Changing Trends in China's Inequality: Evidence, Analysis, and Prospects

Over the past quarter-century China has seen a dramatic increase in income inequality, prompting a shift in China's development strategy and the adoption of an array of new policies to redistribute income, promote shared growth, and establish a social safety net. Drawing on of household-level data from the China Household Income Project, Changing Trends in China's Inequality provides an independent, comprehensive, and empirically grounded study of the evolution of incomes and inequality in China over time. Edited by leading experts on the Chinese economy, the volume analyzes this evolution in China as a whole as well as in the urban and rural sectors, with close attention to measurement issues and to shifts in the economy, institutions, and public policy. Specific essays provides analyses of China's wealth inequality, the emergence of a new middle class, the income gap between the Han majority and the ethnic minorities, the gender wage gap, and the impacts of government policies such as social welfare programs and the minimum wage.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1. Changing Trends in China's Inequality: Key Issues and Main Findings Terry Sicular, Shi Li, Ximing Yue, and Hiroshi Sato Chapter 2. Overview: Incomes and Inequality in China, 2007-2013 Chuliang Luo, Terry Sicular, and Shi Li Chapter 3. China's Emerging Global Middle Class Björn Gustafsson, Terry Sicular, and Xiuna Yang Chapter 4. The Increasing Inequality of Wealth in China John Knight, Shi Li, and Haiyuan Wan Chapter 5. Social Policy Reforms and Economic Distances in China Qin Gao, Sui Yang, Fuhua Zhai, and Yake Wang Chapter 6. Public Policy and Long-Term Trends in Inequality in Rural China Hisatoshi Hoken and Hiroshi Sato Chapter 7. New Patterns in China's Rural Poverty Shi Li, Peng Zhan, and Yangyang Shen Chapter 8. Unequal Growth: Long-term Trends in Household Incomes and Poverty in Urban China Björn Gustafsson and Sai Ding Chapter 9. Consumption Inequality in Urban China Qingjie Xia, Shi Li, and Lina Song Chapter 10. Income and Poverty Gaps between Han and Ethnic Minorities in Rural China Xiaomin Liu and Lidan Lyu Chapter 11. China's Urban Gender Wage Gap: A New Direction? Jin Song, Terry Sicular, and Björn Gustafsson Chapter 12. The Effects of the Minimum Wage Policy on the Wage Distribution in Urban China: Evidence from the CHIP Data Xinxin Ma and Shi Li

About the Author :
Terry Sicular is Professor of Economics at the University of Western Ontario. She has been conducting research on China's economy since the 1980s. Her current research focuses on topics related to income distribution and poverty in China. Since 2000 she has been a lead member of the China Household Income Project (CHIP). Shi Li is Professor at the School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, and Acting Director of the Institute for Income Distribution at Beijing Normal University. He is one of China's leading experts on economic inequality and poverty in China and has published widely on the topic. He participated in the 1988 and 1995 China Household Income Project (CHIP) surveys and since 2000 has been the lead member of the CHIP surveys. Ximing Yue is Professor of Economics at the School of Finance, the Renmin University of China. He has published extensively in Chinese, English and Japanese. He is currently working on income distribution, rural poverty, and local public finance in China. He participated in the 2002, 2007, and 2013 China Household Income Project (CHIP) surveys. Hiroshi Sato is Vice President of Hitotsubashi University and Professor of the Graduate School of Economics at Hitotsubashi University. His research work has appeared in Japanese, English and Chinese publications. His research interests include inequality, poverty, the quality of life, governance, and public policy in contemporary China. He participated in the 2002, 2007, and 2013 China Household Income Project (CHIP) surveys.

Review :
Through the full utilisation of the wealth of CHIP data, the volume investigates a wide-range of income distribution issues and provides a nuanced discussion of multiple dimensions of economic inequality during the Hu-Wen era. The findings provide important insights into the historical trajectory of inequality in China, which can inform current policy debates aimed at narrowing the income divide This volume is a must-read for scholars interested in social and economic policies in China and Chinese social dynamics in general. With every chapter providing elaborate but accessible methodological discussions, the book also offers a prospectus of measures and methods to early-stage researchers in the field of inequality studies.