Understanding the mediating role of labor out-migration in household income generation and distribution under a reforestation policy in rural China

Income inequality is a critical issue of socio-economic development, particularly in rural areas where forestdependent people are often vulnerable to the intervention of forest policies. This paper aims to elucidate income distribution and inequality of rural households influenced by China's largest reforestation policy implemented in early 2000s. Drawing on socioeconomic and demographic data from household surveys in two rural sites, we applied the Gini coefficient to measure income inequality and used a regression-based approach to examine the underlying factors that are associated with income generation among households. We also performed a mediation analysis to test the role of labor out-migration in shaping household income distribution under the reforestation policy. Results show that remittances sent by rural out-migrants substantially contribute to household income but tend to worsen inequality, particularly for households having retired cropland for reforestation. The inequality in total income depends on capital accumulation for land endowment and labor availability that render diversified livelihoods possible. Such linkage reveals regional disparity, which, along with policy-implementing institutions (e.g., rules for tree species choice for reforestation), can influence income generation from a given source (e.g., agriculture). Rural out-migration of female labor significantly mediates the economic benefits of the policy delivered to the households with an estimated mediating share of 11.7%. These findings add value to the knowledge of poverty-environment interrelationships in a sense that supporting rural livelihoods of the more vulnerable and underrepresented groups is essential for securing and sustaining the stewardship of forests. Policymaking for such forest restoration programs needs to integrate strategies for targeted or precise poverty alleviation to strengthen the conservation effectiveness.