On Poverty and Its Eradication

Jasso, Guillermina (Ed.); Klimczuk, Andrzej (Ed.); Evans, Mariah D. R. (Ed.); Kelley, Jonathan (Ed.) Book On Poverty and Its Eradication Suggested Citation: Jasso, Guillermina (Ed.); Klimczuk, Andrzej (Ed.); Evans, Mariah D. R. (Ed.); Kelley, Jonathan (Ed.) (2024) : On Poverty and Its Eradication, ISBN 978-2-8325-5597-2, Frontiers Media, Lausanne, https://doi.org/10.3389/978-2-8325-5597-2 This Version is available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/305377 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. 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Evans and Jonathan Kelley Published in Frontiers in Psychology Frontiers in Sociology Frontiers in Public Health On poverty and its eradication October 2024 Frontiers in Psychology frontiersin.org1 About Frontiers Frontiers is more than just an open access publisher of scholarly articles: it is a pioneering approach to the world of academia, radically improving the way scholarly research is managed. The grand vision of Frontiers is a world where all people have an equal opportunity to seek, share and generate knowledge. Frontiers provides immediate and permanent online open access to all its publications, but this alone is not enough to realize our grand goals. Frontiers journal series The Frontiers journal series is a multi-tier and interdisciplinary set of openaccess, online journals, promising a paradigm shift from the current review, selection and dissemination processes in academic publishing. 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ISSN 1664-8714 ISBN 978-2-8325-5597-2 DOI 10.3389/978-2-8325-5597-2 October 2024 Frontiers in Psychology 2frontiersin.org On poverty and its eradication Topic editors Guillermina Jasso — New York University, United States Andrzej Klimczuk — Warsaw School of Economics, Poland M. D. R. Evans — University of Nevada, Reno, United States Jonathan Kelley — University of Nevada, Reno, United States Citation Jasso, G., Klimczuk, A., Evans, M. D. R., Kelley, J., eds. (2024). On poverty and its eradication. Lausanne: Frontiers Media SA. doi: 10.3389/978-2-8325-5597-2 October 2024 Frontiers in Psychology frontiersin.org3 04 Editorial: On poverty and its eradication Andrzej Klimczuk, Guillermina Jasso, Mariah D. R. Evans and Jonathan Kelley 07 Research on Improving Online Purchase Intention of Poverty-Alleviation Agricultural Products in China: From the Perspective of Institution-Based Trust Guangming Li, Xianghua Wu and Chao Yuan 19 Consumption replaces charity: Altruistic consumption behaviors and motivations targeting vulnerable groups—Research based on poverty alleviation consumption in China Huiyu Xin, Chenzhuoer Li, Wei Li, Hong Wang, Ping Liu and Shouwei Li 37 Participating in health insurance and health improvements for the relatively poor population: A propensity score analysis Bin Hou, Yuxin Wu and Siyi Huang 48 When helping is risky: The influence of ethical attributes on consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online Jingjing Wu, Chao Wang, Yingzheng Yan and Qiujin Zheng 66 Community extension MSME’s entrepreneurial activities in relation to poverty reduction Lislee Valle, Emily Costan, Felix Costan, Edralin General, Gerly Alcantara, Ronnel Victor Kilat, Ivy Batican, Gladies Mae Olivar and Denilin Avila 79 Multidimensional poverty of persons with disabilities in China: An analysis of poverty reduction effect of employment services Xiaofeng Wang, Jiamin Guo and Hu Li 93 Poverty, redistribution, and the middle class: redistribution via probability distributions vs. redistribution via the linear income tax system Guillermina Jasso Table of contents TYPE Editorial PUBLISHED 01 October 2024 DOI 10.3389/fsoc.2024.1487220 OPEN ACCESS EDITED AND REVIEWED BY Hannah Bradby, Uppsala University, Sweden *CORRESPONDENCE Andrzej Klimczuk [email protected] RECEIVED 27 August 2024 ACCEPTED 03 September 2024 PUBLISHED 01 October 2024 CITATION Klimczuk A, Jasso G, Evans MDR and Kelley J (2024) Editorial: On poverty and its eradication. Front. Sociol. 9:1487220. doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2024.1487220 COPYRIGHT ©2024 Klimczuk, Jasso, Evans and Kelley. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Editorial: On poverty and its eradication Andrzej Klimczuk1*, Guillermina Jasso2, Mariah D. R. Evans3and Jonathan Kelley4 1Department of Social Policy, Collegium of Socio-Economics, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Warsaw, Poland, 2Department of Sociology, New York University, New York, NY, United States, 3Department of Sociology and Applied Statistics Program, Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, United States, 4Department of Sociology, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, United States KEYWORDS poverty, poverty relief, poverty and inequalities, poverty and fairness, poverty and public policy Editorial on the Research Topic On poverty and its eradication Overview The Research Topic “On poverty and its eradication” was inspired by the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, first commemorated in Paris in 1987 and formally designated by the United Nations. This day is dedicated to renewing the commitment to universal human development, enabling all individuals to achieve their highest potential, and reflecting on how poverty hinders this progress. The urgency of addressing poverty has increased after the COVID-19 pandemic, which exacerbated existing issues and highlighted the critical need for effective poverty eradication strategies. The studies included in this Research Topic aim to expand knowledge about poverty, its causes, consequences, and connections to crises, inequality, and fairness, and to assess policy measures for poverty reduction. The included contributions use various theoretical, empirical, quantitative, and qualitative approaches to drive sociological and policy-related discussions and initiatives, promoting fair and inclusive societies. The presented Research Topic includes seven articles written by 29 authors from the following countries: China, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This Research Topic was co-organized in collaboration with five journals: “Frontiers in Human Dynamics,” “Frontiers in Political Science,” “Frontiers in Psychology,” “Frontiers in Public Health,” and “Frontiers in Sociology.” The studies comprising this Research Topic are divided into four themes. Theme I: entrepreneurship and consumption in poverty alleviation activities In the context of this Research Topic, Valle et al. focused on studying the actions undertaken by higher education institutions to help reduce poverty by implementing community extension programs. Such schemes may Frontiers in Sociology 01 frontiersin.org 4 Klimczuk et al. 10.3389/fsoc.2024.1487220 focus on capacity building and entrepreneurship training. The analysis assessing these programs found that entrepreneurship education, budgeting, financial literacy, and access to credit facilities contributed to poverty reduction. However, entrepreneurial performance did not show a significant direct impact due to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Despite these challenges, the findings highlight the importance of educational and financial support in promoting entrepreneurial success and alleviating poverty. Xin et al. presented different approaches to combating poverty focused on consumption-support measures. The authors argued that charity, while effective in helping vulnerable groups, is often short-term and creates dependency, leading to adverse effects. Thus, the authors analyzed China’s poverty alleviation model through “altruistic consumption,” which offers a sustainable alternative by leveraging pro-social behavior to support groups in need. The study found that altruistic consumption is driven by motivations related to group benefit, morality, demanders, and suppliers, with benefit-demander motivation having the most significant influence. These insights can guide targeted marketing strategies to sustain altruistic consumption efforts. Theme II: digital growth in poverty reduction Two studies focused on the use of e-commerce platforms to alleviate poverty. Li et al. continued the discussion on consumption-based poverty reduction in China. The authors showed that this approach has a crucial role in rural revitalization, but its sustainability is challenged by low consumer participation and reliance on government procurement. Trust is a significant factor affecting consumers’ willingness to buy “poverty-alleviation agricultural products,” primarily due to past adverse events that have damaged trust, such as slow sales. The study found that enhancing trust through, among others, user feedback mechanisms, platform supervision, product traceability, and certification mechanisms can increase consumers’ purchase intentions and promote sustainable rural development. Wu et al. went into further detail on the potential of e-commerce systems. Based on collective efficacy and risk perception theories, their analysis found that symbolic ethical attributes positively influence consumers’ willingness to buy products online more than their functional attributes. The research highlighted the mediating roles of collective efficacy and risk perception, offering practical suggestions for e-commerce enterprises and marketers to enhance their farmer-assisting marketing strategies. Theme III: the role of health and employment in poverty mitigation Another important trend observed in the papers included in this Research Topic is the combination of poverty alleviation measures with public health policies. Hou et al. presented a study that explored the impact of the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS) on the health status of the relatively poor population in rural China, using data from the China Family Panel Studies. Employing propensity score matching methods, the analysis found that participation in the NRCMS significantly improved the health status of low-income individuals. The positive health effects were attributed to increased physical activity, more frequent medical care visits, and reduced healthcare expenditures. Using a different perspective, Wang et al. focused on disability as a significant contributor to global poverty. The authors studied how China’s welfare reforms and employment interventions have been implemented to address this issue. By employing the Alkire-Foster method, the researchers measured multidimensional poverty among subjects with disabilities aged 16–59 in China, finding that a high percentage were deprived in at least one dimension, particularly education and social participation. Employment services were shown to significantly reduce multidimensional poverty across various fields, providing crucial evidence to inform public policies aimed at eradicating poverty among people with disabilities. Theme IV: poverty and the income tax system The final section includes a study by Jasso that argued that the linear income tax system, which aligns with principles of tax equity by increasing post-tax income, the amount of tax, and the rate of tax as pre-tax income increases, is an effective tool for poverty reduction. The study highlighted a potential issue where policies that help the poorest may harm the middle class, thus weakening this crucial segment of society. Moreover, the article contrasted different income distributions and demonstrated how to maintain tax fairness, even with additional resource injections, and how to estimate fair parameters for the linear income system. Conclusion The results presented in the articles in this Research Topic allow the articulation of six directions for further research. These are: (1) new understandings of poverty, absolute and relative poverty (see Brady and Burton, 2016;Greve, 2020); (2) new approaches to the measurement of poverty (see Beck et al., 2020;UNECE, 2017;Mysíková, 2021); (3) causes, effects, and forms of poverty, in the contemporary world and historically (see Curtis and Cosgrove, 2021); (4) interactions between poverty and situations of crisis and disasters such as pandemics and conflicts (see Fitzpatrick, 2019; Greve, 2021); (5) new links between poverty and inequality (see Edward and Sumner, 2019;UNRISD, 2022); and (6) national and international policies and programs to eradicate poverty (see Wang et al., 2020;Oberholzer, 2022). Author contributions AK: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Supervision, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. GJ: Supervision, Validation, Writing – review & editing. ME: Supervision, Validation, Writing – Frontiers in Sociology 02 frontiersin.org 5 Klimczuk et al. 10.3389/fsoc.2024.1487220 review & editing. JK: Supervision, Validation, Writing – review & editing. Funding The author(s) declare that no financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Acknowledgments We would like to thank all the authors and reviewers who contributed to this Research Topic of articles for their dedication to our Research Topics and for their readiness to share their knowledge and time. We also give thanks to the ever-helpful team at Frontiers, whose organizational skills and understanding made this Research Topic possible. Conflict of interest The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision. Publisher’s note All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher. References Beck, V., Hahn, H., and Lepenies, R., (eds.). (2020). Dimensions of Poverty: Measurement, Epistemic Injustices, Activism. Cham: Springer Nature. Brady, D., and Burton, L. M., (eds.). (2016). The Oxford Handbook of the Social Science of Poverty. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Curtis, B., and Cosgrove, S. (2021). Understanding Global Poverty. London: Taylor and Francis. Edward, P., and Sumner, A. (2019). The End of Poverty: Inequality and Growth in Global Perspective. Cham: Springer International Publishing. Fitzpatrick, T. (2019). Climate Change and Poverty: A New Agenda for Developed Nations. Bristol: Policy Press. Greve, B. (2020). Poverty: The Basics. Abingdon, OX, New York, NY: Routledge. Greve, B., (eds.). (2021). Routledge International Handbook of Poverty. London: Routledge. Mysíková, M. (2021). Measuring Income Poverty in the EU: Visegrád Countries and European Empirical Data. Prague: Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Oberholzer, B. (2022). Fighting Global Poverty: Economic Policy Strategies for Developing Countries. Wiesbaden: Springer Nature. UNECE (2017). Guide on Poverty Measurement Guide. New York, NY, Geneva: UNECE. UNRISD (2022). Crises of Inequality: Shifting Power for a New Eco-Social Contract. Geneva: UNRISD. Wang, X., He, X., Huang, C., and Zuo, C., (eds.). (2020). Inclusive Development and Poverty Reduction. Singapore: Springer Nature. Frontiers in Sociology 03 frontiersin.org 6 ORIGINAL RESEARCH published: 12 May 2022 doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.900328 Frontiers in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 1May 2022 | Volume 13 | Article 900328 Edited by: Andrzej Klimczuk, Warsaw School of Economics, Poland Reviewed by: Syed Hasnain Alam Kazmi, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology, Pakistan Sebghatullah Rashid Rasoli, Kunduz University, Afghanistan Adis Puška, University of Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina Sevenpri Candra, Binus University, Indonesia *Correspondence: Xianghua Wu [email protected] Specialty section: This article was submitted to Personality and Social Psychology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology Received: 20 March 2022 Accepted: 13 April 2022 Published: 12 May 2022 Citation: Li GM, Wu XH and Yuan C (2022) Research on Improving Online Purchase Intention of Poverty-Alleviation Agricultural Products in China: From the Perspective of Institution-Based Trust. Front. Psychol. 13:900328. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.900328 Research on Improving Online Purchase Intention of Poverty-Alleviation Agricultural Products in China: From the Perspective of Institution-Based Trust Guangming Li1, Xianghua Wu1*and Chao Yuan2 1Business School, Hohai University, Nanjing, China, 2The School of Information and Library Science, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States Poverty alleviation by consumption is a powerful way to help the poor people get rid of poverty, which plays a significant role in China’s rural revitalization. However, the achievement of poverty alleviation by consumption mostly depends on government procurement, and the enthusiasm of customers to participate is low, facing the severe challenge of poor sustainability. Helping the poor is the most common motivation for customers to buy poverty-alleviation agricultural products (PAAP). However, as the negative events of poverty alleviation such as “tragic marketing” constantly appear in news reports, customers’ trust in sellers has been seriously damaged. The psychological protection system for fear of being cheated hinders customers’ purchase intention. Therefore, we believed that trust is an important factor in enhancing customers’ purchase intention of PAAP. Customers buy PAAP mainly through online channels, and institutionbased trust is the most important way to generate trust in online channels. Thus, this study investigated the institutional mechanisms that affect customers’ trust in the sellers of PAAP and discussed the influence of trust on the online purchase intention of PAAP. Data were obtained through a questionnaire survey and tested empirically. The results showed that the effectiveness of the user feedback mechanism, platform supervision mechanism, product traceability mechanism, and product certification mechanism can enhance customers’ purchase intention by enhancing their trust. Individual trust tendency positively regulated the relationship between the effectiveness of institutional mechanisms and consumer trust. The conclusion can not only provide new theoretical 7 Li et al. Online Purchase Intention of PAAP TABLE 4 | Analysis of the validity of discriminant. variable UF PS PT PC CT ITT OPI UF (0.856) PS 0.246*** (0.851) PT 0.203*** 0.813*** (0.834) PC 0.256*** 0.841*** 0.767*** (0.861) CT 0.262*** 0.781*** 0.708*** 0.757*** (0.827) ITT 0.153*** 0.416*** 0.333*** 0.422*** 0.452*** (0.815) OPI 0.270*** 0.686*** 0.633*** 0.676*** 0.736*** 0.471*** (0.873) ***Means P <0.010. Diagonal bracket data are the square root of latent variable AVE value. UF indicates the effectiveness of user feedback mechanism; PS represents the effectiveness of platform supervision mechanism; PT represents the effectiveness of product traceability mechanism; PC represents the effectiveness of product certification mechanism; CT stands for customers’ trust; ITT represents individual trust tendency; OPI represents online purchase intention. Hypothesis Test In this study, SPSS20.0 was used for multiple regression and hierarchical regression to test the hypothesis. To ensure rigor, demographic factors such as gender, age, and monthly income of the respondents were taken as control variables. Before regression analysis, multiple collinearity tests were conducted on each variable. The results showed that the variance inflation factor (VIF) values of each model were <10, and the tolerance was >0.1, which indicated that there was no multiple collinearity problem and regression analysis could be conducted. (1) The main effect test Model 2 was constructed using the effectiveness of the user feedback mechanism, platform supervision mechanism, product traceability mechanism, and product certification mechanism as independent variables and customers’ trust as dependent variables. With customers’ trust as the independent variable and online purchase intention as the dependent variable, Model 4 was constructed. Model 1 and Model 3 corresponded to the influence of control variables on customers’ trust and online purchase intention, respectively (refer to Table 5). The results in Table 5 showed that after the effectiveness of the two types of institutional mechanisms was added to the model, the explanatory power of Model 2 was significantly higher than that of Model 1, and the delta R2reached 0.588, which indicated that the effectiveness of the two types of institutional mechanisms had a significant impact on customers’ trust. Besides, after customers’ trust was added to the model, the explanatory power of Model 4 was significantly stronger than that of Model 3, and the delta R2reached 0.474, which indicated that customers’ trust had a significant impact on the online purchase willingness of PAAP. The results of Model 1 and Model 3 showed that the control variables have different effects on customers’ trust and online purchase intention for PAAP. First, the effectiveness of informal institutional mechanisms positively affected customers’ trust (Model 2). Specifically, the effectiveness of the user feedback mechanism and platform supervision mechanism had a significant positive impact on customers’ trust. Customers perceived that the more effective the user feedback mechanism was, the more they can trust the sellers of PAAP, assuming H1 was proved (β=0.057, P<0.100). A study of Didi Taxi customers by Shao and Yin (2019) also showed that feedback mechanisms had a significant positive influence on customers’ trust in drivers who provided services on the Didi TABLE 5 | The main effect test results. Variable Customers’ trust Online purchase intention of PAAP Model Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4 Gender 0.102* 0.047 0.077 0.004 Age 0.077 −0.043 0.108 0.054 Education level 0.183*** 0.021 0.184*** 0.052 Marital status 0.136** −0.070* 0.169*** 0.072 Monthly income −0.019 0.045 −0.080 −0.067 UF 0.057* PS 0.395*** PT 0.166*** PC 0.294*** CT 0.715*** R20.073 0.661 0.090 0.564 1R20.073 0.588 0.090 0.474 1F 5.068*** 137.924*** 6.361*** 349.415*** *Means P <0.100; **Means P <0.050; and ***Means P <0.010. UF indicates the effectiveness of the user feedback mechanism; PS represents the effectiveness of the platform supervision mechanism; PT represents the effectiveness of the product traceability mechanism; PC represents the effectiveness of the product certification mechanism; CT stands for customers’ trust. Taxi platform. When customers perceived that the supervision mechanism of the platform played a greater role in helping the poor people, they were more inclined to trust the sellers of PAAP on the platform, assuming H2 was proved (β=0.395, P<0.010). Xiao et al. (2019) also proved that when customers believe that an intermediary platform is reliable, they are more likely to believe that the platform has implemented strict rules to manage sellers with whom they cooperate, which helps customers to avoid the opportunistic behavior of sellers and thereby have trust in sellers. Second, the effectiveness of formal institutional mechanisms positively affected customers’ trust (Model 2). In particular, the effectiveness of the product traceability mechanism and product certification mechanism significantly enhanced customers’ trust. The more effective the product traceability mechanism was perceived by customers, the more inclined they were to trust the seller of PAAP, assuming H3 was proved (β=0.166, P<0.010). A study by Yu et al. (2021) on fresh agricultural products also Frontiers in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 8May 2022 | Volume 13 | Article 900328 14 Li et al. Online Purchase Intention of PAAP proved that product traceability information had a significant positive effect on customers’ trust. The more effective customers perceived product certification mechanisms to be in identifying and helping poor people, the more trust they would have in the sellers of PAAP, assuming H4 was proved (β=0.294, P< 0.010). In sustainable consumption, Brach et al. (2017) found that the perceived credibility of the third-party certification mechanism could effectively reduce customers’ risk perception and enhance trust. Third, the result of Model 4 showed that customers’ trust would significantly enhance their online purchase intention of PAAP (β=0.715, P<0.010), assuming H5 was proved, which was consistent with the research results of most scholars. For example, Yang et al. (2021) conducted a study on customers in Sichuan Province, China, and found that in the context of a live broadcast, customers’ trust had a significant positive impact on their online purchase intention of fresh agricultural products. Agag and El-Masry (2017) research on Egyptian consumers also indicated that trust could markedly improve customers’ intention to purchase travel online. Finally, the results of Model 1 and Model 3 showed that the control variables have different effects on customers’ trust and online purchase intention of PAAP. Gender significantly affected customers’ trust (β=0.102, P<0.100), indicating that female customers were more likely to trust sellers of PAAP. Gender had a positive effect on the online purchase intention of PAAP, but it was not statistically significant (β=0.077, P>0.100). Age had a positive influence on customers’ trust (β=0.077, P> 0.100) and online purchase intention (β=0.108, P>0.100) of PAAP, but it was not statistically significant. Education level had a significant positive impact on customers’ trust and online purchase willingness of PAAP. It showed that the higher the education level, the easier it was for customers to trust the sellers of PAAP (β=0.183, P<0.010) and more willing to buy PAAP (β=0.184, P<0.010). Marital status also significantly positively affected customers’ trust and online purchase willingness of PAAP, indicating that married people were more likely to trust the sellers of PAAP (β=0.136, P<0.050) and were more willing to buy PAAP online (β=0.169, P<0.010). Monthly income had a negative but insignificant effect on customers’ trust (β= −0.019, P>0.100) and online purchase intention (β= −0.080, P>0.100). (2) The moderating effect test We used the hierarchical regression method to test the moderating effect of individual trust tendency. The specific method was as follows: The variables were first centralized, and then the interaction terms were obtained by multiplying the independent variables and moderating variables, respectively. Then hierarchical regression analysis was conducted. First, gender, age, education level, marital status, monthly income, effectiveness of user feedback mechanism, effectiveness of platform supervision mechanism, effectiveness of product traceability mechanism, effectiveness of product certification mechanism, and individual trust tendency were considered independent variables, and customers’ trust was considered dependent variable in Model 5. Second, based on Model 5, the interactive items of the respective variables and the moderating TABLE 6 | The moderating effect test results. Variable Customers’ trust Model Model 5 Model 6 Model 7 Model 8 Model 9 Gender 0.048 0.048 0.050 0.048 0.051 Age −0.050 −0.060 −0.047 −0.045 −0.041 Education level 0.012 0.010 0.014 0.018 0.018 Marital status −0.070* −0.074* −0.068* −0.068* −0.065 Monthly income 0.048 0.051 0.048 0.045 0.049 UF 0.051 0.060* 0.056 0.054 0.058* PS 0.362*** 0.365*** 0.358*** 0.366*** 0.365*** PT 0.262*** 0.262*** 0.266*** 0.270*** 0.253*** PC 0.178*** 0.178*** 0.178*** 0.163*** 0.184*** ITT 0.130*** 0.137*** 0.144*** 0.141*** 0.151*** UF * ITT 0.055* PS * ITT 0.055* PT* ITT 0.048** PC * ITT 0.078 R20.675 0.677 0.677 0.677 0.680 1R20.602 0.003 0.003 0.002 0.005 1F 117.199*** 2.722* 2.689* 1.937** 5.301** *Means P <0.100; **Means P <0.050; and ***Means P <0.010. UF indicates the effectiveness of the user feedback mechanism; PS represents the effectiveness of the platform supervision mechanism; PT represents the effectiveness of the product traceability mechanism; PC represents the effectiveness of the product certification mechanism; CT stands for customers’ trust; ITT stands for individual trust tendency. variables were, respectively, included to construct Models 6, 7, 8, and 9. The results are shown in Table 6. The results of Models 6, 7, and 8 showed that individual trust tendency positively moderated the relationship between the effectiveness of the user feedback mechanism (β=0.055, P<0.100), platform supervision mechanism (β=0.055, P<0.100), product traceability mechanism (β=0.048, P<0.050), and customers’ trust, assuming that H6a, H6b, and H6c were verified. The results of Model 9 indicated that the moderating effect of individual trust tendency between the effectiveness of the product certification mechanism and customers’ trust was positive but not statistically significant (β=0.078, P>0.100), assuming that H6d was not proved. DISCUSSION ON HYPOTHESIS TEST RESULTS Through multiple regression analysis and hierarchical regression analysis, this study verified the relationship between the effectiveness of the user feedback mechanism, platform supervision mechanism, product traceability mechanism, product certification mechanism, and customers’ trust and online purchase intention of PAAP, and the moderating effect of individual trust tendency between institutional mechanism effectiveness and consumer trust. The overall results of hypothesis testing in this study are shown in Table 7. According to the hypothesis test results, most of the hypotheses in this study have passed the test. In other words, Frontiers in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 9May 2022 | Volume 13 | Article 900328 15 Li et al. Online Purchase Intention of PAAP TABLE 7 | Summary of hypothesis test results. Number Hypothesis Results H1 The effectiveness of user feedback mechanism positively affects customers’ trust Proved H2 The effectiveness of platform supervision mechanism positively affects customers’ trust Proved H3 The effectiveness of product traceability mechanism positively affects customers’ trust Proved H4 The effectiveness of product certification mechanism positively affects customers’ trust Proved H5 Customers’ trust positively influences their willingness to purchase PAAP online Proved H6a Individual trust tendency positively moderates the influence of the effectiveness of user feedback mechanism on customers’ trust Proved H6b Individual trust tendency positively moderates the influence of the effectiveness of platform supervision mechanism on customers’ trust Proved H6c Individual trust tendency positively moderates the influence of the effectiveness of product traceability mechanism on customers’ trust Proved H6d Individual trust tendency positively moderates the influence of the effectiveness of product certification mechanism on customers’ trust Not proved the effectiveness of the user feedback mechanism, platform supervision mechanism, product traceability mechanism, and product certification could effectively enhance customers’ trust in the seller of PAAP, thus increasing their willingness to purchase PAAP online. Hypotheses H1, H2, H3, H4, and H5 were all proven, which is consistent with Brach et al. (2017),Shao and Yin (2019),Xiao et al. (2019),Yang et al. (2021), and Yu et al. (2021). The results of the comparative analysis verify that the factors that generate trust in other contexts can also have an impact on trust in PAAP transactions and, through trust, on online purchase intentions. In this process, the individual trust tendency played a positive moderating role in the effectiveness of the user feedback mechanism, platform supervision mechanism, product traceability mechanism, and customers’ trust. Thus, H6a, H6b, and H6c were verified. However, H6d failed as the individual trust tendency did not play a moderating role between the effectiveness of the product certification mechanism and customers’ trust. In this regard, after consulting relevant literature and materials, this study holds that the possible reason is the main body of PAAP certification in China is government departments rather than private institutions. Studies have shown that Chinese urban customers generally have a high degree of trust in the government, which is less affected by the individual trust tendency (Qiu et al., 2007). In February 2022, the world’s largest public relations consulting firm Edelman’s latest global trust report “Edelman Trust Barometer 2022” also showed that Chinese respondents’ trust in their own government reached 91%, ranking first among 28 countries for four consecutive years. Therefore, even though customers themselves had a low trust tendency, when they believed that the government’s povertyalleviation certification mechanism for agricultural products could accurately identify and help poor