Capital et idéologie en Chine: retour sur les estimations et conclusions de Thomas Piketty

Cao Ruile

Revue d'économie politique, 2020, vol. 130, issue 5, 683-698

Abstract: Since the beginning of the reform and openness policy, China has experienced tremendous economic transformation which cannot be seen anywhere in the history of modern societies. Understanding the speed, the scope and the stability of the Chinese economic miracle is still a challenge for social scientists, and more particularly for those who analyze the relationship between capital and ideology. Recently, Thomas Piketty dedicated one chapter to income inequalities in China. His estimations indicate that income inequalities have plateaued since the mid-2000s at a level below the United-States. Piketty concludes that China is not tolerant of income inequality. This article analyzes the data and methods used by Piketty. Then, it proposes an alternative evaluation of household income inequality using the Gini index. Based on the China Family Panel Survey, it shows that income inequality has increased until the end of the 2000s, and have been plateaued since then at a level which exceeds the one of the United States. Those estimations corroborate the conclusion of numerous specialists of income inequality in China who demonstrated that Chinese people mostly perceive income inequality as a prerequisite to economic development.

Date: 2020
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