Business Commons^™

Providing Rural Public Services Through Land Commodification: Policy Innovations And Rural-Urban Integration In Chengdu, Qian Forrest Zhang, Jianling Wu

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Zhang and Wu offer a detailed account of the innovative local policies in Chengdu, China, where a national land-use policy that has created widespread problems in other trial areas has been turned into a positive, transformative force in rural reconstruction. There are three key innovations in this so-called ‘Chengdu model’: First, leveraging on the most important resource in rural area, land, and through the commodification of land development rights, creating a financial source that can fund rural public services provision; second, transforming traditional rural residential patterns and concentrating the rural population in newly built residential communities; and, finally, using both …

Broadband And Mobile Internet Services In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: 2016 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy

Nebraska Rural Poll

Most rural Nebraskans use their cell phone to access the Internet. Certain groups are more likely than others to use mobile/cellular Internet service: rural Nebraskans with the highest household incomes, who are younger, married, with higher education levels and with management or professional occupations.

Overall, most rural Nebraskans using mobile/cellular Internet service are satisfied with their service. Furthermore, most rural Nebraskans are satisfied with the reliability, speed, customer service, and coverage of their mobile Internet service. However, most rural Nebraskans using mobile Internet service are dissatisfied with the price of their service.

Certain groups have issues with various aspects of …

Understanding The Failure Of China’S Specialized Cooperatives In China, Zhanping Hu, Qian Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

At first blush, contemporary China seems ripe for the rapid development of agricultural cooperatives. After all, cooperatives have not only enjoyed a long history in China, but the country’s recent experience with agricultural communes should make it more amenable to the reestablishment of joint production and spontaneous bottom-up cooperation. Agricultural cooperatives in China date to the 1930s, as Rural Reconstruction Movement advocates promoted cooperatives as a “third road” between capitalism and socialism. Although Mao’s regime disbanded most bottom-up cooperatives, rural cooperatives began to reemerge in rural China by the end of the 20th century, particularly after 1998, when farmer cooperatives …

Perceptions Of Well-Being In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: 2016 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy

Nebraska Rural Poll

Rural Nebraskans continue to feel positive about their current situation. Just over one-half (52%) of rural Nebraskans believe they are better off than they were five years ago (holding steady from 53% last year, the highest proportion in all 21 years of this study, tied in 2008). And, rural Nebraskans’ outlook on their future continues to be optimistic. Almost one-half of rural Nebraskans (46%) believe they will be better off ten years from now. In addition, most rural Nebraskans disagree that people are powerless to control their own lives. This year, 55 percent strongly disagree or disagree with that statement. …