people, they were willing to believe the government’s certification results and then believe the sellers of PAAP. CONCLUSION AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS Conclusion First, effective informal institutional mechanisms can enhance customers’ trust. Under the network environment, sellers can only display the information about PAAP through words, pictures, and videos. Customers cannot know the real information about agricultural products before receiving them, so the experience of others becomes an important basis for customers to judge whether the sellers and the PAAP they sell are credible. The more effective the user feedback mechanism, the more customers can trust the sellers of PAAP. Although the e-commerce platform does not directly participate in the trade of PAAP, it can identify and screen the sellers by formulating rules and procedures and supervise the trading behavior to enhance customers’ trust in the sellers of PAAP on the platform. Therefore, the effectiveness of the platform supervision mechanism is conducive to improving customers’ trust. Second, effective formal institutional mechanisms are conducive to increasing customers’ trust. The product traceability mechanism endows each PAAP with a unique product identification, which can realize the standardization and transparency of the information of PAAP from production, processing, and circulation to consumption and make it easy for customers to grasp the quality and safety of PAAP and the information of poverty-stricken attributes. The decrease in information asymmetry can effectively increase the customers’ trust in sellers. The government’s poverty-alleviation certification of agricultural products is a kind of commitment and guarantee to customers, which indicates that certified agricultural products can accurately drive poor households to increase income and get rid of poverty. When customers believe that the government’s certification mechanism is effective, they can trust the certification results and then trust the sellers of PAAP. Third, trust can significantly enhance customers’ willingness to purchase PAAP online. Fourth, individual trust tendency positively moderates the relationship between the effectiveness of the user feedback mechanism, platform supervision mechanism, product traceability mechanism, and customers’ trust. Policy Implications First, the sellers of PAAP should pay attention to the establishment and maintenance of their own reputation. They should not only provide real and good quality PAAP to meet the needs of customers, but also pay attention to interaction and communication with customers, and encourage customers who have bought PAAP to express their real experiences and feelings, such as the time efficiency of logistics and the freshness of agricultural products. At the same time, they should actively do a good after-sales service. In view of the problems encountered by customers in the process of purchasing PAAP, it is necessary to remedy them in time. Second, online shopping platforms should strengthen supervision and do publicity work. On the one hand, it is Frontiers in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 10 May 2022 | Volume 13 | Article 900328 16 Li et al. Online Purchase Intention of PAAP necessary to shoulder the social responsibility of helping the poor, doing a good job in screening the sellers of PAAP, identifying the sellers’ identities, and providing supervision services for the trade of PAAP. At the same time, they should improve the product quality standards on the platforms and strictly control the quality of PAAP. On the other hand, it is essential to increase publicity efforts to enhance customers’ perception of the poverty-alleviation image of the platform through advertising and live promotion. Third, the agricultural product regulator should improve the traceability mechanism of PAAP. They should fully use modern information technology, apply QR code, bar code, and RFID technology to the circulation of PAAP, and timely record the information of the whole process of PAAP from production, processing to transportation and consumption, to realize information sharing and reduce the information asymmetry of customers. Fourth, the government should enhance the transparency of the certification of PAAP. In the process of identifying PAAP, the government should strengthen the standardization of construction of the certification mechanism for PAAP, improve the transparency of the certification process as well as the certification results, and regularly publish the list of PAAP on the “Social Assistance of China” website. Besides, the government can also encourage customers to actively participate in the supervision process of PAAP and to report false information about PAAP through 12,317 poverty alleviation supervision telephone. Fifth, the government should increase its efforts to educate the public on the concept of integrity. China’s government has a high level of credibility in the public; government-led official media such as “People’s Daily,” “CCTV news,” and “Xinhua News Agency” are loved and supported by the general public. Thus, the government should make full use of the influence of these mass media to strengthen the education of public honesty and create a good atmosphere for honest trading through Weibo, WeChat, and other Internet information channels, to enhance the trust tendency of individuals. Limitations and Future Research This study focused on the role of the poverty-alleviation functional attributes of PAAP in enhancing customers’ willingness to purchase PAAP online. A theoretical model between the effectiveness of institutional mechanisms, customers’ trust, and willingness to purchase PAAP online is constructed, and the research hypotheses are tested through empirical analysis. The findings of the study are conducive to enhancing customers’ willingness to purchase PAAP online and promoting sustainable development of poverty alleviation by consumption. At the same time, there are limitations to this study. Through literature review, this study identified four dimensions of institutional factors that affect consumer trust, but there may be other factors that affect consumers’ trust in online trading of PAAP, and follow-up research can be further carried out here. DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary Material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding authors. ETHICS STATEMENT Ethical review and approval was not required for the study on human participants in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. Written informed consent for participation was not required for this study in accordance with the national legislation and the institutional requirements. Written informed consent was not obtained from the individual(s) for the publication of any potentially identifiable images or data included in this article. AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS GL: guidance on topic selection, article framework formulation, article writing guidance, and article revision. XW: concept proposal and original paper writing. CY: analyzed and interpreted the data and modified paper. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version. FUNDING This work was funded by Guangming Li (funder), Youth Project of National Social Science Foundation of China-Research on New Citizens’ Cultural Consumption Behavior, Constraints and Guidance Measures (No. 14CGL015 ) and Lin Liu (funder), General Project of National Social Science Foundation of ChinaResearch on Transition economy, Entrepreneur Social Capital and Enterprise Crisis Management (No. 17BGL021). ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We would like to thank teachers Guangming Li and Lin Liu for their guidance and support. We also want to extend our sincerest thanks to the editors and peer reviewers at Frontier in Sociology and Frontier in Psychology for their valuable opinions as well as patient reply to our manuscript. SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg. 2022.900328/full#supplementary-material REFERENCES Agag, G. M., and El-Masry, A. A. (2017). Why do consumers trust online travel websites? Drivers and outcomes of consumer trust toward online travel websites. J. Travel Res. 56, 347–369. doi: 10.1177/00472875166 43185 Bhutta, M. N. M., and Ahmad, M. (2021). Secure identification, traceability and real-time tracking of agricultural food supply during transportation using internet of things. IEEE Access 9, 65660–65675. doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3076373 Brach, S., Walsh, G., and Shaw, D. (2017). 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Frontiers in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 12 May 2022 | Volume 13 | Article 900328 18 TYPE Original Research PUBLISHED 16 August 2022 DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.933701 OPEN ACCESS EDITED BY Andrzej Klimczuk, Warsaw School of Economics, Poland REVIEWED BY Sonia Brito-Costa, Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra, Portugal Haitao Wu, Beijing Institute of Technology, China *CORRESPONDENCE Chenzhuoer Li [email protected] SPECIALTY SECTION This article was submitted to Personality and Social Psychology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology RECEIVED 01 May 2022 ACCEPTED 25 July 2022 PUBLISHED 16 August 2022 CITATION Xin H, Li C, Li W, Wang H, Liu P and Li S (2022) Consumption replaces charity: Altruistic consumption behaviors and motivations targeting vulnerable groups—Research based on poverty alleviation consumption in China. Front. Psychol. 13:933701. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.933701 COPYRIGHT ©2022 Xin, Li, Li, Wang, Liu and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Consumption replaces charity: Altruistic consumption behaviors and motivations targeting vulnerable groups—Research based on poverty alleviation consumption in China Huiyu Xin1,Chenzhuoer Li2*, Wei Li3, Hong Wang4, Ping Liu3 and Shouwei Li3 1College of Social Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom, 2School of Informatics, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 3Business School, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China, 4Business School, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, China Poverty alleviation consumption, which we call altruistic consumption, has become a new effective way to help vulnerable groups, but there are a few empirical researches on poverty alleviation through consumption. This article takes China’s poverty alleviation actions as the research object, investigates and studies the relationship between altruistic consumption motivations and altruistic consumption behaviors that aim for vulnerable groups. It is found that altruistic consumption behavior is mainly affected by benefit group motivation, benefit morality motivation, benefit demander motivation, and benefit supplier motivation. There is a correspondence between the four altruistic consumption motivations and the four altruistic consumption behaviors. The strength of altruistic consumption motivations changes with changes in altruistic buying behavior. The strength of benefit group motivation decreases with the increase in the times of altruistic purchases, while the strength of benefit morality motivation, benefit demander motivation, and benefit supplier motivation increase with the increase in the times of altruistic purchases. Among the four kinds of altruistic consumption motivations that affect the times of altruistic purchases, the benefit demander motivation has a relatively greater influence. The results of this study have important guiding significance for vulnerable groups to formulating targeted proactive marketing strategies, preventing the altruistic consumption relationship dissolution, and realizing sustainable altruistic consumption. KEYWORDS charity, vulnerable group, altruistic consumption, altruistic consumption motivation, altruistic marketing strategy, benefit morality motivation Frontiers in Psychology 01 frontiersin.org 19 Xin et al. 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.933701 Introduction The poverty problem of vulnerable groups is a social issue that is generally concerned by the international community today. The international community is trying to help vulnerable groups get rid of poverty through various channels and methods. Since 2018, a large number of e-commerce platforms such as JD.com, Taobao, and Pinduoduo in China, client apps of a large number of communication, aviation, banking, and insurance enterprises such as China Mobile, Air China, and Bank of China, as well as “We Media” platforms such as Tiktok and Kwai and social platforms such as WeChat and microblog, have successively launched windows to display products from poverty-stricken areas. By encouraging consumers to buy products from such regions, we can help vulnerable groups overcome poverty. In 2020 alone, poverty alleviation products sold through various platforms reached 306.94 billion yuan (about US$46.8 billion), successfully helping a large number of vulnerable groups. China’s model of setting up special sales channels for poverty alleviation products through Internet platforms and encouraging consumers to buy products from poverty-stricken areas, so as to help vulnerable groups overcome poverty, has provided a new way for the international community to eliminate poverty. It is a two-way transaction based on altruism and a market-oriented way of helping others. According to Prosocial Behavior Theory (Batson and Powell, 2003), the behavior of helping others through consumption should be categorized as altruistic behavior; it is a mutually beneficial altruistic behavior that can result in a win–win situation (Sloan, 2015). We call this type of consumption, which takes altruism as its purpose and helps vulnerable groups escape poverty by purchasing the products provided by the vulnerable groups, as altruistic consumption. The core idea of altruistic consumption is to introduce vulnerable groups into the social reproduction system and eliminate poverty through the social-economic cycle of production, distribution, circulation, and consumption and by selling their products through marketization. This is a sustainable way for vulnerable groups to eliminate poverty completely. The poverty alleviation model launched by China’s Internet platform differs from charitable behavior. As a humanitarian act with a long history, although charitable behavior has played an important role in alleviating the poverty of vulnerable groups, there are problems with using charitable methods to solve the poverty problem of the following vulnerable groups: Charity can only temporarily alleviate the poverty situation of vulnerable groups, while cannot completely solve their poverty problem (Eagles, 1993). At the same time, the charity might eventually lead recipients to become heavily dependent on charitable donations or services, turning into toxic charity, and destroying the ecology and vitality of local economic and social development (Lupton, 2011). Market-oriented charitable acts such as marketized philanthropy, as a special charity are considered to have brought a negative impact on the purest core “kindness” of charity (Nickel and Eikenberry, 2009). In addition to charitable behavior (Thomas and Mcgarty, 2018), most of the research on poverty alleviation focuses on the tourism (Tchouamou and Neelu, 2018; Truong, 2018; Zhao and Xia, 2020), agricultural productivity (Madi et al., 2020), information and communication technology (Galperin and Viecens, 2017; Mbuyisa and Leonard, 2017; Lechman and Popowska, 2022), subsidy policy (Pan et al., 2021), insurance (Gabrah et al., 2020), and education (Brown and James, 2020). These studies mainly focus on improving the efficiency and output of vulnerable groups from the perspective of supply. However, from the perspective of consumption, there is a lack of research on the motivates and behavior of consumer consuming poverty alleviation products. What motivates consumers to engage in altruistic consumption? What impact do these motives have on consumers’ altruistic consumption behavior? Is there an evolutionary trend in altruistic consumption motivation in altruistic consumption behavior? Studying these issues has important theoretical and practical significance for advocating social altruistic consumption behavior, establishing altruistic consumption relationships, and preventing the dissolution of altruistic consumption relationships. It is also a new attempt at expanding prosocial behavior theory to the field of consumption. Literature review The theories related to this article mainly involve charitable behaviors, prosocial behaviors, altruistic behaviors, as well as the times of consumption and recommendation consumption behaviors. Charitable behaviors The meaning of Charity in Old English is “Christian love of one’s fellows” (Falus, 2020). Later, the meaning of charity changed to “providing for those in need; generosity and giving” (Merriam-Webster, 2021). Starting from c.1300, charity means “alms, that which is bestowed gratuitously on a person or persons in need” (Online Etymology Dictionary, 2022). This indicates that charitable acts do not need to seek rewards. Charitable acts include providing tangible donations and intangible care. Charitable giving is the act of giving money (Chan and Septianto, 2022), goods (Diederich et al., 2021), or time (Costello and Malkoc, 2022) to the unfortunate, either directly or through a charitable trust or other worthy cause. Charitable care includes such things as visiting imprisoned Frontiers in Psychology 02 frontiersin.org 20 Xin et al. 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.933701 or homeless people, redeeming captives, educating orphans, and participating in social movements. The most important feature of charitable behavior is that it does not seek any returns. In the category of charitable consumption behavior. Causerelated marketing is the creation of a mutually beneficial relationship (Chang and Chu, 2020). Its characteristic is that when customers participate in product exchanges that meet organizational and personal goals, the company provides a certain number of charitable donations to specific charities. Using cause-related marketing appropriately not only embodies the corporate social responsibility, but also meets the needs of shareholders to increase profits and market share (Gao et al., 2020). However, its essence is the same as traditional marketing, which is to enhance the corporate image and obtain more benefits. Prosocial behaviors Prosocial behavior is a positive social behavior that intends to help others, and needs to meet two conditions: the behavior is the subject’s spontaneous behavior (Shi et al., 2020), including sharing, helping, caring, and comforting (Laguna et al., 2022). The manifestations and scenarios of these behaviors are different, but the essence is basically the same, that is focus on benefiting others (Miles et al., 2021). In the research on why people have prosocial behaviors, the famous American psychologist Batson et al. (2011) wrote, “we wish to consider four possible forms of prosocial motivation, each of which can lead a person to benefit-help-someone in need. Each form is defined by its distinct ultimate goal: selfbenefit (egoism), benefit another individual (altruism), benefit a group (collectivism), and uphold a moral principle (principlism).” Prosocial behavior does not exclude egoism, and it is also believed that both egoists and altruists will adopt prosocial behavior. For example, for the sake of their reputation, egoists take more prosocial behavior in public conditions than in private settings (Rotella et al., 2021). However, in the absence of benefits, egoists are less prosocial than altruists (Rotella, 2020). Regarding the collectivism motivation, Batson (1994) believes that if people value the welfare of a group, and this welfare is threatened or can be enhanced in some way, then they will have a collectivism motivation to promote action to benefit the group. Regarding the principlism motivation, he believes that its ultimate goal is to adhere to a moral principle in order to eliminate the variability of resorting to altruism due to sympathy, while maintaining a consistent moral principle. This shows that, unlike charitable behaviors, prosocial behaviors include both voluntary helping others and not expecting any rewards, as well as attempts to help others for certain purposes or rewards. Altruistic behavior The concept of altruism has a long history in the fields of philosophy and ethics, and researchers in various fields have tried to explain altruistic behavior from different aspects. The research on altruistic behavior mainly focuses on anthropology, biology, psychology, and sociology. Some researchers believe that the theory of “kin selection” is derived from animal altruism. From an evolutionary biology point of view, Hamilton’s Rule (Okasha, 2020) suggests that the genes of altruism can be continued through natural selection. The overall effect may be to increase the number of copies of altruistic behavior genes owned by the next generation, thereby increasing the incidence of altruistic behavior itself. Batson and Powell (2003) studied altruistic behavior from the perspective of motivation, and believed that pure altruistic behavior is based on caring for the interests of others, and does not expect to benefit from helping others. From the perspective of human and society, distinguished it from animal altruism, some scholars have explored theories such as “reciprocal altruism” (Eamonn et al., 2021) and “reputation-seeking” (Rotella et al., 2021). These studies believe that common altruistic behaviors also include reciprocal altruistic behaviors that expect to get rewards after helping others. In terms of international trade cooperation, Fair Trade is regarded as an act of international altruism. According to the official definition of the World Fair Trade Organization, “Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency, and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers.” In the Fair Trade movement, developed countries in the member state provide better trading conditions and guarantee of the rights of smallholders and workers—especially in developing countries (Re et al., 2020). Altruistic behavior on internet Altruistic behavior also occurs on Internet (Zheng et al., 2021). Altruistic behavior could be seen as an inevitable result of Internet evolution, since the Internet was initiated by volunteers who thought information should be free and easy to access quickly. Since the naissance of the Internet, it has sought a way in which almost infinite informative resources may be integrated and shared (Amichai Hamburger, 2008). Compared with face-to-face communication, people are more willing to Frontiers in Psychology 03 frontiersin.org 21 Xin et al. 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.933701 help others and more responsible online, for reasons such as anonymity of the Internet and minimization of the authority (Suler, 2004). Times of consumption and consumption recommendation behavior The behavior that a consumer adopts a new idea or new product for the first time is called the attempt purchase behavior or initial purchase behavior. Initial purchase was found to be significant predictor of service retention (Darley and Luethge, 2019). After purchasing a product for the first time, some people will give up continuing to consume, behave as the onetime consumption behavior, and become one-time consumers. While the other part of people will continue to buy the product, which is called repeatedly purchase behavior. For the important factor that affects repeated purchases in the context of online business, Trivedi and Yadav (2020) believe that it is the trust and E-satisfaction. If the experience is satisfactory, the consumer will make a second purchase. If the consumer does not continue to consume after the second purchase, it is called a two-times consumer. If consumers continue to consume three or more times, according to Dimitrieska and Efremova (2021), it is called loyal consumption, or continuous consumption. The core factor affecting continuous consumption is brand (Khamtanet and Jitkuekul, 2021). Some consumers not only consume by themselves, but also recommend others to consume. This behavior is generally called word-of-mouth spread in academics (see, e.g., Bastos and Moore, 2021). The core factor affecting word-of-mouth spread is consumers’ satisfaction and their relationship with the recommendation (Leon and Choi, 2020; Oraedu, 2020). The purpose of studying the times of consumption is to find motivations for one-time consumption, two-times consumption, continuous consumption, and recommendation consumption, so as to realize the transformation from one-time consumption to continuous consumption and loyal consumption, to encourage consumers to recommend others to consume, prevent the dissolution of altruistic consumption relationship, and realize the sustainability of altruistic consumption. Research framework and hypothesis Research structure model Vulnerable groups have low income, endure poverty, and are psychologically vulnerable (Shu, 2016). Some researchers believe that vulnerable groups refer to social groups that cannot maintain basic living standards for themselves and for their family by relying on their strengths or abilities and thus need external support (Zheng and Li, 2003). The vulnerable groups referred to in this article refer to countries, regions, ethnic minorities, low-income groups that have the ability to yield but are in a state of poverty and backwardness, and groups that are economically damaged due to disasters. We call the products provided by vulnerable groups and consumed by altruistic consumers as altruistic consumption products, and marketing for altruistic consumption products as altruistic marketing. According to prosocial behavior theory the motivation of prosocial behavior includes collectivism, egoism, altruism, and principlism (Batson et al., 2011). The altruistic consumption behavior studied in this study is also a kind of prosocial behavior, it should also include these four basic motivations. In Batson’s theory, collectivism motivation refers to the motivation to benefit a specific group, including the group which the implementer of prosocial behavior belongs. In our previous research, we found that most of the altruistic consumption behaviors are triggered based on the initiative of the group to which the consumer belongs or some specific groups. In addition to helping vulnerable groups, consumers’ motivation also lies in maintaining the group’s reputation and values. In this article, we call the consumption motivation that benefits to groups in the process of altruistic consumption as the benefit group altruistic consumption motivation, abbreviate it as benefit group motivation. In Batson’s theory, egoism refers to self-benefit, or benefit the implementer of prosocial behavior self. In the relationship of altruistic consumption, self-benefit is actually benefits to the consumers who consume altruistic products. In this article, we call the consumption motivation that are benefits to the consumers of altruistic product consumption as the benefit demander altruistic consumption motivation, abbreviate it as benefit demander motivation. In Batson’s theory, altruism refers to benefit another individual. In the relationship of altruistic consumption, “another individual” is actually the supplier (i.e., vulnerable groups) of altruistic products. In this article, we call the consumption motivation that is benefits to the supplier of altruistic products as the benefit supplier altruistic consumption motivation, abbreviate it as the benefit supplier motivation. In Batson’s theory, principlism refers to benefit a moral principle. In the relationship of altruistic consumption, it is mainly manifested as the promotion of a kind of social virtue. In this article, we call the consumption motivation that is benefits to social morality as the benefit morality altruistic consumption motivation, abbreviate it as the benefit morality motivation. In order to facilitate research, we collectively refer to these four altruistic consumption motivations as 4B altruistic consumption motivations. According to the literature (Tucker, 1964; Bass, 1969; Blythe, 2006; Zhu, 2014) and our previous research, the altruistic consumption behavior in this article can be divided into one-time altruistic consumption behavior, two-times altruistic consumption behavior, continuous altruistic Frontiers in Psychology 04 frontiersin.org 22 Xin et al. 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.933701 consumption behavior, and altruistic recommendation consumption behavior. What is the relationship between these four kinds of consumption behaviors and the four kinds of consumption motivations? Do these four kinds of consumption behaviors have different dominant consumption motivations, respectively? Is there an evolutionary trend for the four kinds of altruistic consumption motivations in the four kinds of consumption behaviors? Research hypothesis The relationship between altruistic consumption behavior and altruistic consumption motivation Consumers’ motivation for consumption is the internal driving force that motivates consumers to implement consumption behaviors. There is a causal relationship between consumption motivation and consumption behavior. Altruistic consumption motivation should also be the internal driving force of altruistic consumption behavior, and there should also be a causal relationship between them. Consumption behavior not only includes the behavior that consumers purchase by themselves, but also includes the behavior that recommends others to purchase. It can be seen that altruistic consumption behavior should also include altruistic purchase behavior and altruistic recommendation consumption behavior. Therefore, no matter it is the altruistic purchase behavior of consumers themselves or the altruistic recommendation consumption behavior of recommending others to purchase, there should be an influential relationship between the altruistic consumption motivations. Accordingly, the following hypotheses are proposed: H1a: There is an influential relationship between the altruistic purchase behavior of the vulnerable groups and the consumer’s altruistic consumption motivation H1b: There is an influential relationship between the altruistic recommendation consumption behavior of the vulnerable groups and the consumer’s altruistic consumption motivation The relationship between four kinds of altruistic consumption behaviors and four kinds of altruistic consumption motivations Whether it is one-time altruistic consumption behavior, two-times altruistic consumption behavior, continuous altruistic consumption behavior, or altruistic recommendation consumption behavior, all are altruistic consumption behaviors, and altruistic consumption behavior is a prosocial behavior. According to the research of Batson et al. (2011), prosocial behavior is affected by four kinds of motivations, so these four kinds of altruistic consumption behaviors should also be affected by four kinds of prosocial behavior motivations. The benefit demander motivation, benefit supplier motivation, benefit morality motivation, and benefit group motivation proposed in this article are based on the four kinds of prosocial behavior motivations proposed by Batson et al. (2011), combined with the characteristics of altruistic consumption, which are the embodiment of the four kinds of prosocial behavior motivations in the field of consumption. In this sense, these four kinds of altruistic consumption behaviors should be affected by four kinds of altruistic consumption motivations. If consumers’ altruistic consumption motivation is the same, their altruistic consumption behaviors should be consistent. However, in the pre-survey phase of our questionnaire, we studied the altruistic consumption behavior of 198 consumers and found that some consumers only purchase one-time, some consumers purchase two-times, some consumers purchase multiple times, and some consumers not only purchase for themselves, but also recommend others for altruistic consumption. It can be seen that there are significant differences in the altruistic consumption behavior of consumers. Since consumers’ behaviors are inconsistent, the strengths of the four kinds of altruistic consumption motivations that affect consumers’ altruistic consumption behavior should also be different. Each consumer behavior may have different dominant motivations. Accordingly, the following hypotheses are proposed: H2a: One-time altruistic consumption behavior is affected by four kinds of altruistic consumption motivations, and there are differences in the strength of the influence, with one or more dominant motivations. H2b: Two-times altruistic consumption behavior is affected by four kinds of altruistic consumption motivations, and there are differences in the strength of the influence, with one or more dominant motivations. H2c: Continuous altruistic consumption behaviors are affected by the four kinds of altruistic consumption motivations, and there are differences in the strength of the influence, with one or more dominant motivations. H2d: Altruistic recommendation consumption behavior is affected by the four kinds of altruistic consumption motivations, and there are differences in the strength of the influence, with one or more dominant motivations. The evolutionary trend of altruistic consumption motivations’ influence on altruistic consumption behavior The essence of altruistic consumption is consumption. When consumers make purchase decisions, they will choose solutions with greater customer perceived value (Zeithaml, 1988). This means that consumers will choose products that Frontiers in Psychology 05 frontiersin.org 23 Xin et al. 