Regional Differences in the Quality of Rural Development in Guangdong Province and Influencing Factors

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Rural revitalization is a key question, in every way, for almost all rural communities in the world hence it shouldn't be put in the paper as a political issue. That means that rural revitalisation has significance independant on political system.

In the text, yuans should be also be transfered to dollars (or some other world currency) so that it would be easier to read for non-Chinese readers.

What are civilized villages? I didn't understand this part, and there is no real explanation for it.

In the table some letters (when mention indicators) are small and some large - I think it's a small error in writting, but it should be fixed. Tables are included for check up too.

It would be better if pictures should have frame around them.

Most references for the paper are from Chinese authors, and the recommendation is to be widen with more internatinal authors.

 

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 1 Comments

Thank you very much for your suggestions and guidance, I have responded to your comments on similar issues in the article to pay attention to the revision and further improve the English language level of the article, the detailed response is below, please review.

comments and response:

Point 1：

Rural revitalization is a key question, in every way, for almost all rural communities in the world hence it shouldn't be put in the paper as a political issue. That means that rural revitalisation has significance independant on political system.

Response:

Thank you very much for your valuable comments and suggestions.

I strongly agree with you that rural revitalization is a very important topic for every rural development and cannot be simply reduced to a political issue. However, the situation in China is very special, because rural revitalization is one of the key national policies and a topic to which the state and governments at all levels attach great importance. In such a context, the policy factor is an important influencing factor for rural development, and it also determines that rural areas in China inevitably become one of the political issues, and it has certain political attributes.

 

Point 2：

In the text, yuans should be also be transfered to dollars (or some other world currency) so that it would be easier to read for non-Chinese readers.

Response:

Thank you very much for your valuable comments and suggestions.

The price unit in the text has been changed to USD, in line 152：“GDP was USD 1.817 trillion”.

 

Point 3：

What are civilized villages? I didn't understand this part, and there is no real explanation for it.

Response:

Thank you very much for your valuable comments and suggestions.

Civilized Village is a qualification given to some villages by Chinese state departments based on the construction of civilization projects in villages, and is selected once a year. The civilized village is an important honor for the construction of rural civilization projects, and the proportion of regional civilized villages can objectively reflect the degree of regional rural civilization construction. Additional explanations have been made in lines 232 to 236 of the article, and experts are invited to review them: ”Among them, it is worth mentioning that civilized villages are recognized by the relevant state departments according to the degree of rural civilization project construction, and a higher proportion of civilized regional villages represents a higher degree of rural civilization project construction in the region. ”.

Point 4：

In the table some letters (when mention indicators) are small and some large - I think it's a small error in writting, but it should be fixed. Tables are included for check up too.

Response:

Thank you very much for your valuable comments and suggestions.

Changes have been made to similar issues throughout the text. However, in order to show the difference of each element, the indicator number is still in the form of subscript, the name of the first line is bolded, but all unified font size and format, please review.

 

Point 5：

It would be better if pictures should have frame around them.

Response:

Thank you very much for your valuable comments and suggestions.

Article images have been bordered as required.

 

Point 6：

Most references for the paper are from Chinese authors, and the recommendation is to be widen with more internatinal authors.

 

Response:

Thank you very much for your valuable comments and suggestions.

Since there are differences between rural revitalization in China and international mainstream rural development, and the main driving force of rural development in China lies in government and related policy factors, the references are mostly Chinese scholars. Relevant literature has now been reviewed and some international scholarly journals have been added.

