Regional Expertise

In addition to the most pressing issues of the day, scholars at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies focus their research on many regions of the world, from Beijing to Brazil.

Research Spotlight

Students in China participate in the National College Entrance Exam

The Ripple Effects of China’s College Expansion on American Universities

Researchers at SCCEI trace how China’s unprecedented expansion of higher education has impacted U.S. graduate education and local economies surrounding college towns.

Nayib Bukele and Gabriela Roberta Rodríguez de Bukele, president and first lady of El Salvador, wave to supporters from a balcony.

Does the Bukele Model Have a Future?

While Nayib Bukele's style of authoritarianism may have some successes on paper, Beatriz Magaloni and Alberto Diaz-Cayeros argue that the regime is headed for a reckoning.

Time for Iran to Make a No-enrichment Nuclear Deal

The time has come for Iran’s leaders to reconsider their past intransigent, deceptive posture and instead pursue a nuclear power program that will benefit the Iranian people, write Abbas Milani and Siegfried Hecker.

Featured Faculty

https://aparc.fsi.stanford.edu/people/karen_eggleston

Karen Eggleston

Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

Deputy Director, Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center

Eggleston Full Bio

https://cddrl.fsi.stanford.edu/people/beatriz_magaloni

Beatriz Magaloni

Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

Professor of Political Science

Magaloni Full Bio

https://reap.fsi.stanford.edu/people/scott_rozelle

Scott Rozelle

Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

Co-Director, Rural Education Action Program

Rozelle Full Bio

https://fsi.stanford.edu/people/kiyoteru-tsutsui

Kiyoteru Tsutsui

Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

Henri H. and Tomoye Takahashi Professor and Director, Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center

Tsutsui Full Bio

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Publications

Journal Articles

Pediatric Patient and Hospital Characteristics Associated With Treatment of Peritonsillar Abscess and Peritonsillar Cellulitis

2015

Journal Articles

Impact of Childcare and Eldercare on Off-farm Activities in Rural China

China & World Economy , 2015

Journal Articles

Health Aid Is Allocated Efficiently, But Not Optimally: Insights From A Review Of Cost-Effectiveness Studies

Health Affairs, 2015

Working Papers

Institutional Foundations for Innovation-Based Economic Growth

National Institute for Research Advancement (NIRA), 2015

Journal Articles

Searching for Public Health Law’s Sweet Spot: The Regulation of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages

PLOs, 2015

Books

Dynasty

2015

Books

Anti-Americanism in Democratizing South Korea

2015

Books

Training the Party: Party Adaptation and Elite Training in Reform-era China

Cambridge University Press, 2015

Journal Articles

A scalable satellite-based crop yield mapper

Remote Sensing of Environment, 2015

Journal Articles

Understanding Barriers to Early Intervention Services for Preterm Infants: Lessons From Two States

Academic Pediatrics, 2015

Working Papers

Can Bureaucrats Really be Paid Like CEOs? School Administrator Incentives for Anemia Reduction in Rural China

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), 2015

Working Papers

Welfare Effects of Supply-Side Regulation in Medicare Part D

National Bureau of Economic Research, 2015

Journal Articles

Fish Eye Fish: Diver in Fish Bowl

2015

Commentary

Many Greeks Still Want a Deal

The New York Times, 2015

Books

The Distribution of Power: Hierarchy and its Discontents

The Cambridge World History (Volume 3), edited by Norman Yoffee, 2015

Books

Greek Cities in the First Millenium BCE

The Cambridge World History (Volume 3), edited by Norman Yoffee, 2015

Journal Articles

Soil-Transmitted Helminths in Southwestern China: A Cross-Sectional Study of Links to Cognitive Ability, Nutrition, and School Performance among Children

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2015

Journal Articles

High Time for Conservation: Adding the Environment to the Debate on Marijuana Liberalization

Bioscience, 2015

Journal Articles

Out-of-pocket Cost Burden in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Cross-sectional Cohort Analysis

Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, 2015

Conference Report: Educational and Entrepreneurial Initiatives to Support Youth in Places of Violence [June 2015]

2015

Books

Atlantik, Pazifik: die imaginäre ErschlieBung der Ozeane im Zeitalter der Segelschifffarht

Handbuch Literatur & Raum, edited by Jorg Dunne and Andreas Mahler, 2015

Journal Articles

Realizing the Values of Natural Capital for Inclusive,Sustainable Development: Informing China’s New Ecological Development Strategy

PNAS, 2015

Significance
Understanding costs and benefits to multiple stakeholders, and how they change through time, is essential to designing effective conservation and human development policies. Where, when, and to whom benefits are delivered are rarely analyzed, however. We examine one of China’s conservation–development policies—the Relocation and Settlement Program of Shaanxi Province (RSP)—drawing insights of broad relevance. Although the RSP benefits the municipal government, downstream water consumers, and global beneficiaries, the short-run costs to local households and the municipal government greatly exceed these benefits. Moreover, poor households are unable to pay the upfront costs and have difficulty participating. The RSP is well designed to reduce local ecological pressure and enhance human development, but its effectiveness could be strengthened in key ways.

Abstract
Ideally, both ecosystem service and human development policies should improve human well-being through the conservation of ecosystems that provide valuable services. However, program costs and benefits to multiple stakeholders, and how they change through time, are rarely carefully analyzed. We examine one of China’s new ecosystem service protection and human development policies: the Relocation and Settlement Program of Southern Shaanxi Province (RSP), which pays households who opt voluntarily to resettle from mountainous areas. The RSP aims to reduce disaster risk, restore important ecosystem services, and improve human well-being. We use household surveys and biophysical data in an integrated economic cost–benefit analysis for multiple stakeholders. We project that the RSP will result in positive net benefits to the municipal government, and to cross-region and global beneficiaries over the long run along with environment improvement, including improved water quality, soil erosion control, and carbon sequestration. However, there are significant short-run relocation costs for local residents so that poor households may have difficulty participating because they lack the resources to pay the initial costs of relocation. Greater subsidies and subsequent supports after relocation are necessary to reduce the payback period of resettled households in the long run. Compensation from downstream beneficiaries for improved water and from carbon trades could be channeled into reducing relocation costs for the poor and sharing the burden of RSP implementation. The effectiveness of the RSP could also be greatly strengthened by early investment in developing human capital and environment-friendly jobs and establishing long-term mechanisms for securing program goals. These challenges and potential solutions pervade ecosystem service efforts globally.

Journal Articles