Measurement and influencing mechanism of stable poverty alleviation of rural households in deeply impoverished areas

Abstract

This study examined the stable poverty alleviation of rural households from a sustainable livelihood perspective. It constructed an evaluation indicator system from five dimensions—natural capital, physical capital, social capital, human capital, and financial capital—and selected Tianzhu County in Guizhou Province, which is a deeply impoverished area, as the study area. Using the stable poverty alleviation index based on a sample of 1295 rural households, this study identified the influencing factors, explored the mechanism of influence, and proposed a long-term mechanism of stable poverty alleviation. The research results show that: 1) The overall level of the stable poverty alleviation index of rural households in the study area is relatively high, but although the stability of poverty alleviation is relatively strong, there are significant differences between individual rural households. The stability of poverty alleviation in the dimensions of physical capital, natural capital, and financial capital is relatively high, but the stability of poverty alleviation in the dimensions of human capital and social capital is low. In the case of the latter, households are at greater risk of returning to poverty. 2) Stable poverty alleviation index of most rural households in the study area can be categorized as general or stable type. The distribution of stable poverty alleviation households can be described as droplet shaped, with about 12.44% of the sample households in the critical category and at a high risk of falling back into poverty. 3) Skills training, proportion of migrant workers, land transfers, proportion of transfer income, distance to township centers, and distance to main roads are the main factors that affect the stable poverty alleviation of rural households in the study area. 4) A "five-in-one" long-term mechanism of facilitating industrial development, enhancing capacities, expanding employment opportunities, stimulating motivations, and improving infrastructure for stable poverty alleviation of rural households in deeply impoverished areas has been established, with the aim of improving the stability of poverty alleviation in rural households.