The Hollowing Process of Rural Communities in China: Considering the Regional Characteristic

Abstract

This study examined the hollowing process of rural communities, which is caused by migration, and explored its influence factors based on Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM) analysis in an attempt to explore effect of regional characteristic. To capture the essence of rural hollowing, a logical framework was constructed. The rural hollowing was then evaluated based on an index system. Based on the assessment, HLM analysis was conducted to explore the influence factors at the household and community levels. The results demonstrated significant differences of rural hollowing among villages. In addition, the hollowing was not only affected by household-level variables but also by community-level variables. Further, for rural hollowing, the household-level variable was endogenous drive, while the community-level variables were exogenous drive. Among all the endogenous influence factors, population quality was the most important, and thus the loss of highly educated talents will aggravate the trend of rural hollowing and hinder the sustainable development of the countryside. Furthermore, in addition to promoting economic development and its diversification to alleviate rural hollowing, improving the quality of the population is more important to the sustainable development of the countryside in China.