Research on the Management Efficiency of Poverty Reduction Projects in Rural China: Based on an Empirical Analysis of Different Models

By adopting independent sample T-test and ANOVA analysis based on the field questionnaire data, this paper makes an empirical study of the differences between different poverty reduction models in rural China, in an attempt to compare the NGO- and government-led poverty reduction projects and identify the differences of the project management efficiency of the four major poverty reduction models, i.e. the whole village approach, sister-region support, utilizing foreign capital and relocation of farmers. Major findings include: (1) NGO-led projects are superior to government-led projects in the aspects of scientific and democratic decision-making, poverty targeting and the degree of participation of beneficiaries in the project; (2) different poverty reduction models are significantly different in: (i) the degree of democracy of project decision-making, scientificalness and rationality of project targeting, participation of beneficiaries, project budget, project schedule and post-project management mechanism; (ii) the forms of participation in project decision-making by beneficiaries particularly by women; (iii) the level of democracy and farmers´ awareness of self-management regarding post-project management mechanism. Policy implications are proposed accordingly based on these findings.