1. Georgios, C.;Nikolaos, N.; Michalis, P. Neo‐Endogenous Rural Development: A Path toward Reviving Rural Europe. Rural Socio. 2021, 86, 911-937.
2. Ebrahim, K.; Omid, A.; Nasser, T. Application of TOPSIS method in evaluation and prioritization of social stability in rural areas (Case Study: Zidasht Basin).J. App. Sci. Envir. Manag. 2017, 21, 49-49.
3. Lich, K.; Kien. Fuzzy-AHP Application in Analyzing the Factors Affecting Quality of Rural Labor.J. Asian Finan. Econo. Busin. (JAFEB). 2020, 7, 8-8.
4. Foroozesh,F.; Monavari, S.; Salmanmahiny; A.; Robati, M.; Rahimi, R. Assessment of Sustainable Urban Development Based on A Hybrid Decision-Making Approach: Group Fuzzy BWM, AHP, and TOPSIS–GIS. Sus. Cities. Socie. 2022, 11, 76.
5. Cloke,P.; Edwards, G. Rurality in England and Wales 1981: A Replication of the 1971 Index. J. Reg. Stu. Assoc. 1986, 20, 289-306.
6. Gulumser,A.; Baycan, L.; Nijkamp, P. Mapping Rurality: Analysis of Rural Structure in Turkey. Inter. J. Agri. Res. Gover. Ecolo. 2009, 130 -157.
7. Barman,J.;  Biswas, B. Application of e-TOPSIS for Ground Water Potentiality Zonation using Morphometric Parameters and Geospatial Technology of Vanvate Lui Basin, Mizoram, NE India. J. Geo. Socie. India. 2022, 98, 1385-1394.
8. Miceikienė,A.; Skauronė, L.; Krikštolaitis, R. Assessment of the Financial Autonomy of Rural Municipalities. Econo. 2021, 9, 105-105.
9. Lechowski, L.; Jasion, A. Spatial Accessibility of Primary Health Care in Rural Areas in Poland. Inter. J. Envir.Res. Pub. Heal. 2021, 18, 9282-9282.
10. Kendra, L.; Deborah, E. Psychosocial predictors of rural psychological help seeking.Rural Men. Heal. 2020, 44, 232-242.

 

 

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

The article deals with an interesting topic and is of interest for the journal.

Comments to authors:

-      The study applies several methods. I would suggest to have a new sub-section in Section 2.3 where the authors briefly mention the methods applied (e.g., multicriteria analysis, regression etc.) and then present in detail the individual methods in sub-sections

-      It is not clear if the weights in Section 2.3.1 are estimated through stakeholders/experts votes or through quantitative data. Methods section needs to be better presented.

-      It would be interesting to apply spatial regression models in section 3.4 to see the effect of spatial spillovers on the significance of the influencing factors. Moran’s Test estimates already show the existence of spatial correlation

-      What CPC stands for (LN. 43)? All acronyms used should be explained in the manuscript

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 2 Comments

comments and response:

Point 1：

The study applies several methods. I would suggest to have a new sub-section in Section 2.3 where the authors briefly mention the methods applied (e.g., multicriteria analysis, regression etc.) and then present in detail the individual methods in sub-sections

Response:

Thank you very much for your valuable comments and suggestions.

The research methodology is the basis of the article and the guarantee of the results, so the introduction of the methodology is quite important, therefore, the original article divides 2.3 into several subsections to introduce the methods applied at different stages of the study, including: 2.3.1 Evaluation System of Rural Development Quality in Guangdong Province Province, 2.3.2 Quality measurement of rural development in Guangdong Province, 2.3.3 Spatial differentiation measure of rural development quality and exploration of influencing factors. Moreover, the rationale and specific application of each method are explained in each subsection, which can satisfy the reader's understanding of the research method to a certain extent. In order to give the reader an idea of the general methodology applied at the beginning of the section on research methods, so that the reader can better relate to the specific presentation that follows, I have added a general description after 2.3 (Lines 186 to 193).

Point 2：

It is not clear if the weights in Section 2.3.1 are estimated through stakeholders/experts votes or through quantitative data. Methods section needs to be better presented.

Response:

Thank you very much for your valuable comments and suggestions.

The content of the indicator weights in Table 1 in 2.3.1 is determined by the specific calculation of the assigned weights in 2.3.2. Since the content of Table 1 is related to the content of 2) "Index weight assignment" in 2.3.2, in order not to cause misunderstanding among readers, the position of Table 1 is repositioned to 2.3.2, and experts are requested to review it. In response to the problem that the weight assignment section is prone to misunderstandings, the relevant elaboration of weight assignment is added in 2.3.2 to facilitate readers to better understand the research work (Lines 262 to 274).

