The impact of China's Priority Forest Programs on rural households’ income mobility

Over the past two decades, China has undertaken unprecedented forest programs in an effort to restore damaged ecosystems and increasing farmers’ income. Using survey results of 2070 rural households in 15 counties of six provinces, we estimate the effects of China's Priority Forest Programs (PFPs) on rural households’ income mobility. The effects of the area enrolled in the PFPs on rural households are mixed. It appears that larger area enrolled in the Industrial Timber Plantation Program and the Sloping Land Conversion Program pushed up rural households’ income mobility, whereas greater area enrolled in the Natural Forest Protection Program constrained their income mobility, and the size of enrollment in the Desertification Combating Program around Beijing and Tianjin and the Shelterbelt Development Program in the Three-North Regions and the Yangtze River Basin seem to have little effect on rural households’ income mobility.

► The effects of Priority Forest Programs on rural households’ income mobility are mixed.
► The PFPs have reduced the rural households’ income inequality.
► The income mobility of rural households has contributed to long-term income equality.
► After the launch of the PFPs, production inputs of rural households have been increasing.
► The starting points and governmental policies have caused rural households’ income mobility.