Spatial poverty traps in rural China: Aggregation, persistence, and reinforcement

摘要

Poverty is a challenge faced by all countries across the world. How to effectively reduce poverty has always been an issue of scholars and governments, and understanding poverty traps and the causes is the basis for understanding poverty governance. Current research has no longer only attributed poverty to "lack of capital formation," but put more emphasis on the significance of spatial factors. By using China's county-level large sample panel data, this paper identifies poverty traps in rural China from three dimensions: aggregation, persistence and reinforcement. Research in this paper shows that from 2006 to 2015, there was nearly no change in spatial pattern of poverty in rural China, and the spatial distribution of poverty is not synchronised with economic growth. Distribution of poverty-stricken counties is mainly related to topographic factors (slope and elevation). In addition, rural poverty in China is persistent, and there is not only a low-level equilibrium of income in poverty-stricken counties, but also a "club convergence" of income between poverty-stricken and non-poverty counties. Further research has also found that income in poverty-stricken counties has a "spatial spillover" effect, so poverty also manifests itself as spatial self-reinforcement. Research in this paper reveals the relationship between spatial externalities and rural poverty. It not only provides empirical evidence for correctly assessing the relationship between development and poverty, it also offers support for reasonably formulating a regional anti-poverty targeting mechanism.

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