Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Health aspects of Rural-urban migration'

Internal labour migration is an important livelihood strategy for poor groups worldwide. Aims and objectives This research aims to answer the question "What is appropriate policy framework to address the health needs of the Indian urban migrants?" The research analyses existing policies and compares policies in arrange of countries that have developed mechanisms to address migrant's health needs. Transferable lessons will be drawn to develop a policy framework to address health needs of Indian migrants. Recommendations to improve the health of urban migrants will be made. Methods The research involves a mixed methods approach - literature review, questionnaire survey, qualitative interviews and site visits to understand successes and challenges in the implementation of migration and health policies in India and other countries. A literature review was conducted to understand the impact of migration - its health outcomes and policies in India and abroad. A pre-tested, interviewer-administered questionnaire survey was conducted using random sampling with 4000 migrants in Nashik to understand their access to health care. In-depth interviews were conducted with policy makers in ministries including health and labour, migrant's organizations and international agencies in India, China, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam to understand the successes and challenges in the implementation of migration and health policies and learn from their experiences. Conclusions Internal migration is rising in India mainly from the scheduled tribes and castes. Lack of migration specific data, state specific programmes/policies linked with state citizenship and lack of federal structures are key challenges to meet the unique needs of Indian migrants. Lessons for India were learnt from other countries included initiating a migration census, introducing a national portable health insurance and a comprehensive 'whole government approach'. Recommendations were made to enable the government to facilitate appropriate policy to improve the health and status of the migrants.

Urbanisation and the associated nutrition transition have been linked with the recent rise in osteoporotic fragility fracture incidence in many countries. Predictions indicate that hip fracture incidence will increase 6-fold in Africa and Asia by 2050, partially attributed to demographic transition and population ageing. Differences in areal bone mineral density (aBMD) between rural and urban locations indicate that urban regions of high-income countries (HIC) have lower aBMD and a higher incidence of hip fracture. The few studies conducted in low and middle-income countries (LMIC) provide inconsistent results; in contrast to HIC, most have found higher aBMD in urban populations. To investigate the impact of migrating to an urban environment, detailed studies of bone phenotype and factors affecting bone health have been conducted in two groups of pre-menopausal Gambian women: urban migrant (n=58) and rural (n=81). Both groups spent their formative years in the same rural setting of Kiang West, urban women were known to have migrated to coastal districts, concentrated in Brikama and Kanifing, when aged ≥16 years. Bone phenotype (bone mineral content (BMC); bone area (BA); aBMD, and size-adjusted BMC (adjusted for height, weight and BA) of the whole-body, lumbar spine and hip) was measured by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA), with further characterisation by peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT). Data were also collected on anthropometry, body composition, food and nutrient intakes, physical activity, socio-demographic characteristics, vitamin D status, and 24hr urinary mineral outputs (Na, K, P, and Ca). Mean age and height of rural and urban migrant groups were not significantly different (p > 0.05). Urban migrant women were significantly heavier (p < 0.01). Significant differences in BMC and aBMD were found between groups at all skeletal sites, with urban women having higher BMC and aBMD; BA was not significantly different. The greatest difference in BMC was found at the lumbar spine (8.5% ± SE 3.0, p < 0.01), a meaningful difference, equivalent to 0.76 of rural SD. T- Scores were also calculated using a young adult (white, female) reference population, mean T- scores were -1.03 and -0.22, for rural and urban groups respectively. After adjusting for size, differences in whole-body and hip BMC were mostly attenuated (p > 0.05), but difference in spine BMC remained significant (6.2% ± SE 2.1, p < 0.01). These results indicate that rural-to-urban migration is associated with higher BMC; BA and height were similar, and difference in body weight could not fully account for higher BMC at the lumbar spine. Calcium intakes were low in both groups, urban migrant 294mg/d (IQR: 235 to 385) and rural 305mg/d (IQR: 222 to 420). Urban women had significantly lower intakes of potassium, magnesium and dietary fibre (p < 0.01), related to lower consumption of fruit, green leafy vegetables and groundnuts. 25-hydroxy vitamin D status was good in both groups, urban migrant 64.0 ± 14.2nmol/L and rural 68.3 ± 15.7nmol/L (M ± SD, p > 0.05). Implications for bone health of the nutrition and demographic transition, principally future fracture risk and other non-communicable diseases require further research in LMICs. ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE To my knowledge, this is the first study investigating the impact of rural-to-urban migration on bone health to be conducted in sub Saharan Africa. It is the first study of bone health and determinants of bone health in an urban population in The Gambia.

