The Impact Of Grassland Ecological Compensation And Awarding Policy On Herders’ Income

The grassland ecological compensation and awarding policy is an important measure for China at the present stage,which takes grassland protection,herdsmen’s income as well as economic development of pastoral areas into consideration.The impact of the policy on herdsmen’s income is significant for the evaluation of the effect of the policy,which varies in the existing studies.Based on the contents and theoretical background of the policy,this thesis has first adopted meta-analysis method to quantitatively integrate previous research results to assess the effect of the policy on herdsmen’s income.Then,in accordance with the survey data of the herdsmen’s income in 12 pastoral areas in Qinghai and Gansu provinces,a quantitative regression model has been designed to empirically study the impact of the policy on the total income,income of animal husbandry and income of other industries of the herdsmen in the Tibetan Plateau region.The major conclusions are as follows:First,the meta-analysis effect shows that the grassland ecological compensation and awarding policy has a positive impact on herdmen’s income.Subgroup analysis and Meta regression results indicate that the heterogeneity exists because of different year of study,various research designs and methods,the numbers of control variables and diverse research areas.Second,the results of the quantitative regression model prove that the grassland ecological compensation and awarding policy in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region can increase the total income of herdsmen.The increase depends on the compensation from the policy and more income from the sale of dairy products thanks to the growing number of dams.However,the policy has little impact on the total number as well as the income from the sale of domestic animals.Third,the impact of the policy on the herdsmen’s income of other industries and on the number of migrant workers is not significant.Moreover,the policy is not related to the livelihood strategies of the herdsmen.In terms of expenditures,the herdsmen are more willing to invest their compensation and award in forage rather than in family education,medical treatments,human relations,or other aspects.On the basis of the research results,this thesis has presented four recommendations.First,differentiated standards and measures of compensation and award can avoid the phenomenon of “one policy fits all”.Second,the implementation of the policy must be strengthened and supervised.Third,the nurture of new-age professional herdsmen should be promoted,including their education and their production and management skills.Fourth,tertiary industries should be vigorously developed in pastoral areas in order to provide more non-pastoral employment to promote the transfer of labor force in pastoral areas,thereby reducing grazing pressure on grassland.