IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/oxf/wpaper/619.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Economic Causes and Consequences of Social Instability in China

Author

Listed:
  • John Knight

Abstract

Social instability is a concept that economists rarely analyse, and yet it can lurk behind much economic policy-making. China

Suggested Citation

  • John Knight, 2012. "The Economic Causes and Consequences of Social Instability in China," Economics Series Working Papers 619, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:oxf:wpaper:619
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:6e598d6c-219f-47a5-b9af-2db0c3f0c325
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alesina, Alberto & Perotti, Roberto, 1996. "Income distribution, political instability, and investment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 1203-1228, June.
    2. Knight, John & Ding, Sai, 2012. "China's Remarkable Economic Growth," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199698691.
    3. Knight, John & Deng, Quheng & Li, Shi, 2011. "The puzzle of migrant labour shortage and rural labour surplus in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 585-600.
    4. Hirschman, Albert O., 1973. "The changing tolerance for income inequality in the course of economic development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 1(12), pages 29-36, December.
    5. Shang-Jin Wei & Xiaobo Zhang, 2011. "The Competitive Saving Motive: Evidence from Rising Sex Ratios and Savings Rates in China," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 119(3), pages 511-564.
    6. Matthew Rabin, 1998. "Psychology and Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 11-46, March.
    7. John Knight & Ramani Gunatilaka, 2011. "Does Economic Growth Raise Happiness in China?," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 1-24.
    8. Aisen, Ari & Veiga, Francisco José, 2013. "How does political instability affect economic growth?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 151-167.
    9. Appleton, Simon & Song, Lina, 2008. "Life Satisfaction in Urban China: Components and Determinants," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 2325-2340, November.
    10. Paul Collier & Anke Hoeffler, 2004. "Greed and grievance in civil war," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 56(4), pages 563-595, October.
    11. Knight, John & Gunatilaka, Ramani, 2012. "Income, aspirations and the Hedonic Treadmill in a poor society," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 67-81.
    12. Frijters, Paul & Liu, Amy Y.C. & Meng, Xin, 2012. "Are optimistic expectations keeping the Chinese happy?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 159-171.
    13. Alesina, Alberto & Özler, Sule & Roubini, Nouriel & Swagel, Phillip, 1996. "Political Instability and Economic Growth," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 189-211, June.
    14. Knight, John & Gunatilaka, Ramani, 2010. "Great Expectations? The Subjective Well-being of Rural-Urban Migrants in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 113-124, January.
    15. John Knight & Linda Yueh, 2008. "The role of social capital in the labour market in China1," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 16(3), pages 389-414, July.
    16. William Easterly & Jozef Ritzen & Michael Woolcock, 2006. "Social Cohesion, Institutions, And Growth," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(2), pages 103-120, July.
    17. John Knight & Li Shi & Deng Quheng, 2010. "Son Preference and Household Income in Rural China," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(10), pages 1786-1805.
    18. Campos, Nauro F. & Nugent, Jeffrey B., 2002. "Who is afraid of political instability?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 157-172, February.
    19. Jack A. Goldstone & Robert H. Bates & David L. Epstein & Ted Robert Gurr & Michael B. Lustik & Monty G. Marshall & Jay Ulfelder & Mark Woodward, 2010. "A Global Model for Forecasting Political Instability," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(1), pages 190-208, January.
    20. Perotti, Roberto, 1996. "Growth, Income Distribution, and Democracy: What the Data Say," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 149-187, June.
    21. Easterlin, Richard A. & Morgan, Robson & Switek, Maggie & Wang, Fei, 2013. "China's Life Satisfaction, 1990-2010," IZA Discussion Papers 7196, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    22. Paolo Mauro, 1995. "Corruption and Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(3), pages 681-712.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Li, Shi & Vendryes, Thomas, 2018. "Real estate activity, democracy and land rights in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 54-79.
    2. Rexford Abaidoo & Elvis Kwame Agyapong, 2022. "Commodity price volatility, inflation uncertainty and political stability," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 69(3), pages 351-381, September.
    3. Bartolini, Stefano & Sarracino, Francesco, 2015. "The Dark Side of Chinese Growth: Declining Social Capital and Well-Being in Times of Economic Boom," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 333-351.
    4. Bartolini, Stefano & Sarracino, Francesco, 2014. "The dark side of Chinese growth: Explaining decreasing well-being in times of economic boom," MPRA Paper 57765, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. John Knight, 2017. "China’s evolving inequality," Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4), pages 307-323, October.
    6. Stefano Bartolini, 2014. "Building sustainability through greater happiness," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 25(4), pages 587-602, December.
    7. Roland Cheo, 2017. "Migrant Workers and Workplace Bullying in Urban China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 87-115, May.
    8. Ruilian Zhang & Sandy Worden & Junzhuo Xu & John R. Owen & Guoqing Shi, 2022. "Social stability risk assessment and economic competitiveness in China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-7, December.
