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The purpose of this paper is to examine the grain production implications of alternative designs for China’s grain subsidy policy. In particular, the authors examine three subsidy designs including area-based subsidy, quantity-based subsidy and production-cost-based subsidy.

To carry out the analysis, the authors develop a Chinese agricultural sector model (CASM) and an econometric, policy action–farmer response summary model. The CASM is used under a wide variety of subsidy level and basis experiments to generate pseudo data on farmer reactions to subsidies. Then a summary function model was estimated over those pseudo data that quantitatively summarized modeled farmer responses to different grain subsidy schemes. In turn, the summary functions were used to optimize the subsidy level such that it maximized grain production both within and across the area-based, quantity-based and cost-based subsidies. Regional implications were also developed.

The authors found that the production-quantity-based subsidy is the most cost-effective in stimulating grain production among the subsidy schemes. The authors also argue that scheme complies with WTO regulations regarding product-specific support. The authors found that the areas where grain production was most affected were the traditional grain-producing regions.

To the authors’ knowledge the authors have not seen a study of the Chinese grain subsidy program context that examined the effects of alternative subsidy schemes, nor one that developed estimates of the optimal subsidy level. In addition, the methodology is unique employing bottom-up, regionally disaggregated, sector modeling coupled with an aggregate pseudo data based summary function approach providing a new, original approach for analyzing agricultural policy design.

China's Government in 2015 announced its goal of stabilizing the use of fertilizers and pesticide by the year 2020. However, implementation of effective policies is not straightforward, while one may even argue that the policy goal is by far not ambitious enough. Hence, it is useful to look at experiences of other countries that have gone through a similar process. In this paper, the authors explicitly consider the case of European Union's (EU’s) policies aimed at greening agriculture. The choice for the EU is motivated by the fact that the EU is about 35 years ahead of China in implementing a policy agenda to counter the problems China is facing now.

In this paper, the authors focus on agricultural inputs, in particular fertilizer and pesticides, as well as land use and their impact on food safety, air and water quality, soil degradation, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and biodiversity. Policies related to those issues are discussed for both, China and the EU. Given that implementation and monitoring are critical for the success of policies, the authors also discuss how policies are implemented and monitored under different governance and institutional conditions.

From the EU experiences, positive and negative, three central lessons are drawn: (1) China should strive for cross compliance but in two steps. In the first step, arrangements for on-farm monitoring must be made, coupled with a pilot program of cross-compliance conditions for large farms in selected counties; in the second step, cross-compliance requirements must be introduced for all farmers, with additional funds for rural development in vulnerable areas. (2) Strong stakeholder commitment should be sought in the formulation as well as implementation of greening policies. (3) Monitoring of greening results should be harmonized and standardized across the country, with a limited number of indicators.

This paper contributes to the policy discussion by comparing the agricultural greening measures in the EU (which was some 35 years ago in the same situation as China now) with the measures taken in China so far.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors (including conservation payments) that influence household decisions to participate in off-farm work and estimate the impact of participation on household welfare under the auspices of the Grain for Green (GfG) program.

The authors used survey data from 225 farm households on the Loess Plateau and addressed the possible sample selection and endogeneity problems by employing a jointly estimated endogenous switching regression (ESR) model.

The findings of this paper are as follows: off-farm participation is positively related to households’ educational attainment and negatively related to their land resource endowment and the presence of children; participation in off-farm work exerts positive effects on household income and per capita household income, but negative effects on farm productivity; and conservation payments show no significant impact on off-farm participation, no significant impact on any of the three household welfare indicators for off-farm non-participant households, but a significantly negative impact for off-farm participant households.

This paper makes two contributions. First, the authors address the selection bias and endogeneity problem of GfG participating households by employing the ESR method and explicitly estimating the treatment effects of off-farm participation on their household welfare. Neglecting these problems leads to biased estimates and misleading policy implications. Second, this analysis stresses the important role of government in reducing market or institutional failure and other barriers that impede farmers’ efficient allocation choices instead of compensating households for conserving sloping land, shedding new light on the most effective policy options to achieve the program’s goals.