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.933701 FIGURE 1 Data matrix of altruistic consumption motivation and altruistic consumption behavior. motivations. There is a correlation between the four kinds of altruistic consumption behaviors and the four kinds of altruistic consumption motivations. However, in the one-time altruistic consumption behavior, the benefit group motivation has larger influence than the other three motivations, in the two-times altruistic consumption behavior, the benefit demander motivation has larger influence than the other three motivations, in the continuous altruistic consumption behavior, the benefit morality motivation has larger influence than the other three motivations, and in the altruistic recommendation consumption behavior, the benefit supplier motivation has larger influence than the other three motivations. The strength of altruistic consumption motivations changes with the times of altruistic consumption behavior. Among them, the strength of benefit group motivation decreases with the increase of the times of altruistic consumption behavior, while the strength of benefit morality motivation, benefit demander motivation, and benefit supplier motivation increases with the increase of the times of altruistic consumption behaviors. Among the four kinds of altruistic consumption motivations that affect the times of altruistic purchase, the contribution of the benefit demander motivation is relatively larger, and among the four kinds of altruistic consumption motivations that affect the altruistic consumption behavior, the contribution of benefit supplier motivation is relatively larger. Practical inspiration Charitable behavior is a unilateral effort of donors to improve the plight of recipients, while recipients are passive or even inaction recipients, while altruistic consumption fully mobilizes the enthusiasm of beneficiaries of altruistic consumption. Altruistic consumption can lead vulnerable groups into the social reproduction cycle by consuming their yield. Through altruistic beneficiaries’ planned, organized, and targeted reciprocal behavior, the sustainability of altruistic consumption behavior can be realized. This research found that Frontiers in Psychology 12 frontiersin.org 30 Xin et al. 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.933701 TABLE 5 Dominance analysis. Factors Dominance statistics Standardized dominance statistics Ranking Times of altruistic consumption Benefit group motivation 0.028 0.246 3 Benefit morality motivation 0.029 0.254 2 Benefit demander motivation 0.041 0.363 1 Benefit supplier motivation 0.015 0.137 4 Altruistic consumption behavior Benefit group motivation 0.025 0.357 2 Benefit morality motivation 0.005 0.073 4 Benefit demander motivation 0.008 0.111 3 Benefit supplier motivation 0.032 0.459 1 TABLE 6 Shapley value decomposition. Factors First round effects Shapley value % Times of altruistic consumption Benefit group motivation 25.313 28.255 24.59 Benefit morality motivation 56.422 29.237 25.44 Benefit demander motivation 65.869 41.687 36.27 Benefit supplier motivation 42.737 15.745 13.70 Altruistic consumption behavior Benefit group motivation 11.660 12.367 35.67 Benefit morality motivation 3.543 2.525 7.280 Benefit demander motivation 7.105 3.853 11.12 Benefit supplier motivation 20.473 15.921 45.93 consumers’ altruistic consumption is based on four kinds of altruistic consumption motivations, so the supplier of altruistic products can adopt different marketing strategies according to the altruistic consumption motivations of different altruistic consumers, changing passive acceptance of charity into active altruistic consumption marketing. Vulnerable groups can use outside support to benefit from their own yield to completely get rid of poverty, replace charity with consumption, and turn themselves from a social burden to a creator of social wealth. As a new altruistic consumption model, the active marketing of vulnerable groups as the supplier must consider the marketing strategy based on the relationship between altruistic consumption motivation and altruistic consumption behavior. It is found that the times of altruistic consumption vary from person to person, and it is of great significance for suppliers to study the altruistic consumption motivations of consumers with different consumption times. For one-time altruistic consumption consumers, group promotion is effective. Therefore, suppliers of altruistic consumption products should make full use of their status as vulnerable groups, and make use of the influence of the group initiatives to promote the attempt consumption of their products, promote their products to enter the market, and solve the market entry case of products of vulnerable groups. Our research found that the altruistic consumption behavior dominated by benefit group motivation has a one-time consumption tendency, while the two-times altruistic consumption consumers’ benefit demander motivation is relatively stronger, that is to say, the benefit demander motivation is the main factor affecting two-times altruistic consumption behavior. Therefore, in order to make consumers consume again, the supplier should focus on the consumer’s demand for the product itself. Only by satisfying the consumer’s benefit demander motivation, can the consumer’s two-times altruistic consumption of the product be realized, so as to solve the problems of market consolidation for the products of vulnerable groups. Our research found that only meet the demand, the consumption is also difficult to make the continuous altruistic consumption, because there are many products that can meet consumer needs in society and are available everywhere, therefore, in order for consumers to continuous altruistic consumption, in addition to satisfying consumers’ benefit demander motivation, suppliers must also meet consumers’ benefit morality motivation. Only by letting consumers realize that while consuming the products they need, they can also promote social virtues and fulfill their social responsibilities, will they have the motivation to continuous altruistic consumption, realize the continuous consumption of altruistic products. Only by solving the problem of continuous sales of products of vulnerable groups can the problem of continuous poverty of vulnerable groups be solved, and the return to poverty caused by the consumption relationship dissolution can be prevented, and the true goal Frontiers in Psychology 13 frontiersin.org 31 Xin et al. 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.933701 FIGURE 2 Line chart of altruistic consumption motivation and the times of altruistic purchases. of altruistic consumption can be realized. The research also found that among the four kinds of motivations that affect consumers’ altruistic recommendation consumption behavior, the benefit supplier motivation is relatively stronger, which means that it is of great significance for more consumers to realize that their consumption behavior can help the vulnerable groups get rid of the vulnerable status, they are willing to recommend to others, and drive more people to consume the altruistic products of the vulnerable groups. Therefore, as a supplier of vulnerable groups, it is necessary to feedback to the society the huge changes brought about by altruistic consumption to vulnerable groups through various channels, so that altruistic consumers know that their altruistic recommendation consumption behavior has produced a positive altruistic effect, which is helpful to encourage altruistic consumers’ recommendation consumption behavior. The altruistic marketing strategy adopted for consumers’ benefit group altruistic consumption motivation can be called the benefit group altruistic marketing strategy, which mainly solves the problem of attempting consumption by altruistic consumers and the problem of entering the market of altruistic products; The altruistic marketing strategy adopted for consumers’ benefit demander altruistic consumption motivation can be called the benefit demander altruistic marketing strategy, which mainly solves the problem of re-consumption of altruistic products and the problem of market consolidation of altruistic products; The altruistic marketing strategy adopted for consumers’ benefit morality altruistic consumption motivation can be called the benefit morality altruistic marketing strategy, which mainly solves the problem of continuous consumption and the continuous sales of altruistic products; The altruistic marketing strategy adopted for altruistic recommendation consumption behavior can be called the benefit supplier altruistic marketing strategy, which mainly solves the problem of the recommendation consumption of altruistic consumers and the market expansion of altruistic products. We can also collectively refer to these altruistic marketing strategies as “4B altruistic marketing strategies”. The corresponding relationship between “4B altruistic marketing strategy” and “4B altruistic consumption motivation” is relative. Each marketing strategy can play a role in every altruistic consumption behavior, Frontiers in Psychology 14 frontiersin.org 32 Xin et al. 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.933701 FIGURE 3 Matrix of altruistic consumption behavior/altruistic consumption motivation and altruistic consumption marketing strategy. but the degree of influence is different in different consumption behaviors. This research summarizes and plotted the matrix of altruistic consumption behavior/altruistic consumption motivation and altruistic consumption marketing strategy (shown in Figure 3). Benefit group altruistic marketing strategy has the greatest influence on the initial consumption, and as the times of consumption increase, its influence gradually decreases. However, the influence of the benefit demander altruistic marketing strategy, the benefit supplier altruism marketing strategy, and the benefit morality altruism marketing strategy are smaller on the initial consumption, as the times of consumption increases, the influence gradually increases. Therefore, in order to achieve good altruistic marketing effects, suppliers must be good at the combined application of altruistic marketing strategies. Active marketing of vulnerable groups should also arrange targeted altruistic marketing strategies based on the contribution of altruistic motivations. The research also found that among the four kinds of altruistic consumption motivations that affect consumers’ altruistic consumption behavior, the contribution of the benefit supplier motivation is relatively stronger, indicating that the core of altruistic consumption behavior is altruism. Therefore, when formulating altruistic marketing strategies, suppliers must always emphasize the value that altruistic consumption can bring to vulnerable groups, meaning that emphasizes the altruistic nature of consumption, which makes sense for the vulnerable groups to promote the altruistic consumption of their products. However, among the four Frontiers in Psychology 15 frontiersin.org 33 Xin et al. 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.933701 kinds of altruistic consumption motivations that affect the times of consumers’ altruistic consumption, the contribution of benefit demander consumption is relatively stronger. This tells us that altruistic consumption is not a kind of charitable behavior, but a reciprocal altruistic behavior. Therefore, the product must meet the consumer’s own needs, that is, satisfy the consumer’s benefit demander motivation. Therefore, improving the quality of altruistic consumption products, improving consumer services, setting appropriate prices, and providing convenient channels are essential to prevent the consumption relationship dissolution, maintain the stability of the consumer market, and promote the continuous consumption of altruistic consumption products. Limitations and prospects This research focuses on the relationship between altruistic consumption motivation and altruistic consumption behavior. Regarding the altruistic consumption model, the research team has completed relevant research and published articles, so there is not much involved in this research. This research only studied the motivations of different individuals’ onetime, two-times, and continuous consumption, while did not study the motivations of the same individual’s first, second, and continuous consumption. Therefore, this research cannot answer the question of why an individual decides to consume again after the first consumption, and why an individual decides to consume continuously. Researching these motivations is also of great significance for expanding the altruistic consumer market. This research is investigative research, and the object of research is consumption motivation. Consumers’ motivations are inherent and cannot be directly expressed through consumers’ consumption behavior, nor can they be derived from actual statistics data. This study focuses on consumers who buy poverty alleviation products and on vulnerable groups with productive capacity in China. Whether the study represents all altruistic consumers and vulnerable groups requires further investigation. The development of real society is always uneven, there are always a large number of groups that in the countries, regions, ethnic minorities, low-income groups, and affected by disasters that in a state of poverty and backwardness. In the long run, it is challenging to help vulnerable groups out of poverty using the one-way charity model. Adopting the reciprocal altruistic consumption method can be an effective way to help vulnerable groups escape poverty. Using marketing methods to help vulnerable groups is an essential extension of the theory of cause-related marketing, a new field of marketing study, and a manifestation of the new function of marketing. Data availability statement The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation. Ethics statement Ethical review and approval was not required for the study on human participants in accordance with the local legislations and institutional requirements. 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Frontiers in Psychology 18 frontiersin.org 36 TYPE Original Research PUBLISHED 15 September 2022 DOI 10.3389/fpubh.2022.968009 OPEN ACCESS EDITED BY Andrzej Klimczuk, Warsaw School of Economics, Poland REVIEWED BY Narimasa Kumagai, Seinan Gakuin University, Japan Hiroki Teragawa, JR Hiroshima Hospital, Japan *CORRESPONDENCE Bin Hou [email protected] SPECIALTY SECTION This article was submitted to Public Health Policy, a section of the journal Frontiers in Public Health RECEIVED 13 June 2022 ACCEPTED 26 August 2022 PUBLISHED 15 September 2022 CITATION Hou B, Wu Y and Huang S (2022) Participating in health insurance and health improvements for the relatively poor population: A propensity score analysis. Front. Public Health 10:968009. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.968009 COPYRIGHT ©2022 Hou, Wu and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Participating in health insurance and health improvements for the relatively poor population: A propensity score analysis Bin Hou*, Yuxin Wu and Siyi Huang School of Public Administration, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, China This study examined the causal relationship between participation in the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS) and health status among relatively poor population in rural China. Data were obtained from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) conducted in 2018, which contained 4,507 samples. This study used propensity score matching (PSM) to examine the net effect of participation in the NRCMS on the health of the relatively poor population, and this effect was tested for equilibrium using nearest neighbor matching, radius matching, and kernel matching. This study showed that participation in the NRCMS has a significant and positive effect on the health status of the relatively poor population and the positive health effect may come from three channels, including the increased frequency of physical activity, the fact that an individual is more likely to seek medical care at a lower level of visit, and a plan to reduce health care expenditures. KEYWORDS New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme, health status, rural relatively poor population, propensity score matching, influencing mechanism Introduction It has been proven that health is an important factor influencing poverty reduction and impoverishment (1), and health insurance can alleviate poverty vulnerability under health shock (2). In China, the distribution structure of the relatively poor population is mainly concentrated in areas with poor natural resource endowment, poor economic conditions and deep poverty. The group distribution of the relatively poor population mainly includes disabled individuals, widowed and orphaned individuals, elderly individuals, and individuals with long-term poverty due to illness. Therefore, regardless of the distribution structure of the relatively poor population or the distribution of specific groups, health problems will become one of the main obstacles in solving relative poverty. Health is an important issue raised by human capital theory. Human capital theory clearly puts forward that health is an important part of human capital, and highquality human capital is crucial for promoting economic development and improving individual welfare (3). Therefore, in recent years, health insurance, as an international issue, has attracted the attention of all countries. Many developing countries have health insurance programs that provide health insurance for individuals or families Frontiers in Public Health 01 frontiersin.org 37 Hou et al. 10.3389/fpubh.2022.968009 through subsidies from government funds (4–6). The main purpose of health insurance is to reduce the medical expenses of an individual or a family, reduce the risk of becoming poor due to major diseases and help to spread the health risks that may arise. Therefore, to improve the farmers’ health level, reduce the medical burden, and solve the problem of poverty due to illness, in July 2003, the State Council of China started the pilot work of the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS). The NRCMS is funded by individual payments, collective support and government subsidies, which are led and organized by the government. It is a medical mutual aid system for rural residents that focuses on the overall planning of serious diseases and the settlement of minor diseases (7). It is a voluntary program and the voluntary feature was adopted to overcome public mistrust in the government-run insurance program (8,9). The survey showed a high enrolment rate of 92% in this voluntary insurance scheme (10). Based on fee-for-service and cost-sharing models, the NRCMS mainly applies to inpatient services and some medical outpatient services, aiming to reduce the burden of disease costs for the rural population (8,11). By 2008, the NRCMS covered both inpatient and medical outpatient services in most counties (9). The per capita annual premium of the NRCMS gradually increased from US $4.88 in 2005 to US $65.11 by the end of 2014 (12). By 2015, its coverage rate had reached 98 percent (13). At the same time, per-capita reimbursement caps have been raised, with outpatient reimbursement rising to $14, outpatient observation reimbursement to $163, and total medical expense reimbursement to $32,558 by the end of 2014. For hospitalization, 85 percent of the total expenses can be reimbursed by township hospitals, 70 percent by county hospitals, 55 percent by municipal hospitals and 50 percent by provincial hospitals (14). Previous studies have examined the impact of health insurance on health status but have come to different conclusions. Researchers have found that participation in the NRCMS can improve the health status of rural residents mainly by reducing the incidence of poverty caused by illness or returning to poverty due to illness. In terms of actual effects, the NRCMS has a better poverty alleviation effect compared with previous medical insurance systems (8,15). In addition, some researchers measured health status by using self-rated health and the number of illnesses or injuries in the past 4 weeks and studied the impact of participation in the NRCMS on health status. These researchers found that participation in the NRCMS did not significantly improve the health level of the participants (16,17). Other researchers have studied the effects of health insurance in other countries. Researchers believe that medical insurance for rural areas will play a positive role in poverty reduction (18). Medical insurance can improve residents’ health and reduce poverty vulnerability caused by health shock (19), while public medical insurance and premium subsidies can reduce the incidence of health poverty by 1/3 (1). In addition, Vietnam’s Poor Health Protection Fund (HCFP) has significantly reduced cash expenditures on health for the poor population (20). Bangladesh’s micro-health insurance scheme has significantly increased household income and stability and reduced the probability of falling into poverty (18). Medicare support programs in the United States have greatly reduced income inequality and improved welfare for the poor population by providing government subsidies (21). Therefore, this study took the relatively poor rural population in China as the research object to investigate whether participation in the NRCMS has effectively improved the health status of this population. If the answer was yes, then the mechanism through which participation in NRCMS improved the health status of this population was further analyzed. Previous studies have mainly used multiple linear regression models to explore the relationship between health insurance and health, which has endogenous problems. In addition, the causal effect of medical insurance on the health status of the insured population should not be clear. Therefore, this study used the propensity score matching (PSM) to construct a counterfactual framework to test the causal relationship between participation in the NRCMS and the health status of the relatively poor rural population in China and then addressed the problem of causal inference that cannot be solved by traditional regression analysis. In this study, PSM was adopted to balance the confounding variables that affect participants’ behaviors, which could solve the self-selection problem of the sample to some extent, and the net effect of this policy was obtained, providing a mechanism for explaining the health promotion effect of medical insurance. Methods Data This study used data from China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), a survey designed and conducted by the China Center for Social Surveys at Peking University. CFPS data samples are nationally representative, and the survey team constantly updates the survey methods to ensure that the survey results are authentic and reliable, ultimately forming a database including family member answers, individual self-answers and individual proxy answers. The data cover 25 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in China, giving a more comprehensive picture of the demographic, economic and social characteristics of the Chinese population. In this study, CFPS data from 2018 were used. Combined with the database indicators required by the study, family sample codes were used as matching indicators to merge the data from a horizontal perspective. The final data content included variables such as household size, Frontiers in Public Health 02 frontiersin.org 38 Hou et al. 10.3389/fpubh.2022.968009 household income and health expenditures at the household level, as well as variables such as education level, income level, work status, smoking status and level of medical care at the individual level. The object of this study was the relatively poor rural population. International experiences of relative poverty screening generally take a certain percentage of the median income as the threshold standard. For example, researchers propose using 50% of the median income as the relative poverty line (22). However, this kind of relative poverty screening based on the income method has some limitations; it ignores the essence of utility economics that describe that relative poverty is a subjective feeling. This subjective feeling is an individual’s assessment of whether he or she is poor, and this self-assessment standard is usually related to the reference group set by the individual himself or herself. Therefore, this study drew on lessons from previous studies on subjective relative poverty and selected the relatively poor population based on the answers to the subjective relative poverty question (23). This study first selected individuals in rural households from the total sample and then selected individuals in the relatively poor population according to the their answer to the question “What is your income in the local area?” Answers was ranked on a scale of one to five; the higher the number, the higher an individual’s local income. This study selected the population with indicators of one and two as the relatively poor population. After deleting invalid samples and sorting out data, 4,507 valid samples were finally obtained in this study. Variables and measures Table 1 presents a description of variable. The independent variable in this study was whether an individual participated in NRCMS. Based on the question “What medical insurance system have you participated in?” in the questionnaire, the individuals participating in the NRCMS were assigned a value of 1, and those participating in other medical insurance systems and those not participating in a medical insurance system were assigned a value of 0. The dependent variable in this study was the health status of individuals in the rural relatively poor population. Personal health is generally measured from subjective perceptions, medical diagnoses and physical function. Self-reported health status is an individual’s subjective judgment, in accordance with his or her own objective health to be able to fully reflect the multidimensional nature of the health and integrity. Using this index can comprehensively reflect residents in terms of their physical, psychological, cognitive and external environments with multidimensional information and can form comprehensive evaluation results of their health more accurately (24). Therefore, this study chose the question of “How do you think your health is?” to measure the self-reported health status of the sample, and the answer to this question had reordered values for “1 =” unhealthy, “2 =” general, “3 =” more healthy, “4 =” very healthy, and “5 =” very healthy; the higher the value, the more healthy the rural relative poverty population was. In addition, according to previous research conclusions, age, sex, education level, marital status, working status, frequency TABLE 1 Definition and descriptive statistics of various variables. Variables Variable definitions Dependent variable Health status Continuous variable, ranging from 1 to 5 Independent variable NRCMS Categorical variable, NRCMS participants =1,non-NRCMS participants =0 Age Continuous variable Sex Categorical variable, 0 =female, 1 =male Education level Continuous variable, average education years Control variables Marital status Categorical variable, 0 =unmarried, 1 =married Working status Categorical variable, 0 =no, 1 =yes Frequency of internet use Continuous variable, ranging from 0 to 6 Smoking status Categorical variable, 0 =no, 1 =yes Alcohol status Categorical variable, 0 =no, 1 =yes Time spent watching TV Continuous variable, ranging from 0 to 50 Frequency of physical activity Continuous variable, ranging from 0 to 50 The level of medical care at the point of the visit Continuous variable, ranging from 1 to 5 Time spent performing housework Continuous variable, ranging from 0 to 12 Family size Continuous variable, ranging from 1 to 15 Health care expenditures Continuous variable Bank loan repayment status Categorical variable, 0 =no, 1 =yes Family income level Continuous variable, take the logarithm Frontiers in Public Health 03 frontiersin.org 39 Hou et al. 10.3389/fpubh.2022.968009 Funding This study was supported by Fuzhou Social Science Planning (2021FZB08) and Education and Scientific Research Project of Young and Middle-aged Teachers of Fujian Provincial Education Department (Social Science) (JAS19035) awarded to BH. 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(2008) 7. doi: 10.1186/1475-9276-7-17 Frontiers in Public Health 11 frontiersin.org 47 Frontiers in Psychology 01 frontiersin.org When helping is risky: The influence of ethical attributes on consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online JingjingWu 1, ChaoWang 2, YingzhengYan 1 and QiujinZheng 3* 1 College of Management and Economics, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China, 2 College of Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China, 3 School of Journalism and Communication, Minjiang University, Fuzhou, China Chinese e-commerce platforms have long helped to sell agricultural products through farmer-assisting marketing activities, effectively alleviating the problem of stagnant agricultural products in some areas, and have become a valuable cause-related marketing strategy. The ethical attributes of farmerassisting agricultural products have unique value compared with other agricultural products. However, the existing research rarely pays attention to the influence of the ethical attributes of farmer-assisting agricultural products on consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online. Based on collective efficacy theory and risk perception theory, this study systematically explores the influence mechanism of ethical attributes (symbolic ethical attribute and functional ethical attribute) on consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online through three situational experiments. The results show that compared with functional ethical attributes, symbolic ethical attributes have a more positive impact on consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online. In addition, it further reveals two mediating pathways of ethical effects (collective efficacy and risk perception) and boundaries (emergency of farmer-assisting events). This study helps to understand the ethical attributes of farmerassisting agricultural products, and provides some practical suggestions for e-commerce enterprises implementing farmer-assisting marketing communication activities or marketers developing and promoting farmerassisting agricultural products. KEYWORDS ethical attributes, collective efficacy, risk perception, farmer-assisting agricultural products, online shopping TYPE Original Research PUBLISHED 02 November 2022 DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1014972 OPEN ACCESS EDITED BY Andrzej Klimczuk, Warsaw School of Economics, Poland REVIEWED BY Heru Nugroho, Telkom University, Indonesia Punita Duhan, DSEU, India Hera Febria Mavilinda, Sriwijaya University, Indonesia *CORRESPONDENCE Qiujin Zheng [email protected] SPECIALTY SECTION This article was submitted to Personality and Social Psychology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology RECEIVED 09 August 2022 ACCEPTED 26 September 2022 PUBLISHED 02 November 2022 CITATION Wu J, Wang C, Yan Y and Zheng Q (2022) When helping is risky: The influence of ethical attributes on consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online. Front. Psychol. 