Study on the Rural Human Resource Development Influence Factors and the Policies Response: Evidence from Chongqing City

[a] Postgraduate， mainly engaged in local government and human resource management. School of political science and public management， Southwest University， Beibei， Chongqing， China.

[b] Professor of public management， mainly engaged in local government management and public policy. School of political science and public management， Southwest University， Beibei， Chongqing， China.

* Corresponding author.

Supported by Southwest University humanities and social science research base project of 2011 （No.11SKB33） and Southwest University fundamental research funds for the Central Universities fund project of 2012 （No.SWU1209456）.

Received 30 June 2013； accepted 20 August 2013.

Abstract

This article designs the government， rural human resources and market three factors， based on the existing research results. Through the questionnaire survey， using statistical methods to analyze the influencing factors of Chongqing rural human resources development. On this basis， from the government， human resources， market to put forward the Chongqing rural human resources development policy.

Key words： Rural human resources development； Influence factors； Policy response； Empirical analysis

INTRODUCTION

Human resources， a kind of major resource for human society， have been making big contributions to economic and social development. Rural human resources as an important part of human resources play a very important role in the process of new urbanization and rural construction. To make these resources fully utilized， a complete system must be developed to accumulate human capital and expand its ability. Rural human resources development is inclusive of all activities in the rural human resources for education， training and health care， etc. Rural human resource surely affected by many factors is not isolated. The key to rural human resources development lies in analyzing the relevant determinants and the corresponding influence power.

Research on human resource development， originated in the twenty or thirty’s of the twentieth Century， abroad is earlier， it has achieved fruitful results and practical experience. Early， research on human resources based on industrial psychology research， then more research payed attention to human capital. The early nineteen sixties， the United States of America economist Theodore Schultz put forward the theory of human capital， he thought： one’s human capital growth （the knowledge， skills， physical health， improving quality） made a contribution to economic compared with physical capital and labor to economic growth much more important（Schultz， 1961）. Gary Becker thought： the human capital was the embodiment of people’s skills and production knowledge stock and was directly related to the level of cultural knowledge， occupation skill training， relevant experience with economic characteristics and the quality of the population in the workers on the comprehensive performance； the investment of human capital needed to consider the current economic benefits and future economic benefits （Becker， 1964）. Renowned economist Marshall pointed out： human investment was the most valuable in all kinds of investments； father invested in education and study was prepared for the future work and profit which was similar to invest in the construction of factories in order to obtain the benefits （Marshall， 1965）. Searl studied the effects of on-the-job training to the human capital formation （Searl， 1996）. Edward Dennison studied the contribution of education to economic growth（Denison， 2001）.

Chinese experts have studied the influence factors of rural human resource： the first were institutional and policy factors. The household registration system under the influence of two urban and rural dual system influenced the rural human resources development， but the influence on the decline， the effect of rural management system was increasing （Lu， 2004； Chen， 2004； Dou， 2005； Pei， 2007； Hu， 2009）. The second was the rural education and health care. Effect of basic education and occupation education on the development of rural human resources was huge， the mental health status of medical and health conditions also affected the rural human resources（Dou， 2005； HU， 2009； Shen， 2011； Chao， 2013）. The third was the social cultural environment. Rural culture and ideology influenced on Rural Human Resources Development indirectly and continuously （Mao， 2006； Qu， 2005； Hu， 2009； Jiang， 2011）. The fourth was the rural economy. Two dual economic structure in urban and rural areas led to the rural economy is backward that affected rural human resources development， the development of modern agriculture and township enterprises promoted the development （Chen， 2004； Wen， 2006； Wang， 2006； Chao， 2013）. The fifth was the rural population and their quality. The vast rural population and farmer’s quality weaken and skills shortage had a direct impact on the development of rural human resources （Chen， 2004； Zhang， 2005； Dou， 2005； Shen， 2011）.

