Inequality of opportunity in Chinese income

Xiuna Yang, Björn Gustafsson and Terry Sicular

Chapter 10 in Handbook on Inequality in China, 2025, pp 219-243 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: About 20%–30% of nationwide income inequality in China is due to inequality of opportunity (IOp). IOp is larger for the rural population than for the urban population. The IOp in each of rural and urban subgroups is lower than nationwide IOp, which implies IOp between rural and urban subgroups. Compared to other countries, by 2018 the level of IOp in China was in the middle-low range, that is, lower than IOp for most middle- and lower-income countries, somewhat higher than in the United Kingdom and the United States, and considerably higher than in the Nordic countries. In the last 20 years IOp in China has shown a downward trend. The reduction in IOp is associated with specific circumstance variables, and also reflects changes in IOp across generations. China's reform and opening up policies have increased opportunities for mobility, and more recent cohorts have been able to take fuller advantage of these opportunities.

Keywords: Inequality of opportunity; Household income; Circumstance-effort binary analysis; Empirical studies; China; Literature review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035317790
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