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Income Polarization in the People’s Republic of China: Trends and Changes

Author

Listed:
  • Wan, Guanghua

    (Asian Development Bank Institute)

  • Wang, Chen

    (Asian Development Bank Institute)

Abstract

This paper estimates income polarization in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from 1978 to 2010 and decomposes the estimated polarization by population subgroup. In addition, a framework is proposed to disentangle a change in polarization into a growth and a redistribution component. This framework is then used to quantify the contributions of various income sources to a rise in polarization in the PRC between 2002 and 2007. The analytical results suggest that (1) income polarization exhibited a broadly increasing trend from 1978 to 2010; (2) income polarization was large and rising among rural citizens, while low and declining among urban citizens; polarization of migrants also declined; (3) geographically, income polarization rose in east and particularly central PRC, while west PRC was most polarized with little change over time; and (4) the rise in polarization between 2002 and 2007 was mainly driven by the investment income, followed by transfers. Conversely, business income is polarization-reducing, especially in rural PRC. To a lesser extent, wage is also polarization-reducing, especially among migrants.

Suggested Citation

  • Wan, Guanghua & Wang, Chen, 2015. "Income Polarization in the People’s Republic of China: Trends and Changes," ADBI Working Papers 538, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0538
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    Cited by:

    1. Marta Pascual & David Cantarero & Paloma Lanza, 2018. "Health polarization and inequalities across Europe: an empirical approach," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 19(8), pages 1039-1051, November.
    2. Ying Yao & Guanghua Wan & Dongfang Meng, 2019. "Income distribution and health: can polarization explain health outcomes better than inequality?," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 20(4), pages 543-557, June.
    3. Giménez-Gómez, José-Manuel & Zergawu, Yitagesu-Zewdu, 2018. "The impact of social heterogeneity and commodity price shocks on civil conflicts," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 959-997.
    4. Fleisher, Belton & McGuire, William & Su, Yaqin & Zhao, Min Qiang, 2018. "Innovation, Wages, and Polarization in China," MPRA Paper 87105, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Ravallion, Martin & Chen, Shaohua, 2022. "Fleshing out the olive? Observations on income polarization in China since 1981," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    6. Schettino, Francesco & Gabriele, Alberto & Khan, Haider A., 2021. "Polarization and the middle class in China: A non-parametric evaluation using CHNS and CHIP data," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 251-264.
    7. Zhang, Chen & Yu, Yangcheng & Li, Qinghai, 2023. "Top incomes and income polarisation in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    8. Hyun-Hoon Lee & Donghyun Park & Kwanho Shin, 2017. "Effects of China's Structural Change on the Exports of East Asian Economies," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 25(3), pages 1-30, May.
    9. Junru Song & Hongcan Zhou & Yanchen Gao & Yongpan Guan, 2022. "Digital Inclusive Finance, Human Capital and Inclusive Green Development—Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-15, August.
    10. Liu, Xueyue & Zuo, Sharon Xuejing, 2023. "From equality to polarization: Changes in urban China’s gender earnings gap from 1988 to 2016," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 303-337.
    11. Li, Jing & Wan, Guanghua & Wang, Chen & Zhang, Xueliang, 2019. "Which indicator of income distribution explains crime better? Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 51-72.
    12. Xiang Yan & Dong Dong & Shenjing He & Chris Webster, 2020. "Examining Trans-Provincial Diagnosis of Rare Diseases in China: The Importance of Healthcare Resource Distribution and Patient Mobility," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-12, July.
    13. Zhipeng Gao & Zhenyu Wang & Mi Zhou, 2023. "Is China’s Urbanization Inclusive?—Comparative Research Based on Machine Learning Algorithms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-16, February.
    14. Giménez Gómez, José M. (José Manuel), 2016. "Linking social heterogeneity and commodity price shocks to civil conflicts," Working Papers 2072/290744, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    15. Sun, Yefei & Wang, Zhaohua & Yang, Tian & Zhang, Bin & Wang, Bo, 2023. "Polycentric cities and income polarization in China: Does city spatial structure matter?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 380-387.
    16. Chao Xing & Yuming Zhang & David Tripe, 2024. "Ethical Consumers and Low-Income Sellers on China’s Reward-Based Crowdfunding Platforms: Are Poverty Alleviation Campaigns More Successful?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 191(4), pages 793-810, May.
    17. Li, Chengyou & Jiao, Yong & Sun, Tao & Liu, Anran, 2021. "Alleviating multi-dimensional poverty through land transfer: Evidence from poverty-stricken villages in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    18. Wan, Guanghua & Hu, Xiaoshan & Liu, Weiqun, 2021. "China's poverty reduction miracle and relative poverty: Focusing on the roles of growth and inequality," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    19. Dong, Xiao-Ying & Hao, Yu, 2018. "Would income inequality affect electricity consumption? Evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 215-227.
    20. Belton M. Fleisher & William H. McGuire & Yaqin Su & Min Qiang Zhao, 2024. "Polarization of employment and wages in China," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(1), pages 49-71, January.
    21. Karina Alfaro‐Moreno & José Javier Núñez‐Velázquez & Luisa Fernanda Bernat‐Diaz, 2019. "How does wage polarization affect productivity? The case of Spanish regions," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 98(3), pages 1317-1333, June.
    22. Dongsheng Zhang & Ming Yang & Ziyou Wang, 2022. "Resources or Capital?—The Quality Improvement Mechanism of Precision Poverty Alleviation by Land Elements," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-24, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    polarization decomposition; alienation; identification; income distribution; PRC;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East

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