Impact of China’s WTO Accession on Rural-Urban Income Inequality

Kym Anderson, Jikun Huang and Elena Ianchovichina

No 173975, 2002 Conference (46th), February 13-15, 2002, Canberra, Australia from Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society

Abstract: Many fear China’s accession to WTO will impoverish its rural people, via greater import competition in its agricultural markets. We explore that possibility in two ways. First, we draw on standard Ricardo-Viner general equilibrium theory and adapt it to China’s institutional circumstances to show that rural incomes need not fall and the rural–urban income gap may even be reduced. Those outcomes are possible, even if prices of some (land-intensive) farm products fall, because other (labour-intensive) farm products will become more exportable and the easing of restrictions on exports of textiles and clothing will boost town and village enterprises outside urban centres. Second, we plan to draw on new estimates of the likely changes in agricultural prices as a result of WTO accession to examine the above possibility empirically using the global, economy-wide numerical simulation model known as GTAP.

Keywords: Community/Rural/Urban Development; Food Security and Poverty; International Development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 34
Date: 2002-02
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Will China's WTO accession worsen farm household incomes? (2004)
Working Paper: Will China's WTO Accession Worsen Rural Poverty? (2004)
Working Paper: Long-run impacts of China's WTO accession on farm-nonfarm income inequality and rural poverty (2003)
Working Paper: Impact of ChinaÂ’s WTO Accession on Farm-Nonfarm Income Inequality and Rural Poverty (2002)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:aare02:173975

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.173975

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