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Article
Publication date: 3 October 2024

Zongke Bao, Chengfang Wang, Nisreen Innab, Abir Mouldi, Tiziana Ciano and Ali Ahmadian

Our research explores the intricate behavior of low-carbon supply chain organizations in an ever-evolving landscape, emphasizing the profound implications of government-mandated…

Abstract

Purpose

Our research explores the intricate behavior of low-carbon supply chain organizations in an ever-evolving landscape, emphasizing the profound implications of government-mandated low-carbon policies and the growing low-carbon market. Central to our exploration is applying a combined game theory model, merging Evolutionary Game Theory (EGT) with the Shapley Value Cooperative Game Theory Approach (SVCGTA).

Design/methodology/approach

We establish a two-tier supply chain featuring retailers and manufacturers within this novel framework. We leverage an integrated approach, combining strategic Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperative Game Theory, to conduct an in-depth analysis of four distinct low-carbon strategy combinations for retailers and manufacturers.

Findings

The implications of our findings transcend theoretical boundaries and resonate with a trinity of economic, environmental and societal interests. Our research goes beyond theoretical constructs to consider real-world impacts, including the influence of changes in government low-carbon policies, the dynamics of consumer sensitivities and the strategic calibration of retailer carbon financing incentives and subsidies on the identified ESS. Notably, our work highlights that governments can effectively incentivize organizations to reduce carbon emissions by adopting a more flexible approach, such as regulating carbon prices, rather than imposing rigid carbon caps.

Originality/value

Our comprehensive analysis reveals the emergence of an Evolutionary Stability Strategy (ESS) that evolves in sync with the phases of low-carbon technology development. During the initial stages, our research suggests that manufacturers or retailers adopt low-carbon behavior as the optimal approach.

Details

Management Decision, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 November 2016

Aiqin Wang, Yaojiang Shi, Qiufeng Gao, Chengfang Liu, Linxiu Zhang, Natalie Johnson and Scott Rozelle

The purpose of this paper is to describe the trends in residential solid waste collection (RSWC) services in rural China over the past decade and analyze the determinants of these…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe the trends in residential solid waste collection (RSWC) services in rural China over the past decade and analyze the determinants of these services using nationally representative data.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors draw on panel data from three rounds of village-level surveys of 101 villages. The three surveys were conducted in 2005, 2008, and 2012 in five provinces. The authors used fixed-effected regression approach to analyze the determinants of these services.

Findings

The results show that in the aftermath of increased investment and policy attention at the national level, the proportion of villages providing RSWC services in rural China increased significantly from 1998 to 2011. However, half of all villages in rural China still did not provide RSWC services as of 2011. Based on econometrics analysis, the authors show that villages that are richer, more populous, and villages with more small hamlets are more likely to provide RSWC services.

Originality/value

The analyses are based on primary survey data and the first to quantify trends in waste management services in the beginning of the twentieth century. The authors believe that the results will have significant policy implications for China in its continuing quest for better waste management policy.

Details

China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. 8 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-137X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 May 2018

Linxiu Zhang, Yongqing Dong, Chengfang Liu and Yunli Bai

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the trend of off-farm employment in rural China over the past four decades since the reform and opening-up.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the trend of off-farm employment in rural China over the past four decades since the reform and opening-up.

Design/methodology/approach

Using two sets of panel survey data, the China National Rural Survey conducted in 2000 and 2008, and the China Rural Development Survey conducted in 2005, 2008, 2012 and 2016, this study offers a re-visit of China’s off-farm employment to give us the latest information about its evolution and whether rural labor markets have developed in a way that will allow them to facilitate the transformation of China’s economy more effectively. The evolution of off-farm employment is further examined through decomposition of types, destinations, industries, and population sub-groups as well as the change in the wage rate.

Findings

The data show the rapid increase in rural labor activities over the whole study period. Most notably, the authors findnd that a rapid rise in off-farm employment has continued even until after 2008 and into the mid-2010s, which is a time when some feared that macroeconomic conditions might keep rural residents on the farm or drive them back to the farm. In the disaggregation of labor market trends, the authors show that labor markets are acting consistently with an economy that is in transition from being dominated by agriculture to being dominated by other forms of production and with a population that is consistently becoming more urban.