 

Point 3：

It would be interesting to apply spatial regression models in section 3.4 to see the effect of spatial spillovers on the significance of the influencing factors. Moran’s Test estimates already show the existence of spatial correlation

Response:

Thank you very much for your valuable comments and suggestions.

I strongly agree with you that the reasons for not choosing the spatial analysis method in the influence factor exploration link are as follows: 1. This article is part of a team study, and because there are 23 evaluation factors in the evaluation system constructed at the beginning, and the selected indicators have a certain reliability and scientific validity based on the reference to many research results and regional reality. In order to explore the correlation between the 23 factors and the actual degree of influence in the overall perspective of the province, so the traditional econometric model was used to complete the study, and the stepwise regression model can clearly identify the main factors with high influence factors and screen out irrelevant factors, so it became the preferred research method; 2. There are certain regional limitations in obtaining data from the micro perspective; under the influence of multiple reasons, we still have not completed Spatial heterogeneity study of influencing factors. However, I am very grateful for your suggestions, which have very important implications for our team. The spatial autocorrelation test has shown that there is spatial heterogeneity of rural development phenomena in the study area, and applying spatial analysis methods to explore the influence factors would be a very interesting application, and we will also take it as the main direction of our work in the next research.

 

Point 4：

What CPC stands for (LN. 43)? All acronyms used should be explained in the manuscript

Response:

Thank you very much for your valuable comments and suggestions.

The full name of the CPC is the Communist Party of China. I have reviewed the full content and changed all abbreviations to the full name.

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

The manuscript is of high quality and represents a very good study with an interesting methodology. The authors are very familiar with the fields. Contributions to the work are:

- The paper has an excellent structure with a specific explanation.

- The attachments are well explained.

- The work methodology is presented in an understandable way.

- Good problem definition.

The work is important from the aspect of creating favorable conditions for improving the development of rural areas and improving the living and working conditions of the population.

 

The work has great potential and can be accepted after the following minor corrections:

1.) Formulas need to be sorted out technically

2.) When citing abbreviations for the first time, it is necessary to state the full name, and in parentheses, state the abbreviation that will be used in the following text (It is not clear what it means, for example: "abbreviation CPC" - Line 43; "abbreviation SPSS" - Line 238 and "abbreviation PRD" - Line 497)

3.) When listing the software, specify the model and variation.

4.) Explain whether table 1 with 23 three-level indicators was defined by the authors and in what way or they just took it from others and why?

5.) Line 246 and 247. Explain more fully the reason for creating double matrices 4x4 and 6x6

6.) Lines 225 and 226. Clarify the processing of dimensionless values, bearing in mind that the indicators are different.

7.) If "The system of rural development is multi-factorial complex ....." why was not a greater number of indicators included in Table 1?

8.) Conclusion needs to be better connected with Prospects.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 3 Comments

1. General comments

The manuscript is of high quality and represents a very good study with an interesting methodology. The authors are very familiar with the fields. Contributions to the work are:

The paper has an excellent structure with a specific explanation.

The attachments are well explained.

The work methodology is presented in an understandable way.

Good problem definition.

The work is important from the aspect of creating favorable conditions for improving the development of rural areas and improving the living and working conditions of the population.

Response:

Thank you for your recognition of my research work and results, and thank you very much for reviewing my manuscript and giving valuable suggestions and guidance under such busy circumstances.

 

2. Specific comments:

Point 1：

 Formulas need to be sorted out technically

Response:

Thank you very much for your valuable comments and suggestions.

I have added instructions on the use of method formulas in 2.3.2 so that the reader can better understand the content of the article.

 

Point 2：

When citing abbreviations for the first time, it is necessary to state the full name, and in parentheses, state the abbreviation that will be used in the following text (It is not clear what it means, for example: "abbreviation CPC" - Line 43; "abbreviation SPSS" - Line 238 and "abbreviation PRD" - Line 497)

Response:

Thank you very much for your valuable comments and suggestions.

I have reviewed the full text and made changes to similar issues, correcting all abbreviations to full names or adding full explanations in parentheses.

