Critical assessment indicators for measuring benefits of rural infrastructure investment in China

Abstract

Rural infrastructure is of vital importance for agricultural growth, economic development, and poverty alleviation, particularly in developing countries such as China. In line with the implementation of a Coordinated Urban-Rural Development Strategy, infrastructure investment in China has consciously been tilted to rural areas. An urgent need exists to assess whether the investment has induced the benefits as expected. Existing research on rural infrastructure investment assessment focuses primarily on economic return while neglecting its social and ecological benefits. This paper identifies a set of critical assessment indicators (CAIs) that can be used to evaluate the multifaceted benefits of rural infrastructure investment in China. Research data were collected through a questionnaire survey given to three groups of experts, including government officers, professionals, and business practitioners who are working in China's housing and urban-rural development sector. Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) is used to generate additional data to supplement the data set from the questionnaire survey. The fuzzy set theory, which appreciates the fuzziness of data from the questionnaire survey, is used in the selection of CAIs. The CAIs can help the local governments in China to make better decisions in investing in rural infrastructure. These critical indicators can also be generalized to provide valuable references for the investigations of rural infrastructure investment in other developing countries. © 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.