Journal of Rural Studies最新文献

Regional drivers or local constraints? Spatial patterns and development pathways of specialized villages in Henan, China 区域性驱动因素还是地方性制约因素？河南特色村空间格局与发展路径

IF 5.7 1区社会学

Journal of Rural Studies Pub Date : 2025-10-04 DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103877

Nalin Wu , Zhanpeng Liang , Mengwei Liu , Jianuo Zhang , Yuchen Guo , Jiajun Qiao

{"title":"Regional drivers or local constraints? Spatial patterns and development pathways of specialized villages in Henan, China","authors":"Nalin Wu , Zhanpeng Liang , Mengwei Liu , Jianuo Zhang , Yuchen Guo , Jiajun Qiao","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103877","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103877","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Specialized Villages (SVs) have emerged as a pivotal strategy for rural revitalization in China. Yet, the regional conditions underpinning their formation and sustainability remain underexplored. This study examines the spatial heterogeneity and drivers of SV evolution in Henan Province, employing stepwise regression analysis, GeoDetector, and Shapley value decomposition to analyze the contributions and interactions of climate, accessibility, economic development, and governance factors on SV formation, disappearance, persistence, and new formation rates. Results reveal that higher rainfall and temperature stability promote SV persistence and formation by reducing production risks, while peripheral regions with improved road accessibility exhibit higher SV new formation rates and lower disappearance rates. Conversely, economically developed regions experience higher SV disappearance rates, highlighting the paradoxical interplay between prosperity and specialization sustainability. Strong grassroots leadership and regional branding capacity further enhance SV persistence. These findings underscore the importance of place-based strategies in SV planning, suggesting that aligning interventions with local climatic, infrastructural, and institutional conditions can foster sustainable rural specialization. The methodological framework provides a replicable approach for analyzing SV dynamics in diverse regional contexts, offering valuable insights for rural policy and planning under the broader goal of sustainable rural revitalization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"121 ","pages":"Article 103877"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145223592","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Understanding rural energy transitions through the spatial dynamics between rural change and energy system transformation 从农村变化与能源系统转型的空间动态关系看农村能源转型

IF 5.7 1区社会学

Journal of Rural Studies Pub Date : 2025-10-01 DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103895

Francesca Uleri , Federica Viganò , Monica Musolino

{"title":"Understanding rural energy transitions through the spatial dynamics between rural change and energy system transformation","authors":"Francesca Uleri , Federica Viganò , Monica Musolino","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103895","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103895","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Globally, rural areas provide resources and numerous locations for fueling the energy transition. Energy transitions have the potential to reshape the physical and social dimensions of rural territories. Despite evident interdependencies between the evolution of rurality and the progression of the energy transition in the rural world, the analysis of their interconnectedness remains markedly limited. The conceptualization of a ‘rural energy transition’ is still scarcely mentioned in social research, and the necessity of further attention to new rural spatialities characterized by processes of materialization and imagination of the energy transition is increasingly evident. By bringing together the analysis of energy transition and rural change – which usually appear as separate academic debates – this contribution seeks to understand the rural energy transitions by referring to Lefebvre's Theory of the Production of Space. In light of this, the paper proposes an analytical instrument for grasping and interpreting the complexity of the localized rural energy transitions in a novel integrative way that puts at the heart of its comprehension the relation of co-production between energy transition space and the totality of the rural space. The article offers a coherent approach for both analyzing rural energy transition by integrating material and immaterial dimensions, representations and imaginaries, and multiple social practices that are inevitably anchored to wider rural changes; and concomitantly understanding how they develop along a continuum ranging from extractive to emancipatory logics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"120 ","pages":"Article 103895"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145218933","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Mapping rural food poverty: The impact of rurality on consumers' access to food using an ‘at risk of food poverty index’ 绘制农村粮食贫困地图：利用“粮食贫困风险指数”研究农村对消费者获取粮食的影响

IF 5.7 1区社会学

Journal of Rural Studies Pub Date : 2025-09-29 DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103898

Natasha McClelland , Sinéad Furey , Paul McKenzie , Lynsey Hollywood

{"title":"Mapping rural food poverty: The impact of rurality on consumers' access to food using an ‘at risk of food poverty index’","authors":"Natasha McClelland , Sinéad Furey , Paul McKenzie , Lynsey Hollywood","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103898","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103898","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Food poverty (the inability to access sufficient, healthy food in a socially acceptable way) is a complex and multifaceted problem that is receiving considerable public and political attention. This research examined the structural causes of food poverty to determine if geographical disparities exist between rural and urban locations, in respect of food affordability, accessibility and availability, in the study region of Northern Ireland. This study developed an ‘At Risk of Food Poverty Index’ and utilised Geographic Information Systems to apply spatial analysis techniques to identify Census Small Areas at greatest potential risk of food poverty. The research found exposure to geographic variances in relation to food access impacts on food poverty risk. Results showed spatial variations exist in relation to rural and urban food poverty and rural dwellers face greater disadvantage in obtaining nutritionally adequate diets. The Index provides policymakers with a high-resolution model from which to target resources to vulnerable areas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"120 ","pages":"Article 103898"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145218932","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Mapping stakeholder dynamics: Understanding knowledge, values, and engagement in the Murray-Darling Basin 绘制利益相关者动态：了解墨累-达令盆地的知识、价值和参与

