The Impact of Education Investment on Regional Poverty Alleviation, Dynamic Constraints, and Marginal Benefits: A Case Study of Yunnan’s Poor Counties

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors have analyzed the impact of education input on regional poverty alleviation of Yunnan poor counties for the 2007-2020 period through regression analysis.

I think that it will be better if the authors give a global picture and then transit to China.

The authors should add their motivation and novelty of the study to the Introduction. They write why they select 30 poor counties in Yunnan Province.

Education is a critical factor for poverty at theoretical terms. What about the influence of poverty on education and how societies can break this spiral. The author also look at the impact of poverty on education in one or two paragraphs in introduction and literature review and give policy suggestions considering the influence of poverty on education.

The authors should considerably improve the literature review, because there have been empirical studies investigating this nexus for different countries and country groups.

Furthermore, the empirical findings should be re-evaluated after a more extensive literature research.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear authors,

though I generally liked the research idea and research design of your article, I have some remarks and suggestions listed below.

First, I think, a careful proofreading of the text wouldn't be useless (line 37: achieved... achievements; line 66: drinking water safety - please check; line 120 - which is; lines 269-272: the sentence is incomplete; etc.)

Line 66: please check the expression 'drinking water safety'

Lines 285-286: the source of the quotation is needed

Table 3: The indexes listed either need units of measurement in each case (if they are simple indicators, not indexes) or more explaining about the indicators they combine (in case they are integral or combined indexes).

Finally, I think the Conclusion section needs to be extended. What are the limitations of your research? Further research? Managerial applications? 

In the context of sound methodology and careful analysis, the study's conclusion appears quite modest and comes down to the statement that financial investment in education helps reducing poverty. However, according to your literature overview, this has long been known. How does your research differ from previous studies? Who do you address its results to? What specific management decisions can be made based on your findings? Please answer these and other similar questions in the Discussion and Conclusion sections.

Best wishes from your reviewer

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors have considerably revised the paper.

I suggest "accept in present form."

Congratulations