Institutional Reforms, Agricultural Risks and Agro-Industrial Diversification in Rural China
Title:
Institutional Reforms, Agricultural Risks and Agro-Industrial Diversification in Rural China
Author:
Yang, Weiyong
Appeared in:
Journal of the Asia Pacific economy
Paging:
Volume 12 (2007) nr. 3 pages 386-402
Year:
2007-08
Contents:
Since 1978, there has been a remarkable diversification trend in rural China, characterized by an impressive development of rural enterprises. The main objective of this paper is to understand the forces driving this agro-industrial diversification with a particular attention paid to two categories of factors, agricultural income risks and institutional factors. Using a panel data of 28 Chinese provinces from 1986 to 2001, we show that the diversification decision is jointly determined by relative return between agriculture and rural industry, climatic risks, price volatility of agriculture products, ownership evolution of rural enterprises, and government's food security concern.
Journal description