IF 5.7 1区社会学

Journal of Rural Studies Pub Date : 2025-09-28 DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103891

Paul Hong , Yongping Wei , Frederick Bouckaert , Kim Johnston , Brian Head

{"title":"Mapping stakeholder dynamics: Understanding knowledge, values, and engagement in the Murray-Darling Basin","authors":"Paul Hong , Yongping Wei , Frederick Bouckaert , Kim Johnston , Brian Head","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103891","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103891","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Poor implementation of stakeholder engagement (SE) in water governance has reduced decision-making legitimacy and damaged stakeholder relations. While many theoretical studies agree that the effectiveness of SE depends not only on the structure of the network but also on the composition of its stakeholders, these studies often remain largely conceptual and non-operational. We develop an explicit and quantitative approach to measuring and assessing stakeholders’ opinions and interests, knowledge and expertise, and engagement networks using content analysis, text mining, topic modeling, and social network analysis. The data were sourced from public comments (submissions) on water resources policy initiatives under the Basin Plan in the Murray–Darling Basin. We find that the agricultural sector, characterized by dominant participation, coherent knowledge, and highly negative opinions, exerted the greatest impact among all stakeholder groups. The federal government showed strong centralization but lacked efficiency and brokerage capacity. Academia and environmental advocacy groups demonstrated high knowledge diversity but scored low on coherence and participation. Indigenous individuals and groups consistently scored below average across all metrics except for knowledge diversity. Our approach provides a diagnostic lens to explicitly identify critical fragilities in SE configurations and offers practical insights to improve stakeholder engagement and governance outcomes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"120 ","pages":"Article 103891"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145218931","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Social innovation and their legitimation processes within rural developments in east Germany 东德农村发展中的社会创新及其合法化进程

IF 5.7 1区社会学

Journal of Rural Studies Pub Date : 2025-09-27 DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103889

Sabine Hielscher , Friederike Rohde

{"title":"Social innovation and their legitimation processes within rural developments in east Germany","authors":"Sabine Hielscher , Friederike Rohde","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103889","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103889","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Rural areas in Europe are frequently marked by limited economic opportunities, poor job prospects, and declining infrastructures, which sometimes stand in stark contrast to urban living conditions. In the new German federal states, rural areas are highly diverse, with significant variations in population density, proximity to major cities, and socio-economic conditions. Citizens living in these areas have been part of major social upheavals and needed to rebuild and reorganize civil society activities and infrastructures after the German reunification. Despite these challenges, some of these areas have increasingly become hubs for social innovation, where diverse groups of actors collaborate to develop creative responses to local and regional challenges. However, despite growing political interests in these activities, the legitimacy of civil society initiatives in new rural governance arrangements remains contested and ambiguous. Initiatives often lack local support. Significant efforts are required from civil society initiatives to showcase their relevance to local and regional actors and thus legitimize their ways of organizing, doing and thinking. Drawing on concepts linked to transformative social innovation, legitimation processes, and governance beyond the state, this study examines legitimation as part of social innovation processes between multiple actors and their translocal networks in rural areas and asks how they shape social changes in regional developments. Empirically, the study builds on case study work that was conducted in the Harz in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Our paper brings to the fore that legitimation is not merely a success factor or part of an empowerment process but a crucial prerequisite for civil society initiatives to drive change in new governance arrangements and institutionalize new ways of thinking, doing, and organizing.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"120 ","pages":"Article 103889"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145154199","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Digital capability and rural household development resilience: A double machine learning approach 数字能力与农村家庭发展弹性：双重机器学习方法

IF 5.7 1区社会学

Journal of Rural Studies Pub Date : 2025-09-27 DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103900

Hanjie Wang, Hao Leng, Wenpeng Huang, Jiali Han

{"title":"Digital capability and rural household development resilience: A double machine learning approach","authors":"Hanjie Wang, Hao Leng, Wenpeng Huang, Jiali Han","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103900","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103900","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper examines the effect of digital capability on the rural household development resilience. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), we first measure the development resilience of rural households using moment estimation, defined as the probability that a household's welfare exceeds a specified threshold at a given time. Subsequently, we employ the double machine learning model to evaluate the effect of digital capability on household resilience. The results indicate that digital capability significantly enhances the rural household development resilience. Further mechanism analyses reveal that digital capability boosts development resilience primarily through the effects of information acquisition, financial inclusion, income growth, and asset accumulation. Additionally, the resilience-enhancing effect of digital capability is particularly beneficial for disadvantaged groups with low level of development resilience, limited human capital and social capital, contributing to inclusive development. Accordingly, this paper argues that fostering digital capability is crucial for the sustainable development of rural households.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"120 ","pages":"Article 103900"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145154200","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

The impact of mental health on the technical efficiency of Chinese arable farmers 心理健康对中国耕地农民技术效率的影响

IF 5.7 1区社会学

Journal of Rural Studies Pub Date : 2025-09-26 DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103897

