Although China has long been recognized for its achievements in reducing absolute poverty since 1978, international standards now estimate increased poverty incidences, particularly among the rural poor, mostly concentrated in the western provinces, within remote and mountainous townships, where...

The purpose of this study, carried out in the Kyrgyz Republic in 1999, was to investigate the impact of socioeconomic change on the characteristics and functions of the social networks of poor and non-poor households in rural and urban communities. A better understanding of the role of informal...