Exploring Mechanisms behind Migration’s Impact on Protein Intake of Left-Behind Household Members: A Panel Analysis from China
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Data and Methods
2.1. Data
2.1.1. Study Sample
2.1.2. Measurements and Data Collection Plan
2.2. Econometric Approach
2.2.1. Total Effects of Migration on Protein Intake
2.2.2. Direct and Indirect Mediated Effects
2.3. Econometric Approach
2.3.1. Outcome Variables
2.3.2. Key Explanatory Variables
2.3.3. Mediating Variables
2.3.4. Control Variables
Variables | Definition and Assignments |
---|---|
Outcome variables | |
Protein intake of rural household members | The daily protein intake per equivalent person = ∑(amount of each food consumed in the last 30 days) × unit protein content of each food)/(number of equivalent person × 30) [27] Unit: grams |
Key explanatory variables | |
Migration | Whether a household has members engaged in labor migration, Yes = 1, No = 0 |
Migration rate | The ratio of the number of household members engaged in labor migration to the total household population |
Mediating variables | |
Remittance | The natural logarithm of the per capita remittance income (unit: yuan) of left-behind family members |
Crop income | The natural logarithm of per capita crop income (unit: yuan) of left-behind family members |
Livestock income | The natural logarithm of per capita livestock income (unit: yuan) of left-behind family members |
Self-production | The natural logarithm of the amount of consumed food (unit: kilograms) originating from self-production |
Family size | The population size of the left-behind family members, unit: people |
Control variables | |
Gender of household head | Male = 1, Female = 0 |
Age of household head | unit: year |
Schooling of household head | Educational years of the household head, unit: year |
Annual per capita income | The natural logarithm of per capita annual household income (unit: yuan) after deducting remittances from labor migration |
Proportion of young children | The proportion of young children (aged 0–5) |
Proportion of school-aged children | The proportion of school-aged children (aged 5–14) |
Proportion of the elder | The proportion of elderly individuals aged above 65 |
Household wealth index | The index measures the affluence level of a household, encompassing a comprehensive range of aspects including housing conditions, durable goods, productive assets, transportation, and access to water and electricity [23] |
Household indebtedness | Whether the household has debt, Yes = 1, No = 0 |
Distance market | The distance to the nearest market or marketplace (unit: kilometers) |
Land cultivated | The natural logarithm of household cultivated land area (unit: mu) |
Natural shock | Whether experiencing a natural disaster, Yes = 1, No = 0. |
Other shock | Whether experiencing other disasters, Yes = 1, No = 0. |
3. Results
3.1. Summary Statistics
3.2. Results of the Total Effects of Labor Migration
3.3. Mediation Results
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Year | 2012 (N = 1368) | 2015 (N = 1368) | 2018 (N = 1371) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Variables | Mean | Std. Error | Mean | Std. Error | Mean | Std. Error | |
Panel A: Household-level core indicators | |||||||
Protein intake | 74.464 | 39.394 | 72.073 | 54.319 | 73.989 | 49.505 | |
Migration (Mig) | 0.593 | 0.491 | 0.569 | 0.495 | 0.610 | 0.488 | |
Migration rate (Migrate) | 0.225 | 0.227 | 0.222 | 0.234 | 0.236 | 0.235 | |
Panel B: Mediated indicators | |||||||
Remittance | 7.313 | 1.395 | 7.418 | 1.468 | 7.430 | 1.347 | |
Crop income | 7.449 | 1.303 | 7.254 | 1.329 | 6.274 | 1.934 | |
Livestock income | 7.041 | 1.446 | 7.391 | 1.590 | 7.376 | 1.750 | |
Self-production | 3.382 | 1.238 | 2.920 | 1.303 | 2.823 | 1.408 | |
