Urbanisation rates in China have been low compared to other countries at similar stages of development. We examine recent trends in China's urbanisation process in the context of a disequilibrium supply and demand model for urban residents with relative urban food consumption as a proxy for wages. This model takes into consideration the roles of the agricultural and industrial sectors in the context of a non-market economy where institutional arrangements and policy regimes play important roles in determining urbanisation levels. We find persistent periods of disequilibrium prior to the introduction of reforms in 1978. Throughout the post-reform era there has been a markedly improved balance between urban population levels, urban food consumption, and industrial and agricultural production levels.

The stochastic production frontier approach is used to study the effects of education on agricultural efficiency for a cross-section of 'early-stage' farms from Guanghan County, Sichuan Province, China. Education for farm families in rural China is multifaceted with a combination of formal education, intragenerational transfer of knowledge within the home, and agricultural extension services. Since our survey data span two different years with markedly different policy environments, we are able to examine not only which aspects of education affect agricultural efficiency, but also whether or not the policy environment matters. We find limited evidence that in a policy environment that is conducive to agriculture, formal education provides positive returns in agriculture. Furthermore, general education may provide greater returns than the more targeted extension services.

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