13:1014972. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1014972 COPYRIGHT © 2022 Wu, Wang, Yan and Zheng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. 48 Wu et al. 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1014972 Frontiers in Psychology 02 frontiersin.org Introduction Unlike traditional promotions, e-commerce-assisted agricultural marketing is an innovative model that links the social support of e-commerce platforms to the sales of farmer-assisting agricultural products (Lee and Charles, 2021). In fact, since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese e-commerce platforms have helped sell agricultural products through farmerassisting marketing activities, effectively alleviating the problem of stagnant agricultural products in some areas and reducing the impact of the epidemic on farmers’ income loss (Gu and Wang, 2020). In 2021, the e-tailing volume of agricultural products recorded in China reached 422.1 billion yuan, up2.8% year on year, but only accounted for 4% of the e-tailing volume of physical goods, said a report on E-Commerce in China (2021) released by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. The above data fully demonstrates that although the e-commerce of agricultural products in China is gradually developing, its penetration rate is still relatively low. Thus, if wewant to promote growth in rural incomes further, it is essential to fully utilize the active role of digital technology in rural revitalization. In face of the COVID-19 pandemic, e-commerce-assisted agricultural marketing has become a valuable cause-related marketing strategy, which can not only sell stagnant agricultural products but also force rural advantageous and characteristic industries to become bigger, stronger, and better, and develop into an important channel for online sales of agricultural products (Xiao etal., 2021). In terms of e-commerce-assisted agricultural marketing, this study also refers to the relevant research on cause-related marketing (Guerreiro etal., 2016). E-commerce-assisted agricultural marketing has received more and more attention and support (Li et al., 2022). It is essentially a moral economic behavior that people’s purchasing behavior is imbued with good moral value by encouraging consumers to buy agricultural products, with the help of moral mobilization (Mai and Li, 2014; Han et al., 2018). Thus, the purchase of farmer-assisting agricultural products by consumers is essentially a kind of “ethical consumption” (Quan, 2021). Ethical consumption is defined as a type of product purchased by consumers that contains not only direct use value but also other attribute values (such as social development or environmental sustainability; Long and Murray, 2013). Wang et al. (2021) revealed that ethical attributes are the main motivation for consumers to buy agricultural products online from poor areas and to pay more. Thus, ethical attributes are a potential influence on consumers’ purchase of farmer-assisting agricultural products, and this study uses the term “ethical effect” to refer to this influence. This effect is similar to earlier studies on prosocial behavior, green consumption, and fair-trade consumption, but these studies also point to the complexity of consumers’ consumption decisions for products with ethical attributes (Herédia-Colaço and Coelho do Vale, 2018). The studies by Bodur etal. (2014) and Herédia-Colaço and Coelho do Vale (2018) have emphasized the importance of alignment of ethical attributes and product category interests. Customers could beworried about buying things with moral qualities that fall short in terms of utility and quality for normal use (Mai etal., 2019). However, unlike the general type of ethical commodities previously investigated, farmer-assisting agricultural products not only satisfy the private utility value of consumer health and safety but also reflect the public utility value of assisting struggling farmers (Wang etal., 2021; Zeng Q. Y. etal., 2021). As a result, earlier research on ethical consumption motives for general types of products is no longer useful in assessing and forecasting consumer purchase decision problems involving farmer-assistance agricultural products. Agriculture products are the most important component in the e-commerce-assisted agriculture marketing scenario for gaining market recognition, and it is necessary to explore further the deeply embedded psychological mechanisms and theoretical logic of the influence of their ethical attributes on consumers’ decisions to purchase assisted agriculture products online. In the past, most scholars have focused on the psychological variables of the individual level of philanthropists to research ethical consumption issues. For example, philanthropists formed positive ethical consumption attitudes, willingness, or behaviors based on psychological factors such as ethical values, empathy, guilt relief, or personal cost-effectiveness (Yang etal., 2014; Savary and Goldsmith, 2020). However, Fritsche etal. (2018) questioned the individualistic view and emphasized that the collective dimension of ethical consumption should beaddressed. When consumers are concerned about collective goals, demand for social welfare products increases (Simpson etal., 2021), especially in the network, the positive dynamic events can enhance the network collective behavior intention through the digital emotion infection (Goldenberg and Gross, 2020; Xie and Li, 2022). Thus, although some studies have indicated that the e-commerce platform has the potential for farmer-assisting and poverty alleviation (Peng etal., 2021; Li etal., 2022; Zeng etal., 2022), few scholars consider the role of social media communication in the psychological process of consumers’ online shopping for farmerassisting agricultural products. In particular, there are few related studies on collective efficacy based on e-commerce platform (Hornsey etal., 2021; Lee and Littles, 2021; Valizadeh etal., 2022). This study argues that the concept of collective efficacy is an essential supplement to ethical consumption research. It is necessary to further study the potential mechanism of the influence of ethical attributes on consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online from the perspective of collective efficacy. Furthermore, in online retail, the physical distance between the online retailer and the consumer generates Internet ethics concerns among consumers (Lee and Charles, 2021). As an illustration, some online retailers “trap” consumers through false and exaggerated “tragic marketing” tricks (Zhou, 2020). Fresh agricultural products are relatively non-standardized products, and quality issues such as shoddy products and inconsistent pictures exacerbate risk concerns in the e-commerce environment (Fan and Liu, 2021). Previous research has found that the degree 49 Wu et al. 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1014972 Frontiers in Psychology 03 frontiersin.org to which consumers are willing to take risks also affects their willingness to help others when doing so may expose them to certain risks (Gangadharan etal., 2019; Beaud etal., 2022; Costa et al., 2022). Consumers’ decision to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products with ethical attributes online is complicated by the potential conflict of interest between individual goals (immediate product benefits) and long-term collective goals (contributing to social well-being). The significance of a product’s ethical attributes for marketers seeking to differentiate their products cannot beoverstated, as acknowledged by the vast majority of academics (Iweala etal., 2019; Hindsley etal., 2020; Quan, 2021). However, it is crucial to consider what ethical attributes agricultural products should have in order to increase consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online. What is the underlying mechanism behind the ethical effect? Where are the boundaries of ethical effect? To address the above issues, this study focuses on the special nature of farmer-assisting agricultural products themselves (i.e., ethical attributes), and explores the differences between different ethical attributes (symbolic and functional) on the intrinsic drivers in the formation of consumers’ online purchase decisions through the introduction the collective efficacy theory and risk perception theory. Simultaneously, various scenarios of the urgency of farmer-assisting events are introduced in order to identify clear boundaries. The study is innovative in three aspects. First, in cause-related marketing activities, scholars have explored the impact on consumer behavioral decisions from marketing strategies such as victim’s image (Homer, 2021; Zhou et al., 2021), victim’s recognizability (Hou etal., 2022), and advertising personalization (Kim and Kim, 2022). However, few studies have focused on product attributes. This study broadens the research viewpoint on cause-related marketing by examining the relationship between the ethical attributes of farmer-assistance agricultural products and consumers’ willingness to buy online. This study distinguishes between symbolic and functional ethical attributes and compares them. Incorporating collective efficacy theory and risk perception theory clarifies the psychological mechanisms by which the two ethical attributes effect consumers’ willingness to purchase agricultural products online. Second, this study identified the importance of collective efficacy and risk perception for consumers to understand the significance of e-commerce-assisted agricultural marketing activities, thereby contributing to relevant research on collective efficacy and risk perception theories. Third, the moderating effect of the urgency of farmer-assisting events (sudden disaster scenario and normative difficulty scenario) on the relationship between ethical attributes and consumers’ online purchase decisions was investigated. The interaction of the two has a significant effect on customers’ willingness to buy farmerassisting agricultural online, so complementing prior research on consumers’ ethical consumption. In summary, the findings of this study provide a necessary theoretical basis for e-commerce platforms to effectively develop farmer-assisting marketing strategies, thus helping agricultural products access the market and enhancing farmers’ income, as well as rural revitalization. Theoretical backgrounds Ethical attributes of farmer-assisting agricultural products Ethical attributes refer to product attributes that reflect social fairness, environmental protection, and other ethical issues. Bezençon etal. (2020) have revealed that purchasing products with ethical attributes (e.g., EcoConscious or No Child Labor statement) can reflect their concerns and support for social or ethical issues, but has nothing to do with the function of the product itself. Thus, ethical attributes also refer to symbolic ethical attributes to a certain extent (Peloza etal., 2013; Sama etal., 2018; Hindsley etal., 2020; Tofighi etal., 2020; Das etal., 2021; Wang et al., 2021; Salam etal., 2022; see Table 1). Unlike previous research, Bodur etal. (2014) believed that products with ethical attributes also have functional benefits at the same time. Ethical TABLE1 Literature on ethical attributes. Reference Topic Ethical attributes Ethical-related intention Peloza etal. (2013) Green marketing Environmental sustainability Product preference Sama etal. (2018) Fair trade Socio-environmental responsibility Willingness to pay premiums Hindsley etal. (2020) Direct-trade coffee Farmers receive a premium amount，harvesting method is sustainable Willingness to pay premiums Tofighi etal. (2020) Sustainable brands Positive implications for the environment, human rights, social issues, and animal welfare Brand evaluations Das etal. (2021) Gift-giving Made of eco-friendly ingredients Purchase intention Wang etal. (2021) Poverty alleviation consumption Apples from poverty-stricken areas Willingness to pay Salam etal. (2022) Organic food consumption Ethical production Purchase intention Previous studies Focus on standardized products consumption Focuses on symbolic benefits of ethical attributes This paper Non-standardized fresh produce consumption Focus on symbolic ethical attributes and functional ethical attributes Consumers’ willingness to buy farmerassisting agricultural products online 50 Wu et al. 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1014972 Frontiers in Psychology 04 frontiersin.org attributes can generally be divided into functional ethical attributes (such as product performance, safety, etc.) and symbolic ethical attributes (such as public welfare, social responsibility, etc.; Bodur etal., 2014; Tofighi etal., 2020). Consumers’ purchasing decisions are based on evaluations and needs for product-specific attributes. A necessary condition for promoting e-commerce-assisted agricultural marketing in consumer groups is that consumers have an effective demand for farmer-assisting agricultural products. This demand depends on whether farmer-assisting agricultural products can bring special value to consumers compared with traditional e-commerce agricultural products. Thus, according to the difference in the characteristics of ethical attributes, consumers’ demand for farmer-assisting agricultural products can bedivided into two situations: on the one hand, farmer-assisting agricultural products convey the message of “functional ethical attributes,” emphasizing the advantages of naturalness, safety and taste, and meeting consumers’ practical needs in terms of functionality. The common perception is that the land in remote mountainous areas is fertile, the environment is not polluted, the production conditions are more traditional, and the products are healthier and more nutritious (Wang etal., 2018). On the other hand, farmer-assisting agricultural products convey the message of “symbolic ethical attributes,” emphasizing that the products have the characteristics of helping trapped or impoverished farmers, and can meet the emotional needs of consumers in terms of morality and emotion. Zeng Q. Y. etal. (2021) revealed that helping farmers is the most common motivation for consumers to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products. In general, most of the existing research on the ethical attributes of farmer-assisting agricultural products is still limited to the symbolic value of the product, ignoring the functional value of the product such as safety and taste. Thus, further systematic analysis of the ethical attributes of farmer-assisting agricultural products is required. Collective efficacy Collective efficacy originates from psychology and sociology and is based on the development of self-efficacy theory. Bandura (2002) defined collective efficacy as an individual’s belief in the collective ability of the collective to effectively achieve a goal. Thus, collective efficacy is not the ability of the group itself, but the individual’s perception of the collective ability. When a majority of the group expresses support and appreciation for prosocial activities, individuals respond to others’ prosocial behavioral expectations by adjusting their behavioral willingness to participate in environmental protection activities (Bamberg et al., 2015), plastic reduction (Reese and Junge, 2017), and recycling activities (Wang etal., 2020), etc. Collective efficacy is considered one of the critical factors in collective activity research, and its importance has been explored in research contexts such as community activity (Carbone and McMillin, 2019), environmental protection (Higham etal., 2019; Hornsey etal., 2021), organizational leadership (Valizadeh etal., 2022), and political activity (Chapman etal., 2022). Valizadeh etal. (2022) pointed out that collective efficacy has a significant positive impact on social resilience in the COVID-19 pandemic. Zhao etal. (2022) also indicated that during the epidemic, people’s participation efficacy motivates them to participate in online collective activities. Although there are few studies on collective efficacy in the context of e-commerce-assisted agricultural marketing, the above studies confirm the role of individuals’ expected outcomes of collective power in stimulating pro-environmental actions and social participation intentions. Further, the study by Simpson etal. (2021) states that when the collective efficacy of crowdfunding participants is high, they will bemotivated to pursue and accomplish goal outcome that benefits the collective. The results of this study also indicated that collective efficacy enhances consumer demand for socially beneficial products but does not affect the demand for self-interested products. Similarly, Li and Sun (2022) showed that altruistic appeals in green product advertising can motivate consumers to increase their purchase intentions when they are concerned about collective interests. Thus, collective efficacy theory provides a valuable perspective on how people view the ability and effectiveness of actions to solve the problem of farmer-assisting and poverty alleviation. Specifically, e-commerce-assisted agricultural marketing can enhance the demand for farmerassisting agricultural products by increasing consumers’ attention to collective goals. Based on the definition of Doran and Hanss (2022), this study defines the collective efficacy of farmer-assisting consumption as people’s perception of the collective’s ability to successfully help farmers solve the problem of stagnant agricultural products. The urgency of farmer-assisting events In cause-related marketing activities, consumers’ judgment of the urgency of causal-related events will affect their attitudes and behavioral decisions (Luo and Lv, 2019). Zheng et al. (2019) divided cause-related events into two scenarios according to their urgency: long-term difficulty (e.g., poverty, pollution) and sudden disaster (e.g., epidemic, earthquake). People are more likely to donate to sudden disasters than to long-term difficulties. According to the attribution theory, when a company provides help to the people suffered a sudden disaster, not only the uncontrollable and unpredictable nature of the disaster can prevent people from blaming the victim, but also the company’s behavior will also increase the consumer’s sense of identity (Vanhamme etal., 2012; Chang etal., 2021). When a company conducts cause-related marketing campaigns on long-standing problems, it often leads consumers to associate with the company’s 51 Wu et al. 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1014972 Frontiers in Psychology 05 frontiersin.org self-interested purpose (such as improving performance or reputation; Kuo and Rice, 2015; Zhang etal., 2020; Chang etal., 2021). Thus, the urgency of farmer-assisting events may affect consumers’ decision-making on ethical behavior to a certain extent. Combined with previous studies on the urgency of causerelated events, this study also divides the urgency of farmerassisting events into sudden disasters and normative difficulties. A sudden disaster scenario refers to carrying out farmer-assisting activities for the problem of stagnant agricultural products caused by sudden disasters; a normative difficulty scenario refers to carrying out farmer-assisting activities for the long-term disharmony between the production and marketing of agricultural products in poor areas. Research hypotheses Ethical attributes and consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online Ethical attributes play a crucial role in consumers’ ethical consumption (Bezençon etal., 2020; Tofighi etal., 2020; Das etal., 2021). Both symbolic ethical attributes and functional ethical attributes can bring utility to consumers (Zeng Q. Y. etal., 2021). Herédia-Colaço and Coelho do Vale (2018) and Iweala et al. (2019) found that organic products with symbolic ethical attributes (e.g., environmental protection, animal welfare) lead to higher ratings by consumers. Thus, the symbolic ethical attributes of products are considered to bean important factor affecting the ethical consumption of consumers. With the improvement of consumers’ awareness of food safety, the actual demand for highquality agricultural products is also increasing. The natural health attributes and local characteristics of farmer-assisting agricultural products perfectly fit the consumer’s interest motives (Zeng Y. C. etal., 2021). In particular, self-interest motivation based on natural health attributes has repeatedly appeared in consumer purchasing decision research (Chekima etal., 2017; Zhou etal., 2017). On that basis, this study believes that the two types of ethical attributes will have a positive impact on consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online. Further, some scholars have indicated that consumers also face attribute trade-offs when purchasing ethical products with multiple attributes (Araque-Padilla etal., 2015). When products are rated low, symbolic ethical attributes are more likely than functional ethical attributes (or other attributes) to give consumers the pleasure and satisfaction derived from the perceived assessment of contributing to the well-being of society (Bezençon et al., 2020). For example, in the fresh products e-commerce scenario, the uncertainty of the quality and standardization of fresh agricultural products also further leads to lower overall consumer evaluation of online agricultural products. Thus, compared with functional ethical attributes, the symbolic ethical attributes of farmer-assisting agricultural products can more directly convey the social benefits of farmer-assisting to consumers, thereby increasing consumer evaluation and willingness to purchase online. Based on the above analysis, this study proposes the following hypothesis: H1: Ethical attributes influence consumers' willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online, and symbolic ethical attributes have a more positive impact on consumers' willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online compared to functional ethical attributes. Ethical attributes and consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online: The mediating effect of collective efficacy Consumers’ participation in cause-related marketing activities is not only a prosocial behavior but can also beconsidered a collective activity (Hou et al., 2022). The study by Alavi and McCormick (2018) showed that collective efficacy determines an individual’s attempts and efforts to engage in collective activities. For example, Doran and Hanss (2022) found that sustainable environmental protection actions can only bepromoted when people recognize the value of collective efforts. Thus, as a type of collective activity, farmer-assisting consumption requires not only individual efforts but also collective efforts to jointly address. Based on social identity theory, Arslanagic-Kalajdzic et al. (2022) discovered that moral appeals related to social issues will activate cohesion within consumer groups and increase the likelihood of positive behavioral responses, such as generating purchase intentions. van Zomeren etal. (2012) combined moral beliefs with a social identity model of collective activity, and pointed out that moral beliefs positively affect collective efficacy and can predict collective activity intentions. Similarly, this study infers that if farmer-assisting agricultural products convey ethical appeal and ethical value information to consumers, it can activate the sense of identity of individuals and groups, thereby forming collective efficacy. Although both types of ethical attributes of farmer-assisting agricultural products demonstrate the benefits of participating in activities, symbolic ethical attributes are designed to stimulate the moral feeling of helping others, while functional ethical attributes emphasize the practical utility of self-interest. Thus, symbolic ethical attributes are more in line with the public’s ethical values, attract online audiences more widely, and form collective efficacy. Based on the above analysis, the following hypotheses are made: H2a: Ethical attributes affect consumers' collective efficacy, and symbolic ethical attributes can stimulate consumers' collective efficacy more than functional ethical attributes. H2b: Collective efficacy plays a mediating role between ethical attributes and consumers' willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online. 52 Wu et al. 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1014972 Frontiers in Psychology 06 frontiersin.org Ethical attributes and consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online: The mediating effect of risk perception E-commerce-assisted agricultural marketing is a new scenario extended by the combination of cause-related activities and fresh online shopping. Compared with traditional offline cause-related marketing, consumers have information asymmetry before receiving goods, mainly facing risks in information search, product quality, logistics, and transportation, as well as after-sales service (Zhang etal., 2015), which also hinders consumers from frequently purchasing fresh agricultural products online to some extent (Zheng etal., 2020; Wu etal., 2022). Scholars have pointed out that ethical attributes may come with liability, especially in terms of product quality, to mitigate consumer risk perceptions to some extent (Bodur etal., 2014). Xue etal. (2022) pointed out that the green image of the platform reflects the platform’s commitment to social responsibility and sustainable development, which is conducive to enhancing consumer identification and reducing concerns. Thus, symbolic ethical attributes can, to a certain extent, improve product credibility and mitigate consumer risk perceptions. However, some scholars also found that it is not always beneficial for products to have ethical attributes. Based on zero-sum heuristic research, consumers may equate a product’s ethical attributes with its lower functional attributes (Chernev, 2007; Mai etal., 2019), i.e., positioning an ethical product as a “humanitarian” but less functional product. A typical example is when a functional product (such as laundry detergent) is labeled as ethical (compared to no label), consumers will use a larger amount (Lin and Chang, 2012). Quan (2021) emphasized that although farmer-assisting agricultural products convey information about functional ethical attributes such as health and safety to consumers, concerns about product quality may affect purchase intentions to some extent due to the low level of consumers’ overall knowledge about the quality and function of cause-related products. Thus, this study argues that consumers’ attitudes toward the farmer-assisting agricultural products with functional ethical attributes tend to bebased on more rational or practical considerations, resulting in more risk perceptions. In contrast, the symbolic ethical attribute of farmer-assisting agricultural products is conducive to stimulating positive associations among consumers, thus reducing risk perceptions. Based on the above analysis, the following hypotheses are proposed: H3a: Ethical attributes affect consumers' risk perception, and symbolic ethical attributes can alleviate consumers' risk perception more than functional ethical attributes. H3b: Risk perception plays a mediating role between ethical attributes and consumers' willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online. The moderating effect of the urgency of farmer-assisting events External environmental issues have a significant moderating effect on the relationship between consumers’ cognitive values and ethical consumption willingness (Kushwah et al., 2019). Thus, consumers’ cognition and value judgment on the characteristics of ethical attributes will begreatly affected by the urgency of the farmer-assisting event. Specifically, the study by Hou etal. (2022) showed that consumers tend to provide more help for tangibly identifiable individuals or events than for unidentified or normative events. That is, consumers are more responsive to a single sudden disaster scenario. Further, sudden disasters receive more social media coverage and appeals than ongoing difficulties, which tend to resonate with the public and create a resonance effect (Vanhamme etal., 2012). For example, the epidemic has rapidly driven the social ethics of “one side in trouble, all sides support,” and the general public voluntarily joins and establishes emergency organic relationships under the social media “positive energy” propaganda (Zhang and Meng, 2021). At the same time, the realtime dynamic information delivered by social media further helps consumers understand the progress and effectiveness of the emergency, activating some positive cognitive evaluation while alleviating risk concerns (Mirbabaie etal., 2021). However, in an emergency, if the information involves functional factors, it will increase the sensitivity and vigilance of consumers (Liu etal., 2022). Based on this, this study argues that in sudden disaster scenarios, symbolic ethical attributes are more effective in enhancing consumers’ ethical emotions, and communication and interaction through social media can further enhance collective efficacy and mitigate risk perceptions, thus promoting consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products. However, as the scale of the group in need of help increases, consumers will perceive an increase in the difficulty of helping (Sharma and Morwitz, 2016). In contrast, in a normative difficulty scenario, farmer-assisting events will not attract strong social attention and consumers will not beable to see the effect of farmer-assisting in the short term (Salam etal., 2022), thus ignoring the difference between the two types of ethical attributes to some extent. Thus, there is no significant difference between the collective efficacy and risk perceptions inspired by symbolic and functional ethical attributes. Based on the above analysis, this study proposes the following hypotheses: H4: The urgency of farmer-assisting events moderates between ethical attributes and collective efficacy. When in a sudden disaster scenario, symbolic ethical attributes elicit more collective efficacy among consumers than functional ethical attributes. When in a normative difficulty scenario, there is no difference in the collective efficacy induced by functional ethical attributes and symbolic ethical attributes. H5: The urgency of farmer-assisting events moderates between ethical attributes and risk perception. When in a 53 Wu et al. 