The rural three-tier healthcare system is an essential part of the Chinese healthcare service system. To ensure rural residents’ equal access to such healthcare services, it is necessary to examine the current status of the healthcare system in rural China and formulate corresponding improvement suggestions. This study therefore collects the data from the China Health Statistics Yearbook, the China Health Yearbook and the China Statistical Yearbook between the years 2004 and 2021 to calculate the Gini coefficient (G), health resource density index (HRDI) and Theil index (T) first, and then perform the Mann–Kendall test afterwards to evaluate the equity of healthcare resource allocation comprehensively. This series of analysis helps in drawing the following conclusions: (1) county and county-level city medical and health institutions (CMHIs) show a higher development trend in comparison with township hospitals (THs) and village clinics (VCs); (2) VCs have higher institutional fairness, while for beds and personnel, CMHIs and THs are more fairly positioned; (3) more specifically for CMHIs and THs, personnel allocation is more fair than beds and institution allocations; (4) the density of healthcare resources in the eastern and central regions is higher than that in the western part, while the intra-regional distribution of beds and personnel in the west and central regions is better than that in the eastern region; (5) intra-regional differences are more significant than inter-regional differences and the fairness according to population distribution is higher than that of geographical area allocation. The results of this study provide theoretical basis for further optimizing the allocation of healthcare resources and improving the fairness of healthcare resources allocation from a macro perspective.

As the aging population creates mounting pressures on society, the economy, and public health systems, the rational and equitable distribution of elderly care resources becomes increasingly essential. This study applies various methods, such as kernel density estimation, spatial autocorrelation analysis, and Gini coefficient decomposition, to examine provincial panel data on elderly care institutions in both urban and rural regions in China covering the period from 2008 to 2021. This research seeks to assess and improve the accessibility and equity of elderly care resources. The results indicate that the degree of population aging in China has significantly intensified, with urban elderly care institutions’ resource allocation increasing annually and surpassing that of rural institutions. However, inequalities in the allocation of elderly care resources between urban and rural areas, as well as among different regions, still exist. The uneven distribution of resources in rural elderly care institutions, the overall enhancement of resource allocation in urban areas, and the clustering of elderly care resources are the key features observed. Drawing on these insights, the study offers a set of policy recommendations to address the disparities and inconsistencies in the allocation of elderly care resources between urban and rural regions.

Promoting the intention of farmers to participate in straw recycling is an effective way to alleviate the contradiction between environmental pollution, scarcity of environmental resources, and sustainable development. In this study, social trust and value perception were integrated into the theory of planned behavior to build a theoretical framework of farmers’ intention to participate in straw recycling, considering the influences of three different pro-environmental publicity modes. A field investigation was used to collect research data in six sample villages. Finally, 761 valid questionnaires were collected, and partial least squares structural equation modeling was applied to test the research hypotheses. The results showed that the influence of attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavior control, value perception, and social trust on farmers’ straw recycling intentions was different among different pro-environmental publicity modes. Among the three pro-environmental publicity modes, the concentrated pro-environmental publicity mode has the best effect of promoting straw recycling intentions among farmers. This study introduces some targeted suggestions on the aspects of pro-environmental publicity theory and management practice based on the above research results.