| Abstract: | The aim of the discussion of unintended consequences of Ze Ren Zhi policy reforms in China is to show how isolating problems and developing solutions in isolation can lead to serious consequences. The Ze Ren Zhi reforms in 1978 were intended to increase agricultural productivity by changing from the collective system to an individual responsibility system, but the unintended and undesirable consequences were a growth in family size and discouragement of some environmentally sound land use practices. The prior system gave an equal share of collective income for an equal number of days worked. Under the new reform, "Baochan Daohu," each household had responsibility for a contracted quantity of grain production. Within 2-4 years, economic conditions improved considerably. A discussion is provided of the transition from rights and duties of the collectives to the new responsibility system and the experimentation with different systems. Specific attention is directed to land reforms, mutual aid teams, cooperatives, communes, variations of Ze Ren Zhi, contracting output to individual laborers, contracting jobs to households, and contracting output quotas to households. During the reforms, beginning in the 1950s and lasting until 1978, other changes were taking place. Death rates were declining and birth rates were increasing, such that in 1971 a campaign was established to promote the Late, Sparse, and Few policy for marrying and giving birth later, increasing birth intervals, and having fewer children. This voluntary program eventually took on a more universally mandatory nature. The 1950 Marriage Law stipulated 20 years as the legal age for marriage (18 years for females), and family planning (FP) workers during the 1970s were encouraging even later marriage, and by 1980 a system of rewards and penalties was established to reinforce small family size. After 1978 and a period of birth declines, the crude birth rate increased to 3.06 in 1983. The new responsibility system changed the reward and penalty system, led to a loss of FP workers, created conditions that gave advantages to large families, promoted early marriage and pregnancy, and created a migrant labor surplus. Chemical fertilizers were used and there was little incentive to get involved in reclamation or reforestation efforts that have longterm gain. Integrated planning and programming is needed for the short and long run. |
