Farmers Assets Poverty Measurement And Its Fiscal Policy Studies

This paper aims at analyzing assets poverty of the peasants in China Underdeveloped Regions in order to formulate fiscal and taxation policies that can improve assets ownership in each dimension for the peasants. And provide reference for the poverty alleviation strategy in China. This paper summarized the concepts of poverty, asset and assets poverty in the other papers. A theoretical framework to measure assets poverty of the poor is established.First of all, why do I need to measure assets poverty. Although in the past 30 years, institutional reform, economy growth and poverty alleviation have already effectively promote the development of the poor areas and people. But faced with the economy, natural and political factors such as the world financial crisis, climate change, oil price fluctuations etc. that have great influence on the economic development. Poverty alleviation in our country has many new challenges. In our country, we always use income as the standard to divide the poor and the rich. Unlike income, assets such as durable goods, production tools, housing and financial assets, etc. are more stable. The owner can hold it for a long time. They can turn asset into cash to come over the hard time. In this situation asset plays as "buffer", it helps people through the hard times at the basic living level and need not worry about fall into poor again. If the poor have production tools, they can create wealth by themselves and no longer rely on outside aid. Therefore, asset is the fundamentally solution of alleviate poverty and increase income.Second, how to define assets poverty. Poverty is usually divided into three categories: absolute poverty, relative poverty and social exclusion. At the beginning, increasing the peasants' income is the core of poverty reduction. Then improving people's development ability at multi-dimension attracts more attention. The range of poverty alleviation is expanded. From the general point of view, assets refer to anything that can produce potential positive earnings. It can be divided into tangible assets and intangible assets. Tangible assets include financial assets and property rights; Intangible assets include human capital, behavior, communication, influence etc. But in our country, the poor usually have no securities or precious metals or jewelry. Combining with foreign scholars' research results, durable, house, human capital, productive assets are more important as they have influence on the development of the poor. So they are the key factors I will do more research in this paper.Third, how to calculate assets poverty. From the existing literature, method of calculating assets is complicate. It is hard to put into use. In order to solve this problem, this paper proposes Assets Poverty Index (API), this index is similar to Multidimensional Poverty Index. Assets are divided into three parts:living assets, productive assets and human capital. First, measure poverty in each dimension respectively. Then calculate assets poverty index by using different weight. API can comprehensively reflect assets situation of a family or person in different dimensions. It can show that in which dimension poverty is the most serious and at what level compared with the other people.Finally, by analyzing assets poverty theory and the results of API calculation. This paper tries to put forward a new way for future poverty alleviation by using appropriate fiscal and taxation policies.In china, the poor usually live in the countryside, although the poor in rural places have become smaller.90 percent of the poverty people still live there according to the standard of the World Bank. So my research will focus on the peasants. In order to help people know the assets situation in China poor areas, Lvliang City in Shanxi Province is taken as an example to measure API. The data used in this paper is from the survey of 480 peasants, here is the conclusion:in productive assets dimension, the poverty rate is 30.67%. Income poor peasant households have higher poverty rates than the non-poor in this dimension. Those farmers whose income is from different sources have the strongest anti-risk ability; In human resources dimension, the poverty rate is 27.43%. From 2007 to 2009, in the education dimension, the rate of farmers became non-poor is fast. But in medical dimension, the poverty rate is high among the non-poor peasant; In living dimension, the poverty rate is 20.83%, lower than the poverty rate in productive assets dimension. In 2009, the poverty problem of income poor group in living dimension is more serious than the non-poor, but these two have on proportional relations. It is assumed that when farmers are poor in two or above of the three dimensions, they are poor in API. The sample farmers' rate of assets poverty is 36.25%. The farmers in assets poverty is more vulnerable and is more likely to fall into poverty trap.This paper analyzes the existing policies concerned with assets accumulation, in order to put forward targeted policies. The policies aimed at meeting farmers'consumption demand and expanding rural market are:subsidies to agricultural machinery and tools, trade old motor vehicles and home appliances for new ones, subsidies of motor vehicles and home appliance for rural areas, migrant workers skills training etc. They have made certain effect, achieve or exceed the anticipate goal of the policies. But they also have short-comings and the existing polices are not enough if we want to reduce asset poverty thoroughly.In order to make sure that the existing property intervention policies can play the role well and make up the policy blank at the same time. This article suggests that help the poor and teach them how to help themselves are both important. It can promote the peasants' property accumulation if used together. The existing property intervention policy should be consummated at first:First, expanded publicity; Second, optimized the way of supervision; Third, improve the method of subsidy; Fourth, communicate with the peasants promptly to optimize the supplies; Fifth, enlarge the investment to the infrastructural facilities in the countryside; Sixth, better positioned the targeted clients. Next succeed policies should be promote to the whole country to encourage peasants own more assets:First, promote circulating the right of using the cultivated land if the farming use does not change and the legitimate rights and interests of the peasants are protected; Second, help those people live in bad housing conditions, particularly still live in the bamboo thatched-roofed hut or the sun-dried brick room, move into the unified planed houses invested by the government; Third, encourage the developed area and the underdeveloped area form suitable support relations, enable the outstanding medical resources can flow from one place to another effectively. Improve the medical insurance plans as a whole level to make it possible that the health insurance can shift along with the people migration. Finally the government should give more support to the poor. The innovation of this paper is paying attention from multidimensional poverty to a more important dimension-asset. Combined with the life cycle theory, poverty trap theory etc, this paper proposes that how important it is to reduce asset poverty. It provides theoretical support for inclusive growth. This paper puts forward the concept of Assets Poverty Index and the calculation method to analyze assets poverty. API can objectively reflect people's poverty level in different dimensions. It provides reference for policy-makers to better aimed at the poor.