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1014972 Frontiers in Psychology 07 frontiersin.org sudden disaster scenario, symbolic ethical attributes mitigate consumers' risk perceptions more than functional ethical attributes. When in a normative difficulty scenario, functional ethical attributes do not differ from symbolic ethical attributes in terms of consumers' risk perceptions. Based on the above theoretical basis and discussion, this study proposes a research model on the influence of ethical attributes on consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online. The details are as follows (see Figure1). Study design and results analysis This study used an online behavioral experiment research method to verify the causal relationship between the independent and dependent variables. Expressly, weset up an experimental scenario of selling farmer-assisting agricultural products on an e-commerce platform. Subjects were asked to view different information and pictures of farmer-assisting agricultural products and play the role of consumers in making online purchase choices. Finally, we compare the differences in consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online between different groups to test the hypothesis. Overall, three experiments were conducted to test these hypotheses (see Table2). In Study 1, wetested the main effect of ethical attributes on consumers’ willingness to buy farmerassisting agricultural products online. Through Study 2, were-validated the main effect and evaluated the mediating role of collective efficacy and risk perception. In Study 3, the moderating effects of the urgency of farmer-assisting events were investigated. The ethical attributes of farmer-assisting agricultural products were manipulated in two different ways: as orange pictures containing “character” images in Study 1; as orange pictures without “character” images in Study 2 and Study 3. The online experiments were conducted on the Credamo platform, which has been accepted in many refereed journals and has resulted in many excellent papers (Huang and Jaideep, 2020; Gai and Puntoni, 2021). FIGURE1 Hypothetical model diagram. TABLE2 Outline of the studies. Effect/hypothesis Tested in Subject source Independent variable manipulation Variable measurement Main effect: H1 Study 1 Credamo platform 150 subjects 3 (functional ethical attribute vs. symbolic ethical attribute vs. non-ethical attribute) Consumers’ willingness to buy farmerassisting agricultural products online Mediating effect: H2 Study 2 Credamo platform 110 subjects 2 (functional ethical attribute vs. symbolic ethical attribute) Consumers’ willingness to buy farmerassisting agricultural products online; Collective efficacy; Risk perception Moderating effect: H3 Study 3 Credamo platform 180 subjects 2 (functional ethical attribute vs. symbolic ethical attribute) * 2 (sudden disaster scenario vs. normative difficulty scenario) Consumers’ willingness to buy farmerassisting agricultural products online; Collective efficacy; Risk perception 54 Wu et al. 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1014972 Frontiers in Psychology 08 frontiersin.org Pre-test The purpose of the pre-test is to identify the farmer-assisting agricultural products for formal experiments. Through interviews with 10 consumers who have experience in purchasing farmerassisting agricultural products, the types of farmer-assisting agricultural products with high familiarity with the e-commerce platform have been preliminarily determined, including fruits such as oranges and apples, and vegetables such as potatoes and garlic. Furthermore, 30 respondents were randomly selected using a convenience sample questionnaire to answer the question “How familiar are you with the following farmer-assisting fruits or vegetables” (1 = “very unfamiliar”; 7 = “very familiar”). The results showed that consumers have the highest familiarity score with farmer-assisting oranges, M = 5.41. Thus, this study selects oranges as the following experimental materials. Study 1: The influence of ethical attributes on consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online Pre-experiment The purpose of the pre-experiment is to test the validity of the experimental stimuli reflecting two dimensions of ethical attributes (functional ethical attributes and symbolic ethical attributes). Referring to the experimental materials and experimental process design of Bodur etal. (2014) and Bezençon etal. (2020), this study adopts a scenario simulation experimental method and the stimuli are in the form of “pictures + text.” Oranges in A area from the Taobao Baba Farm love channel are selected as the material, which has both “health” and “public welfare” ethical attributes. The pre-experiment randomly selected 30 subjects (%females = 53.3%, Mage = 26.690 years, SD = 3.854) through the sample recommendation service of the Credamo platform. First, all the subjects were presented with the same introduction scenario materials, that is, a kind of stagnant oranges (29.9 yuan, 5 catties, 75–85 mm) in A area is noticed on the e-commerce platform. The subjects then randomly watched one of the two sets of materials presented. The first group read the pictorial material describing the functional ethical properties of the stagnant oranges. The specific content is “the original ecological planting of oranges in A area, sweet and moisturizing with no inflammation, rich in vitamin C, good for beauty and skincare.” The second group read pictures and materials that describe the symbolic ethical attributes of the stagnant oranges. The specific content is “the oranges in A area are hard to find a way to sell, and the mountain farmers are growing them with great effort and urgently need your support.” After the subjects read the above materials, they rated the ethical attribute information of the stagnant oranges on the Semantic Difference Scale (1 = “functional ethical attributes,” 7 = “symbolic ethical attributes”). The independent sample t-test results showed that the mean scores of the first group and the second group were significantly different (Msymbolic = 5.933, SD = 0.961 vs. Mfunctional = 2.267, SD = 1.486; t(28) = 8.023, p < 0.001), and the stimuli in this group were preliminarily considered to beeffective. The effect on perceived ethical attributes was further tested by analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) when controlling for the age and gender of the subjects, and the results were consistent with one-way ANOVA. The specific results were no significant effect of gender on ethical attributes [F(1, 26) =1.325, p = 0.265] and no significant effect of age on ethical attributes [F(1, 26) = 1.821, p = 0.189; for brevity, this test was conducted for all the following experiments, but the results of this step of the analysis are not presented]. Formal experiments The purpose of study 1 is to test the influence of ethical attributes on consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online, i.e., testing hypothesis H1. A singlefactor three-level (functional ethical attribute vs. symbolic ethical attribute vs. non-ethical attribute) between-group experiment was designed. The formal experiment recruited 150 subjects (%females = 51.3%, Mage = 31.967 years, SD = 6.925) on the Credamo platform, and randomly assigned the subjects to the symbolic ethical attribute group, functional ethical attribute group, and non-ethical attribute group (control group). The three groups of subjects read the experimental materials in the pre-experiment. The experimental materials of the non-ethical attribute group are the same stagnant orange pictures as the ethical attribute group, but there is no ethical attribute text on the picture (see Figure2). After the subjects read it, they filled in the items of consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online and demographic information. The questionnaire of consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online was adapted from the study of Zhou etal. (2021), with a total of six questions, including “I plan to buy this orange online,” “If necessary, Iamwilling to buy this orange online,” etc. The question items were assessed using the 7-point Likert scale with 1 = “strongly disagree” and 7 = “strongly agree.” After excluding 30 invalid questionnaires, 40 valid questionnaires were obtained for the functional ethical attribute group, 40 for the symbolic ethical attribute group, and 40 for the non-ethical attribute group (control group). Analysis of results First, the Cronbach’s alpha value of consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online was 0.788, which was greater than 0.7, and the scale passed the reliability test. Leven’s test showed that F(2, 117) = 1.218, p = 0.299, further one-way ANOVA can becarried out (All series of experimental analyses of the research passed this test. For the sake of brevity, the following experimental results are omitted to report the data results of this step). Secondly, one-way ANOVA results showed that the influence of symbolic ethical attributes, functional ethical attributes, and non-ethical attributes on consumers’ willingness 55 Wu et al. 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1014972 Frontiers in Psychology 15 frontiersin.org Then, this study expands the antecedent psychological factors of consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online from the perspective of collective efficacy and risk perception. Scholars have explained the reasons for consumers’ ethical consumption based on attribution theory, SOR theory, self-signaling theory, and other theories. They mainly focused on individual psychological variables such as the improvement of ethical sense at the level of ethical psychology (Zheng etal., 2019) and the trade-off of related interests at the level of teleological evaluation (Das etal., 2021). On the one hand, this study expands the psychological mechanism of consumers’ ethical consumption from the collective level. In the Internet context, new media communication can help consumers build and strengthen collective efficacy. Consumers may think that e-commerce platform companies need collective efforts to contribute to social good through the goal of farmer-assisting, and then translate this collective perception into positive purchasing intentions. On the other hand, different from the previous ethical consumption research that focused on offline physical consumption scenarios (Jin etal., 2020; Tofighi etal., 2020; Salam etal., 2022), this study is based on the e-commerce-assisted agricultural marketing scenario and introduces risk perception to analyze the key factors that inhibit consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online. Based on this, the research on the potential mechanism affecting consumers’ ethical consumption willingness is further improved, and a more in-depth theoretical scenario exploration can becarried out on the psychological cognitive process of ethical consumption. The results of this study find that symbolic ethical attributes elicit higher levels of collective efficacy and lower risk perceptions in consumers than functional ethical attributes. Consumers’ collective efficacy and risk perception have dual mediating effects between ethical attributes and consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online. Finally, this study clarifies the boundary conditions for the mediating mechanisms of collective efficacy and risk perception in the process of ethical attributes influencing consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online. Previous studies mainly emphasized that when the functional and ethical attributes of a product are weighed and compared simultaneously, consumers focus more on the functional attributes of the product (Luchs etal., 2012). In this study, wefurther find that for farmer-assisting agricultural products, symbolic ethical attributes can increase consumers’ willingness to buy farmerassisting agricultural products online by increasing collective efficacy and reducing risk perceptions more than functional ethical attributes in the sudden disaster scenario, while there is no significant difference in normative difficulties. This study completes the research on the ethical attributes of products by introducing the variable of farmer-assisting event urgency. Management implications After years of construction and development, e-commerce of agricultural products in China has become an engine and new impetus to boost the development of agricultural and rural economy. In the post-epidemic era, e-commerce of agricultural products in China is an essential and growing market segment. As weall know, New Oriental’s “Oriental Selection” platform has achieved remarkable achievements in marketing model innovation for farmer assistance. Thus, although the existing pain point of low standardization of fresh food remains unaddressed, operators should consider ethical positioning to boost consumers’ propensity to buy agricultural products online. This study provides some theoretical guidance value and practical suggestions for e-commerce enterprises or marketers to effectively use the ethical attributes of agricultural products to enhance consumers’ willingness to purchase. First, when e-commerce companies carry out farmer-assisting marketing, they should pay attention to the information on the ethical attributes of farmer-assisting agricultural products. Specifically, the marketing strategy of enterprises should bebased on the symbolic attributes of farmer-assisting agricultural products for public welfare and poverty alleviation, while taking into account the functional ethical attributes such as product quality and characteristics, to gradually form the market competitiveness and consumer stickiness of e-commerce farmer-assisting agricultural products. Secondly, e-commerce companies can consider the role of collective efficacy in consumers’ purchase decision-making process, and use Internet social media platforms to promote the dissemination of farmer-assisting events, to mobilize more netizens to participate in farmer-assisting instead of being a bystander. At the same time, enterprises should pay attention to the disclosure of information on real farmer-assisting events, improve the quality of farmer-assisting agricultural products, enhance the transportation and logistics system, and avoid the negative impact of reducing the willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products due to consumers’ risk perception. Finally, e-commerce companies should pay attention to sudden disasters and help farmers in a timely manner when choosing what kind of situational marketing to help farmers. This is because consumers are more positively responsive to sudden disasters. They are more likely to provide timely relief activities for sudden disaster areas through farmer-assisting marketing activities. Research limitations and perspectives This study uses a single stimulus (oranges) and farmer-assisting event urgency scenarios (sudden earthquakes and remote mountainous areas). farmer-assisting agricultural products include not only fruits but also vegetables, seafood, and other categories. There are also other types of emergency scenarios for farmer-assisting events, such as epidemics and high-temperature weather. Different product categories and events may lead to different conclusions. Future research could ultimately address these issues by replicating or testing extensions across multiple agricultural product categories. Although this study focuses on the influence of ethical attributes on consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online, it only lays emphasis on the process of consumers’ purchasing decisions. Due to uncertain factors such as product quality in the online shopping process, consumers’ expectations after 62 Wu et al. 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1014972 Frontiers in Psychology 16 frontiersin.org purchasing may vary. It will affect the subsequent evaluation, repurchase, and other behaviors of consumption. Thus, the impact of consumer expectations on the evaluation of farmer-assisting agricultural products and the decision to repurchase can beconsidered in the future. Data availability statement The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can bedirected to the corresponding author. Ethics statement Written informed consent was obtained from the individual(s) for the publication of any potentially identifiable images or data included in this article. Author contributions JW: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, and writing—original draft preparation. CW: software and validation. YY and CW: investigation. JW and CW: data curation. QZ: writing— review and editing and funding acquisition. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version. Funding This research was funded by Introduction of Talents of Minjiang University Science and Technology Pre-research Project “Research on the impact of Green Advertising Appeals on consumers’ Willingness to Pay Premium for Green Agricultural Products” and Major Project of Social Science Fund of Fujian Province in 2022 “Research on The Strategy of Fujian Province Adhering to Expanding Domestic Demand (FJ2022Z006)”. Conflict of interest The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could beconstrued as a potential conflict of interest. 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Differ. 172:110578. doi: 10.1016/j. paid.2020.110578 65 TYPE Original Research PUBLISHED 28 November 2022 DOI 10.3389/fsoc.2022.1038006 OPEN ACCESS EDITED BY Andrzej Klimczuk, Warsaw School of Economics, Poland REVIEWED BY Etty Puji Lestari, Universitas Terbuka, Indonesia Joy Elly Tulung, Sam Ratulangi University, Indonesia *CORRESPONDENCE Lislee Valle l[email protected].ph SPECIALTY SECTION This article was submitted to Work, Employment and Organizations, a section of the journal Frontiers in Sociology RECEIVED 06 September 2022 ACCEPTED 02 November 2022 PUBLISHED 28 November 2022 CITATION Valle L, Costan E, Costan F, General E, Alcantara G, Kilat RV, Batican I, Olivar GM and Avila D (2022) Community extension MSME’s entrepreneurial activities in relation to poverty reduction. Front. Sociol. 7:1038006. doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2022.1038006 COPYRIGHT ©2022 Valle, Costan, Costan, General, Alcantara, Kilat, Batican, Olivar and Avila. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Community extension MSME’s entrepreneurial activities in relation to poverty reduction Lislee Valle1*, Emily Costan1, Felix Costan1, Edralin General1, Gerly Alcantara1, Ronnel Victor Kilat1, Ivy Batican2, Gladies Mae Olivar2and Denilin Avila3 1College of Education, Cebu Technological University-Danao Campus, Danao City, Philippines, 2College of Management and Entrepreneurship, Cebu Technological University-Danao Campus, Danao City, Philippines, 3College of Technology, Cebu Technological University-Danao Campus, Danao City, Philippines Introduction: Higher Education Institutions play a role in poverty reduction by implementing community extension programs focusing on capacity building and entrepreneurship training. Cebu Technological University programs offer these programs through various skills training to its targeted beneficiaries. This study aims to assess the community extension Micro-, Small and Mediumsized Enterprises (MSMEs) entrepreneurial activities concerning poverty reduction. The research participants are beneficiaries of community extension programs that primarily focus on capacity building and entrepreneurship training, and they eventually become entrepreneurs. Method: Using a cross-sectional survey, 172 valid responses were analyzed, with entrepreneurship education (EE), budgeting financial literacy (BFL), access to credit facilities (ACF), and entrepreneurial performance (EP) as predictors of poverty reduction (PR). Results from Partial Least Squares - Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) generate insights from the seven hypothesized paths of the proposed model. Results and discussion: Findings revealed that entrepreneurship education (β =0.258, p<0.05), budgeting financial literacy (β=0.147, p<0.05), and access to credit facilities (β=0.541, p<0.001) help reduce poverty. However, no significant relationship was found between entrepreneurial performance and poverty reduction (β=0.132, ns) whose cause may be directly pointed to the pandemic’s significant impact on MSME’s entrepreneurial activities. Conclusion: This study confirms the importance of entrepreneurship education, budgeting, financial literacy, and credit access in promoting entrepreneurial success and reducing poverty. KEYWORDS community extension, PLS-SEM (partial least squares - structural equation model), higher education institute, entrepreneurship, poverty reduction Frontiers in Sociology 01 frontiersin.org 66 Valle et al. 10.3389/fsoc.2022.1038006 Introduction Poverty is a multifaceted issue with numerous interconnections. Innovative ways of finding solutions are required to lessen poverty’s effect on people, society, and the environment (Moniruzzaman and Day, 2020). In order to better understand poverty and develop strategies to combat it, various economic, social, structural, capacity, and learning techniques have been used to date (Sofo and Wicks, 2017). A rural community in the Philippines, like fishermen and farmers, remains the poorest primary sector in the Philippines (PSA, 2018). Due to the fact that Filipino farmers are still considered to be poor, it’s necessary to give them an additional source of income (Yamagishi et al., 2021). Higher poverty rates are associated with poor rural subsistence on fishing and farming, illiteracy, unemployment, and larger family sizes (Cerio, 2019; Siphesihle and Lelethu, 2020). Higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Philippines play an important role in reducing poverty (Yulo Loyzaga et al., 2022). Universities and colleges carry out a variety of entrepreneurship training through community extension programs that are offered to assist aspiring entrepreneurs. Community extension communicates and transfers knowledge and technology to specific sectors and target clientele, specifically those not enrolled in formal degree programs and course offerings (Palmén et al., 2020). The target beneficiaries can improve production, community, institution, and quality of life while enhancing HEI academic and research programs (CHED CMO No. 08-S. 2010). A unique ecosystem of collaboration of HEIs with communities, businesses, and industries facilitates the transfer of knowledge and technology in specific developmental sectors that directly impact the lives of individuals, families, and communities (Vermesan and Friess, 2022). In this case, extension is defined as the systematic transfer of technology, innovation, or information generated by HEIs and its partner to seek solutions to specific developmental concerns (Declaro-Ruedas et al., 2022). It is a purpose-specific, target-specific, and need-specific program of action utilizing the best available data, science, and evidence from various disciplines to inform systematic approaches to developmental solutions (Krasadakis, 2020). Research, innovation, and extension in Philippine higher education must work contextually and purposefully (Hirsu et al., 2021). Knowledge generation in HEIs should enable us to (a) deepen our understanding of ourselves as a people and as a nation and discover practical evidenceand science-based answers that can address real-world social, economic, and environmental challenges of families and communities (CHED CMO No. 52-S. 2016). Extension services are government-run programs that offer learning opportunities that support producers’ technical ability and expertise (Ullah et al., 2021). These programs had been implemented to reach out to the local people for more significant development (ElMassah and Mohieldin, 2020). They influenced them to pursue a passion that maintains different aspects, especially employment, business, culture, norms, and values. Extension services are essential, and the best way to reach out to young people is through effective extension and advisory services (Ortiz-Crespo et al., 2021). Thus, it is possible to create extension programs that involve youths using participatory methodologies to provide input on program priorities (Ivanich et al., 2020). In the Philippines, higher education institutions are thrust to strengthen university-community engagement through extension activities (Medina, 2018). For the aforementioned points to be taken seriously, it is important to keep in mind the following: (a) actions and decisions made in the form of a program have an impact on other people; (b) extension services planning is a coordinated effort that entails the identification, evaluation, and assessment of needs, issues, resources, priorities, and solutions; (c) while many other benefits, such as participant education, may result from the process, an extension services strategy is a matter that must be taken seriously. As a result, the function of extension programs continues to change. This technique facilitates an iterative, collaborative learning process where options are presented to users, who then modify them in response to local circumstances (Morrone, 2017;Villanueva et al., 2020). The Cebu Technological University facilitates sustainable development in poor communities through extension services. CTU community extensions were made possible through the strong linkage between Cebu Technological University and the Local Government Unit. Ngaka and Zwane (2018) stressed that partnerships are indispensable in extension services. Similarly, partnerships can help reinforce, support, and even renovate individual partners, resulting in higher program quality, more well organized resource use, and better alignment of goals and programs (Weiss et al., 2010;Campos-Silva et al., 2021). As a result, several community extension services were successfully conducted with all support from the University Extension Services Office and the partner institution (Gutter et al., 2020; Antwi-Agyei and Stringer, 2021). Most of CTU’s extension services programs were designed to help the community to fight poverty (e.g., FEU community extension services 2020, Building Your Community Resources for Local Entrepreneurs 2021, and Creating Entrepreneurial Communities Conference 2022,). These programs were focused mainly on capacity building and entrepreneurship training. On the one hand, capacity building is the process whereby relevant stakeholders and organizations unleash, support, generate, acclimate and maintain capacity over time, usually to promise sustainable growth and improve the lives of the stakeholders (Jones et al., 2020;Loss et al., 2020;Casado-Asensio et al., 2022). It requires acquiring specific skills and developing opportunities to put the skills to prolific use (Issa et al., 2010;Harley et al., 2020; Ng et al., 2021). Full implementation of a well-designed capacitybuilding program ensures a sustainable extension service Frontiers in Sociology 02 frontiersin.org 67 Valle et al. 10.3389/fsoc.2022.1038006 delivery system where extension workers can operate in the expected commercial economy (Issa, 2013;Costa and Andreaus, 2020). On the other hand, the goal of entrepreneurship programs for low-income self-employed people is to enhance their livelihood rather than promote cutting-edge innovation and business growth (Cho et al., 2016;George et al., 2021). Maziriri and Chivandi (2020) and Babajide et al. (2021) averred that entrepreneurship programs have variables that include entrepreneurship education, budget financial literacy, access to credit facilities, and entrepreneurial performance. As an HEI, CTU’s role in poverty reduction through entrepreneurship is carried out through its community extension programs that focus mainly on capacity building and entrepreneurship training, which offer various skills training to the beneficiaries. This paper evaluates the entrepreneurial activities of the community extension program by examining the variables that include entrepreneurship education, budget financial literacy, access to credit facilities, and entrepreneurial performance. Evaluating the effectiveness and sustainability of these programs that mainly assist the beneficiaries with becoming entrepreneurs impacts whether they should be forwarded, corrected, or terminated (Rahmat and Izudin, 2018). The rest of the paper is organized into four sections: Section Literature review and hypothesis development presents the conceptual model and the hypotheses. Section Methods describes the methodological procedures. Section Data analysis and results reports the result of the PLS-SEM analysis. Section Discussions presents the discussion of the findings, while Section Recommendations provides concluding remarks, limitations, and some recommendations. Literature review and hypothesis development Entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial performance According to Manyaka-Boshielo (2019), entrepreneurship education (EE) is defined as ‘the skills and knowledge that individuals acquire through investment in schooling, on-thejob training, and other types of experience. While Mabenge et al. (2020) stated the ability of innovation to drive every firm activity, such as cost reduction, revenue growth, and aggressiveness, is referred to as entrepreneurial performance. The relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial performance must be clarified. Van der Sluis et al. (2008) contend that investing in the education of imminent business visionaries results in greater entrepreneurial performance. The human capital idea affirms that previously acquired knowledge is crucial for academic execution. Coad et al. (2022) further point out that education enhances the performance of the entrepreneur in several areas, including business survival, firm development, and the association’s entry into speculation. Based on the cases above, this theory is put forth: H1: Entrepreneurship education positively and significantly impacts the entrepreneurial performance of MSMEs. Budgeting financial literacy and entrepreneurial performance The capacity of managers to successfully manage money when making financial decisions is referred to as financial literacy (Marcolin and Abraham, 2006). According to Ripain et al. (2017), MSMEs play a crucial role in the economic development of many nations, and their performance and expansion have come to the attention of a number of stakeholders, including the government, policymakers, and financial institutions. The element of financial management is one of the most frequently mentioned success aspects of MSME, per Salikin et al. (2014). In Uasin Gishu County, Chepngetich (2016) observed a relationship between financial literacy and MSMEs’ entrepreneurial success and discovered that financial literacy significantly impacted MSME performance. Further, Ibor et al. (2017) discovered that financial services had a favorable and significant impact on the functioning and expansion of MSMEs. Access to financial services is beneficial for MSMEs and other vulnerable and underprivileged businesses. According to Ratnawati (2020), financial inclusion has a direct and indirect impact on MSMEs’ performance through the use of financial intermediation and capital access. As a result, we can speculate: H2: Budgeting financial literacy positively affects the entrepreneurial performance of the community extension MSMEs Access to credit facilities and entrepreneurial performance Kurgat et al. (2017) and Stubbs et al. (2021) defined a credit facility as an agreement with a bank or other credit institutions that enables a person or organization to borrow money when needed. Chege’s (2014) and Maziriri and Chivandi (2020) investigation of the impact of credit facilities on the development of the 100 best MSMEs in Kenya found that access to credit facilities has a significant effect on the development of these enterprises. Therefore, the execution of an entrepreneurial venture relies on the entrepreneur’s access to finance (Amouri et al., 2021). Enhancing the poor’s access to financial services empowers them to develop beneficial resources and improve their profitability and potential for manageable jobs (Maziriri Frontiers in Sociology 03 frontiersin.org 68 Valle et al. 10.3389/fsoc.2022.1038006 and Chivandi, 2020;Setiawan et al., 2020;Tisdell et al., 2020). When an MSME has access to credit facilities, it enhances the execution of its entrepreneurial endeavors (Madan, 2020). As such, the following hypothesis can be formulated H3: Access to credit facilities positively affects the entrepreneurial performance of the community extension MSME. Entrepreneurial education and poverty reduction For low-income individuals who want to start and grow their individual firms, entrepreneurship education can be helpful in delivering fundamental understanding, capabilities, and attitudes (Santos et al., 2019). Therefore, entrepreneurship provides reduced people a way out of poverty and an opportunity to enhance their society, create jobs, engage in self-employment, reduce crime, sustain their families, and realize other public welfare (Morris et al., 2020). Particularly during economic downturns (Lewis and Lee, 2020). Small-scale individual innovation and entrepreneurship have emerged as crucial elements in the fight to eradicate poverty following decades of large-scale state planning failure (Prideaux et al., 2020). Research in financial economics (Schwert, 2021) and applied economics and entrepreneurship. Karimi and Makreet (2020) recently affirmed the significance of entrepreneurship in the engagement of “bottom of the pyramid” consumers and the sensible decisions they may make regarding products and consumer welfare (Mehera and Ordonez-Ponce, 2021). As such, we can hypothesize: H4: Entrepreneurship education positively affects poverty reduction Budgeting financial literacy and poverty reduction Presented