This thesis explored aspects of the urban-rural interface within a densely populated, deprived housing scheme located on a remote, rural island lying off the north west coast of Scotland. The thesis had two aims, the first related to health, health inequality and aspects of neighbourhood and from this exploration a second aim emerged that focused in detail on the effects of rurality and religion as significant cultural influences that determined the nature of health and social environment. The Cearns housing area of Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis is reminiscent of a mainland urban scheme in terms of housing design and layout with units spaced around a series of pedestrianised courts with little green space. Significantly, most tenants, both well-established and recent, have their origins in rural Lewis, bringing with them a number of rural beliefs and behaviours. An in-depth qualitative study was carried out through individual interviews (N=55) and Cattell's social network typology was applied to inform interpretation of the nature of the social infrastructure. The main findings demonstrated the existence of 'traditional', 'socially excluded' and 'solidaristic' networks from which a strong sense of island identity, described as 'hebridean', emerged. In marked contrast to many urban areas, crime and vandalism levels were low, the housing stock was well maintained and the area was described by residents as friendly and close-knit. Hebridean communities are rural in nature, the Cearns being an anomaly, yet it shared with neighbouring villages close familial and other connections as most residents either know, or know of, their neighbours. Rurality and remoteness reinforced a 'can-do' self help culture where friendliness and co-operation is expected and this can be related to Freudenberg's notion of the 'density of acquaintanceship'. This study demonstrated that residents, irrespective of age or gender, have this view of the world, either from personal experience or through the rural upbringing of their parents and that either way a particular range of attitudes and behaviours has come with them to the Cearns. In addition to themes associated with rurality, findings from this thesis demonstrated the effect of religion at the level of the individual in terms of social support, as well as at community level in relation to social cohesion, identity and social control. Communities on the Isle of Lewis are distinctive and possibly unique within the UK in their continued adherence to the biblically strict Presbyterian religion, apparent through high levels of church attendance and strict Sabbath observance. Use of Social Identity Theory with its understanding of in-groups and out-groups provided a framework for an analysis of the interface of religion with social cohesion. The study concluded that these remote, close-knit, Gaelic-speaking, religious communities are amongst the most distinctive in the UK and that the methodology and findings of this study would have relevance in studies of similar communities elsewhere, notably within the hitherto under-researched rural communities of the Western Isles.

This research examines how urban agriculture contributes to the sustainable livelihood of migrants’ women living in the inner city of Johannesburg. The study focuses on the Cameroonian women community living in Turffontein. It explores the significant process of migration into the Republic of South Africa and the inspiration behind the choice of urban agriculture in the inner city of Johannesburg by women. The research report assesses the impact of urban agriculture on sustainable livelihood in the life of Cameroonian women living in Turffontein. It also examines the constraints encountered by these Cameroonians women in Turffontein in the practice of urban agriculture for sustainable livelihood. The findings of this study reveal that urban agriculture is used as a strategy for sustainable livelihood to a lot of Cameroonian migrants’ women living in Turffontein. The study has also shown how through urban agriculture these migrants’ women have been able to raise substantial income to support their respective families both in South Africa and in Cameroon. The study is based on a purposeful sample of Cameroonian migrants’ women living in the inner city of Johannesburg practicing urban agriculture. It uses a mixed method of approach with a transect walk to the area where this women practice the urban agriculture. It also included an in-depth face to face interactive interview and written sources such as journals, books and research reports where combined to gather relevant data. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse the data.