The paper aims to review and assess China's food security practice over the past three decades with a view of drawing implications for further improving its food security in the future.

A normative food security framework is used to assess China's food security achievements and examine any remaining and emerging issues in its pursuit for food security.

China has done well in achieving grain security in the past three decades. However, it cannot be concluded that China has achieved its food security according to the normative food security framework. This is because there are serious problems in the aspects of food safety and quality, environmental sustainability, and social stability. To achieve long‐term food security, China has to tackle the wide spread issues of unsafe foods and foods of dubious quality, environmental pollution and degradation, and the establishment of a social security system.

Examining China's food security practice over the past three decades can generate experiences and lessons valuable not only for China, but also for other developing countries in their efforts to achieving national food security. Issues are identified to which the Chinese government needs to pay attention in order to improve China's food security in the future.

This study aims to focus on the analysis of the internal mechanism of farmers’ ecological cognition and the behaviour of Grain for Green Project (GGP), and the further relationship between ecological cognition and ecological aspiration, proposing climate change strategies and management from the perspective of farmers.

Theory of planned behaviour and social exchange theory were used to construct a theoretical framework and an ecological cognition under the influence of external factors, the aspiration and the behaviour of GGP, using ecological fragile areas in Bazhou and Changji, Xinjiang of 618 peasant households’ survey data. The structural equation model and Heckman two-step model were applied to analyse the relationship between ecological cognition and ecological aspiration of farmers, the impact of peasant households’ ecological cognition and aspiration to the behaviour of GGP and the influence factors of GGP behaviour.

This research’s results show that the three characterizations of ecological cognitive variables, attitude towards the behaviour (AB), subjective norms (SN) and perceived behaviour control (PBC), have significant positive impact on farmers’ GGP ecological aspiration. The comprehensive impact path coefficients of ecological cognition are PBC (0.498) > SN (0.223) > AB (0.177). Also, income change is a moderating variable, which has a significant moderating effect on the influence of AB and SN on ecological aspiration. Further, farmers’ ecological cognition has an influence on the behaviour of GGP, and the change of farmers’ income has a significant positive effect on farmers’ choice of returning farmland to forests.

The ecological protection policy suggestions and countermeasures can be drawn from the research conclusions, adapted to China’s ecologically fragile regions and even similar regions in the world to response the climate change.

Combining the theory of planning behaviour and social exchange, this paper empirically analyses the path of farmers’ ecological cognition and ecological aspiration, as well as the influencing factors.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the multiplier effects of the grain subsidy program in China, which is a large food self-sufficiency project that is implemented as a cash transfer program. Income multiplier effects have not been empirically examined in the evaluation of the grain subsidy program although increasing the income of farmers is the original goal of this project.

A large number of household-level observations are employed to measure the program’s income multiplier. An unrestricted model was first employed to measure the multipliers in a period of two years, and the difference was evaluated. Then, the income promotion effects of grain subsidy on various income sources for each specific subset of the population, such as liquidity conditions and household characteristics, were estimated.

The results show that the grain subsidy program has a high income multiplier, and the income promotion effect of the transferred subsidies is from agricultural production derived by intensifying input for each unit of land. The multiplier effect of the grain subsidy program as a cash transfer program can be interpreted as the shadow value of relaxing liquidity constraints and could be particularly utilized by households with more farming land and farmers in less developed regions in China. Hence, to maximize the income multiplier effect, the grain subsidy distribution method should consider these criteria instead of retaining the prevalent standard that is based on contracted land areas.

This study addresses the gap that the effect of China’s grain subsidy program on income increment has not been empirically examined in nation wide.

This study aims to explore green hotel visitors’ afforestation intentions by extending the theory of planned behavior, including post-COVID-19 personal norms (PCPN) and post-COVID-19 environmental concerns (PCECs). Moreover, this study examines the mediating effect of PCECs from the post-COVID-19 perspective.

This study is based on existing literatures and collection of 384 usable responses using the convenience sampling technique. The partial least square structural equation modeling is used to analyze data using Smart PLS3.3.3.

