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Abstract
Economic reform and restructuring in China have resulted in substantial changes in how farmers earn their livings and how much they earn. Based on a neoclassical model of economic development and structural change as interpreted by Oshima (1983) for East Asia, we hypothesize that farmers in Jiangsu Province earn greater incomes from off-farm jobs associated with nearby cities and urban market centers. This income pattern, we believe, results in distinctive household types associated with specific employment and economic activities of family members and reflects a sequence of change in the farm economy suggestive in part of the farm evolution model posed by Weitz (1971).
A 167-farm-family sample was surveyed in four agricultural regions in Jiangsu in 1986–87. Sample data identified sources of family income and determined the significance of activity types and proximity to cities for family income. Variables of income, farm, and family size were cross-correlated to determine those with the most significant effects on total family income. Using principal components analysis and cluster analysis, we identified three household types based on income sources: traditional agricultural, mixed, and industrially focused. Farmers closest to the large city of Suzhou were the most prosperous, with incomes derived largely from industrial employment, while farmers in more remote locations appeared most traditional, earning a larger share of their income from field cultivation. While location is believed significant in the processes of economic change, its role cannot be specified based on currently available data.
