Subsidy-Dominated Non-Farm Income Improves Herder Household Livelihoods and Promotes Income Equality in North Tibet, China
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- (1)
- examine the role of non-farm income in household economies;
- (2)
- assess the effect of non-farm income on household income inequality;
- (3)
- explore the determinants influencing the variability of non-farm income.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Area
2.2. Data Collection
2.3. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Socioeconomic Profile of the Sample Households
3.2. Household Income Source and Its Contribution
3.3. Comparison of Non-Farm Income and Contribution by Income Category
3.4. Effect of Non-Farm Earnings on Income Inequality
3.5. Determinants of Household Income in North Tibet
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Variable | Acronym | Category | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Byproducts income | BYI | Financial capital (Farm sector) | Incomes from agricultural byproducts such as dairy products, fur, and fungus; |
Livestock income | LI | This part merely includes income from the sale/consumption of livestock assets. | |
Subsidy income | SI | Financial capital (Non-farm sector) | Government payment that provides transfers of money to the farm sector translates into increased economic well-being of farm families; |
Business income | BUI | Business income includes cash income from self-employment, but does not include income from the household’s own farm or livestock husbandry; | |
Wage income | WI | Cash from any kind of paid employment, including income from farm-based employment activities. | |
Household size | HS | Human capital | Household members include all individuals regardless of whether they currently reside in the household; |
Household education level | HE | Mean of schooling years of labor in a family; | |
Household sex ratio | HSR | The ratio of household male to female; | |
Household dependency ratio | HDR | The ratio of the number of household laborers to non-labors (age < 16 and age > 65). | |
Rangeland available area | RAA | Natural capital | Rangeland area for grazing (ha), |
Livestock assets | LA | Physical capital | Number of standard sheep units owned by household; |
Physical assets | PA | The total value of household productive and living facilities and instruments as well as transportation (RMB, yuan). | |
No. of regular staff | NRS | Social capital | Number of regular staff per household in social organizations; |
No. of migrant worker(s) | NMW | Number of out-of-village migrant worker(s) per household; | |
No. of cooperative member(s) | NCM | Number of cooperative member(s) per household in a village. |
Quintile 1 | Quintile 2 | Quintile 3 | Quintile 4 | Quintile 5 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Village 1 20% | Village 1 20% | Village 1 20% | Village 1 20% | Village 1 20% |
Village 2 20% | Village 2 20% | Village 2 20% | Village 2 20% | Village 2 20% |
Village 3 20% | Village 3 20% | Village 3 20% | Village 3 20% | Village 3 20% |
Village 52 20% | Village 52 20% | Village 52 20% | Village 52 20% | Village 52 20% |
Village 53 20% | Village 53 20% | Village 53 20% | Village 53 20% | Village 53 20% |
Village 54 20% | Village 54 20% | Village 54 20% | Village 54 20% | Village 54 20% |
Item | Mean (SD) | Unit |
---|---|---|
Household size | 5.3 (2.4) | Person |
Rangeland available area | 505.5 (671.8) | Ha |
Livestock | 151.1 (148.0) | Standard sheep unit |
Total income per household | 34,557.9 (36,915.3) | RMB (yuan/year) |
Total income per capita | 6925.8 (7999.1) | RMB (yuan/year) |
Variable | Non-Farm Income | Farm Income | Total Household Income | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coef. (SE) | p-Value | Coef. (SE) | p-Value | Coef. (SE) | p-Value | |
HS | 0.69 (0.11) | 0.000 *** | 0.65 (0.58) | 0.260 | 0.69 (0.10) | 0.000 *** |
HE | −0.01 (0.04) | 0.873 | −0.01 (0.20) | 0.976 | −0.03 (0.04) | 0.379 |
HSR | 0.03 (0.03) | 0.229 | 0.12 (0.14) | 0.376 | 0.01 (0.02) | 0.544 |
HDR | 0.02 (0.02) | 0.380 | 0.15 (0.09) | 0.103 | 0.04 (0.02) | 0.008 *** |
RAA | 0.40 (0.03) | 0.000 *** | −0.35 (0.19) | 0.072 * | 0.21 (0.03) | 0.000 *** |
NRS | −0.03 (0.11) | 0.768 | −0.03 (0.55) | 0.958 | 0.05 (0.09) | 0.577 |
NMW | 1.05 (0.07) | 0.000 *** | 0.38 (0.37) | 0.308 | 0.87 (0.06) | 0.000 *** |
NCM | 0.22 (0.09) | 0.018 ** | 0.11 (0.48) | 0.824 | 0.16 (0.08) | 0.057 * |
LA | −0.04(0.02) | 0.046 ** | 0.47 (0.10) | 0.000 *** | −0.01 (0.02) | 0.722 |
PA | −0.01 (0.01) | 0.243 | 0.05 (0.06) | 0.385 | 0.01 (0.01) | 0.281 |
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Zhang, Y.; Niu, B.; Zhang, X. Subsidy-Dominated Non-Farm Income Improves Herder Household Livelihoods and Promotes Income Equality in North Tibet, China. Sustainability 2024, 16, 3681. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16093681
Zhang Y, Niu B, Zhang X. Subsidy-Dominated Non-Farm Income Improves Herder Household Livelihoods and Promotes Income Equality in North Tibet, China. Sustainability. 2024; 16(9):3681. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16093681
Chicago/Turabian StyleZhang, Yu, Ben Niu, and Xianzhou Zhang. 2024. "Subsidy-Dominated Non-Farm Income Improves Herder Household Livelihoods and Promotes Income Equality in North Tibet, China" Sustainability 16, no. 9: 3681. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16093681