(Correspondent Ding Xinyu) The 53rd Xi Xian Forum, sponsored by Zhongnan University of Economics and Law's Innovation and Talent Base for Income Distribution and Public Finance and the School of Public Finance and Taxation, was successfully held on May 16, 2024, in Wenqin Building's Conference Room 119. During the forum, Professor Scott Rozelle from Stanford University of the US served as a keynote speaker and delivered a speech named 'Why Common Prosperity is Needed More than Ever: How the Rural-Urban Divide Threatens China's Rise'. The event, moderated by Li Shanshan, a researcher from the Innovation and Talent Base for Income Distribution and Public Finance at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (ZUEL), saw over 40 attendees. These included Professor Lu Yuanping, the Executive Director of the base, Professor Sun Qunli, Professor Ma Yuanyuan, Associate Professor Zhao Ying, Associate Professor Sun Yukun, and Associate Professor Yan Weibo from the School of Public Finance and Taxation, Associate Professor Wang Junpeng from the School of Public Administration and researchers Wan Xin, Wan Qian, Zou Wei, Zou Jianwen, and Yang Xiaoliang from the base, along with other faculty and students.
In China's pursuit of economic growth and common prosperity, addressing the issue of inadequate human capital in rural areas presents a significant challenge. Specifically, greater emphasis is required on the early development of children aged 0-3 in rural regions. Some studies highlight substantial room for enhancing educational achievements among rural students of school age who tend to lag behind their urban peers in enrollment rates and standardized test scores. Professor Scott Rozelle's research, drawing on 2010 census data and 19 datasets encompassing over 130,000 children across ten provinces, along with the study on rural child development interventions in Shaanxi, Gansu, Yunnan, and other areas, delves deeply into the reasons behind the inefficient rural child development, influencing factors, and governmental responses. Professor Scott Rozelle aims to find risk elements and intervention effectiveness for the early development of children in rural areas and explore policy-driven solutions for corresponding issues. A cluster randomized intervention trial was conducted in the research to assess different parenting interventions covering nutritional supplementation and educational assistive technologies. Through a comparison of cognitive skills, language proficiency, and social-emotional development between children in the experimental and control groups, the research team quantified the interventions' impact. The research also measured changes in parenting input, knowledge, and beliefs to understand the causal mechanism behind intervention effectiveness. The findings indicated that all parenting interventions had a positive and significant effect on cognitive skills among infants and young children in rural areas and increased their parents' willingness to invest in education and enhance their knowledge. This vital insight offers robust empirical backing for coping with the developmental disparities among rural and urban children. Addressing early childhood development is crucial for achieving common prosperity and driving sustainable economic and social progress, and also demands immediate attention.
Professor Scott Rozelle's wonderful speech sparked profound reflections among the faculty members and students on-site. The faculty members and students actively participated in the discussion session, sharing their insight on the research background, empirical findings, and related topics.
Speaker Profile
Scott Rozelle is the Helen F. Farnsworth Senior Fellow and the co-director of Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research at Stanford University. His research focuses almost exclusively on China and is concerned with: agricultural policy, including the supply, demand, and trade in agricultural projects; the emergence and evolution of markets and other economic institutions in the transition process and their implications for equity and efficiency; and the economics of poverty and inequality, with an emphasis on rural education, health and nutrition. Rozelle's papers have been published in top academic journals, including Science, Nature, American Economic Review, and the Journal of Economic Literature. In recognition of his outstanding achievements, Rozelle has received numerous honors and awards, including the Friendship Award in 2008, the highest award given to a non-Chinese by the Premier; and the National Science and Technology Collaboration Award in 2009 for scientific achievement in collaborative research.