Overview of existing research on the human resource development， they mainly focused on the theoretical aspects of the topic， education and human resources development， the relationship between human capital investment and economic growth， but few studies devoted to the exploitation of rural human resource. So there were some groundbreaking research on rural human resources development in China. But the domestic research of the rural human resources development was more qualitative research， quantitative research was less. Devoted to the study of factors affecting rural human resources development in Chongqing city were very rare. This was the paper’s research value. Based on the domestic and foreign existing research result and combined with the actual Chongqing rural human resources development， the paper designed three dimensions influence factors which were government， rural human resources and market， from the perspective of stakeholders of rural human resources development.

1. THE INVESTIGATION SUBJECTS AND METHODS

The survey used a combination of random sampling and cluster sampling methods， 23 villages in 10 districts and counties of Chongqing carries on the questionnaire survey as the sampling frame. A total of 750 questionnaires were issued， 720 questionnaires were taken back， 700 were the valid questionnaires， the effective recovery rate was 93.3%. The proportion of male subjects was 54.1%， female 45.9%， aged 20 and below accounted for 5.4%， 20-40 years old accounted for 44.4%， 40-60 years old accounted for 39.7%， 60 years of age accounted for 39.7%. Primary school and below accounted for 36.2%， accounted for 40.9% of junior high school degree， high school degree accounted for 17%， university degree and above 5.9%.Using SPSS for Windows software （version 19） to do corresponding treatment， the paper mainly used descriptive statistical analysis method.

2. THE RESULTS OF THE SURVERY AND ANALYSIS

2.1 Government Influenced on Chongqing Rural Human Resources Development

The government who acted as a leader of the rural human resources development impacted the rural human resources development deeply. The paper mainly from three aspects that included institution factors， policy factors and management factors to analysis its influence on the rural human resources development.

2.1.1 Institution Factors Influenced on Chongqing Rural Human Resources Development

（1） Rural household register had a little impact on employment. Close to 20% of the people thought that rural household register hinder its job to a large extent， nearly half of the people thought that it would not hinder its job， 37% thought that “a little， but not great”. Thus rural household register was not an important factor in rural human resources development， so it had a little influence on Chongqing rural human resources development.

（2） The circulation of rural land had accelerated the outflow of talents. Nearly half of the people had land and farmed by their own； 20% of farmers without land， 15% of the people’ s all or a part of the land requisitioned by the local government， 15% of the people went out land. A large number of land requisition and most of the young migrant farmers went out for a job， the land had been transferred to others in farming， they leaded to rural human resources loss， especially the countryside young college students would not return to the rural areas， the loss of a large number of rural talents leaded to rural human capital stock decline （Figure 1）.

（3） The implementation of the rural medical security， but medical burden was not small. 63.7% farmers’ medical expense took their own most after illness， the government payed small part， up to 30.3% of the farmer would take all medical expenses， only 6% said that small part， the government most. Medical insurance in rural areas had not been fully implemented， medical insurance played a small role in solving farmers medical expenses， rural human resources had not been well developed for one of the important reason was that farmer had not been very good at solving their worry， most of the money would be great stored to prevent disease.

2.1.2 The Effect of Policy on Chongqing Rural Human Resources Development

（1） The government’s help who gave the farmer policy aid was deficiency. 47.9% respondents thought that the government did not provide any subsidies and help for the development of rural human resources. The government gave a little financial support， knowledge and skill training and policy aid， farmer was not very satisfy on the government’s support and help， the role of the government was limited.

（2） Nine years free compulsory education took a little effect on peasant family. Nearly 2/3 of farmers considered free compulsory education did not improve their children knowledge level， 32.1% of farmers considered free compulsory education had no influence on their family and children， the quality of free compulsory education in rural areas must further improve. 21.6% thought that free compulsory education burdens worsened， the increase of the kind of fees， living expenses， books fees brought farmer economic duty burden， free compulsory education policy in rural areas did not play very good expected utility.

2.1.3 Effects of Government Management on Chongqing Rural Human Resources Development

（1） The specialized government management agencies and personnel absented. Respondents believed the government has the specialized agencies or personnel responsible for farmers’ employment and income work accounted for 47% proportions， and the 36% that was not useful basically， more than half of the select no， far more than the choice of some proportion， it showed that specialized agencies that services for the rural human resources government was lack.

