A Survey on Income Inequality in China

Junsen Zhang

Journal of Economic Literature, 2021, vol. 59, issue 4, 1191-1239

Abstract: After China's recent great success in eliminating absolute poverty, addressing relative income inequality becomes a more important issue. This survey finds that income inequality rapidly increased in the first three decades since 1978 but stabilized and slightly declined in the past decade, consistent with the well-known Kuznets hypothesis. In addition to documenting the trend and patterns over time and across groups and regions, seven sources of income inequality are systematically discussed with an effort to reconcile and extend the existing literature. Furthermore, a negative correlation is documented between income inequality and intergenerational mobility, consistent with the Great Gatsby curve observed in developed countries.

JEL-codes: D31 D63 O15 P36 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (27)

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DOI: 10.1257/jel.20201495

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