Ziyuan Kexue (Jan 2023)

Impact of the establishment of National Key Ecological Functional Areas on the rural residents’ income: Empirical analysis based on PSM-DID

  • YANG Zhe, LI Qingqing, XUE Wenhao

DOI
https://doi.org/10.18402/resci.2023.01.11
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 45, no. 1
pp. 144 – 157

Abstract

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[Objective] The establishment of National Key Ecological Functional Areas (NKEFAs) is one of the ecological policies with wide coverage and important impact on the ecological environment in China in recent years. Exploring the impact of NKEFAs on local residents’ income is crucial for the sustainability of the policy and the balance between protection and development. [Methods] In this study, the response of local rural residents’ income to NKEFAs establishment from 2007 to 2018 was investigated at the county scale based on the propensity score matchingdifference-in-differences (PSM-DID) model, taking the establishment of the NKEFAs as a quasi-natural experiment. [Results] The results show that, in general, the establishment of the NKEFAs had significantly increased the income of local rural residents. Compared with counties not designated as the NKEFA, the per capita income of rural residents in counties designated as the NKEFA increased by 3.6%. However, significant spatial heterogeneities existed. The NKEFAs in western China had a significant positive impact on the income of rural residents, with their income increasing by 4.9%, while the NKEFAs in the eastern and central regions had no significant impact on the income of rural residents. This study further examined the differences in the impact among four different types of ecological functional zones: the establishment of soil and water conservation type and biodiversity protection type of NKEFAs had significantly increased the income of rural residents, with enhancements of 2.8% and 10.6%, respectively. But the establishment of water conservation type and windbreak and sand fixation type of NKEFAs reduced the income of local rural residents. [Conclusion] Therefore, the establishment of the NKEFAs helped achieve poverty reduction in general. The country needs to further implement policies according to local conditions and strive to achieve a “win-win” situation between ecological protection and social and economic development in the future.

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