Impact of the targeted poverty alleviation policy on the sustainable livelihoods of the poor in China : perspectives from regional disparities

Abstract

Over the years of effort, China has achieved the goal of eliminating absolute poverty, making significant contributions to sustainable development goals (SDGs). Targeted Poverty Alleviation (TPA), as China’s most representative poverty reduction policy, has garnered significant attention from policymakers and scholars alike for its operational mechanisms and poverty reduction effects. Existing research mostly focuses on the impact of poverty reduction policies on the income of the poor, with fewer multidimensional assessments of poverty reduction effects. Few studies that comprehensively assess the effects of poverty reduction policies often consider the entire country as a whole, with limited research on regional differences within China. Moreover, poverty reduction efforts are ongoing and poverty characterization is multidimensional. By examining the sustainable livelihoods of impoverished groups and focusing on their long-term development capabilities, we can evaluate the poverty reduction effects of TPA policy from a longer time perspective. Therefore, to address these research gaps, this study utilizes the China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) database. Leveraging the sustainable livelihoods framework and employing entropy weighting to measure the indicators’ weights of various sustainable livelihood capitals, this study constructs sustainable livelihood capital indices for impoverished households. By identifying treatment and control groups, and using a difference-in-differences (DiD) approach to construct regression models, empirical results demonstrate: following the implementation of TPA policy, human capital, financial capital, and natural capital of the impoverished households have significantly improved nationwide. Furthermore, the impact of TPA policies exhibits noticeable geographical disparities. In the western region, human capital, social capital, financial capital, and natural capital have shown significant improvements under the influence of TPA policy. In contrast, in the eastern region, only human capital among impoverished households has notably improved, while in the central region, only natural capital has seen significant enhancement. The impact of TPA policies thus exhibits pronounced regional heterogeneity.