the method of developing a financial plan that projects future expenditures and income is known as budgeting (Warue and Wanjira, 2013;Moshashai et al., 2020;Srithongrung et al., 2021). On the one hand, Ayhan (2019), Sharif and Naghavi (2020), Pu et al. (2021) defined financial literacy as the information, services, and capability to direct increasingly multifaceted economic marketplaces. It is thought to give customers the power to make wise financial decisions. Additionally, Maziriri et al. (2018), Singla and Mallik (2021), Anshika and Singla (2022) emphasized that MSMEs’ performance is significantly impacted by their lack of financial literacy regarding budgeting. Managers of rural MSMEs must become financially literate, specifically in budgeting (Gosal and Kamase, 2021). Thus, many Filipinos are suffering outward economic uncertainty from the deficiency of financial literacy, hindering their ability to survive during the pandemic. Therefore, we hypothesize that: H5. Budgeting Financial Literacy positively affects poverty reduction Access to credit facilities and poverty reduction Tasos et al. (2020) saw poverty as a universal fact that no one can deny; it was also recognized as the greatest catastrophic economic and social crisis mankind has encountered from its inception. This problem has made it difficult for most people to achieve their goals, such as receiving an education, earning money, starting businesses, or even finding a job. It takes a lot of effort to overcome poverty in many ways, depending on how an individual deals with all the situations. On the other hand, the governmental and private sectors have developed programs and advantages that could assist the Philippines in transcending poverty, such as expanding credit access. Implicating a credit facility, according to Chen et al. (2022), is a type of loan issued in the context of a business or corporate financing. It enables the borrowing company to borrow money over a longer time rather than reapplying for a loan each time it requires funds; in effect, a credit facility enables a company to take out an umbrella loan to generate capital over a longer period of time. Gichuki et al. (2014) stated that the high cost of payback, stringent collateral requirements, people’s unwillingness to act as guarantors, expensive credit facility processing charges, and short repayment terms were prohibiting micro and small businesses from obtaining credit. As a result, it is recommended that financial institutions establish more flexible, affordable, and appealing terms for financing micro and small businesses. Water, electricity, and food are critical resources for regional social and economic development, according to Pan et al. (2022). They can be used as indicators or methods for measuring sustainable development goals to get finance, and the results can aid in the coordination of resource management and hence the reduction of poverty. The credit facilities will undoubtedly assist an individual in overcoming the challenge of poverty. Thus, we hypothesize that: H6: Access to credit facilities positively affects poverty reduction Entrepreneurial performance and poverty reduction Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) contribute significantly to income generation, employment creation, poverty reduction, and income inequality reduction (Marwa, Frontiers in Sociology 04 frontiersin.org 69 Valle et al. 10.3389/fsoc.2022.1038006 2014;Sriary and Nyoman, 2020). Small businesses, according to Matchaba-Hove et al. (2015), have an important role in improving development, progress, and vitality, as well as lowering unemployment and poverty. Similarly, Sarkar and Kumar, 2011;Egere et al., 2022 emphasized its importance in improving the socioeconomic conditions of the poor, creating job opportunities, allowing for greater exploitation of local raw materials and other resources, and boosting the country’s economic progress. According to Sokoto and Abdullahi (2013), the potential of any organization to generate employment is critical in reducing the incidence of poverty among economic agents. Additionally, Yasa Kerti et al. (2013); Orji et al. (2022) conclude that improvements in MSME performance have a significant and fundamental impact on poverty reduction. The greater the change in MSME performance, the more significant the poverty reduction. Therefore, we can hypothesize, H7: Entrepreneurial performance of the community extension MSME positively affects poverty reduction. Methods Research model This paper adopted and modified the structural model of Maziriri and Chivandi (2020) of the key predictors that stimulate the entrepreneurial performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and poverty. The aim of this study is to assess the community extension beneficiaries turned entrepreneurs and their entrepreneurial activities concerning poverty reduction during and after a crisis (e.g., health crisis, economic crisis due to calamities). Particularly, the effects of entrepreneurship education, budget financial literacy, access to credit facilities, and entrepreneurial performance in alleviating poverty. The structural equation model is shown in Figure 1. Sampling and data collection The measurement items of each construct in this study were adopted from measures in prior works (see Appendix A). Entrepreneurial education (EE) has 13 measurement items, entrepreneurial performance (EP) has ten, poverty reduction has ten, access to credit facility has eight, and budgeting financial literacy has eight. The data were gathered through face-to-face questionnaire completion. The survey was distributed to around 200 participants for 4 weeks. There were 187 responses collected. The 15 responses had non-interactive responses and were subsequently removed. Of 187, only 172 were valid and used for the final analysis. Instruments This study used a modified survey questionnaire to collect the necessary data. The questionnaire was divided into 3 sections. The first part includes questions such as the respondents’ age, gender, special skills and community extension program. Second, the assessment of entrepreneurship education (Mwiya, 2014) and performance (Sariwulan et al., 2020), budgeting financial literacy (Siekei et al., 2013), access to credit facilities (Kurgat et al., 2017), and poverty reduction (Duclos and Tiberti, 2016) were gathered. Participants A total of 172 community extension beneficiaries turned into micro-, small and medium sized entrepreneurs (56 males and 116 females). They were trained in different community extension programs; specifically, 46.02% attended Bread and Pastry, 17.44% had computer training, 15.12% detergent production, 14.53% was trained in both Coco water treated bottled milkfish in Spanish style with Rosemary Production and Coco water treated bottled milkfish sardines. Another 14.53% were trained in Virgin Coconut oil and Coconut water treated pork tocino production. Other training attended by at most 10% of the respondents were as follows; Kamias-based dishwashing liquid, rug making, t-shirt/mug printing, commercial cooking, sewing, cosmetology, and massage. The participants came from different municipalities in the Province of Cebu, Central Visayas Region. 6.40% of the participating entrepreneurs have below 40 hours of entrepreneurial education. 9.88% had 41–80 hours, 28.49% had 81–120 hours, while the majority of respondents, 54.65%, had 121 hours and above entrepreneurial education. All respondents volunteered to participate and were assured that their answers would be kept strictly confidential. The profile of the participants is reflected in Table 1. Data analysis and results This study utilized partial least-squared structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to determine the causal relationships between the investigated variables. PLS-SEM is a statistical technique that has become a potent method for examining correlations between variables, even in the presence of nonnormality (Chinomona and Surujlal, 2012). Data were fed into Smart PLS software to ensure the internal consistency of the items within each section. Smart PLS statistical software estimates the parameters of the structural model and assesses the psychometric qualities of the measurement model. All survey questions required a forced response in order to guarantee that all responses were comprehensive and contained Frontiers in Sociology 05 frontiersin.org 70 Valle et al. 10.3389/fsoc.2022.1038006 FIGURE 1 Model for entrepreneurial activities in relation to poverty reduction (adopted from Maziriri and Chivandi, 2020). all necessary information. Furthermore, suspicious response patterns were deleted. Measurement model assessment The PLS analysis allows parallel testing of the outer measurement model and the inner structural model and the presence of reflective and formative latent variables (Fornell and Bookstein, 1982). Since the proposed model in this study includes reflective measures, the first criterion in evaluating the model is to examine the measures’ reliability and validity (Hair Jr et al., 2017). Based on the measurement model assessment result, all indicators were convergent and reliable, as shown in Table 2, where the factor loading for each item is greater than 0.70 (Henseler et al., 2009). Factor loadings less than 0.7 were removed (Chin, 1998). Nineteen item indicators (i.e., ACF2, ACF3, ACF4, ACF8, BFL1, BFL2, BFL3, EE1, EE2, EE3, EE4, EP1, EP3, EP9, PR1, PR2, PR3, PR4, and PR6) were removed after calculations through the SmartPLS algorithm until all the item indicators reached the threshold value of 0.70. There were 30 measurement indicators that remained for the final analysis. All measures for each construct were valid. With Average Variance Extracted (AVE) statistics greater than the threshold value of 0.5, all constructs have appropriate convergent validity (Fornell and Larcker, 1981), ranging from 0.609 to 0.768. Furthermore, the measurement items were all reliable, with all the constructs garnered above the Cronbach’s alpha (α) threshold value of 0.60, which is considered of acceptable reliability and an acceptable index (Nunnally, 1994; Ursachi et al., 2015) and composite reliability (CR) threshold value of 0.70 (Hair Jr et al., 2017). The Cronbach’s alpha ranges from 0.893 to 0.927, while the CR values range from 0.895 to 0.932. These results indicate high-reliability values. Table 2 provides a summary of the measurement model results. The correlations of the measures of potential overlapping variables are used to assess the degree to which the measurement items measure distinctively among constructs (Hair Jr et al., 2014). The square root of AVE was calculated to ensure discriminant validity. The AVE of the constructs was found to support discriminant validity because it is greater than the squared correlation of each latent variable (Fornell and Larcker, 1981). Table 3 bolds the square roots of the AVE, while non-bolded values represent the intercorrelation value between constructs. All off-diagonal values are less than the square roots of AVE, indicating that Fornell and Larker’s condition is satisfied. Overall, the measurement model’s reliability and validity tests were met. All items used in this study to measure constructs are valid and fit to estimate parameters in the structural model. 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(2022). “Private sector and higher educational institution partnerships to enhance resilience in the philippines: the experience of the national resilience council,” in Safety and Resilience of Higher Educational Institutions. (Springer: Singapore). pp. 233–253. doi: 10.1007/978-981-19-1193-4_14 Frontiers in Sociology 13 frontiersin.org 78 TYPE Original Research PUBLISHED 10 February 2023 DOI 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1093978 OPEN ACCESS EDITED BY Andrzej Klimczuk, Warsaw School of Economics, Poland REVIEWED BY Li Zhang, Fudan University, China Wei Chen, Renmin University of China, China *CORRESPONDENCE Hu Li [email protected] SPECIALTY SECTION This article was submitted to Public Health Policy, a section of the journal Frontiers in Public Health RECEIVED 09 November 2022 ACCEPTED 25 January 2023 PUBLISHED 10 February 2023 CITATION Wang X, Guo J and Li H (2023) Multidimensional poverty of persons with disabilities in China: An analysis of poverty reduction effect of employment services. Front. Public Health 11:1093978. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1093978 COPYRIGHT ©2023 Wang, Guo and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Multidimensional poverty of persons with disabilities in China: An analysis of poverty reduction effect of employment services Xiaofeng Wang, Jiamin Guo and Hu Li* Northeast Asian Research Center, Jilin University, Changchun, China Introduction: Disability is a global public health problem, and poverty due to illness and disability has always been a major problem and challenge for global poverty governance. In order to eradicate poverty, China has carried out a series of welfare reforms and employment interventions for people with disabilities. The purpose of this study is to examine the levels of multidimensional poverty of persons with disabilities aged 16–59 in China and the poverty reduction effect of employment services. Methods: The Alkire-Foster (AF) method is applied to measure and decompose the multidimensional poverty index (MPI) of people with disabilities in this study. In order to make the results more robust, ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and the combination of propensity score matching and difference-in-differences (PSM-DID) are used to study the effect of employment services on multidimensional poverty of the disabled. Results: The results show that among persons with disabilities aged 16–59, about 90% are deprived in at least one dimension, and about 30% are in a state of severe multidimensional poverty until 2019. The contributions of deprivation in the dimensions of education and social participation are remarkably higher than dimensions of economy, health and insurance. In addition, employment services have a significant improvement effect on multidimensional poverty, which is reflected not only in the economic dimension, but also in the dimensions of education, insurance and social participation. Conclusion: People with disabilities are generally in multidimensional poverty in China, and their abilities in learning and social integration are seriously inadequate. Employment services have played a great role in improving poverty, but the improvement has been different in different dimensions and different disability categories. These findings provide important evidence for recognizing multidimensional poverty of persons with disabilities and the poverty reduction effect of employment services, which will help to formulate more reasonable public policies to eradicate poverty. KEYWORDS disability, multidimensional poverty, employment services, AF method, PSM-DID 1. Introduction Disability is a complex situation which affects individuals and families around the world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank (WB), about 15% of the world’s population lives with some form of disability, and 80% of those with disabilities live in lowand middle-income countries (1). According to the data of China’s sixth census and the Second China National Sample Survey on Disability, the total number of persons with disabilities in China at the end of 2010 was 85.02 million (2). Poverty due to illness and disability is a longterm and complex problem, which has always been a major problem and challenge for global poverty governance. China has a large population with disabilities, and poverty due to disability is common. In 2018, the poverty rate due to disability has exceeded 14% (3). By the end of 2020, China’s poverty alleviation goals and tasks have been fully completed as scheduled, but the Frontiers in Public Health 01 frontiersin.org 79 Wang et al. 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1093978 deprivation of education, health, housing and other benefits has become the main manifestation of poverty. In the post poverty alleviation era, the poverty alleviation goal will face a strategic transformation, that is, from absolute poverty to relative poverty. Due to factors such as physical disabilities, limited labor capacity, and low educational attainment, persons with disabilities are more likely to suffer from poor quality of life and become a prominent group in relative poverty (1,4). Therefore, in the process of consolidating the achievements of poverty alleviation, it is necessary not only to prevent the disabled from returning to poverty, but also to help them improve their health, education, social security, etc., that is, on the basis of solving the absolute poverty of the disabled, it is necessary to improve the multidimensional poverty with insufficient basic capabilities. The analysis of poverty has gone beyond the lack of income and material, and entered into the study of the nature of poverty from the dimensions of human development and spirituality. The capability theory of Sen has been at the forefront of the movement away from the unidimensional income approach to poverty measurement, with Sen defining poverty as a lack of freedom due to the deprivation of basic capability (5). The capability not only has the tool value of eliminating poverty, but also represents a kind of human welfare. Based on this theory, relevant studies have shown that in most developing countries, disability is found to be significantly associated with higher multidimensional poverty as well as lower educational attainment, lower employment rates, and higher medical expenditures (6). Persons with disabilities have a lower quality of life and face a higher risk of multidimensional poverty (7), and social policies should aim to reduce their high levels of multidimensional poverty and deprivation of capabilities (8). Based on the severe multidimensional poverty of the disabled, relevant studies have pointed out that employment can be an effective way to improve personal wellbeing (9), and full and effective employment is a key link to realize the replacement of “blood transfusion” assistance with “hematopoietic” support and the replacement of maintaining basic survival guarantee with promoting development-oriented welfare in the field of disabled people’s undertakings. However, persons with disabilities consistently have lower employment rates than non-disabled persons (10), and face significant challenges in wages, promotion, workplace and accommodation (11). The employment of persons with disabilities has become a long-term concern of many governments around the world, and has led to a series of welfare reforms and employment intervention policies. But it appears that putting the actual policies and legislation into practice has had limited success across China and, for the most part, China’s disabled population remains out of the mainstream wherein access to education, training, and good-paying jobs are a minimum (12). Long-term unemployment for persons with disabilities is serious problem in China, with millions of unemployed disabled persons living in poverty (13). Therefore, reasonable and effective employment support measures are the key to solve the multidimensional poverty problem. Employment services play an important role in promoting and ensuring the employment of persons with disabilities. In 2007, China promulgated the Regulations on Employment of Persons with Disabilities (14). Employment services are an important part of the regulations, and it is very necessary to evaluate the current implementation effect. As an important intervention means to alleviate poverty and improve the quality of life of the disabled, employment services have been evaluated by some scholars. The effectiveness of different occupational interventions in improving employment, educational, clinical, and quality-of-life outcomes for persons with psychiatric disabilities has been evaluated, and the research shows that the vocational and educational outcomes have been significantly improved (15). Some studies have pointed out that vocational rehabilitation services aimed to improve life functioning will lead to an improvement in quality of life (16,17). The Individual Placement and Support (IPS) has been studied by several scholars and has shown that it can increase life satisfaction and time spent in daily occupations and community life for persons with disabilities (18), and it is effective in gaining employment and integrating into the local community (19). It can be seen that the role of employment services on disabled people may not only be reflected in the economy. It is more thorough and comprehensive to evaluate the poverty reduction effect of employment services from the perspective of multidimensional poverty of the disabled. The goal of the employment service is to promote persons with disabilities to be in a state of optimal economic self-sufficiency, and the ultimate goal is that the recipient of employment services should experience improvement in his or her quality of life. Therefore, the evaluation of the poverty reduction effect of employment services should not be limited to income, but should focus on the perspective of multidimensional poverty. In addition, achievement of the ultimate goal can be expected to result from a process in which vocational outcomes such as the improvement of employment opportunities, vocational skills and employment forms are obtained via targeted employment services. In view of the above analysis, the data in Basic Service Status and Demand Information for Persons with Disabilities registered in 2018 and 2019 were used in this study. First, this paper expands the poverty measurement standard of the disabled from one-dimensional income poverty to multidimensional capabilities poverty, and identifies multidimensional poverty from five dimensions of economic capacity, physical function, learning capacity, risk resistance and social integration capacity. Second, the improvement effect of employment services on multidimensional poverty of the disabled is evaluated from a micro perspective. Finally, in order to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between employment services and multidimensional poverty of the disabled, the mediation effects of the three vocational outcomes of employment opportunities, vocational skills and Internet employment are verified. Based on the above analysis, this paper proposes the mechanism of employment services to improve multidimensional poverty of persons with disabilities (as shown in Figure 1). Based on the collation and analysis of the literature, we can find that there are still some deficiencies in the current research. First, China has achieved remarkable results in poverty reduction. However, it cannot be ignored the fact that exclusion of disabled persons from education, employment, social and political activities have not been improved by the increase in their income (20). A single monetary indicator does not capture other negative aspects that affect persons with disabilities and their families, such as social exclusion. Therefore, it is fundamental to analyze the poverty situation of the disabled from a multidimensional perspective. However, the existing researches on multidimensional poverty mostly focus on rural households, and there are relatively few studies on the multidimensional poverty of the disabled, especially in China. Second, the existing research focuses on theoretical analysis and evaluation of employment services for the disabled, lacking empirical data. A review of the studies suggests that China’s employment legislation is quite progressive in terms of access to employment and in terms of protecting employment rights of persons with disabilities, Frontiers in Public Health 02 frontiersin.org 80 Wang et al. 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1093978 FIGURE 1 The mechanism of employment services to improve multidimensional poverty of persons with disabilities. but there appears to be a huge disconnection between the actual legislative policies and implementation of the stated policies (12, 20). Social services, rehabilitation services, employment services and other services are insufficient to meet development needs, resulting in poverty for the majority of persons with disabilities (20). A scholar explained qualitatively why the actual employment situation in China stagnated or even worsened despite the impression that employment support for the disabled was improving (21). It can be seen that most scholars believe that the actual effect of employment services is extremely limited in China. It is worth noting that these studies are mostly macro qualitative analysis, lacking quantitative demonstration using micro data. Third, some scholars pointed out that employment should not be used as the sole indicator of rehabilitation success. They advocate that assessing changes attributable to vocational interventions should focus on the impact of improvement of life skills through vocational interventions on multiple areas of quality of life (17). A number of scholars have evaluated the effects of employment services for persons with disabilities in terms of employment, education, daily activities, community integration, quality of life, etc. (15–18). However, there are still shortcomings in the current research. On the one hand, most of the research only takes the mental disabled as the research object, which leads us to not have a more comprehensive understanding of the disabled group. On the other hand, most studies only evaluate employment support measures from a single area of the living conditions of the disabled, which may underestimate the impact of employment support measures on the disabled. Based on the above analysis, this paper has the following contributions to measure multidimensional poverty of the disabled and to evaluate the poverty reduction effect of employment services. First, this paper builds a multidimensional poverty index system for the disabled based on Sen’s capability theory, which not only enriches the research results of the application of capability theory to the field of the disabled in China, but also helps to improve our overall understanding of the poverty situation of the disabled. Second, based on the existing qualitative research on the employment support policies for the disabled in China, quantitative analysis using micro data can provide more accurate evidence for the implementation effect of employment support policies. Third, employment service is a development-oriented policy aimed at disabled persons with working ability in China’s poverty alleviation policy. Multidimensional poverty involves multiple areas of disabled persons’ lives. This paper evaluates employment services and analyzes different categories of disabled people from the perspective of multidimensional poverty, which makes the evaluation of employment service more comprehensive and accurate. In addition, this study provides guidance for China to alleviate poverty by improving the employment service system in the post-poverty era. Fourth, the PSM-DID method of causal inference is used for analysis, which helps to solve the endogenous problem in the model and ensures the reliability of the benchmark regression results. 2. Materials and methods 2.1. Data The data used in this study come from Basic Service Status and Demand Information for Persons with Disabilities. This is a largescale survey organized and coordinated by the State Council Disabled Persons’ Working Committee, and the specific work is undertaken by the China Disabled Persons’ Federation. The purpose is to grasp the basic service status and needs of persons with disabilities in a timely manner, establish and improve the national basic database of certified persons with disabilities, and promote the high-quality development of the cause of persons with disabilities. The subjects of the investigation are the disabled who hold the Disabled Person Certificate of the People’s Republic of China. The survey content includes main survival and development items (basic information, housing, education, employment, social security, basic medical care and rehabilitation, accessibility, culture and sports, etc.) and basic public service facilities in all villages (communities) across the country. Due to the difficulty in obtaining data, this paper only uses the data of Jilin Province in 2018 and 2019 for research, and takes the working-age disabled people aged 16–59 as the main research group. Finally, the 435,312 samples in 2018 are selected and the information in 2019 is tracked. 2.2. Analysis method: Multidimensional poverty measurement 2.2.1. Alkire-Foster method Alkire and Foster, scholars of Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), proposed AF method to measure Frontiers in Public Health 03 frontiersin.org 81 Wang et al. 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1093978 multidimensional poverty (22). At present, the AF method has become the mainstream method to measure multidimensional poverty and has been recognized by the United Nations Development Progarmme (UNDP). The AF method was adopted in our study to measure multidimensional poverty based on the capability theory. The fundamental logic of selecting the AF method is that it admits the independence of several dimensions of poverty, and it also highlights the threshold of the number of deprived dimensions to be multidimensional poverty. Generally, three key processes were used to accomplish the measurement: identification, aggregation and decomposition. For the process of identification, the method of dual cutoff identification is adopted to identify poor disabled persons according to two distinct cutoffs: deprivation and poverty cutoffs. First, a deprivation cutoff is used to identify whether a person with disabilities is deprived in each dimension, and each disabled person’s deprivation score is defined as the sum of weighted scores of all dimensions. Second, a poverty cutoff is used to determine whether a person with disabilities could be considered multidimensionally poor. A disabled person is identified as multidimensionally poor if his or her deprivation score is greater than or equal to a given poverty cutoff (k) (22,23). The process of aggregation needs to be imitated to aggregate multiple dimensions to get a composite index after identifying the deprivation of dimensions of poverty. The aggregation step of our methodology proposes an adjusted headcount ratio, which builds upon the standard FGT technology and overcomes its shortcomings (22). The adjusted headcount ratio (M0), also referred to the MPI, is calculated by multiplying the incidence (H) and intensity (A) of poverty. The incidence of poverty (H), namely the multidimensional headcount ratio, is defined as the proportion of persons with disabilities who are poor in multiple dimensions. It is calculated as the number of persons with disabilities identified as multidimensionally poor (q) divided by the total number of persons with disabilities (n). The intensity of poverty (A) indicates the average deprivation score among the poor. Based on the above description, M0is defined as follows: M0=H×A=q n×Pn i=1cik qd =Pn i=1cik nd (1) where cik/drepresents the share of possible deprivations experienced by a poor person i, and hence the average deprivation share across the poor is given by A=Pn i=1cik/(qd). This partial index conveys relevant information about multidimensional poverty, namely, the fraction of possible dimensions din which the average poor person is deprived. Decomposition analysis can provide targeted policies for poverty alleviation. In this study, M0was decomposed according to dimensions in order to reveal the underlying structure of deprivation. Dimensional breakdown refers to the contribution of each deprivation dimension to overall poverty (M0). Therefore, the contribution of each dimension (P0j) is calculated as the poverty index for each dimension (M0j) divided by the overall poverty index (M0). 