Originality/value

The authors believe that the results will contribute positively to the exploration of answers to the question whether or not rural labor markets have developed in a way that will allow them to facilitate the transformation of China’s economy more effectively over the last four decades.

Details

China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. 10 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-137X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 May 2010

Xiaofei Li, Chengfang Liu, Renfu Luo, Linxiu Zhang and Scott Rozelle

The paper aims to discuss whether the younger generation of China's rural labor force is prepared, in terms of education level or labor quality, for the future labor markets under…

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Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to discuss whether the younger generation of China's rural labor force is prepared, in terms of education level or labor quality, for the future labor markets under China's industrial upgrading.

Design/methodology/approach

Using nationally representative survey data, the paper gives detailed discussions on the young rural laborers' education attainments, and their off‐farm employment status including job patterns, working hours, and hourly wage rates. The relationship between education and employment status is analyzed and tested. Through these discussions, an employment challenge is revealed, and some policy implications are made.

Findings

This paper finds that China's young rural laborers are generally poorly educated and mainly unskilled. They work long hours and are low paid. While they lack the labor quality that will be required to meet the industrial upgrading, an employment challenge may face them in the near future. This paper also finds a strong link between education levels and employment status for the young labor force, which implies the possible effect of policies such as improving rural education.

Originality/value

Based on a solid foundation of a national rural household survey, this paper updates the understanding of the education and employment situations of the young rural labor force in contemporary China. The concern about the employment challenges raised in the paper is related to the future of China's rural labor transition and the whole economy.

Details

China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-137X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 August 2014

Ai Yue, Yaojiang Shi, Fang Chang, Chu Yang, Huan Wang, Hongmei YI, Renfu Luo, Chengfang Liu, Linxiu Zhang, James Yanjey Chu and Scott Rozelle

– The purpose of this paper is to explore whether an in-service life teacher training program can improve boarding students’ health, behavior, and academic performance.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether an in-service life teacher training program can improve boarding students’ health, behavior, and academic performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a cluster-randomized controlled trial to measure the effect of life teacher training on student health, behavior, and academic performance among 839 boarding students in ten central primary boarding schools in Shaanxi. And the authors also tried to identify why or why not life teacher training works. Both descriptive and multivariate analysis are used in this paper.

Findings

The authors find significant improvements in health and behavior. Specifically, compared to boarding students in control schools, 15 percent fewer students in treatment schools reported feeling cold while sleeping at night. The results also showed that student tardiness and misbehaviors after class declined significantly by 18 and 78 percent, respectively. However, the in-service life teacher training program had no measurable impact on boarding students’ BMI-for-age Z-score, number of misbehaviors in class, and academic performance. The analysis suggests that improved communication between life teachers and students might be one mechanism behind these results.

Originality/value

This is the first empirical work which explored how to improve the welfare of boarding students via their life teachers. Because of the sudden increase in boarding students in rural China, it is almost certain that school personnel lack experience in managing boarding students. As such, one promising approach to improving student outcomes might be in-service training for life teachers.

Details

China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. 6 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-137X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 May 2011

Xiaobing Wang, Chengfang Liu, Linxiu Zhang, Renfu Luo, Thomas Glauben, Yaojiang Shi, Scott Rozelle and Brian Sharbono

With the rise in the opportunity to go to college, the purpose of this paper is to identify if China's rural poor are being excluded from the university system, and if so, why.

Abstract

Purpose

With the rise in the opportunity to go to college, the purpose of this paper is to identify if China's rural poor are being excluded from the university system, and if so, why.

Design/methodology/approach

Two sets of the authors' own primary survey data were used: a group of randomly selected high school students in Shaanxi Province and a census of all freshmen entering into four universities in Sichuan, Anhui and Shaanxi. The intention was to show if the rate of the rural poor attending universities is lower than that of urban students and that of rural non‐poor; also to identify the barriers to education (if they exist) that are keeping enrollment rates low for the rural poor. The authors used ordinary least squares method to make the estimations.

