Impact of Development of Rural Tourism on the Income Mobility of Farm Households:Using Empirical Data from the China Family Panel Studies
Promoting equality of opportunities and facilitating upward mobility is a necessary condition for achieving common prosperity.As a new growth point for the rural economy,the importance of rural tourism in alleviating poverty and promoting farm households'income has been widely recognized.Nevertheless,there are few studies exploring the impact of development of rural tourism on the relative status of farm household income from an income mobility perspective.Therefore,we empirically investigate whether development of rural tourism contributes positively to farm household income mobility.In particular,this research attempts to answer the following questions.1)Can development of rural tourism affect the income mobility of farm households?Is the effect positive or negative?2)Is the effect of development of rural tourism on farm households'income mobility time varying in nature?3)Does the effect of development of rural tourism on farm households'income mobility differ across income groups?To investigate these questions,we select panel data from the China Family Panel Studies(CFPS)database for the period of 2010 to 2018 as the study sample,and employ an ordered probit model as the main estimator,using ordered logit and propensity score matching methods for robustness checks.Furthermore.to test for heterogeneity,we divide the research period into four phases(2010-2012,2012-2014,2014-2016,and 2016-2018)based on the characteristics of CFPS data,and classify the study sample into low-,middle-,and high-income farm households.This research shows that:1)overall,the farm households'income mobility declines from 2010 to 2018.For the low-and high-income farm classes,income mobility tend to be solidified;farm households in the middle-income class have strong income mobility,but it generally shows a downward trend.2)Development of rural tourism has a significant positive impact on improving farm household income mobility.In terms of marginal effects,development of rural tourism has the greatest role in promoting farm households'income to rise by one or two classes.Moreover,these conclusions remain valid after the robustness tests.3)There are period differences and group differences in the impact of development of rural tourism on farm household income mobility.The positive impact of development of rural tourism on the upward income mobility of farm households'increases with time,and is more prominent after 2014.From the perspective of groups,development of rural tourism significantly contributes to the upward income mobility of low-income farm households;it has a negative but not significant effect on middle-income farm households.This research raises several questions for further research.First,owing to a lack of tourism statistics for rural areas,we use"village/house belonging to a scenic tourist area(welcoming tourists)"as the variable for development of rural tourism,which does not fully reflect the development of rural tourism.Future researchers should test the impact of rural tourism development on farm households'income mobility using higher-quality rural tourism development data.Second,there are significant differences between income groups in terms of the impact of development of rural tourism on the farm households'income mobility,and researchers should focus on the mechanism of influence causing these differences.
development of rural tourismincome mobilityincome distributionfarm households
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