（2） Skills training and employment information were lack of publicity. Selecting “no attention” and “not see”the information of respondents over half， the ratio reached 55%， which indicated that the local government was lack of understanding and hard work， the information publicity efforts were not enough， it hindered the communication of information. The 36% choice propaganda form than content， the proportion was far higher than that of great. In a certain extent that the relevant government policy information wasn’t do a good job， let the masses was not satisfied.

（3） The performance of the government and close tied with the masses were not enough. 70% of the farmers thought that leader needed to go to grassroots and in-depth first-line， 61% of the peasants thought that the government should take more care of the interests of farmers to improve their condition， and about 51% of the farmers wanted the government to improve their working methods to become more enthusiastic and diligence， about 40% of the farmers hoped to strengthen communication and contacted with the government. It showed that farmers hoped that government departments should pay more attention to the rural and the interests of farmers， more practical， more communicated with people and improved the government work style and should be in close contact with the masses to strengthen and improve government services.

2.2 The Rural Human Resources Impacted on Chongqing Rural Human Resources Development The rural human resources as the direct participant in human resource development belonged to the inner edge effect， it directly affected the outer edge effect. Three aspects factors which included the school education， occupation training， Capital investment awareness impacted on the development of rural human resources.

2.2.1 School Education had Gained Greater Attention

Most farmers realized the importance of education. 79.3% of the people thought that children should go to university and further， 11.7% of the people thought that reading to high school was good， 5.1% people chose junior high school， only 1.9% of the people thought no need to study which was useless. Rural farmers education for children had attracted attention due to the education level of their own cultural quality was very low， farmers were willing to invest in the children education problems， “university” select options Respondents said that as long as the child could read university， they were willing to support their further study.

2.2.2 Caution in Participating in Skills Training

64% farmers were willing to participate in skills training in reasonable condition， the 36% would not participate in whether the price was reasonable or not， most human resources through that the training to upgrade their skills could obtain more employment opportunities. Most people chose to wait-and-see attitude， they were willing to favor which could effectively help to gain survival skills and they would be cautious of the human capital investment appeared.

2.2.3 They were Lack of Human Capital Investment Consciousness

When thought of farmer own income was not ideal， 34.3% of the respondents chose the village where the remote location， traffic inconvenience； 57.1% of the respondents chose the lack of funds； 52.4% of the respondents chose the lack of knowledge and technology； 13.7% of the respondents chose the hard work was not enough； 29.9% thought the children burden was too heavy； 16.1% respondents chose other reasons. Because of the lack of funds， the majority of people would be unable to continue to accept the knowledge and skills training， and they failed to notice some of the knowledge and skills of the return in the short term， so they thought that education and training spent the money. So they would prefer to solve the needs of production according to choosing other ways rather than invest in human capital， it caused lack of knowledge and funds.

2.3 Market Impacted on Chongqing Rural Human Resources Development

Market as an important factor affected the rural human resources development， three aspects market factors that included the sources of income and agricultural products processing method， township enterprises， way of finding a job influenced the development of rural human resources.

2.3.1 Sources of Income and Agricultural Products Processing Mode Was Single

Income of 45.1% respondents came from working income， 22% people from the agricultural， income was mainly through the work instead of agricultural income. Changing in number and yield of rural land， agricultural income could not support the farmer’s family life， many farmers were out to work to support the family. Survey of 238 people who had lost land， accounting for 34% of the total，296 processing products were eaten up by their own where 562 people who had the land， only 128 people would be scattered to sell agricultural products， the enterprise who purchased agricultural products was only 3.7%. Now most of the rural people were in less land or had no land because of small scale， scattered production had not formed the unified market.

2.3.2 Township Enterprises Absorbed Small Farmers’ Employment

The village 243 villagers said that they would not be employed near the town enterprise， 291 people said few， 154 people said most， accounted for 34.7%， 41.6% and 22% of the total number of respondents. The number of employment for villagers in near was a small part showed near rural township enterprises absorbed a little part of the employment of local farmers.

