Purpose – Using official and household survey data, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the size of middle class in rural China, its trend and geographical distribution. Determinants or drivers of changes in the size of middle class are explored. Design/methodology/approach – An absolute...

Purpose – This paper aims to explain why the quality of infrastructure projects in rural China differs from village to village and how project quality is correlated with project design attributes and governance factors. Design/methodology/approach – Using primary data collected by the...

Purpose – The reform and opening up have triggered a “revival” of religious belief in rural China. The purpose of this paper is to explain why rural residents are increasingly becoming religious, by analysing the inherent relationship between their risks and religious choice, and conducts...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the discharge volume of domestic solid waste in rural China and to explore the potential impact of various factors that contribute to it. Design/methodology/approach – The data used in this study come from a large-scale field survey conducted...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to estimate the returns to rural schooling in China, addressing both endogeneity in rural individuals’ schooling and self-selection into off-farm work. Design/methodology/approach This paper exploits geographical proximity to rural secondary schools to...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore whether an in-service life teacher training program can improve boarding students’ health, behavior, and academic performance. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted a cluster-randomized controlled trial to measure the effect...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the roles social networks play in households’ contribution to the provision of small hydraulic facilities (SHFs) in rural China. Design/methodology/approach – This paper adopts a sample-selection ordered probit model (Greene and Hensher,...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to attempt to investigate farmer’s positional concerns in rural China, and how the positional concerns correlate with household expenditures on visible goods. Design/methodology/approach The authors conduct a survey-based experiment to measure farmers’...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how different types of the village relationship influence different types of public goods provision in rural China. Design/methodology/approach The three components (clan-based relationship, neighborhood relationship and external relationship)...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the trends in residential solid waste collection (RSWC) services in rural China over the past decade and analyze the determinants of these services using nationally representative data. Design/methodology/approach The authors draw on panel data...