Household Health and Cropland Abandonment in Rural China: Theoretical Mechanism and Empirical Evidence

Xin Deng, Miao Zeng, Dingde Xu, Feng Wei and Yanbin Qi
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Xin Deng: College of Economics, Sichuan Agricultural University, #211, Huimin Road, Chengdu 611130, China
Miao Zeng: School of Economics, Sichuan University, #24, Yihuannan Road, Chengdu 610065, China
Dingde Xu: Sichuan Center for Rural Development Research, College of Management, Sichuan Agricultural University; #211, Huimin Road, Chengdu 611130, China
Feng Wei: College of Economics, Sichuan Agricultural University, #211, Huimin Road, Chengdu 611130, China
Yanbin Qi: College of Economics, Sichuan Agricultural University, #211, Huimin Road, Chengdu 611130, China

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 19, 1-13

Abstract: Prior studies have fully explored the impacts of rural labor migration on land use forms. In contrast to prior studies, this study focuses on the health status of rural households and its quantitative impacts on cropland abandonment (CA). More specifically, under the guidance of the theoretical mechanism of “household health affects CA by labor supply”, this study employs survey data from 8031 households collected in 27 Chinese provinces in 2014 to explore the quantitative impacts of household health on CA. The results are as follows. (1) The higher the level of household health is, the less CA there is. (2) Compared with males, the impact of female health status on CA is more obvious. Thus, the relationship between household health and CA matters, not only because it may help to theoretically enhance the understanding of the importance of health in peasant households, but also because it may help to practically provide references for effective policies of CA from the perspective of rural medical services.

Keywords: household health; cropland abandonment; rural medical services; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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