Doctoral Dissertation Research: Rapid Rural Economic Growth

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD

Investigators

Abstract

SES-1032179 PI: Beverly J. Silver Co-PI: Shaohua Zhan Institution: Johns Hopkins University The study investigates the causes of rapid rural economic growth in China during the 1980s and early 1990s. The researchers hypothesize that post-1949 governmental policies improving the status and welfare of lower classes created the preconditions for the later emergence of small-scale, labor-intensive rural enterprises. Data will be gathered from official statistics, government policy documents, and field research in two villages (one in Jiangsu Province and the other in Inner Mongolia). Broader Impacts: The rapid rural economic growth in China lifted more than 200 million people out of poverty. This research lays the foundation for asking whether and to what extent this labor-intensive, resource-saving model is sustainable in China and can be replicated elsewhere as a solution to global ecological constraints and mass under-employment worldwide.