2.3.3 The Building of the Labor Market Affected Farmer Employment Locally

“In the local working for themselves” for the entire investigation was 43.7% and through the “foreign enterprises to local recruitment” accounted for only 2.7%， we could see that the villagers mainly employment way was employed all by themself， because of a lag in the construction of rural labor market， local recruitment demand was very a little. It showed that the rural human resources was outflow， external directly to the local recruitment demand was less， most of the local farmers would farm in local place， others would be mainly engaged in some low technical agricultural products sold or retail.

3. POLICY RESPONSE

3.1 Transforming the Functions of Government Leading Rural Human Resources Development

The government needed to adhere to the urban and rural areas， vigorously promote the integration of urban and rural construction and lead the rural human resources development. First was the change of government’s function， strengthen the function of service， attached great importance to the development of rural human resource. Taking the initiative to care about the three agricultural problems， government should go to basic level to be in close contact with the masse and improve the rural public service and fairly treat rural human resources in all aspects of the interests. Second was to accelerate the innovation system construction， such as household registration system， medical and health care system， land system， education system， employment system， social security system. Vigorously promoting the reform of the household registration system and the integration of urban and rural household registration to reduce differences that caused by household registration gradually， reforming the land system， social security system， and achieving a breakthrough in the other supporting system. Third was to strengthen policy support， especially the strengthening of the compulsory education and training of farmers in rural areas. Developing rural human resources from the policy， training， subsidies， and strengthen support， increasing investment in rural education to improve rural free compulsory education， and through the implementation of such as “sunshine project”and other projects to strengthen the farmer training.

3.2 Strengthening the Consciousness of Rural Human Resources Investment in Human Resources Rural human resources should change idea， behavior and initiative and enthusiasm to increase investment in human capital. First was to broaden the rural human resource income ways to promote the increase of farmers’ income. Promoting the construction of new socialist countryside， accelerating the pace of integration of urban and rural， and gradually eliminating the impact of two structure in urban and rural areas. Accelerating rural family farms， agricultural cooperatives and rural miniature enterprise more channels to increase the farmers’ income. Second was to actively guide the rural human resources change their traditional ideas and set up consciousness of human capital investment. The introduction of new ideas and thought to change their local consciousness and widespread smallholder consciousness. The third was to investment and external assistance way to increase basic education years， increase their employment training and educational opportunities and the occupation skill. Continuously improving self quality， promoting Chongqing countryside human resources overall human capital stock in order to enhance their competitiveness.

3.3 Adding Orderly Flow of Rural Surplus Labor by Means of Market

The market played a basic and security function that could promote the free flow of talent in urban and rural areas and speed up the transfer of rural surplus labor force. First was to actively create conditions to transfer rural surplus labor force. Through the construction of non-agricultural industry platform to actively guide the orderly flow of rural surplus labor force， making the market main body as well as the role of intermediaries to broaden the way of the transfer of rural surplus labor force. Second was to construct agricultural product market management platform. Establishing urban and rural benign interaction mechanism of market regulation to gradual build implementation of joint production and focus on sales， developing agricultural economy to promote the development of rural human resources， with the remote acquisition. Third was to use of market forces to improve rural infrastructure， strengthen the building of a new socialist countryside， developing specifically for the intermediary service institutions of rural human resources to increase the various types of services.

CONCLUSION

Through investigation and analysis of the above， we may ultimately determine the relationship between the three principal factors of Chongqing rural human resources development was the government， the rural human resources itself and market. Rural human resources development was affected by three main different degrees. Firstly， in the current two structure in urban and rural areas， the great difference between town and country and farmer were lack of awareness and ability of rural human resource shortage， all levels of government regulation， policy support， system construction， platform， information transfer and public service were the most important and key. Therefore， especially the grass-roots government changed their functions， strengthened the construction of service-oriented government to promote the change of market environment and improve farmer awareness played a dominant role. Secondly， it needed to pay attention to the rural inner edge effect， especially the rural human resource itself. A government’s “blood transfusion” was not enough， it also needed to own the rural human resources “hematopoietic” and played the main function should be attached importance to the rural human resources. Thirdly， market foundation and guarantee role in rural human resource development could not be ignored. So in these factors， the government was the dominant， the rural human resources was the main body， and the market was the guarantee， the specific impact model was shown in Figure 6.

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