2.2.2. Selecting dimensions, indicators and deprivation cutoff Measurement of poverty is an essential prerequisite for targeting interventions and designing programs and policies to alleviate poverty. Given its multidimensional nature, there are various indicators, such as income, expenditure, deprivation, and social exclusion, that could be used to measure multidimensional poverty (24). UNDP has established a multidimensional human development index to measure the development level of each country, including three dimensions of education, health and living standards (25), which has been adopted by the existing studies of multidimensional poverty (8,26–28). Relevant research scholars have expanded the measurement dimensions of multidimensional poverty. Four dimensions of health (disability), education, housing and living standards were used to measure multidimensional poverty among Iranian older adults (29); six dimensions of economy, health, housing, employment, social protection and interpersonal relationship were used to measure multidimensional poverty of disabled families in South Korea (30); other dimensions are added to measure multidimensional poverty of persons with disabilities in different countries, such as social participation, information and communication, basic daily activities, subjective and psychological wellbeing, etc. (31,32). It can be seen that there is no consensus on how to design a multidimensional poverty measure, and the most appropriate deprivation indicators and the results of multidimensional poverty studies vary across countries, regions, and groups. In this research, five deprived dimensions—economy, health, education, insurance and social participation—including eight indicators were selected to form our MPI based on previous studies and the availability of data. According to the construction method issued by UNDP, each dimension is assigned equal weight (the indicators under each dimension are also assigned equal weight) to reflect the equal importance of each dimension in the evaluation system (25). The two indicators of income and housing are used to measure the dimension of economy. The poverty line in income is not fixed but changes along with economic development. In the process of registering disabled information, the income of disabled people will be divided into different categories according to the poverty line of the year. Previous studies only used income to reflect economic status (30), and housing situation was added to this paper to deepen the study of economic capacity. As far as health dimension is concerned, a series of variables, such as nutrition, child mortality, self-assessed health status, and the presence of a chronic illness are usually selected to measure the health deprivation (8,23). Due to the limitation of registration content, the indicator of other diseases besides disability is used to measure the physical function of persons with disabilities, and the health dimension needs to be further improved. As far as education dimension is concerned, two indicators are often selected: years of schooling (primary school incomplete for adults) and child school attendance (children aged 6–16 years old are not attending to school) (8,33). Persons with disabilities aged 16–56 are the research group in this paper, and educational attainment plays a crucial role in their lives, so adults’ completion of primary school is used as an indicator to measure the educational dimension. As for insurance dimension, health insurance is selected to measure the insurance deprivation (30). For persons with disabilities, the capacity to resist risk is critical, and medical insurance and pension insurance are chosen to represent insurance status. As for social participation dimension is concerned, participation in community activities is usually selected to measure its deprivation (31), but such measurement is somewhat singular. This paper tries to evaluate social participation from multiple perspectives. The Internet is an Frontiers in Public Health 04 frontiersin.org 82 Wang et al. 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1093978 TABLE 1 Dimensions, indicators, deprivation criteria and weights. Dimension Indicator Deprivation cutoff (deprived if …) Weight Economy Income level The person’s average annual income is below the national poverty line 1/10 Housing situation The person has no housing title in urban areas or poor housing conditions in rural areas 1/10 Health Other diseases besides disability The person has other diseases besides disability 1/5 Education Education level The person has not completed primary school education 1/5 Insurance Medical insurance The person has no medical insurance 1/10 Pension insurance The person has no pension insurance 1/10 Social participation Cultural and sports activities The person does not often participate in cultural and sports activities 1/10 Internet The person does not use the internet 1/10 important channel for information acquisition and communication, especially for the working-age population, its role in social life is indispensable. Thus, participation in social activities and the use of Internet are chosen to represent social participation status. Table 1 presents the deprivation dimensions, indicators, and cutoffs used in this study. The levels of multidimensional poverty vary according to the selection of poverty cutoffs (k). Based on previous studies, a cutoff (k =0.33) is selected because it has a normative justification and provided a wide distribution of poverty results (25). That is, a person is considered multidimensionally poor if his or her weighted sum of deprivations is equal to 33% or higher. In addition to this multidimensional poverty line, severe (50%) and vulnerable (20%) poverty cutoffs are used to calculate the percentage of people who are severely multidimensionally poor and vulnerable to multidimensional poverty (34). In order to make the results more objective, variable poverty cutoffs (20–50%) are adopted in this section to describe the levels of multidimensional poverty for persons with disabilities. 2.3. Analysis method: The poverty reduction effect of employment services 2.3.1. Benchmark model In order to preliminarily investigate the impact of employment services on the MPI of the disabled, ordinary least squares (OLS) is used in this paper, and the model is set as follows: Mi=β0+β1Si+βjXi+εi(2) where irepresents the individual with disabilities; Miis the explained variable, representing the MPI of the disabled; Siis the explanatory variable, representing that the disabled are provided with employment services; Xirepresents a series of covariates such as personal, family and social support of the disabled; εirepresents random error term. The explained variable is a categorical variable, so OLS is selected for regression analysis. 2.3.2. PSM-DID It is worth noting that persons with disabilities in severe multidimensional poverty are more likely to receive employment services, social assistance, welfare subsidies and other assistance, that is, whether persons with disabilities receive employment services is not random, but is affected by their own characteristics and needs. Therefore, in order to solve endogenous problems such as sample selection bias and missing variables, the PSM-DID method is adopted to investigate the improvement effect of employment services on multidimensional poverty. The DID method has advantages in investigating the effectiveness of policy by comparing the differences in the effects of a certain policy between the treatment group and the control group. In the DID model, the treatment group and the control group must meet the parallel trend assumption in the base period, however, in reality, the parallel trend assumption cannot be easily satisfied (35). In order to solve this problem, this study introduces the PSM method to match the treatment group and the control group in the base period. By controlling the heterogeneity of the two groups, the treatment group and the control group after the base period matching are closer to the natural experiment, so as to ensure that the DID method meets the parallel trend assumption to a certain extent. The PSM-DID regression approach can be applied for causal inferences to counter selection bias or confounding (36), and is widely used in academic research (35,37–40). We used the samples after conducting a panel balance for the data in 2018 and 2019. The samples that did not receive employment services in 2018 and 2019 were defined as control group C, and the samples that did not receive employment services in 2018 but received employment services in 2019 were defined as treatment group T. At the same time, age, gender, hukou status, disability categories, disability grades, marital status and other welfare policies were selected as the control variables. The fixed effect model constructed in this paper is as follows: Mit =β2+βtreati×timet+ρXit+µi+ϑt+εit (3) where Mit is the explained variable, which represents the MPI of the disabled, irepresents the individual with disabilities, and t represents the time before and after the disabled obtain employment services; the treatment variable treatiis a binary indicator that represents the group dummy variable, treat =1 represents the treatment group that the individuals obtain employment services, and treat =0 represents the control group that the individuals do not obtain employment services; timetrepresents the time dummy variable, time =1 represents the time after the implementation of employment services (the year of 2019), and time =0 represents Frontiers in Public Health 05 frontiersin.org 83 Wang et al. 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1093978 the time before the implementation of employment services (the year of 2018); the variable treati×timetdenotes the interaction between groups and time; Xit represents a set of individual covariates of disabled iat time t;µiand ϑtrepresent the individual and time level fixed effects, respectively; εit denotes the random error term and contains information other than the main variables of the model. βis calculated by the PSM-DID model and represents the net effect of employment services on the improvement of multidimensional poverty. The formula for calculating βis as follows: β=E(YT 2019i−YT 2018i|p(X2018i), Di=1) −E(YC 2019i−YC 2018i|p(X2018i), Di=0) (4) where Y2018irepresents the MPI of individuals in 2018, and Y2019i represents the MPI of individuals in 2019; p(X2018i) is the probability of obtaining employment services in 2019 calculated according to the characteristics of individuals in 2018. Direpresents the treatment variable in 2018, Di=1 represents the treatment group, and Di=0 represents the control group. 2.3.3. Mediation effect model In the above mechanism analysis, we propose that employment services may improve multidimensional poverty of the disabled by promoting employment, improving employment skills and promoting internet employment. In order to test the mediation effect, the model is constructed as follows: Mit =β0+β1Sit +βjXit+µi+ϑt+εit (5) Zit =α0+αSit +βjXit+µi+ϑt+εit (6) Mit =θ0+θSit +θ1Zit +βjXit+µi+ϑt+εit (7) In formula (5), the coefficient βrepresents the total effect of employment services on the MPI. In formula (6), the coefficient αrepresents the effect of employment services on the mediation variable Zit. In formula (7), the coefficient θrepresents the direct effect of employment services on the MPI under the control of the mediation variable, and the coefficient θ1represents the effect of the mediation variable on the MPI under the control of employment services. When βis significant in formula (5), the mediation effect is jointly tested by formulas (6) and (7). If α,θand θ1are all significant, there is a partial mediation effect; if αand θ1are significant, θis not significant, there is a full mediation effect. 3. Results 3.1. Multidimensional poverty estimates Table 2 presents H,Aand M0for persons with disabilities aged 16–59 under different poverty cutoffs. First, the incidence of poverty (H) in 2018 varies from 93.9% (k =20%) to 78.0% (k =30%) and 39.0% (k =50%). Meanwhile, M0values are 0.390, 0.358, and 0.220 for these three cutoffs, respectively. With the increase of the poverty cutoff, Hand M0show a downward trend, and the same trend is shown in 2019. This is because the increase of the poverty cutoff means that the threshold of identifying multidimensional poverty rises, and the number of people who reach the threshold of multidimensional poverty decreases. Second, with the increase of TABLE 2 Incidence (H), Intensity (A), and MPI (M0) for different poverty cutoffs. Cutoffs (k) Year Incidence (H) Intensity (A) MPI (M0) 0.2 2018 93.9% 41.5% 0.390 2019 90.8% 39.2% 0.356 0.3 2018 78.0% 45.9% 0.358 2019 71.9% 44.2% 0.318 0.4 2018 60.3% 50.6% 0.305 2019 53.5% 49.2% 0.263 0.5 2018 39.0% 56.4% 0.220 2019 31.7% 55.5% 0.176 the poverty cutoff, Ashows an increasing trend. Since Areflects the poverty intensity of the poor, the disabled who are in poverty are deprived in more dimensions when the multidimensional poverty threshold rises, which leads to an increase in the poverty intensity. Third, compared with 2018, H,A, and M0all decreased to varying degrees in 2019, which shows that the levels of multidimensional poverty among persons with disabilities has decreased. In general, the results show that about 90% are deprived in at least one dimension, and about 30% are in a state of severe multidimensional poverty until 2019. It can be seen that the disabled faced a higher level of multidimensional poverty. In order to see the deprivation degree of the disabled in each dimension, we decompose the MPI into the sum of the poverty index of each dimension, and then calculate the percentage contribution. Table 3 presents M0jand P0jfor persons with disabilities aged 16–59. Under different poverty cutoffs, P01,P02 and P04 change slightly, and are basically below 20%, indicating that the dimensions of economy, health and insurance present similar levels of deprivation. Compared with 2018, P01,P02 and P04 decrease in 2019, indicating that poverty in the dimensions of economy, health and insurance has improved. The year 2020 is the year for China to achieve the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and the end of the battle to win the fight against poverty in all respects. Toward 2020, China’s poverty reduction policy is committed to solving absolute poverty and improving people’s livelihood. The dimensions of economy, health and insurance are directly related to the basic survival of persons with disabilities, which has been greatly improved. In addition, P03 and P05 are higher than 20%, indicating that the disabled have higher levels of deprivation in the dimensions of education and social participation. The disabled face many difficulties in education and social participation due to physiological defects. It is necessary to further improve the education system for the disabled and strengthen the infrastructure and information construction. There are large internal differences among persons with disabilities. In order to see the deprivation degree of the disabled in different disability categories, we decompose the MPI into the sum of the poverty index of each disability category. Table 4 shows M0jof persons with different disability categories aged 16–59. Under different poverty cutoffs, the multidimensional poverty of persons with different disability categories presents the same characteristics, that is, M0jof persons with intellectual disabilities is the highest, and M0jof persons with physical disabilities is the lowest. It can Frontiers in Public Health 06 frontiersin.org 84 Wang et al. 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1093978 TABLE 3 Decomposition results of MPI for different poverty cutoffs: different dimensions. k Year Economy Health Education Insurance Social participation M01 P01 M02 P02 M03 P03 M04 P04 M05 P05 0.2 2018 0.074 18.9% 0.007 1.8% 0.081 20.7% 0.057 14.6% 0.172 44.0% 2019 0.066 18.6% 0.005 1.4% 0.075 21.1% 0.047 13.2% 0.163 45.7% 0.3 2018 0.071 19.9% 0.007 1.9% 0.081 22.5% 0.054 15.1% 0.145 40.6% 2019 0.063 19.8% 0.005 1.5% 0.075 23.5% 0.043 13.6% 0.132 41.5% 0.4 2018 0.061 20.0% 0.006 2.1% 0.078 25.7% 0.045 14.6% 0.115 37.6% 2019 0.052 19.8% 0.004 1.7% 0.071 27.1% 0.034 12.9% 0.101 38.5% 0.5 2018 0.045 20.5% 0.006 2.5% 0.061 27.8% 0.032 14.6% 0.076 34.6% 2019 0.037 21.0% 0.004 2.1% 0.050 28.3% 0.024 13.4% 0.062 35.1% TABLE 4 Decomposition results of MPI for different poverty cutoffs: different disability categories. Cutoffs (k) Year Visual disability Hearing disability Speech disability Physical disability Intellectual disability Psychiatric disability Multiple disability 0.2 2018 0.369 0.368 0.426 0.355 0.509 0.434 0.459 2019 0.338 0.329 0.388 0.316 0.485 0.409 0.434 0.3 2018 0.332 0.332 0.404 0.315 0.500 0.413 0.442 2019 0.295 0.287 0.361 0.269 0.475 0.384 0.414 0.4 2018 0.274 0.276 0.360 0.254 0.478 0.363 0.406 2019 0.235 0.227 0.315 0.208 0.449 0.329 0.375 0.5 2018 0.187 0.186 0.275 0.168 0.411 0.271 0.324 2019 0.147 0.138 0.213 0.124 0.366 0.230 0.280 be seen that persons with intellectual, multidimensional, psychiatric or speech disabilities face a serious poverty situation, while those with physical, visual or hearing disabilities have a relatively good living condition. From the perspective of time, M0jof all categories of disabled persons in 2019 has decreased compared with that in 2018, which indicates that the living conditions of all categories of disabled people have improved, and the improvement of persons with physical, hearing or speech disabilities is relatively large. In the process of poverty reduction, the diversity within the disabled deserves attention. 3.2. The poverty reduction effect of employment services 3.2.1. Descriptive statistics of variables Explained variable: MPI. According to relevant literature (26, 34), k =0.33 is set as the poverty cutoff in this part. Persons with disabilities whose MPI is ≥0.33 are considered to be in multidimensional poverty, and the higher the MPI, the more severe multidimensional poverty of the disabled. Explanatory variable: employment service. Employment services in Regulations on the Employment of Persons with Disabilities are mainly provided free of charge by the China Disabled Persons’ Federation and its affiliated employment service agencies for the disabled. In the registration form of Basic Service Status and Demand Information for Persons with Disabilities formulated by China Disabled Persons’ Federation, employment services include vocational skills training, career introduction, rural practical technical training, funding and credit support, vocational guidance, etc. The employment service is set as a binary variable, which is assigned a value of 1 if the disabled person obtains any of the above services, otherwise, it is assigned a value of 0. Control variable: individual characteristics, family characteristics and social support. Individual characteristics include gender, age, hukou status, disability level, and disability type. Among them, gender and hukou status are both binary variables; disability categories (multiple, visual, hearing, speech, physical, intellectual and psychiatric disabilities) and disability grades (grades 1–4) are categorical variables. Family characteristics include marital status, which is assigned a value of 1 if the disabled person has a spouse, otherwise, it is assigned a value of 0. Social support includes social assistance, welfare subsidies, rehabilitation services and barrier-free reconstruction, all of which are binary variables. Mediation variable: employment opportunity is a binary variable, which is assigned a value of 1 if the disabled person is employed, otherwise, it is assigned a value of 0; vocational skill is set as a categorical variable, representing the number of vocational skills mastered by persons with disabilities; Internet employment is a binary variable, which is assigned a value of 1 if the disabled person uses the Internet for employment, otherwise, it is assigned a value of 0. Table 5 shows the specific definitions of each variable. Persons with disabilities aged 16–59 who are not incapacitated and in need of employment services are mainly provided with employment services. The samples of studying in school, retirement Frontiers in Public Health 07 frontiersin.org 85 Wang et al. 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1093978 TABLE 5 Definition of variables. Variable Variable type Variable meaning MPI Numeric Between 0 and 1 Age Numeric Between 16 and 59 Gender Categorical Male =1; female =0 Hukou status Categorical Non-agricultural =1; agricultural =0 Disability categories Numeric Between 1 and 7 Disability grades Numeric Between 1 and 4 Marital status Categorical With spouse =1; without spouse =0 Social assistance Categorical Get =1; not get =0 Welfare subsidies Categorical Get =1; not get =0 Rehabilitation services Categorical Get =1; not get =0 Barrier-free reconstruction Categorical Get =1; not get =0 Employment opportunity Categorical Yes =1; no =0 Vocational skill Numeric Between 0 and 10 Internet employment Categorical Yes =1; no =0 and no employment intention were deleted in this part, and finally 57,510 people in 2018 were selected and the information in 2019 was tracked (total sample of 115,020 in two periods). The descriptive statistics of each variable are shown in Table 6. It can be seen that the MPI of persons with disabilities who received employment services was 0.323, and that of persons with disabilities who did not receive employment services was 0.344. The MPI of persons with disabilities who received employment services was significantly lower. In addition, the mean values of employment opportunities, employment skills and Internet employment for persons with disabilities who received employment services were higher than those who did not receive employment services. 3.2.2. OLS regression analysis The OLS method in this part is used to preliminarily investigate the relationship between employment services and multidimensional poverty of persons with disabilities, and the results are shown in Table 7. As China implements various support policies for the disabled, the multidimensional poverty of the disabled will not only be impacted by employment services, but also by other social support. In order to enhance the robustness of the model, the personal characteristics and social support are gradually incorporated into the model. The results of models (1), (3) and (5) show that the correlation coefficients between employment services and the MPI of persons with disabilities are −0.028, −0.012 and −0.020, respectively, which are significant at the level of 0.1%, indicating that employment services can significantly reduce the MPI of persons with disabilities. After adding social support indicators, the results of models (2), (4) and (6) show that the correlation coefficients between employment services and the MPI of persons with disabilities are −0.034, −0.018 and −0.024, respectively, which are also significant at the level of 0.1%, indicating that employment services can still significantly reduce the MPI of persons with disabilities after controlling other policy shocks. The empirical analysis proves that China’s current employment services have played a greater role in solving the poverty problem of the disabled in the process of poverty alleviation, and the effect of employment intervention measures is not as negative as expected. 3.2.3. PSM-DID analysis In order to more accurately investigate the poverty reduction effect of employment services on the multidimensional poverty of the disabled and solve the endogenous problems such as sample selection bias and missing variables, PSM-DID method is used for analysis in this part. The treatment group is the disabled who did not receive employment services in 2018 and received employment services in 2019, and the control group is the disabled who did not receive employment services in 2018 and 2019. There are 6,482 samples in the treatment group and 40,626 samples in the control group. The effect of employment services on MPI and different poverty dimensions is shown in Table 8. The DID value is the result of our main concern and represents the effect of employment services on the multidimensional poverty of persons with disabilities. The DID value of the MPI is −0.015 (p=0.000), which means that the MPI of persons with disabilities has decreased by 0.015 units after receiving employment services, indicating that employment services have a significant effect on improving the multidimensional poverty of persons with disabilities. In order to further analyze the role of employment services in improving each poverty dimension, this paper uses the same method to study the five poverty dimensions of the disabled respectively. The results show that the DID values of the poverty index in economy, education, insurance and social participation are −0.002 (p=0.008), −0.003 (p=0.008), −0.005 (p=0.000) and −0.008 (p=0.000), respectively, which means that the poverty index in the four dimensions decreases by 0.002 units, 0.003 units, 0.005 units and 0.008 units respectively after the disabled obtain employment services. It can be seen that employment services have a positive impact on many areas of life for the disabled. As pointed out by relevant scholars, assessing changes attributable to vocational interventions should focus on the impact of improvement of life skills through vocational interventions on multiple areas of quality of life (17). It is worth noting that employment services play agreater role in improving the poverty of education, insurance and social participation than in economic poverty, which to some extent indicates that China provides a minimum guarantee in ensuring that the disabled and their families have a decent income (12). The effect of employment services on MPI of different disability categories is shown in Table 9. DID value is the result of our main concern and represents the change of MPI of different categories of disabled people after receiving employment services. The DID results of models (1)–(7) are −0.026 (p=0.000), −0.018 (p=0.003), −0.011 (p=0.007), −0.011 (p=0.000), −0.023 (p=0.001), −0.015 (p=0.049), −0.014 (p=0.213), respectively. It can be seen that, compared with other types of disabilities, employment services have the greatest effect on poverty reduction for persons with visual disabilities, which may be related to China’s strong support for the development of blind massage industry and encouraging the scale and branding of blind massage during the 13th Five-year period. It is worth noting that, the DID results of persons with psychiatric disabilities or multiple disabilities are not significant, which means that employment services have little effect on poverty reduction of Frontiers in Public Health 08 frontiersin.org 86 Wang et al. 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1093978 TABLE 6 Descriptive statistics of variables. Variable All Employment services No employment services (n=115,020) (n=20,443) (n=94,577) Mean SD Min Max Mean SD Mean SD MPI 0.340 0.159 0 1 0.323 0.161 0.344 0.158 Age 45.918 9.203 16 59 46.122 8.997 45.874 9.246 Gender 0.682 0.466 0 1 0.705 0.456 0.677 0.468 Hukou status 0.263 0.440 0 1 0.161 0.368 0.285 0.452 Disability categories 4.572 1.366 1 7 4.580 1.324 4.571 1.375 Disability grades 3.047 0.941 1 4 3.075 0.940 3.041 0.941 Marital status 0.751 0.433 0 1 0.760 0.427 0.749 0.434 Social assistance 0.472 0.499 0 1 0.574 0.495 0.450 0.497 Welfare subsidies 0.352 0.478 0 1 0.432 0.495 0.335 0.472 Rehabilitation services 0.218 0.413 0 1 0.334 0.472 0.192 0.394 Barrier-free reconstruction 0.021 0.143 0 1 0.057 0.231 0.013 0.113 Employment opportunity 0.620 0.485 0 1 0.762 0.426 0.589 0.492 Vocational skill 0.406 0.541 0 18 0.708 0.590 0.341 0.507 Internet employment 0.012 0.108 0 1 0.022 0.145 0.010 0.098 TABLE 7 Effect of employment services on MPI: OLS estimate result. Variable 2018 2019 All (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) Employment service −0.028∗∗∗ (0.002) −0.034∗∗∗ (0.002) −0.012∗∗∗ (0.002) −0.018∗∗∗ (0.002) −0.020∗∗∗ (0.001) −0.024∗∗∗ (0.001) Age 0.002∗∗∗ (0.000) 0.002∗∗∗ (0.000) 0.002∗∗∗ (0.000) 0.001∗∗∗ (0.000) 0.001∗∗∗ (0.000) 0.001∗∗∗ (0.000) Gender −0.021∗∗∗ (0.001) −0.021∗∗∗ (0.001) −0.024∗∗∗ (0.001) −0.024∗∗∗ (0.001) −0.022∗∗∗ (0.001) −0.022∗∗∗ (0.001) Hukou status −0.016∗∗∗ (0.001) −0.018∗∗∗ (0.001) −0.004∗ (0.001) −0.007∗∗∗ (0.001) −0.010∗∗∗ (0.001) −0.013∗∗∗ (0.001) Disability categories 0.006∗∗∗ (0.000) 0.005∗∗∗ (0.000) 0.005∗∗∗ (0.000) 0.004∗∗∗ (0.000) 0.005∗∗∗ (0.000) 0.005∗∗∗ (0.000) Disability grades −0.031∗∗∗ (0.001) −0.023∗∗∗ (0.001) −0.032∗∗∗ (0.001) −0.023∗∗∗ (0.001) −0.031∗∗∗ (0.000) −0.023∗∗∗ (0.001) Marital status −0.066∗∗∗ (0.002) −0.061∗∗∗ (0.002) −0.066∗∗∗ (0.001) −0.059∗∗∗ (0.001) −0.065∗∗∗ (0.001) −0.059∗∗∗ (0.001) Social assistance 0.027∗∗∗ (0.001) 0.038∗∗∗ (0.001) 0.034∗∗∗ (0.001) Welfare subsidy 0.026∗∗∗ (0.002) 0.022∗∗∗ (0.002) 0.023∗∗∗ (0.001) Rehabilitation service −0.006∗∗ (0.002) −0.003∗ (0.001) −0.020∗∗∗ (0.001) Barrier-free reconstruction 0.020∗∗∗ (0.005) −0.032∗∗∗ (0.004) −0.015∗∗∗ (0.003) Constant 0.425∗∗∗ (0.004) 0.385∗∗∗ (0.004) 0.392∗∗∗ (0.004) 0.346∗∗∗ (0.004) 0.412∗∗∗ (0.003) 0.372∗∗∗ (0.003) N57,510 57,510 57,510 57,510 115,020 115,020 Pseudo R2 0.077 0.093 0.081 0.103 0.075 0.096 F 682.105 535.262 722.540 603.083 1,340.193 1,115.182 ∗p<0.01, ∗∗p<0.005, ∗∗∗p<0.001; standard errors are given in brackets. Frontiers in Public Health 09 frontiersin.org 87 Jasso 10.3389/fsoc.2023.1334925 Frontiers in Sociology 02 frontiersin.org Aristotle (1952) (Politics, Book IV) to bethe backbone of society, the “solid core” (Blau, 1964, 296-297).1 The study of poverty—how to define it, how to measure it, and how to alleviate it—has a rich and long history. Plato (c.428– 348/7 BCE), concerned that societies suffer from both poverty and wealth, has the Athenian Stranger say (Plato, 1952, Laws, Book V): [T]here should exist among the citizens neither extreme poverty, nor, again, excess of wealth, for both are productive of both these evils [faction and distraction]…[The minimum lot assigned in the beginning] ought to bepreserved, and no ruler, nor anyone else who aspires after a reputation for virtue, will allow the lot to beimpaired in any case… [The law] will permit a man to acquire double or triple, or as much as four times the amount of this [minimum lot]. But if a person have yet greater riches, whether hehas found them, or they have been given to him, or hehas made them in business, or has acquired by any stroke of fortune that which is in excess of the measure, if hegive back the surplus to the state, and to the Gods who are the patrons of the state, heshall suffer no penalty or loss of reputation. St. John Chrysostom (c.347–407 CE), in the Homily 66.3, On the Gospel of Matthew (Chrysostom, 1860, c. 386–407), estimated the proportions rich and poor in the prosperous city of Antioch at one-tenth each. 2 Other highlights in the voluminous literature spanning philosophy, social sciences, humanities, and public policy include Fisher (1992), Friedman (1965), Fuchs (1967), Himmelfarb (1984), Orshansky (1965), Rawls (1971), Smith (1976a,b), and Vives (1947, 1520–1540), together with single-country and cross-country scholarly research on all aspects of poverty, as well as reports by the major international organizations (e.g., the United Nations and the World Bank) and non-profit “think tanks.”3 This paper first explores the two originating ideas and then links them. Of course, inequality is an active partner in the fate of the poor and the middle class. Indeed, even earlier than Plato, Confucius (c. 551–c. 479 BCE) taught that the underlying driver of social ills is inequality (An, 2021). Accordingly, inequality is never far from our discussion. 1 The term “tax” includes both taxes and transfers; “tax” can bepositive (tax paid) or negative (a subsidy). The terms “pretax” and posttax” are used interchangeably with “initial” and “final,” respectively. 2 Chrysostom apparently defines rich and poor by specified income amounts and estimates the proportion in each class, providing an early example of one of the two major approaches to class structure, the other being to define classes by specified proportions of the population and estimate the relative share of income held by each class (Jasso, 1983, 284). 3 For example, for a succinct overview of scholarly research on poverty, family factors, measurement equivalence, and other pertinent matters in the UnitedStates and Europe, see Davidov etal. (2014), Edin and Nelson (2013), Edin and Shaefer (2015), Parolin etal. (2023), Reinl etal. (2023), Sosu and Schmidt (2017), and the references cited therein. Of course, poverty plays an important part in literature, art, even music, as in Monteverdi’s (1567-1643), Bach’s (1685-1750), and others’ settings of Mary’s lines, esurientes implevit bonis, et divites dimisit inanes, “The hungry he has filled with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty” (Magnificat, Luke 1:53). The present work may come at a propitious time, as the world prepares to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the classic and probably earliest book on poverty reduction, De Subventione Pauperum (On the Relief of the Poor), written in 1526 by Juan Luis Vives (1493–1540) for the Senate of Bruges. 