Shijia Kang , Fabian Frick , Johannes Sauer

{"title":"The impact of mental health on the technical efficiency of Chinese arable farmers","authors":"Shijia Kang , Fabian Frick , Johannes Sauer","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103897","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103897","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The importance of farmers' mental health has increasingly attracted the attention of researchers in recent years. Our study uses data from arable farmers in China to estimate the determinants of mental health and its impact on farm efficiency. We employ principal-component factor analysis to derive individual depression scores and an endogenous stochastic frontier model to robustly explore the relationship between farmers' mental health and their technical efficiency. We find that age, education, training, trust in surroundings, ICT use, and rural development are positively related to mental health, while low household income and household illness show negative associations. After addressing the endogeneity issue, mental health is positively related to farm efficiency, and this effect is moderated by farmers' education level and participation in off-farm activities. Having a male household head is negatively associated with decreased technical efficiency, while the age of the household head and trust in networks enhance it. Based on the results, policy recommendations include fostering farmers’ education and providing targeted support.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"120 ","pages":"Article 103897"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145154281","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Gender and credit: Inequalities in loan size and credit repayment performance? Evidence from Mali 性别与信贷：贷款规模和信贷偿还绩效的不平等？来自马里的证据

IF 5.7 1区社会学

Journal of Rural Studies Pub Date : 2025-09-23 DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103888

Johanna Deiß , Tim Ölkers , Oliver Mußhoff

引用次数: 0

Strategizing ecological sustainability in agricultural ecosystems: A systematic literature review on actor-specific practices and technologies 农业生态系统的生态可持续性战略：针对特定行为者的实践和技术的系统文献综述

IF 5.7 1区社会学

Journal of Rural Studies Pub Date : 2025-09-22 DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103893

Matthew Ayamga , Maria Carmela Annosi , Wilfred Dolfsma , Ayalew Kassahun , Bedir Tekinerdogan

{"title":"Strategizing ecological sustainability in agricultural ecosystems: A systematic literature review on actor-specific practices and technologies","authors":"Matthew Ayamga , Maria Carmela Annosi , Wilfred Dolfsma , Ayalew Kassahun , Bedir Tekinerdogan","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103893","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103893","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Environmental change presents escalating threats to food security and agricultural sustainability. Nevertheless, it remains ambiguous how firms—particularly farmers—respond strategically to these ecological challenges. Based on a systematic review of the literature, we examine: (1) the business strategies adopted within agricultural ecosystems to address challenges related to ecological sustainability, (2) the actors involved in implementing these strategies through specific practices, and (3) the technologies that facilitate these practices. We employ a mechanisms-based approach to analyze how these elements influence social interactions and resource utilization—natural, human, and technological—within agricultural ecosystems. Our findings reveal: (a) five business strategies implemented to address five specific challenges within agricultural ecosystems; (b) various actors operating interdependently at the micro, meso, and macro levels across each strategy to tackle these challenges; and (c) a combination of agricultural, mechanical, and digital technologies supporting actors’ specific practices within strategies aimed at addressing these challenges. By identifying the interdependencies among actors, practices, and technologies, we contributed to a more profound theoretical understanding of how agricultural ecosystems respond to ecological sustainability, particularly within rural contexts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"120 ","pages":"Article 103893"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145117739","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

The impact of extreme weather event on off-farm employment: Evidence from rural China 极端天气事件对非农就业的影响：来自中国农村的证据

IF 5.7 1区社会学

Journal of Rural Studies Pub Date : 2025-09-21 DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103894

Shaohua Wang , Haixia Wu , Yan Ge

{"title":"The impact of extreme weather event on off-farm employment: Evidence from rural China","authors":"Shaohua Wang , Haixia Wu , Yan Ge","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103894","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103894","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Climate change poses unprecedented challenges to rural livelihoods worldwide, yet how rural households adapt to extreme weather events through labor reallocation remains poorly understood. This study examines the impact of extreme weather events (EWEs) on off-farm employment transitions among rural households in China, using panel data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) spanning 2010–2020. We develop novel identification strategies to measure exposure to extreme precipitation events (EEPs) and heatwave events (HWEs) at the household level. Our findings reveal that EWEs significantly promote off-farm employment among rural households, serving as a key adaptation strategy to climate risks. This effect, however, is moderated by agricultural production conditions: mechanization amplifies households' ability to transition to off-farm work following weather shocks, while land transfer arrangements constrain such transitions. Furthermore, the impacts exhibit substantial heterogeneity across geographic and social contexts. In topographically diverse regions, persistent extreme precipitation reduces off-farm employment in agriculturally productive plains but increases it in vulnerable mountainous areas, while heat waves primarily drive labor transitions in plains where crops are more temperature-sensitive. Notably, households with female agricultural decision-makers demonstrate greater responsiveness to weather shocks compared to male-led households. These findings highlight the complex pathways through which climate change reshapes rural labor markets and suggest that effective adaptation policies must account for local agricultural systems, geographic constraints, and household characteristics to support resilient rural transformations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"120 ","pages":"Article 103894"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145099679","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0