China’s rural-urban migration has resulted in 61 million children living apart from their parent(s) in rural communities. Previous studies have failed to examine the long-term effects of parental migration on left-behind children’s nutritional health, and have not examined the gender differences (of parents and children) in those associations. This research uses a mixed-methods design that incorporates quantitative and qualitative techniques to explore links between parental migration, care-giving arrangements and left-behind children’s nutritional health in rural China. The quantitative analyses draw on a longitudinal dataset – the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) (1997, 2000, 2004, 2006, and 2009) to examine the relationships between children’s nutritional outcomes and different patterns of parental migration including being left behind in different stages of childhood, and being left behind by the father or the mother. The qualitative component consists of analyses of interviews with 32 caregivers (21 grandparents, 9 mothers, and 2 uncles/aunts), and children’s diaries (26 children aged 6-12, 21 left-behind children and 5 non-left-behind children) to explore the care-giving practices for left-behind children from the perspectives of a group of children and their caregivers in rural northern central China. Results of the quantitative analyses show negative associations between parental migration, especially maternal migration, and left-behind children’s nutritional outcomes indicated by anthropometric measures and macronutrient intakes, and this is particularly true for boys left behind during early life in rural China. The qualitative findings highlight the importance of socio-cultural factors, since there seems to be a paradox of intergenerational obligations for boys in a culture where sons are more valued than daughters. This is because parents migrate to save for their sons’ adult lives, reducing the remittances sent to support their sons who stay behind. There is less pressure to save for daughters’ adult lives and so more potential for remittances to support their nutrition. The research also recognizes the importance of grandparents as carers, and their experiences and beliefs about healthy eating for children. Grandparents, particularly on the paternal side, are expected to fulfil social obligations to care for left-behind grandchildren even without immediate financial returns. Inadequate financial support from the migrant parents of left-behind boys in rural China, in particular boys cared for by paternal grandparents, may result in greater risk of poor nutrition during the early childhood. This potentially renders such left-behind boys vulnerable to developmental delays. These findings are important for policy-makers to develop effective interventions to improve left-behind children’s nutritional well-being in rural China.

China is experiencing a dramatically increasing process of rural-urban migration, which is almost parallel with the phenomenal economic growth and development in China in the last decades. Given the massive scale of rural-urban migration in China, the health services access and health constraints not only matter to rural-urban migrants but also have important implications for broad public health concerns. However, this issue has not been paid enough attention in academic research. This study focuses on the multifaceted reality of health constraints and health services access among migrants by originally exploring the social strata, social networks, and the understanding of health and health services among migrants. The research questions are stated as follows: What constraints and difficulties do migrants face with respect to their health and health services access? Is there a hierarchical structure in health services access and medical treatment access among migrants? When there is a shortage of financial resources, do they resort to informal social support (such as informal social networks/ guanxi) to obtain help and why? What are their understanding and experience of health and why? Furthermore, this study investigates the health constraints and health services access of rural-urban migrants in the absence of equal social protection by the government. By conducting 36 qualitative interviews in Dengcun Village, a migrant community in Beijing, China, this paper: (1) Investigates issues concerning environmental health risks of migrants, their health seeking behaviours, and the constraints they encountered in accessing health services with respect to the social strata among migrants. It argues that the main obstacles to access health services are not only the shortage of financial resources among rural-urban migrants, but also lie in the institutional blindness regarding health security provision, rural-urban dualism and the household registration system in China. (2) Highlights the key function that social networks play in health and health services access among migrants in China, which has rarely been discussed in previous studies. Examines the range of social networks among migrants, from which they can acquire support, including financial and spiritual, when they are dealing with health problems. The study argues that social networks resemble a double-edged sword to rural-urban migrants in terms of health care access. The fact that migrants lack savings may not be the sole and essential reason for their extreme vulnerability in times of illness. Some migrants, who are in financial difficulties though, may have some assistance, including financial support and emotional support from their social networks. However, on the other hand, the assistance from social networks on their health and heath care access is limited, not only because their social networks is limited, but because the social networks should not bear the responsibility to support health services access of migrants, similar to or more than the state and migrants' employers. (3) Discusses the understanding of health among migrants, and further analyses that although many migrants have not formed proper understanding of the connotation of health and have limited knowledge of health, prime responsibility should not be put on the migrants because their poor understanding of health mainly results from their rural perspective while health and health services access depend on the social-economic environment in which they live and work.

