On December 10, 2020, the seventh session of " Xixian Forum of Income Distribution and Public Finance", co-organized by the School of Public Finance and Taxation and Innovation Base for Income Distribution and Public Finance of ZUEL, was successfully held in Conference Room 127 of Wenqin Building. Professor Wei Lijia from Economics and Management School, Wuhan University was the keynote speaker of the forum, giving a talk entitled Cooperation and trust of children in China's low-income rural areas: an experimental study. The forum was chaired by Professor Lu Yuanping, Executive Deputy Director of the Innovation Base for Income Distribution and Public Finance. Dr. Wan Xin, Dr. Zhang Fan and Dr. Liu Erpeng participated in this forum.
Through the research method of experimental economics, Professor Wei conducted an in-depth study on the cooperation and trust of children in poor rural areas of China, using Guyuan County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province (a national poverty-stricken county) as an example. In his presentation, Professor Wei firstly elaborated on his research background and the contributions of relevant studies at domestic and international level, and pointed out that there are currently few studies in China that use experimental economics to dissect the impact of poverty on child nurturing and development. Professor Wei then gave a specific presentation on the experiments of his project to the students and faculty present. A total of 706 students from four primary schools in Guyuan County were selected to be tested, based on the criteria of receiving the rural "low income guarantee" and the "Free miscellaneous fees, Free books and Subsidised living expenses" for poor rural students. Experimental methods are used to create an intervention and environment that resembles a real field, and the experimental data obtained is collated and analysed. The study found that children in poor left-behind families in rural China were significantly less likely to be cooperative and trusting than children in non-poor families.
At the end of the presentation, Professor Wei also shared his ongoing research related to the transmission of anti-pandemic spirit with the students and faculty. Professor Wei also expressed his hope to work closely with the faculty of the base in the future, to conduct in-depth research on issues such as income distribution and public finance from the perspective of experimental economics.
Professor Wei's lecture captivated the students and faculty on site, and there was active interaction and exchange. Based on the questions from the students and faculty, Professor Wei answered questions about the criteria for determining poverty, the selection and classification of subjects and the design of scenarios in the experiment. At the end, the students and faculty expressed their gratitude to Professor Wei for this wonderful sharing with a round of applause.