Publications

Urban parks improve quality of life by providing an array of cultural and natural ecosystem services, such as maintaining biodiversity, reducing air pollution, and benefiting residents' physical and mental states. Although government invests a large amount of capital into park management, parks are still underused in many cases. In this study, the association and relative importance of socio-demographic, environmental, and individual factors were investigated with regards to their impact on citizens' park visitation. Data was collected through cross-sectional door-to-door questionnaires and online databases, and was analyzed using a hierarchical regression model. Results showed that physical exercise (27.4% of collected reports) and rest and relaxation (26.7%) were the two most widespread reasons for park use. When asked about constraints of park visitation, time limitations were reported as being the most constraining factor. However, our quantitative analysis found no significant correlation. Socio-demographic, environmental, and individual variables explained 1%, 20% and 26% (adjusted R2) of the total variance in frequency of park visitation between participants, respectively. A citizen's neighborhood greenspace, housing price, and distance from the nearest park were negatively correlated with park use. Among individual factors, a participant's reported affinity for park visits, time spent in their residential greenspace, and number of children under seven were positively correlated with park visitation, with a decreasingβcoefficient. This research highlights the predominant contribution of attitude over accessibility factors when it comes to park visitation. Furthermore, the data indicates that accessibility factors function differently for frequent, infrequent, and moderate park users and provision with parks within 1000 m of their home is recommended. The findings have implications for park management and future research.

Journal Articles

The Impact of Teacher Credentials on Student Achievement in China

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China Economic Review, 2015

Journal Articles

How Do Exchange Rate Movements Affect Chinese Exports: A Firm-Level Investigation

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Journal of International Economics, 2015

Journal Articles

The Impact of Vocational Schooling on Human Capital Development in Developing Countries: Evidence from China

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The World Bank Economic Review, 2015

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Safety of Spectacles for Children's Vision: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial

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American Journal of Ophthalmology, 2015

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Intended And Unintended Consequences Of China’s Zero Markup Drug Policy

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Health Affairs, 2015

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Non-use of health care service among empty-nest elderly in Shandong, China: a cross-sectional study

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BMC Health Services Research, 2015

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Impact of Childcare and Eldercare on Off-farm Activities in Rural China

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China & World Economy , 2015

Journal Articles

Soil-Transmitted Helminths in Southwestern China: A Cross-Sectional Study of Links to Cognitive Ability, Nutrition, and School Performance among Children

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PLOS Negleted Tropical Diseases, 2015

Journal Articles

Realizing the Values of Natural Capital for Inclusive,Sustainable Development: Informing China’s New Ecological Development Strategy

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PNAS, 2015

Significance
Understanding costs and benefits to multiple stakeholders, and how they change through time, is essential to designing effective conservation and human development policies. Where, when, and to whom benefits are delivered are rarely analyzed, however. We examine one of China’s conservation–development policies—the Relocation and Settlement Program of Shaanxi Province (RSP)—drawing insights of broad relevance. Although the RSP benefits the municipal government, downstream water consumers, and global beneficiaries, the short-run costs to local households and the municipal government greatly exceed these benefits. Moreover, poor households are unable to pay the upfront costs and have difficulty participating. The RSP is well designed to reduce local ecological pressure and enhance human development, but its effectiveness could be strengthened in key ways.

Abstract
Ideally, both ecosystem service and human development policies should improve human well-being through the conservation of ecosystems that provide valuable services. However, program costs and benefits to multiple stakeholders, and how they change through time, are rarely carefully analyzed. We examine one of China’s new ecosystem service protection and human development policies: the Relocation and Settlement Program of Southern Shaanxi Province (RSP), which pays households who opt voluntarily to resettle from mountainous areas. The RSP aims to reduce disaster risk, restore important ecosystem services, and improve human well-being. We use household surveys and biophysical data in an integrated economic cost–benefit analysis for multiple stakeholders. We project that the RSP will result in positive net benefits to the municipal government, and to cross-region and global beneficiaries over the long run along with environment improvement, including improved water quality, soil erosion control, and carbon sequestration. However, there are significant short-run relocation costs for local residents so that poor households may have difficulty participating because they lack the resources to pay the initial costs of relocation. Greater subsidies and subsequent supports after relocation are necessary to reduce the payback period of resettled households in the long run. Compensation from downstream beneficiaries for improved water and from carbon trades could be channeled into reducing relocation costs for the poor and sharing the burden of RSP implementation. The effectiveness of the RSP could also be greatly strengthened by early investment in developing human capital and environment-friendly jobs and establishing long-term mechanisms for securing program goals. These challenges and potential solutions pervade ecosystem service efforts globally.