The Collation and Utilization of Peasant Household Survey Data by Buck
Data on modern Chinese rural areas is limited,making it an invaluable resource for researchers studying the history of modern agricultural economics.The"Land Utilization Survey in China,"conducted by J.B.Buck,the director of the Department of Agricultural Economics at Jinling University during the Republic of China era,was a highly representative and influential study.This paper provides a comprehensive introduction to the process of rescuing and preserving the survey data,as well as an interpretation of its utilization direction and potential value.The restored data from Buck's peasant household surveys covers 22 aspects,including population and labor force,livestock,land,fertilizer,crop yield and usage,borrowing and special expenses,and encompasses 16,786 farm-level microsamples from 168 regions across 22 provinces.This comprehensive and reliable data set offers a detailed reflection of rural production and living conditions of the time.The microdata and county-level information compiled by Buck are highly relevant to current hot topics in the history of modern Chinese agricultural economics,such as land ownership distribution,tenancy relations,population pressures,the cottage industry,commercialization,private lending,grain prices,and market integration.The reuse of Buck's data set can provide fresh evidence to challenge or confirm classical agricultural economics theories,and it allows for the summarization of historical experiences and the identification of developmental patterns that can inform China's ongoing agricultural modernization efforts.
Land Utilization Survey in ChinaBuck DataCollationUtilization
万方数据
维普