The findings reveal that post-COVID-19 afforestation attitudes, subjective norms (SN), perceived behavioral control (PBC) and PCPN significantly influence post-COVID-19 afforestation intentions (PCAI) and PCECs. Further, PCEC partially mediates the between post-COVID-19 afforestation attitudes, SN, PBC and PCPN and PCAI.

The findings of this study may be useful to green hotel operators in formulating business strategies enhancing visitors’ positive perceptions toward green hotels and afforestation intentions coping with new normal environment and hospitality industry.

This research presents a distinguished case highlighting how the green hotel guests’ perceptions toward afforestation for mitigating carbon emissions are changing because of COVID-19 pandemic. This study provides crucial insights for green hotel practitioners by integrating post-COVID-19 afforestation attitudes, SN, PBC, PCPN and PCEC of green hotel visitors in examining PCAI.

The paper analyzes the adaptive behavior of farmers in the Yunnan province of China, where drought is occurring more frequently. We focus on the experiences with adaptation to climate change by farmers in the rural areas of China.

The research is based on a survey and a number of in-depth interviews of key stakeholders in a drought-stricken region.

Where the government is not always coming forward, the farmers take initiatives to adapt to the new situation of drought. Different mechanisms are being used, some linked to government policies and subsidies, other initiatives are initiated by the farmers themselves, individually or in small groups.

More research on the livelihood strategies is necessary to better understand what these strategies mean for the household income and hence for the survival chances of poor households.

Climate change encourages local actors to play a role in drought adaptation, developing policies for mitigating the consequences of drought, trying to create water markets and involving local companies and water user associations. The research suggests stimulating the initiatives of the farmers and to create an enabling environment for them.

Without government policies we will see growing inequalities in the rural areas of China.

We studied how in the case of drought farmers react to adapt to the new reality. Different adaptation strategies are distinguished and their relation to different government policies is established. We observed that farmers find their own solutions and create their own governance structures to assure for example supply of additional water to their fields.

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it brings forth a methodology of “traces” for organizational ethnography of the shadow, also understood as the realm of the repressed. Second, it highlights the emotional disconnect that organizational ethnographers encounter in traumatized communities and provides suggestions to bridge them.

The paper – drawing on autoethnography – incorporates the author’s fieldwork experiences conducted with market women in postconflict Monrovia, Liberia. In the tradition of “confessional tales,” it includes vignettes from fieldnotes and in-depth qualitative interviews.

The paper highlights three types of traces for research on the shadow: memorial, interactional, and material.

The paper is important because it provides a methodology to recover information pertaining to the organizational shadow, where silence, absence, and suppression dominate. It extends existing literature focused on visuality to consider alternative and holistic epistemologies in line with African worldviews.

This paper will help practitioners working with traumatized communities as it suggests the use of memory as a more indirect route to recover information rather than direct questioning.

The paper juxtaposes poignant stories with academic prose and is valuable in terms of content and form. First, it addresses the topics of emotion and discomfort, seldom incorporated in organization studies. Second, it is valuable to scholars wishing to experiment with more intuitive forms of writing.

Economic and market-based instruments are not “the” answer for nature-based solutions (NBS) in cities, but they are “part” of the answer. Regulatory instruments are needed when specific behaviors must be avoided. Voluntary instruments may be effective, especially at the local scale, but do not often guarantee the pursued performance result. Economic instruments, if well designed, implemented, and used, often have a comparative advantage in terms of efficiency and performance. They are also a source of funding for financing NBS. Too many policy experts and decision-makers are ready to propose public expenditure and subsidies, including for urban policies, and for policies in favor of natural capital, ecosystems services, and biodiversity. Yet, they too often forget to indicate where the revenues to finance the initiatives must come from, however excellent and ambitious they might be. Without using also economic instruments in the policy portfolio, many objectives for sustainable cities will be much more difficult to achieve, especially in the perspective of the Paris Agreement on climate change and of the UN Agenda 2030 with its Sustainable Development Goals.