Background: Almost all intellectual disabilities research is conducted in urban areas, and very little is known about the population of adults with intellectual disabilities living in rural areas. It is important to know whether there are significant rural-urban differences, in order to provide appropriate services and address inequalities. In particular, the general rural population is known to be disadvantaged with respect to access to healthcare and social exclusion. Adults with intellectual disabilities are also disadvantaged in these areas, and therefore adults with intellectual disabilities living in rural areas may have a double disadvantage. Method: A sample of adults with intellectual disabilities living in a rural area on the West Coast of Scotland participated in a face-to-face semi-structured interview; their medical notes were also accessed. Demographics, healthcare, access to services, daytime opportunities, access to community facilities, recent contact with others, the quality of personal relationships, and area deprivation by postcode were measured. Data were already available for a pre-existing urban sample. Data were analysed using direct comparison and binary logistic regression. Results: A representative sample of adults with intellectual disabilities from rural (n=39) and urban (n=633) areas were compared. There were no significant rural-urban differences over a wide range of variables including: age, gender, ethnicity, level of intellectual disabilities, mental ill health and common co-morbidities such as mobility, visual impairment, incontinence and epilepsy. Both direct comparison and binary logistic regression showed the rural sample to have had significantly more contact with primary (Odds Ratio = 4.02, 95% CI 1.56 -10.35, P = 0.004) and secondary health care (OR = 3.93, 95% CI = 1.81 – 8.55, P = 0.001.) Participants from rural areas were significantly more likely to have any regular daytime opportunity (Odds Ratio = 10.8, 95% CI = 2.3 – 51.5) including employment (OR = 22.1, 95% CI = 5.7 - 85.5) and attending resource centres (OR = 6.7, 95% CI = 2.6 – 17.2) than were participants from urban areas. They were also more likely to have been on holiday (OR = 17.8, 95% CI = 4.9 – 60.1); however, were less likely to use community facilities on a regular basis. Participants from urban and rural areas had a similar number of contacts with other people in a wide range of situations, but the quality of relationships may have been less close in rural areas. Finally, rural participants lived in significantly less deprived areas (Mann Whitney U = 7826, Z = -3.675, P ≤ 0.001). Conclusion: There were no significant demographic and health differences between the rural and urban samples. The study was underpowered with respect to some of these findings, and some results may reflect a Type II error. Nevertheless this is an important negative finding. Contrary to original hypothesis, the rural sample was found to have better access to healthcare services, had better opportunities and lived in less deprived areas than adults with intellectual disabilities living in urban areas. However, the results suggest that the rural sample may not have held such positive or close relationships, and this may be important when considering the subjective experience of social exclusion. Additional qualitative sub-study: A qualitative sub-study investigated the difficulties experienced with recruitment to the original study. 10 semi-structured telephone interviews were held with professionals who had helped with recruitment. These were transcribed verbatim and anonymised, then analyzed using the Framework approach. A number of themes arose, including participant factors (interview anxiety, worry about negative feedback), the importance of the researcher (using a personal approach, meeting potential participants prior to recruitment) and motivators (enjoyment of the research interview (participant), obtaining a medical assessment (carer)). The themes were then used to generate strategies to improve recruitment to intellectual disabilities research: these include the research team applying a more personal approach, and considering motivators for both participants and carers. The findings of this study have implications in terms of both time and money. However, successful recruitment is essential to intellectual disabilities research, and the results can be used by intellectual disabilities researchers to review and improve their recruitment processes.

Using a mixed methods, interdisciplinary case study approach, this research project explores the benefits, risks, and challenges of male migration for women who reside in San Juan Guelavía, Oaxaca, Mexico. In a unique approach in the field of migration studies, this project considers not only women whose husbands have migrated--absent husbands--but also the impact of male migration on women whose husbands have returned as well as women whose husbands have never left--anchored husbands. Women with returned husbands and even women with anchored husbands feel the threat, worry, and fear that male migration could, at an unknown point in the future, fragment their family. This case study approach looks at how women's work responses are differentiated by husbands' migration status, by age, and by husband's control over women's activities. Women with absent husbands tend be income-producing women as well as women ages 35 to 50 far more than women 35 and under and 50 and over. With motherhood as a cultured priority of rural Mexican women, women's income-producing opportunities are primarily limited to options within the home or in venues that can accommodate their children until the children enter school. Although this case study showed little or no connection between male migration and educational attainment, substantial policy-worthy findings suggest that the lack of value that residents of San Juan Guelavía place on the local public high school curriculum negatively impacts educational attainment of children beyond middle school. Women's traditional and cultural emphasis of marriage for their daughters as well as their reluctance to expose daughters to the negative influences of the city sway the decisions that women make for their daughters.

South Africa is currently experiencing ever-increasing rural-urban migration with many citizens from the former homeland areas migrating to cities to seek employment. Despite long-term residence in urban areas, many township dwellers do not consider these places to be home. Research into circular migration patterns reveal the lifelong relationships that migrants (amagoduka) have with their family home (ekhayeni). This study aimed to explore this relationship, looking in particular at the meanings imbued in the locality of home. In addition, the role of natural landscapes and social components in constructing meanings and attachments to ekhayeni for Xhosa-speaking migrants in Cape Town townships, who have family linkages to rural villages in the Transkei, was also explored. The study found that the landscape of home remains central to migrants’ cultural identity, belonging and well-being. Childhood experiences in nature, and cultural and recreational activities that continue to take rural inhabitants into these landscapes, remain key to this relationship. The rural area, as a geographical entity embodied with social and cultural/spiritual components continued to supply and satisfy many human needs for migrants, which were seen as crucial for psychological, mental and spiritual well-being.

This study explores the changing nature of filial piety in contemporary society in rural China. With the economic, social and political upheavals that followed the Revolution, can 'great peace under heaven' still be found for the rural Chinese family as in the traditional Confucian proverb,"make yourself useful, look after your family, look after your country, and all is peaceful under heaven"? This study explores this question, in terms not so much of financial prosperity, but of non-tangible cultural values of filial piety, changing familial and gender roles, and economic migration. In particular, it examines how macro level changes in economic, social and demographic policies have affected family life in rural China. The primary policies examined were collectivisation, the hukou registration system, marketization, and the One-Child policy. Ethnographic interviews reveal how migration has affected rural family structures beyond the usual quantifiable economic measures. Using the village of Meijia, Sichuan province, as a paradigmatic sample of family, where members have moved to work in the cities, leaving their children behind with the grandparents, the study demonstrates how migration and modernization are reshaping familial roles, changing filial expectations, reshuffling notions of care-taking, and transforming traditional views on the value of daughters and daughters-in-law. The study concludes that the choices families make around migration, child-rearing and elder-care cannot be fully explained by either an income diversification model or a survival model, but rather through notions of filial piety. Yet the concept of filial piety itself is changing, particularly in relation to gender and perceptions about the worth of daughters and the mother/ daughter-in-law relationship. Understanding these new family dynamics will be important for both policy planners and economic analysts.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the field of Demography and Population Studies.
Background: In exploring the relationship between migration and HIV/AIDS, a focus of earlier studies was on the role of the mobile population in the geographical spread of the disease. There has been a shift in this perception and the focus now is on the implications of being a migrant. A body of literature has developed on the risk of migrants contracting HIV, but only a few studies have examined the AIDS/TB mortality risk as a consequence of migration, with the results showing that migrants have higher chance of dying of AIDS/TB compared to their non-migrant counterparts. However, these studies mainly looked at the impact of migration on mortality due to AIDS/TB and did not make provision for the presence of other causes of death. Therefore, this study is geared towards investigating migration as it relates to death caused by AIDS/TB, longitudinally, and in the presence of other causes such as non communicable diseases, other infectious diseases, and external causes of death, in rural South Africa. Specifically, the study addressed the following questions: (i) What is the risk of dying from AIDS/TB among migrants in rural South Africa in the presence of other causes of death? (ii) How does this relationship compare with the relationship between migration and other causes of death? (3) What are possible predictors of the relationship between migration and AIDS/TB in the presence of other causes of death? Method: This research project is part of a longitudinal study of the inhabitants of the Agincourt sub-district, situated in the rural north-eastern part of South Africa. The study utilises the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System data spanning 12 years, starting from 1st January, 2000 to 31st December, 2011. The main target group for the study is individuals aged 20 to 69 years at the date of analysis. The selected individuals are divided into the following categories: (i) the return migrants who returned after spending a period of time outside the study area; (ii) the in-migrants who moved into the study location for the first time, and (iii) the permanent residents (non migrants). A six month residence threshold period is used to distinguish participants from ordinary visitors. The migration status categorical variable was further expanded from three to five categories with in-migrant and return migrant categories being split to accommodate short and long-term durations of exposure. In the year 2000, the baseline year, a total of 25,621 individuals who met the entry criteria were recruited into the study. For data analysis, a Fine and Gray model is used, which is a variant of a Cox proportional hazard model, to estimate the competing risk of dying among the selected participants by sex. The causes of death (CoD) variable was categorised into the following broad categories: “AIDS/TB”, “Non Communicable Disease”, “External cause” and “Other infectious disease”, with indeterminate causes coded as missing. The five categories of migration serve as the independent variable, with permanent residence acting as the reference group, while the broad Cause of Death categories are the main dependent variables. Other dependent variables are: period, nationality, education and socio-economic status. Results: This first set of results aims to address the question on the risk of AIDS/TB mortality among migrants in rural South Africa in the presence of other causes of death. The findings are that male and female short-term return migrants have significantly higher relative risk of dying of AIDS/TB death when compared to their non-migrants counterparts with sub-hazard ratio (SHR) of 4.87 (95% CI 4.17-5.72; P<0.001) and 5.44 (95% CI 4.64-6.38; P<0.001)) reported for both gender group respectively. For male and female long-term return migrants, their SHR was 1.80 (95% CI 1.43-2.26; P<0.001) and 2.06 (95% CI 1.57-2.70; P<0.001) respectively. The results did not reveal significant results for the in-migrants. The second set of results aims to address the second research question, which is, how does the relationship between migration and mortality caused by AIDS/TB in rural South Africa in the context of other causes of death compare with the relationship between migration and causes different from AIDS/TB. The results show that Short-term return migrants have higher mortality than non-migrants, whatever the four causes of mortality. For instance, the competing risk of death due to AIDS/TB for short-term return migrants compared to non-migrants showed a lower SHR for external cause of death, namely 8.78 (95% CI 5.86-13.16; P<0.05) vis-à-vis non-migrants. This implies that the difference in the relative risk of mortality between migrants and non migrants is even higher for external causes than for AIDS/TB. The same is applicable to the risk of death from other infectious diseases for females, which has a SHR of 4.97 (95% CI 2.50-9.89; P<0.05) in the competing risk model. The relative risk of death due to AIDS/TB for male is 4.87 (95% CI 4.14-5.72 P<0.001) while that of female is 5.44 (95% CI 4.64-6.38; P<0.001); respectively. With regards to the question on the possible predictors of the relationship between migration and AIDS/TB in the presence of other causes of death, it is shown that period is one of the predictors of the relationship between migration and AIDS/TB mortality. And, it is relevant to the study participants who died as a result of AIDS/TB, NCDs and other infectious diseases. In general, the risk dwindles in the latter period when the antiretroviral drugs become available for AIDS/TB. Nationality is also a determinant of the relationship and it is applicable to those who lost their lives due AIDS/TB (female only), NCDs and other infections (female). In all, the Mozambican nationals are less likely to die in comparison with the South Africans. Educational status is a predictor and it relevance cuts across virtually all the causes of death. The dominant pattern that is revealed in this context is that the higher the level of education, the lower the risk of death due to any of the causes. The predictive impact of SES can only be felt among the respondents whose death was due to AIDS/TB and NCDs (female only). Conclusion: With circular labour migration in South Africa showing no evidence of declining and with the attendant mortality risks due to AIDS/TB and other causes, and needs to be carefully considered - in policies aiming to control mortality in South Africa. Disease-induced migration creates burdens not only for the left-behind families in terms of their means of livelihood through loss of remittances, but also for the burden on health care facilities in the rural area. With short-term labour migrants being a high risk group, the success of intervention programmes addressing the problem of HIV infection and the resultant mortality implication, such as ‘treatment as prevention’ programmes, can only be guaranteed by recognising the risks incumbent on this group of people and the influence of the larger communities.
XL2018