 

Point 3：

When listing the software, specify the model and variation.

Response:

Thank you very much for your valuable comments and suggestions.

I have re-reviewed the full text and indicated the software models mentioned.

 

Point 4：

Explain whether table 1 with 23 three-level indicators was defined by the authors and in what way or they just took it from others and why?

Response:

Thank you very much for your valuable comments and suggestions.

In China, rural revitalization belongs to one of the national strategies, and the development of the countryside has obvious political factors and strong policy tendencies, and there are already national documents in 2018 that divide the requirements of rural revitalization into five major categories, but there are no unified standards in terms of specific indicators. And since rural revitalization has received the attention of national leaders, a large number of scholars have carried out many studies, refined to specific indicators and constructed various evaluation systems, which are importantly elaborated in the introduction part of the article. The selection of indicators in this article is based on relevant national policy documents and existing academic research results, and focuses on the actual situation of the study area. The article uses four primary indicators, nine secondary indicators, and 23 specific indicators, including all aspects of rural economy, rural society, and rural ecology. The article's 2.3.1 is a specific description of the selected indicators, analyzing the specific situation of the study area and the current research basis first, and then analyzing the role of each tertiary indicator, which fully demonstrates the scientificity and credibility of the article's evaluation system.

 

Point 5：

Line 246 and 247. Explain more fully the reason for creating double matrices 4x4 and 6x6

Response:

Thank you very much for your valuable comments and suggestions.

The index assignment in this paper is determined by both the hierarchical analysis and the entropy value method. The hierarchical analysis method is a subjective weighting method, in which experts compare the importance of each index with each other and construct a judgment matrix, so as to complete the subjective weighting assignment of the index system. In this paper, the subjective judgments of the first level indicators are made by the experts first, and the weights of each A1-A4 are obtained, and then the subjective judgments of the tertiary indicators within each standard level are made one by one. Since there are 7 tertiary indicators in the first standard level, 4 tertiary indicators in the second standard level, 6 tertiary indicators in the third standard level, and 6 tertiary indicators in the fourth standard level, 7×7, 4×4, 6×6, and 6×6 are constructed respectively. , and 6×6 four judgment matrices. The article has been supplemented with this part in 2.3.2, and experts are also invited to review it.

 

Point 6：

Lines 225 and 226. Clarify the processing of dimensionless values, bearing in mind that the indicators are different.

Response:

Thank you very much for your valuable comments and suggestions.

In order to reasonably calculate the quality of rural development in Guangdong Province, the indicators of different measurement units and calculation directions have been normalized and dimensionless processed in the first stage, as described in Lines 177 to 184 and in Data standardization in 2.3.2.

 

Point 7：

If "The system of rural development is multi-factorial complex ....." why was not a greater number of indicators included in Table 1?

Response:

Thank you very much for your valuable comments and suggestions.

Rural development is a multi-factor integrated system project, and the elements involved are diverse and large in number, but there is no way we can fully include all of them when conducting scientific research because the number is too large. We can only select representative factors among them and analyze the quality of rural development comprehensively to the best of our ability. Among the current research results, most of the articles have selected between 15 and 25 indicators, and the selection criteria are mostly based on the policy requirements issued by the state and the actual situation of the study area. Therefore, in this paper, 23 specific indicators are refined from 4 criteria levels, which basically cover the economic development, social construction, ecological environment, and people's living environment quality of the countryside, in an attempt to objectively evaluate the rural development of the region from a comprehensive perspective.

The existing research results and this article are still lacking in the consideration of policy factors. In countries or regions where rural development mainly relies on policy support, how to incorporate national or regional policy factors into the evaluation system and reflect the implementation of policies and the degree of their impact on rural development with objective indicators is an important research direction for the future, and is also the goal of our team to explore.

 

Point 8：

Conclusion needs to be better connected with Prospects.

Response:

Thank you very much for your valuable comments and suggestions.

I have added a concluding section, which is an overview of the outlook section. To a certain extent, adding this content can effectively enhance the relevance between the outlook section and the conclusion section, while making the essay more logical.

 

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf