Li Shao-ping;Dong Yong-qing;Zhang Lin-xiu;Liu Cheng-fang

Tianjin Univ, Ctr Social Sci Survey & Data, Coll Management & Econ, Tianjin 300072, Peoples R China;Peking Univ, China Ctr Agr Policy, Sch Adv Agr Sci, Beijing 100871, Peoples R China;UN Environm Programme Int Ecosyst Management Part, Beijing 100101, Peoples R China;Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Geog Sci & Nat Resources Res, Key Lab Ecosyst Network Observat & Modelling, Beijing 100101, Peoples R China

off-farm employment;poverty alleviation;rural China

Two phenomena in the history of China?s economic growth during the last four decades are the increase in the share of offfarm employment and the progress in poverty alleviation in rural China. Although both of them have been well documented in the literature, less is known about the linkage between the two. To better understand the role that off-farm employment has played in poverty alleviation in rural China is critically important not only for China but also for those countries that are trying to reduce poverty. Here, we examine the impact of off-farm employment on poverty alleviation in rural China. Using the data from two nationally representative household panel surveys (China National Rural Survey and China Rural Development Survey), this paper provides supporting evidence that off-farm employment contributes to poverty alleviation in rural China. Specifically, if household participation in off-farm employment increases by 10 percentage points, the likelihood for a nonpoor household to fall into poverty will decrease by 0.88 percentage point whereas the likelihood for a poor household to climb out of poverty will increase by 3.5 percentage points. In a word, off-employment can not only prevent rural residents to fall into poverty but also help those already in poverty climb out of it.