From “fragile smallholders” to “resilient smallholders”: measuring rural household resilience in China

Strengthening rural household resilience (RHR) and bolstering their ability to withstand the impacts of risk are essential for advancing the modernization of rural areas in developing countries reliant on small-scale agrarian economies. Using the microdata from the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS), this study systematically measures and explores the rural household resilience index (RHRI) of China. The results indicate that: (1) Chinese RHRI exhibits a fluctuating upward trend over time and presents a pattern of clustered spatial distribution; (2) While the details of index evolution vary among the four major regions and eight agricultural zones, an improvement in resilience levels has been achieved; (3) High absorptive capacity and low stability characterize the current state of Chinese rural households, factors such as rural markets, economic organizations, rural gentry assistance, and collective operating income are the most important indicators influencing the RHRI; (4) The resilience level of Chinese rural households shows significant spatial correlation and variations, primarily driven by regional disparities. The main contribution of this study is to enrich and refine the construction, measurement, and interpretation of the resilience system for Chinese rural households. It also offers insights for the development and response strategies of rural household in other regions of the world.