Findings

Matriculation rate of the poor into college was found to be substantially lower than the students from non‐poor families. Clearly, barriers exist that are excluding the rural poor; however, the authors demonstrate that the real barriers are not at the point of college admissions, but before students have even matriculated into high school.

Originality/value

This is the first empirical work which studies the barriers that keep the poor out of university.

Details

China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. 3 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-137X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 May 2015

Weiliang Su, Chengfang Liu, Linxiu Zhang, Renfu Luo and Hongmei YI

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of off-farm employment on agricultural fixed assets among households in rural China.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of off-farm employment on agricultural fixed assets among households in rural China.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors drew on panel data from two rounds of household-level surveys of more than 2,000 households in rural China. The two surveys were conducted in 2008 and 2012 in five provinces. The authors used instrumental-variable Tobit model to test whether the current value of agricultural fixed assets differ between households with different levels off-farm employment.

Findings

The authors observe that off-farm employment has a negative effect on the current value of agricultural fixed assets at the household level in rural China.

Originality/value

The authors believe that the results will contribute positively to the assessment of the effect of off-farm employment on the investment in agricultural fixed assets at the household level in the context of China.

Details

China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. 7 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-137X

Article
Publication date: 3 May 2013

Chengfang Liu, Linxiu Zhang, Jikun Huang, Renfu Luo, Hongmei Yi, Yaojiang Shi and Scott Rozelle

This paper aims to explain why the quality of infrastructure projects in rural China differs from village to village and how project quality is correlated with project design…

1933

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explain why the quality of infrastructure projects in rural China differs from village to village and how project quality is correlated with project design attributes and governance factors.

Design/methodology/approach

Using primary data collected by the authors on three types of infrastructure projects in villages across China, they created measures of project quality for each village. They then used both descriptive and multivariate approaches to examine how quality varies from village to village and factors correlated with quality.

Findings

Between‐project within‐village quality differences are small and project design has little explanatory power. Between‐village variations are large. There are strong correlations between the ways villages govern themselves and project quality. The authors conclude that it is difficult to make good projects work in communities that lack good governance.

Originality/value

Disaggregated data on the quality of infrastructure (and its determinants) were collected by the authors to allow for variation in the type of infrastructure projects (roads, irrigation, and drinking water) and variation in village governance, making it possible to identify and contrast the effects of project design and village governance factors on project quality. As its chief contribution, this work identifies potential ways to improve the quality of infrastructure projects in rural development.

Details

China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-137X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 30 December 2011

Xiu Chen Cravens, Hongqi Chu and Qian Zhao

Quality-Oriented Education (su zhi jiao yu) is a national education reform initiative that presents ongoing opportunities and challenges to schools, local bureaus of education…

Abstract

Quality-Oriented Education (su zhi jiao yu) is a national education reform initiative that presents ongoing opportunities and challenges to schools, local bureaus of education, and the overall educational system in China today. This chapter seeks to gain insight into if and how Quality-Oriented Education, 10 years into its enactment, has taken root in practice. We posit that a reform agenda is best manifested through well-aligned and operable standards for school effectiveness. We introduce the policy-driven definition for school effectiveness and an evaluation framework depicting the intended focus of Quality-Oriented Education. Using an iterative and inductive process for content analysis, we compare the policy-driven framework with the coding results of a 2009 national inventory of actual school evaluation schemes in 91 Chinese school districts. Our review points out that the new mission of Quality-Oriented Education advocates educational equity, curriculum reform, and systemic support for school-based management. However, at the operational level, there are great variations in terms of content domain, focus, and function among school evaluation schemes with notable regional differences. Furthermore, schools are still caught between the existing system that measures school performance by achievement and the intended accountability scheme that calls for enhanced student ability. This chapter adds to the empirical foundation for the development of a new framework that not only captures the spirit of the national educational reform but also is informed of the developmental needs of schools in drastically different geo-economical and social conditions.

Details

The Impact and Transformation of Education Policy in China
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78052-186-2

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 May 2021

H. Holly Wang

Abstract

Details

China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-137X

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