IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/rdevec/v29y2025i1p670-717.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Unveiling complexities: Income inequality and inequality of opportunity in China

Author

Listed:
  • Mingying Zhu

Abstract

The analysis of income and opportunity inequality in China reveals fluctuating trends at both national and provincial levels. The decrease in income inequality within provinces is attributed to regional development, while the widening income gap nationwide is linked to faster economic growth in developed areas. Since 2010, inequality of opportunity has represented between 29% and 47% of income inequality. Utilizing Roemer's “circumstance‐effort” framework, the study highlights the direct and indirect influences of circumstances on inequality of opportunity, with regional factors, age, and family economic status having significant impacts. In the indirect channel, the impact of internet usage has decreased, while education, employment, and health have shown deepened role on income. Overall, the changing influence of circumstance factors on current income underscores the evolving nature of these disparities, emphasizing the importance of addressing inequality of opportunity to foster a more inclusive and equitable society in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Mingying Zhu, 2025. "Unveiling complexities: Income inequality and inequality of opportunity in China," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 670-717, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:rdevec:v:29:y:2025:i:1:p:670-717
    DOI: 10.1111/rode.13141
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/rode.13141
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/rode.13141?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:rdevec:v:29:y:2025:i:1:p:670-717. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=1363-6669 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.