2 Distribution and redistribution of income via probability distributions We begin with two iconic probability distributions widely used in the study of wages, earnings, income, wealth, and other money variables (for convenience, termed “income”)—indeed, “the two classical size distributions” (Kleiber and Kotz, 2003, 126, 238): the lognormal and the Pareto. 4 They are continuous univariate two-parameter distributions defined on positive numbers. The two parameters are a location parameter (such as the mean) and a shape parameter, which governs all measures of relative inequality and is thus called a general inequality parameter, denoted c (Jasso and Kotz, 2008). Both distributions permit incomes to range to infinity. However, they differ in their behavior at the bottom; while the lognormal goes to zero (from the right), the Pareto has a minimum positive amount. Thus, the lognormal is a reasonable representation of initial income and the Pareto for final income, the Pareto’s minimum income representing the social safety net. There is a large literature on the two distributions, to which Kleiber and Kotz (2003) provide valuable and succinct introduction, together with an introduction to size distributions in general and biographies of the major originators and contributors.5 For studying poverty and the middle class, important dimensions of income distributions include the minimum, the median, and the proportion below the arithmetic mean, as well as overall inequality and inequality within selected regions. For overall inequality, wereport three measures: the widely used Gini coefficient (Kleiber and Kotz, 2003, 30) and two members of the class of generalized entropy inequality measures (Cowell and Kuga, 1981), the Theil MLD (Theil, 1967, 125–127) and the Atkinson (1970, 1975) measure (here called ATK) that arises when the inequality aversiveness parameter in the Atkinson family approaches one. All have excellent properties and an array of partisans. For example, Shorrocks (1980, p.625) views the MLD as the “most satisfactory of the decomposable measures,” and Cowell and Flachaire (2023, p.23) observe that the MLD “has all of the attractive properties of the Gini coefficient” and also “estimates variations in inequality more accurately” than the Gini. Wealso report 4 Because all income distributions are subject to the same underlying mathematical relations of probability distributions, this approach makes it possible to explore the relation between poverty and the middle class with some generality. 5 The shape parameter appears by different names in different distributions. For example, in the Pareto, it is called Pareto’s constant and is usually denoted by α. The Pareto parameter is sometimes expressed not as c (=α) but as an inverted Pareto coefficient denoted β and equal to c/(c−1). This usage has two useful properties: (1) inequality increases as β increases; and (2) the average of the top subgroup is equal to β times the x value at the percent split p. See, for example, Alvaredo (2011, p.275) and Atkinson etal. (2011, p.13–14). 94 Jasso 10.3389/fsoc.2023.1334925 Frontiers in Sociology 03 frontiersin.org the share held by the top1%, at least since 2011 an iconic marker of inequality (Atkinson et al., 2011; Stiglitz, 2011; Jasso, 2020). In continuous, univariate two-parameter distributions, the Gini, Atkinson, Theil, and top share measures are monotonic functions of the general inequality parameter. For measuring inequality among the poor, following Parolin etal. (2023), weuse the ratio of the 15th percentile to the 5th percentile. Formulas for all these measures in both mathematically specified and observed distributions are widely available (e.g., Jasso, 1980, 2018, 2020; Jasso and Kotz, 2008, p. 38–39). 6 For visualization, werely on graphs of income relative amount on income relative rank, formally, on graphs of the quantile function (QF) for income relative amount. 7 If income is equally distributed (the benchmark case), the graph is a horizontal line at one (the average of the relative amounts). For unequal distributions, the graph increases as relative rank increases. As Pen (1971) put it, the QF for income distribution is like a parade that begins with dwarfs and ends with giants. Importantly, the flatter the curve, the lower the inequality, and there may beregions of greater or lesser flatness.8 Even more important, for present purposes, is that the QF signals not only the magnitude of inequality but also, in comparisons of two or more distributions, the exact cutoff points identifying who gains and who loses in a switch from one distribution to another (Schutz, 1951; Budd, 1970; Budd and Seiders, 1971; Jasso, 1983). When the alternatives pertain to absolute income, it is possible that everyone gains or everyone 6 The Theil MLD and the Atkinson measure both depend on ratios of the geometric mean and the arithmetic mean and are thus algebraic transformations of each other: ATK = 1–exp(–MLD) and MLD = −ln(–ATK). Indeed, given that ATK sits on the unit interval but the MLD ranges beyond one, the Atkinson measure may beregarded as a “normalization” of the MLD (Cowell, 2011, p.186; Jasso, 2023, p.312–313). 7 Relative income is income divided by the arithmetic mean. If the incomes are arranged in ascending order, their absolute ranks range from 1 to the group or population size N, and relative rank is absolute rank divided by N + 1. Formally, graphs of (relative) income amount on income relative rank are graphs of the quantile function, one of the three main associated functions of probability distributions, also known as the inverse distribution function, the percent point function, and, when used for income or other money variables, Pen’s Parade (Pen, 1971; Cowell, 1977, 2011; Jasso, 1983; Atkinson, 2017; U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2018). 8 Among the three main associated functions of probability distributions, the most basic is the cumulative distribution function (CDF), the best known is the probability density function (PDF), and perhaps the most useful in studies of income inequality is the quantile function. The three are related to each other in specified ways (Jasso, 1983, p.276–277). For example, the QF is the inverse of the CDF (hence one of its alternate names), and in continuous distributions the PDF is the first derivative of the CDF. For further detail on the QF and its relation to the other associated functions of probability distributions, together with formulas and graphs, see the Gallery of Distributions in the online eHandbook of Statistical Methods (also known as the Engineering Statistics Handbook) published by U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (2018); the one-volume handbook by Forbes et al. (2011); and the comprehensive compendia originated by Johnson and Kotz (1969-1972) and continued with Balakrishnan and Kemp (e.g., Johnson etal., 1994–1995, 2005). Formulas and graphs for the basic associated functions of the lognormal and Pareto are widely available, for example, in the sources above and Jasso and Kotz (2008, 36-37). loses. However, when the alternatives pertain to relative income, there are always winners and losers; the QF graphs cross at least once, providing information about both the relative ranks and the relative income amounts at the boundaries of the “transfer groups.” Individuals are better off in the distribution whose QF graph gives them the higher vertical placement. When two QF graphs of relative income cross once, all transfers occur in one direction. Thus, there are two transfer groups, and the point of intersection shows whether the leftmost or the rightmost group is in the majority. When two QF graphs of relative income cross twice, transfers occur in both directions. In this case, there are three transfer groups, with the poorest and the richest gaining under the same alternative and the middle group losing. The three transfer groups can manifest any configuration of location and size, such as the middle group being the majority or the minority.9, 10 2.1 Representing the initial income distribution by the lognormal The lognormal (Aitchison and Brown, 1957; Kleiber and Kotz, 2003, p.107–145), whose application to economic variables began with the pioneering work of Gibrat (1931), is the classical distribution for the case where incomes can beboth very low (going to zero) and very high (going to infinity). It would not bea good model for the initial income distribution in eras when pay schemes have rigid minimums or, as in Elizabethan England, rigid maximums (McArthur, 1900). However, it is not unreasonable as an early step in representing the initial distribution in contexts where it is possible to earn both very little and very much.11 Figure1A shows the graph of the relative amount on relative rank for one member of the lognormal family, with general inequality parameter c equal to 0.5. The grid features a vertical line at the median and a horizontal line at the mean (equal to one in a distribution of relative amounts, as noted above). The graph enables visualization of the relative income corresponding to each relative rank, for example, 9 As shown, the QF is useful not only for studying the income structure and how it changes but also, when individuals retain their ranks, how individuals become better-off and worse-off. Thus, two elements crucial to understanding income distribution and discussed by Marx (1818–1883) are important in this article—relative amounts (Marx, 1968) and rank invariance (Marx, 1964). 10 We note in passing that the literature contains important links between the QF and inequality and between the QF and the Lorenz curve. For example, two QFs of relative income intersect one more time than the corresponding Lorenz curves, so that the canonical case of nonintersecting Lorenz curves is equivalent to the case of QFs intersecting once—and these indicate that the two distributions can beunambiguously ranked on their degree of inequality. Further pertinent literature includes Arnold and Sarabia (2018), Atkinson (1970, 1975, 2017), Budd (1970), Budd and Seiders (1971), Cowell (1977, 2011), Fields and Fei (1978), Jasso (1983, 2020), Kleiber and Kotz (2003), and Schutz (1951). 11 Notable recent developments include (1) work by Battistin etal. (2009) noting that the lognormal’s fit is better for consumption than for income and that “the logic of Gibrat’s law applies not to total income, but to permanent income and to marginal utility” and (2) work by Venkatasubramanian (2017) and Venkatasubramanian etal. (2015) showing that self-organizing free-market dynamics reach an equilibrium state with an emergent equilibrium distribution which turns out to belognormal. 95 Jasso 10.3389/fsoc.2023.1334925 Frontiers in Sociology 04 frontiersin.org at the 25th percentile, the median, or the mean. The median is approximately 0.882, and the mean occurs at approximately the relative rank of 0.599, so approximately 59.9% have incomes below the mean. As for overall inequality, the values of the Gini, MLD, and ATK measures are 0.276, 0.125, and 0.118, respectively. The share held by the top1% is 3.39%. Moreover, the graph makes it possible to gauge the amount of inequality in selected regions of the distribution; for example, following Parolin etal. (2023), inequality among the poor can beassessed by taking the ratio of the 15th to the 5th percentile. In the lognormal depicted in Figure1A, the 5th and 15th percentiles are 0.388 and 0.526, yielding a P15/P5 ratio of 1.356. Similarly, eyeballing flatness in the curve, it is clear that inequality is much greater among the top25% than among the bottom 25%. 2.2 Representing the final income distribution by the Pareto The Pareto (Kleiber and Kotz, 2003, 59–106), pioneered by Pareto (1895), accommodates a distribution where incomes have a positive minimum and can also be very high—going to infinity. It is a reasonable model for the final income distribution in contexts where redistribution assures a social safety net but allows high earners to retain large amounts. Figure1B shows the graph of relative amount on relative rank for the member of the Pareto family with general inequality parameter c equal to 2. As with the lognormal in Figure1A, the grid features a vertical line at the median and a horizontal line at the mean, and the graph enables visualization of the relative income corresponding to each relative rank. The minimum is half the mean, the median is ((√2)/2≈) 0.707, and the mean occurs at approximately the 75th percentile. As for overall inequality, values of the Gini, MLD, and ATK measures are 0.333, 0.193, and 0.176, respectively. The share held by the top1% is 10%—higher than in the lognormal (c = 0.5), highlighting the divergent paths that inequality and poverty can take. Meanwhile, the 5th and 15th percentiles are 0.513 and 0.542, so that, following Parolin etal. (2023), the P15/P5 ratio registers 1.057, suggesting less inequality among the poor than in the lognormal. Similarly, the curve is much flatter among the bottom half than among the top half, suggesting far less inequality among the bottom half than among the top half. 2.3 Redistribution from the lognormal (c = 0.5) to the Pareto (c = 2) Suppose now that a society with an initial distribution approximated by the lognormal (c = 0.5) decides to redistribute to a Pareto (c = 2), perhaps overlooking the facts that in this Pareto 75% of the incomes are below the mean and inequality is greater (e.g., a Gini of 0.333 vs. 0.276 and a top1% share of 10% vs. 3.39%), so compelling is the other fact that the lowest income cannot go below half the mean. Figure1C illustrates the result: three transfer groups, with the leftmost and the rightmost gaining and the middle group losing. 12 In 12 The three transfer groups visible in Figure 1C emerge from the two intersections of the distributions’ quantile functions. Equivalently, the two distributions’ Lorenz curves intersect once. Thus, this situation echoes Cowell’s (1977, 36, 49) insightful remarks that “there has been a redistribution away from Lognormal (c=0.5) A C B Relative Amount Relative Rank 0.25 .5 .75 1 0 1 2 3 Pareto (c=2) Relative Amount Relative Rank 0.25 .5 .75 1 0 1 2 3 Lognormal (c=0.5) Redistributed to Pareto (c=2) Relative Amount Relative Rank 0.25 .5 .75 1 0 1 2 3 X X Y Y FIGURE1 Redistribution from lognormal to Pareto. The poor and rich are better off, and the middle is worse off. The initial Lognormal distribution denoted X and the final Pareto distribution denoted Y. Figure1C is based on Figure 3(a) in Jasso (2015, p. 889). 96 Jasso 10.3389/fsoc.2023.1334925 Frontiers in Sociology 05 frontiersin.org redistributions of relative income from a lognormal to a Pareto, there are three transfer groups—the bottom and top are always better off in the Pareto and the middle in the lognormal—but the transfer groups may differ markedly in their size and boundaries. In the case of the two distributions used in this illustration, the lognormal and the Pareto curves, denoted X and Y, respectively, cross at approximately the 17th and 92nd percentiles, so that a large middle majority of some 75% becomes worse off, while the poorest 17% and the richest 8% become better off. Put differently, persons immediately above the 17th percentile who might have expected to benefit from redistribution to the poor appear to beunderwriting the advancement of persons not much poorer than themselves.13, 14 The illustration in this section evokes contemporary discussions of the middle region of the income distribution losing ground (Stiglitz, 2015; Case and Deaton, 2020). Moreover, it prompts a search for a possibly better way to achieve poverty reduction. 3 Distribution of income via probability distribution, redistribution of income via the linear income tax system The linear income tax system has been widely studied (Fei, 1981; Musgrave, 1959, 1963; Intriligator, 1979; King, 1983; Seidl, 2007a,b; Jasso and Wegener, 2022), and its properties and simplicity make it an appealing option. It satisfies the three principles of tax justice, namely, that as pretax income increases, so do final income, tax amount, and tax rate. The linear income tax system begins with a simple equation middle-income receivers to the top and to the bottom” and that the “Lorenz curves that wewish to compare often intersect.” 13 To illustrate the variability in size and boundaries of the transfer groups, if the initial income distribution were a lognormal (c = 0.6) rather than the lognormal (c = 0.5) in Figure1, redistribution to the same Pareto (c = 2) in Figure1 would lead to a smaller middle region of some 67% extending from the 28th percentile to the 95th percentile becoming worse-off, and if the initial income distribution were a lognormal (c = 1), redistribution to the same Pareto (c = 2) would lead to an even smaller “middle” region of some 38% extending from the 61st percentile to the 99.76th percentile becoming worse-off (Jasso, 1983, 291–294). Moreover, if the initial income distribution were a lognormal (c = 0.82), redistribution to the same Pareto (c = 2) would lead to the case in which the majority comprises the bottom 49% and the top1.3%—and hence does not include the median person (Jasso, 2015, 888–889). Always, however, the “poorest” (or leftmost) and the “richest” (or rightmost) share the same fate, their interests opposite the interests of the “middle” region. Finally, a transfer group may beso tiny that it would bediscernible only in a very large population; for example, in a redistribution from a lognormal (c = 2) to a Pareto (c = 2), the point of intersection between the “middle” region and the “top” region occurs between 0.999999999 and 0.9999999999. 14 Of course, the lognormal and Pareto pair are not the only distributions giving rise to three transfer groups. Other examples include a power function and Pareto pair (Jasso, 2015, 888–889). As well, observed empirical distributions also may intersect. For example, Budd (1970) and Weisskoff (1970) report that in the UnitedStates in the 1945–1965 period and in Mexico in the 1950–1963 period, a large bottom segment and a small top segment became worse-off in relative income, while the middle group became better-off. in which posttax income y is a linear function of pretax income x. The slope b represents the fraction of pretax income kept by the taxpayer, not counting the intercept a. When a is positive, it represents the minimum posttax income, known as the demogrant or social component, and, in Islamic law, the Nisab (Seidl, 2007a,b; Jasso and Wegener, 2022). If a is zero, the linear tax system reduces to a flat tax, which violates the third principle of tax justice, failing progressivity. Formally, the just linear tax system is written as: yabx , ab 00 1, 3.1 Properties of the just linear tax system Exploring the just linear tax system in a population of taxpayers leads to three useful further properties (Jasso and Wegener, 2022). First, besides the intercept a and slope b, there is a third parameter, the level of extraction/injection of resources, represented by the ratio of the average posttax income to the average pretax income and denoted k. Resources may beextracted to fund the government, for security, etc. Conversely, the injection of resources may reflect colonial revenues, oil revenues, deficit spending, or economic growth. 15 Importantly, when pretax income and posttax income are expressed as relative amounts, the parameter k equals one. Second, embedded in the just linear tax system is a standard form of the intercept and slope, denoted by asterisks and called the signature system. This standard pair—viz., a* and b*—occurs naturally when pretax income and posttax income are expressed as relative amounts and has the property that the two parameters sum to one. Moreover, because a* represents the just relative minimum final income and 1−b* is the standard form of the marginal tax rate, it follows that a* represents both the just relative minimum final income and the marginal tax rate. Thus, “increasing the relative minimum is the same as increasing the marginal tax rate” (Jasso and Wegener, 2022, p.210), and the fates of the poor and rich are intertwined. Third, it turns out that the second principle of justice—that as pretax income increases, the tax amount should also increase—is violated if the injection of resources grows to the point that k reaches or exceeds 1/b*. Thus, for given signature parameters, it is possible to know a priori how much injection of resources can be tolerated without violating the second principle (Jasso and Wegener, 2022, p.213, Table4). 3.2 Redistribution from the lognormal (c = 0.5) via the just linear tax system Suppose now that a society with an initial distribution approximated by the same lognormal (c = 0.5) as in Section 2 decides to redistribute via the linear tax system. Two tax systems are considered, specified by their signature standard parameters. The first signature set has a* of 0.225 and b* of 0.775. This is the signature 15 For a line of inquiry exploring the relations among growth, redistribution, and poverty, see Chenery etal. (1974). 97 Jasso 10.3389/fsoc.2023.1334925 Frontiers in Sociology 06 frontiersin.org parameter set estimated empirically for a probability sample of German earners in 2009, based on their responses to questions asked in the German SocioEconomic Panel (GSOEP) about their current actual pretax income and their idea of the just posttax income for themselves (Jasso and Wegener, 2022). The second signature set has a* of 0.3 and b* of 0.7. Of course, the society could specify any other signature set, cognizant that a* represents the standard form of both the relative minimum income and the marginal tax rate, or it could estimate empirically its population’s ideas about the just system.16 Figure2C depicts the graphs of relative amount on relative rank for the pretax distribution (lognormal of c = 0.5), denoted X, and the posttax distribution obtained from the 0.225 to 0.775 tax system, denoted Y. As shown, the two graphs intersect only once, at the mean of one and the relative rank of approximately 0.599. Thus, the leftmost 60% have gained from the redistribution, and the rightmost 40% have lost. The lowest income has increased from close to zero (in a population of a 1,000, approximately 18.8% of the mean) to 37.1% of the mean. The highest income has declined from 4.14% of the mean 16 Empirical approximation of the signature system viewed as fair by a population is straightforward if data are available on each respondent’s own actual pretax income and own just posttax income (viz., the posttax income regarded as just for self by the respondent); the procedure simply regresses just posttax income on actual pretax income, both in relative form (Jasso and Wegener, 2022). Such data have been available in Germany since 2009 and are now available for almost 30 countries in the European Social Survey, Round 9 (2018–2019). (again, in a population of a thousand) to 3.43% of the mean. Of course, in a population of millions, the figures at the extremes would differ. The three overall inequality measures—Gini, MLD, and ATK— register 0.213, 0.0713, and 0.0688, respectively, indicating a nontrivial decline in inequality. The share held by the top1% is 2.76%. Finally, to gauge inequality among the poor, following Parolin etal. (2023), weobtain the 5th and 15th percentiles (0.525 and 0.632), yielding a P15/P5 ratio of 1.203 and suggesting less inequality among the poor than in the lognormal, where it is 1.356 (but more than in the Pareto, where it is 1.057, visible in the curve’s flatness).17 Now suppose that a combination of economic growth and deficit spending permits the average of the final income distribution to increase. How much could beused in redistribution without violating the second principle of tax justice? The answer is that k could increase to 1/b*, or approximately 1.29, for an injection of resources equal to 29% of the initial income distribution (Jasso and Wegener, 2022, p. 213, Table 4). If the society wanted to take k to 1.5, injecting resources equal to half the initial total income, then to safeguard the second principle of tax justice, the tax system parameters would have to change to 0.333–0.667 (Jasso and Wegener, 2022, p.214, Table5). That is, the standard relative minimum final income (and, identically, the standard marginal tax rate) would have to increase from 0.225 to 0.333, or approximately 33%. 17 Figures2A,B repeat Figures1A,C enabling visual contrast of all three redistributions. Lognormal (c=0.5) AB CD Relative Amount Relative Rank 0.25 .5 .75 1 0 1 2 3 Lognormal (c=0.5) Redistributed to Pareto (c=2) Relative Amount Relative Rank 0.25 .5 .75 1 0 1 2 3 X X Y Y Lognormal (c=0.5) Redistributed via Linear Tax (.225 & .775) Relative Amount Relative Rank 0.25 .5 .75 1 0 1 2 3 X X Y Y Lognormal (c=0.5) Redistributed via Linear Tax (.3 & .7) Relative Amount Relative Rank 0.25 .5 .75 1 0 1 2 3 X X Y Y FIGURE2 Redistribution from lognormal via linear tax. Leftmost better off, rightmost worse off (plus contrast with redistribution to Pareto). The initial lognormal distribution denoted X and the final distributions denoted Y. Figure1B is based on Figure 3(a) in Jasso (2015, 889) 98 Jasso 10.3389/fsoc.2023.1334925 Frontiers in Sociology 07 frontiersin.org Analyzing the 0.3–0.7 tax system exactly as above for the 0.225– 0.775 system, Figure2D depicts the graphs of relative amount on relative rank for the pretax distribution (lognormal of c = 0.5) and the posttax distribution obtained from the 0.3–0.7 tax system. As shown, the two graphs intersect only once, at the mean of one and the relative rank of approximately 0.599. This is exactly as in the 0.225–0.775 system, which is not surprising given that the tax system is a linear transformation. The lowest income has increased from close to zero (in a population of a thousand, approximately 18.8% of the mean) to 37% of the mean. The highest income has declined from 4.14% of the mean (again, in a population of a thousand) to 3.20% of the mean. Of course, in a population of millions, the figures at the extremes would differ. The three overall inequality measures—Gini, MLD, and ATK— register 0.192, 0.0579, and 0.0563, respectively, indicating a further decline in inequality. The share held by the top1% is 2.59%. Finally, to gauge inequality among the poor, following Parolin etal. (2023), the 5th and 15th percentiles are 0.571 and 0.668, yielding a P15/P5 ratio of 1.169 and suggesting less inequality among the poor than in the lognormal (where it is 1.356) or via the 0.225–0.775 system (where it is 1.203) but more than in the Pareto (where it is 1.057). As mentioned above, wenow ask how much of a windfall (or deficit spending) could beused in redistribution without violating the second principle of tax justice. The answer is that k could increase to 1/b*, or approximately 1.429, for an injection of resources equal to 42.9% of the initial income distribution (Jasso and Wegener, 2022, p.213, Table 4). If the society wanted to take k to 1.5, injecting resources equal to half the initial total income, then, exactly as above, to safeguard the second principle of tax justice, the tax system parameters would have to change to 0.333–0.667 (Jasso and Wegener, 2022, p.214, Table5). That is, the standard relative minimum final income (and, identically, the standard marginal tax rate) would have to increase from 0.3 to 0.333, or approximately 33%. 4 Contrasting the two approaches to redistribution and poverty reduction Figure2 makes it possible to visualize at a glance the original pretax distribution and the three posttax distributions achieved via a probability distribution and via the linear tax system. It is evident that while redistribution via the Pareto (Figure2B) renders a middle region worse off, redistribution via the linear tax system (Figures2C,D) does no harm to the middle. For further concreteness, Table1 reports all the key measures reported above—the minimum, the median, the proportion below the mean, the three measures of overall inequality, the share held by the top1%, and the P15/P5 measure of inequality among the poor. It is evident from both Table1 and Figure2 that the Pareto option provides the highest minimum income. Wemay wonder whether even the most committed Rawlsian would hesitate before choosing it, knowing that it harms the middle, has the lowest median, has the largest proportion below the mean, and has the highest overall inequality. The differences in this illustration are not subtle. The Pareto’s minimum income of half the mean is larger than the two tax systems’ minimums of 0.371 and 0.432 of the mean. The Pareto’s median of 0.707 is smaller by over 20 percentage points than the two tax systems’ medians of 0.909 and 0.918. The Pareto’s 75% proportion below the mean exceeds by 15 percentage points the proportion below the mean in the two tax systems’ redistribution. Further, by all the measures of overall inequality, the Pareto’s overall inequality is the largest—for example, a Gini coefficient of 0.333, over 10 percentage points greater than the two tax systems’ Ginis of 0.213 and 0.192. Finally, the share held by the top1% is over three times greater in the Pareto than in the two tax systems (10% vs. 2.76% and 2.59%). In the Pareto’s defense, however, the P15/P5 ratio registers the lowest magnitude of inequality among the poor—1.057 vs. 1.203 and 1.169. Of course, this illustration is based on specific members of the lognormal and Pareto distributional families and specific signature parameters of the linear tax system. Exact results will differ by the exact combinations. 18 What might besome general conclusions? First, the iconic Pareto is no panacea, given its harm to the middle. Second, redistributions via members of lower inequality from the same distributional family will not harm the poor, as they generate only two transfer groups, and thus it would seem useful to explore “shifted” or “generalized” forms of the lognormal as approaches to both distribution and redistribution. Third, it would also seem useful to explore other distributional families, such as the shifted exponential, the shifted gamma, and the quadratic with its beautiful symmetry.19 5 Discussion This paper combined two well-known ideas—(1) redistribution from one to another distribution can yield three transfer groups such that the poorest and richest gain and the middle loses and (2) the linear income tax system satisfies three basic principles of fairness, namely, that as initial income increases, so do final income, tax amount, and tax rate, suggesting that the linear income tax system may bethe natural and most effective way to guard against poverty reduction policies which, while helping the poorest, harm the middle. Further work might examine, more deeply and both theoretically and empirically, the links between poverty, redistribution, and the middle class, on the one hand, and inequality and both income fairness and tax fairness, on the other hand. 18 Consider the focal distributions used in this paper to model pretax and posttax income, the lognormal (c = 0.5) and the Pareto (c = 2), respectively. The reader will have noticed in the text and in Table1 that by all three measures of overall inequality, the Pareto has greater inequality than the lognormal. But this is not universally the case. In fact, by the Gini measure, the Pareto (c = 2) is less unequal than any lognormal of c greater than 0.609, and by the Atkinson measure, it is less unequal than any lognormal of c greater than 0.622. Thus, there is a “zone of ambiguity” in ranking the Pareto (c = 2) and members of the lognormal family with c between 0.609 and 0.622 (Fields and Fei, 1978, p.315; Jasso, 1982, p.319–321). 19 The four small “toy distributions” provided by Jasso (2018, 202) are based on the lognormal, Pareto, shifted exponential, and quadratic, and thus can beused to experiment with further options for redistribution. Note that the toy quadratic has a minimum income of half the mean and a maximum income of three times the mean, well within the maximum allowed by the Athenian Stranger in Plato’s Laws (quoted above). 99 [Document text truncated for crawler view.]