Multilevel Modeling of Rural Livelihood Strategies from Peasant to Village Level in Henan Province, China

Abstract

With the rapid development of China’s economy, Chinese peasants now have a growing number of livelihood choices. Rural livelihood strategies are primarily a matter of choice, while the characteristics of the household and village may affect the decision-making process. However, until now, there has been a lack of empirical studies that have been carried out for the identification of the multi-level determinants of rural livelihood strategies. To fill this gap, this paper applies multi-level modeling approach to model rural livelihood strategies in Henan Province, China. The results show that rural livelihood strategies have insignificant between-group variability at the household level, and significant between-group variability at the village level, with the variance at the peasant level accounting for the largest proportion of the total variance. Younger peasants who are male and have a higher education level are more likely to engage in only off-farm work, while peasants with the opposite characteristics are more likely to engage in only on-farm work. Pluriactive peasants integrate the characteristics of the other two groups, and generally live closer to urban areas than the others. In order to reduce rural income inequality and sustain agricultural production, the Chinese government should design effective policies to make farming an appealing livelihood choice, particularly for the young generation.