"July 24, 2004"
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 297-319)
xix, 319 leaves : ill. (some col.), maps ; 30 cm.
Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, School of Social Sciences, Discipline of Geographical and Environmental Studies, 2004

This dissertation analyzes the economic and political transformation of America’s rural heartland after World War II. Examining the predominantly white, Protestant communities of southern Iowa and northern Arkansas, this dissertation shows how a prolonged economic crisis in the countryside gave rise to a grassroots pro-capitalist movement that came to dominate rural politics. Between 1920 and 1970, mechanization and scientific advancements pushed productivity in agriculture to remarkable levels. With capital investments replacing demand for labor, fewer workers were needed in farming. As job opportunities in agriculture disappeared, millions of people left rural areas. Country schools, churches, and businesses struggled to survive as populations dwindled. Many who stayed in rural communities suffered from widespread unemployment and poverty. Starting in the 1940s, small-town businessmen and state development experts proposed to solve this crisis by industrializing the countryside. Local boosters argued that newly acquired factories would stabilize rural areas by providing jobs for unemployed farmers and attracting new residents to small communities. Manufacturing payrolls were also expected to help local businesses by increasing consumer spending. In order to attract industrial plants, small-town business leaders modernized rural infrastructure—such as roads, sewers, and electrical systems—and improved civic institutions—including schools and hospitals. In the mid 1950s, these efforts began to pay off, as corporations started locating branch plants in rural areas. During the 1960s and 70s, rural America experienced an industrial boom, as many corporations left urban industrial centers in search of cheaper labor, lower taxes, and weaker unions. In the crucible of this campaign, small-town business leaders forged a unique political ideology that revolved around the imperatives of industrial development. To finance community and infrastructural upgrades, boosters argued for robust state and federal spending on vital improvements. Likewise, local elites favored economic planning over the free market, believing in rationally directed development. In order to lure capital investment, small-town business leaders manipulated the tax code to benefit corporate interests, while supporting legislation, such as anti-union right-to-work laws, that hampered organized labor. Local boosters also championed various governmental reforms meant to maximize efficiency and eliminate waste, concluding that this would produce enough revenue to fund necessary community improvements without raising taxes. In total, small-town business leaders believed that the central role of the American government was to spur capitalist development and private business growth. During the 1950s and 60s, small-town business leaders in southern Iowa and northern Arkansas campaigned to bring manufacturers to their communities, while also promoting their political vision within the countryside. As many depressed rural communities gained industrial plants during the 1960s, small-town business politics gained widespread popularity. In the late 1960s, the rural and small-town electorate united behind business backed “middle of the road” Republican politicians. Led by presidential candidate Richard Nixon, the GOP achieved a decisive political victory in 1968, winning electoral contests throughout America’s rural heartland. Since then, rural Americans have remained solidly Republican. However, GOP domination has been far from total. Starting in the mid 1970s, centrist Democrats competed for the rural electorate by embracing an economic agenda similar to their GOP rivals. After 1975, rural voters helped foster a bipartisan pro-business consensus, as both parties appealed to the countryside electorate by promising to spur economic growth with corporate friendly policies.

This dissertation presents research on three topics relating to how education is linked to economic development in China. The data are obtained from the 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2013 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS). The first essay examines the consequences of the Cultural Revolution. Using the 2003 and 2006 CGSS, the research is able to identify participants in a specific initiative, the “up to the mountains and down to the villages” movement (referred to as the Sentdown Campaign) and the length of time that they were involved in the initiative. The econometric results--including OLS, Heckit and 2SLS methods--provide evidence of substantial negative and long-lasting effects of the Cultural Revolution on education, labor force participation and personal income. Those who were involved in the Sentdown Campaign were found to be able to recoup some of these losses through the accumulation of education after they came back from rural areas, but these were generally not enough to compensate for the overall disruptions the Cultural Revolution caused on them. Furthermore, those who were sent down and stayed for more than five years in the countryside were not able to recuperate any lost years of schooling and, instead, suffered bigger losses in income than any of the other groups discussed in this essay. The second essay examines the attitudes of urban Chinese citizens towards migrants, as obtained using survey data from the 2005 CGSS. Estimating probit equations of the likelihood that the respondents in the sample had positive attitudes towards migrants, the research shows the connections between a range of explanatory variables and these attitudes. Educational attainment is not found to reduce negative attitudes towards migrants, a result that is different from the literature on the determinants of attitudes towards immigrants in recipient countries. The research also finds that as migrant presence grows in workplaces and neighborhoods, urban residents actually become more positive in their attitudes towards migrants. Gender is also found to have a significant impact on attitudes towards migrants. Men tend to have much more positive attitudes towards migrants, perhaps because social conventions frown against urban women having friendships with migrant men, or because the marriage market in urban China favors urban men marrying rural women. The third essay examines the role played by human capital in accounting for income growth in China between 2003 and 2013. An Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition of the growth in individual hourly income shows that the overall role played by human capital on income growth in China during this decade is significant for men but not for women. For men, human capital accounts for 0.1796 in log-income change between 2003 and 2013, which given the total log-income change in this time period for men was 0.9160, represents close to 20 percent of the growth in income in the country. For women, the impact is small and actually negative, equal to -0.0433 out of the 0.8435 increase in log-income during the decade, a result that is mostly the outcome of declining rates of return to education among females.