Can Poverty be Alleviated in China?

Qin, Cong and Chong, Terence Tai Leung (2015): Can Poverty be Alleviated in China?

Abstract

The 2000s witnessed the third poverty alleviation wave of China. Compared with its predecessors, the third wave distinguished itself by new interventions and redefined standards for the National Poor Counties. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of the new program using a data set consisting of 1,411 of China’s western and central counties from 2000 to 2010. We combine the propensity score matching method with the difference-in-differences approach, which enables us to avoid selection bias and track the policy impact on variables of interest at each time point. It is found that the non-west local governments were inclined to restrict their economic growth to maintain the special transfer payments disbursed exclusively to the National Poor Counties. It is also shown that the program failed to improve the infrastructure and sanitary conditions in general.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Average treatment effect on treated, Poverty alleviation, Propensity score matching, Receiver operating characteristic curve, The National Poor Counties Average treatment effect on treated, Poverty alleviation, Propensity score matching, Receiver operating characteristic curve, The National Poor Counties
• Subjects: H - Public Economics > H2 - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue > H23 - Externalities ; Redistributive Effects ; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies; H - Public Economics > H7 - State and Local Government ; Intergovernmental Relations > H71 - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue

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