Measurement of the Income Difference of Rural Residents in Peri-Urbanized Areas and Its Influencing Factors: Evidence from Nanhai, Foshan, China

Abstract

This study supplements research on peri-urbanized areas by introducing a quantitative analysis of rural income inequality, with particular attention being paid to geographical causes. It also contributes a community/village-scale case to the current knowledge of the quantitative analysis of rural income inequality, which is mainly based on the county, municipal and higher levels. A typical peri-urbanized area in the Pearl River Delta—namely, Nanhai District, Foshan City—was considered as an empirical case. Based on 10-year continuous data, from 2007 to 2016, we first analyzed the distribution and spatial autocorrelation between per-capita share dividend income (PCSDI) and per-capita net income (PCNI). Then, we used a Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) model to explore the strength and direction of the relationship between PCSDI and the five selected driving factors. The results show that, during the study period, the rural income difference of PCSDI in Nanhai generally narrowed, whereas the income difference of PCSDI generally expanded, and the spatial distribution of PCNI was more unequal than that of the PCSDI. The GWR model shows that geo-location (GL) has the strongest impact on PCSDI, followed by the per-capita area of state-owned land (PCASOL); the density of the road coverage (DRC) and the density of the registered population (DRP) have the least effect on PCSDI. Except for the per-capita area of collective constructive land (PCACCL), which is a global variable, the correlation between the four other factors and PCSDI is geographically uneven.