Family size | 3.446 | 1.450 | 3.427 | 1.543 | 3.408 | 1.564 | |
Panel C: Control variables | |||||||
Gender of household head | 0.907 | 0.291 | 0.939 | 0.239 | 0.914 | 0.281 | |
Age of household head | 50.659 | 11.134 | 52.107 | 11.127 | 53.894 | 11.252 | |
Schooling of household head | 6.585 | 3.665 | 6.306 | 3.501 | 6.440 | 3.610 | |
Annual per capita income | 8.917 | 0.931 | 8.975 | 0.987 | 9.105 | 1.142 | |
Proportion of young children | 0.060 | 0.117 | 0.062 | 0.123 | 0.071 | 0.130 | |
Proportion of school-aged children | 0.057 | 0.123 | 0.051 | 0.118 | 0.040 | 0.104 | |
Proportion of the elderly | 0.127 | 0.247 | 0.147 | 0.270 | 0.191 | 0.305 | |
Household wealth index | −0.493 | 1.86 | 0.148 | 1.720 | 0.908 | 2.044 | |
Household indebtedness | 0.612 | 0.488 | 0.605 | 0.489 | 0.575 | 0.494 | |
Distance to market | 6.639 | 8.556 | 6.708 | 7.917 | 6.519 | 12.555 | |
Land cultivated | 5.587 | 7.356 | 6.318 | 14.651 | 4.499 | 11.286 | |
Natural shocks | 0.842 | 0.365 | 0.618 | 0.486 | 0.430 | 0.495 | |
Other shocks | 0.700 | 0.459 | 0.519 | 0.500 | 0.255 | 0.436 |
(1) | (2) | |
Protein | Protein | |
Mig | 8.701 *** | |
(1.476) | ||
Migrate | 33.638 *** | |
(3.623) | ||
Gender of household head | 4.154 | 4.900 * |
(2.548) | (2.467) | |
Age of household head | 0.261 *** | 0.204 ** |
(0.077) | (0.076) | |
Schooling of household head | 0.270 | 0.216 |
(0.219) | (0.215) | |
Annual per capital income | 9.223 *** | 8.184 *** |
(0.794) | (0.772) | |
Proportion of young children | −56.445 *** | −50.619 *** |
(5.592) | (5.464) | |
Proportion of school-aged children | −36.416 *** | −29.766 *** |
(5.411) | (5.429) | |
Proportion of the elderly | −6.696 * | −7.340 * |
(3.132) | (3.065) | |
Household wealth index | −1.215 ** | −1.086 * |
(0.444) | (0.435) | |
Household indebtedness | −1.218 | −0.922 |
(1.561) | (1.536) | |
Distance market | 0.178 | 0.164 |
(0.108) | (0.107) | |
Land cultivated | 0.146 | 0.176 |
(0.123) | (0.125) | |
Natural shocks | 1.055 | 0.904 |
(1.735) | (1.718) | |
Other shocks | −0.370 | −0.108 |
(1.534) | (1.523) | |
Regional fixed effect | Y | Y |
Year fixed effect | Y | Y |
Cons | −26.050 ** | −18.324 * |
(9.309) | (9.156) | |
N | 3831 | 3831 |
Mediator Variable | (1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) Proportion of Total Effect That Is Mediated |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Remittance | 0.170 (0.165) | 4.044 *** (1.079) | 11.730 * (6.460) | 0.686 (0.693) | 0.055 |
Crop income | 0.404 *** (0.047) | 6.390 *** (0.563) | 9.360 *** (1.581) | 2.579 *** (0.375) | 0.216 |
Livestock income | 0.180 *** (0.052) | 4.283 *** (0.614) | 9.756 *** (1.747) | 0.772 *** (0.250) | 0.073 |
Self-production | 0.072 * (0.039) | 8.939 *** (0.612) | 11.309 * (1.463) | 0.645 * (0.349) | 0.054 |
Family size | −0.835 *** (0.043) | −10.439 *** (0.539) | 3.240 ** (1.503) | 8.714 *** (0.636) | 0.729 |
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Pan, X.; Huang, J. Exploring Mechanisms behind Migration’s Impact on Protein Intake of Left-Behind Household Members: A Panel Analysis from China. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024, 21, 652. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21060652
Pan X, Huang J. Exploring Mechanisms behind Migration’s Impact on Protein Intake of Left-Behind Household Members: A Panel Analysis from China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2024; 21(6):652. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21060652
Chicago/Turabian StylePan, Xueting, and Jiaqi Huang. 2024. "Exploring Mechanisms behind Migration’s Impact on Protein Intake of Left-Behind Household Members: A Panel Analysis from China" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 21, no. 6: 652. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21060652