Razor's Edge: Distortions and Incremental Reform in the People's Republic of China," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(4), pages 1091-1135.
    25. Shenggen Fan & Xiaobo Zhang & Sherman Robinson, 2003. "Structural Change and Economic Growth in China," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(3), pages 360-377, August.
    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. Samuel Marden, 2016. "The agricultural roots of industrial development: ‘forward linkages’ in reform era China," Working Paper Series 9116, Department of Economics, University of Sussex.
    2. Cao, Kang Hua & Birchenall, Javier A., 2013. "Agricultural productivity, structural change, and economic growth in post-reform China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 165-180.
    3. Jin, Zhangfeng & Pan, Shiyuan, 2020. "Incentive Pay and Firm Productivity: Evidence from China," GLO Discussion Paper Series 479, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    4. Hongyun Han & Hui Lin, 2021. "Patterns of Agricultural Diversification in China and Its Policy Implications for Agricultural Modernization," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-22, May.
    5. Kong-Yam Tan, 2007. "Incremental Reform and Distortions in China's Product and Factor Markets," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 21(2), pages 279-299, March.
    6. Loren Brandt & Debin Ma & Thomas G. Rawski, 2014. "From Divergence to Convergence: Reevaluating the History behind China's Economic Boom," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 52(1), pages 45-123, March.
    7. Wang, Xiaobing & Yamauchi, Futoshi & Otsuka, Keijiro & Huang, Jikun, 2016. "Wage Growth, Landholding, and Mechanization in Chinese Agriculture," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 30-45.
    8. Shawn Xiaoguang Chen & Yudan Cheng & Liutang Gong & Wenjia Tian, 2023. "A Big Push of Panda from the Ground: Land Subsidy and Structural Transformation in China," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 23-09, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    9. Lu Ming & Zhao Chen & Yongqin Wang & Yan Zhang & Yuan Zhang & Changyuan Luo, 2013. "China’s Economic Development," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14502.
    10. Simon Alder & Lin Shao & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2012. "The Effect of Economic Reform and Industrial Policy in a Panel of Chinese Cities," DEGIT Conference Papers c017_061, DEGIT, Dynamics, Economic Growth, and International Trade.
    11. Glawe, Linda & Wagner, Helmut, 2017. "A stylized model of China’s growth since 1978," CEAMeS Discussion Paper Series 5/2017, University of Hagen, Center for East Asia Macro-economic Studies (CEAMeS), revised 2017.
    12. Sylviane GUILLAUMONT JEANNENEY & PING HUA & ZHICHENG LIANG, 2006. "Financial Development, Economic Efficiency, And Productivity Growth: Evidence From China," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 44(1), pages 27-52, March.
    13. Jia, Lili, 2012. "Land fragmentation and off-farm labor supply in China," Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), volume 66, number 66, September.
    14. Thomas Vendryes, 2014. "Peasants Against Private Property Rights: A Review Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 971-995, December.
    15. Muricho, G. & Kulundu, D. & Sule, F., 2018. "Impact Assessment of Agricultural Commercialization on Food Security Among Smallholder Farmers in Kenya: An Application of Correlated Random Effects," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277325, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    16. Tang, Rongsheng & Tang, Yang, 2022. "Market formation in China from 1978," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    17. Deininger, Klaus & Jin, Songqing, 2007. "Land rental markets in the process of rural structural transformation : productivity and equity impacts in China," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4454, The World Bank.
    18. Gebremedhin, Berhanu & Jaleta, Moti, 2013. "Policy Imperatives of Commercial Transformation of Smallholders: Market Orientation Versus market Participation in Ethiopia," 2013 Fourth International Conference, September 22-25, 2013, Hammamet, Tunisia 160580, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    19. Zhang, Yumei & Diao, Xinshen, 2020. "The changing role of agriculture with economic structural change – The case of China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    20. Zhang, Xiaobo & Tan, Kong-Yam, 2004. "Blunt to sharpened razor: incremental reform and distortions in the product and capital markets in China," DSGD discussion papers 13, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

    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:aieabj:276272. 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/aieaaea.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.