    9. Qiu, Tongwei & Li, Yifei & Shi, Xinjie & Peng, Changyan & Luo, Biliang, 2024. "Alternative modes of governance: Clans and social instability in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    10. John Knight, 2014. "Economic Causes and Cures of Social Instability in China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 22(2), pages 5-21, March.
    11. Luigi Bonatti & Andrea Fracasso, 2016. "Modelling The Transition Towards The Renminbi'S Full Convertibility: Implications For China'S Growth," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(S1), pages 146-170, December.
    12. Bargstädt, Dorothee, 2017. "Freiwillige Selbstverpflichtung von Unternehmen in Antikorruptionsinitiativen: Der Einfluss des nationalen Kontextes auf internationales Engagement am Beispiel chinesischer und indischer Unternehmen," PIPE - Papers on International Political Economy 28/2017, Free University Berlin, Center for International Political Economy.
    13. Cai, Zhaoyang & Liu, Zhexi & Zuo, Siming & Cao, Shixiong, 2019. "Finding a Peaceful Road to Urbanization in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 560-563.
    14. Dat Tho Tran & Minh Hoang Doan & Nhung Tuyet Do, 2020. "Vietnam after 2020: toward a prosperous economy, social inclusion and environmental sustainability," International Journal of Economic Policy Studies, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 313-326, August.
    15. John Knight, 2016. "China’s Inequality is Important – but which Inequality?," CSAE Working Paper Series 2016-20, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    16. John Knight, 2015. "The Principal-Agent Problem, Economic Growth, Subjective Wellbeing and Social Instability: China’s Effective but Flawed Governance," Economics Series Working Papers 758, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. John Knight, 2015. "The Principal-Agent Problem, Economic Growth, Subjective Wellbeing and Social Instability: China’s Effective but Flawed Governance," Economics Series Working Papers 758, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    2. John Knight, 2014. "Economic Causes and Cures of Social Instability in China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 22(2), pages 5-21, March.
    3. Aisen, Ari & Veiga, Francisco José, 2013. "How does political instability affect economic growth?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 151-167.
    4. Asadullah, M. Niaz & Xiao, Saizi & Yeoh, Emile, 2018. "Subjective well-being in China, 2005–2010: The role of relative income, gender, and location," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 83-101.
    5. Dirks, Maximilian & Schmidt, Torsten, 2023. "The relationship between political instability and economic growth in advanced economies: Empirical evidence from a panel VAR and a dynamic panel FE-IV analysis," Ruhr Economic Papers 1000, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    6. Robert MacCulloch & Silvia Pezzini, 2010. "The Roles of Freedom, Growth, and Religion in the Taste for Revolution," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 53(2), pages 329-358, May.
    7. Bang, James T. & Mitra, Aniruddha, 2011. "Brain drain and institutions of governance: Educational attainment of immigrants to the US 1988-1998," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 335-354, September.
    8. John Knight & Ramani Gunatilak, 2014. "Subjective Well-being and Social Evaluation in a Poor Country," CSAE Working Paper Series 2014-09, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    9. Imène Guetat, 2016. "Economic growth, government size and political instability," Post-Print hal-04097904, HAL.
    10. John Knight, 2014. "Inequality in China: An Overview," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 29(1), pages 1-19.
    11. Vinod Mishra & Ingrid Nielsen & Russell Smyth, 2014. "How Does Relative Income and Variations in Short-Run Wellbeing Affect Wellbeing in the Long Run? Empirical Evidence From China’s Korean Minority," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 115(1), pages 67-91, January.
    12. Xiaoyan Lei & Yan Shen & James P. Smith & Guangsu Zhou, 2018. "Life satisfaction in China and consumption and income inequalities," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 75-95, March.
    13. John Knight & Bianjing Ma & Ramani Gunatilaka, 2020. "The puzzle of falling happiness despite rising income in rural China: ten hypotheses," Economics Series Working Papers 899, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    14. Qianping Ren & Maoliang Ye, 2017. "Donations Make People Happier: Evidence from the Wenchuan Earthquake," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 517-536, May.
    15. Tang, Chor Foon & Abosedra, Salah, 2014. "The impacts of tourism, energy consumption and political instability on economic growth in the MENA countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 458-464.
    16. Sweidan Osama D., 2016. "Political Instability and Economic Growth: Evidence from Jordan," Review of Middle East Economics and Finance, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 279-300, December.
    17. Benjamin Fomba Kamga & Dieu Ne Dort Talla Fokam & Paul Ningaye, 2022. "Political instability and youths unemployment in sub‐Saharan Africa," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 1850-1879, August.
    18. RAMDE, Fousseni, 2015. "Institution, investissements et croissance dans l’UEMOA: une approche panel VAR [Institution, investments and growth in WAEMU: a panel VAR approach]," MPRA Paper 82417, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 01 Jun 2017.
    19. Demir, Firat, 2006. "Volatility of short term capital flows and socio-political instability in Argentina, Mexico and Turkey," MPRA Paper 1943, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    China; Civil unrest; Corruption; Developmental state; Economic growth; Governance; Happiness; Inequality; Social instability;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O20 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - General
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth
    • P26 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Property Rights

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:oxf:wpaper:619. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Anne Pouliquen (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/sfeixuk.html .

    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.