Fifty Years of Regional Inequality in China: A Journey through Revolution, Reform and Openness

Ravi Kanbur and Xiaobo Zhang

No 2887, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: This Paper constructs and analyses a long run time series for regional inequality in China from the Communist Revolution to the present. There have been three peaks of inequality in the last fifty years, coinciding with the Great Famine of the late 1950s, the Cultural Revolution of the late 1960s and the 1970s, and finally the period of openness and global integration in the late 1990s. Regional inequality in China in 1999 exceeds the level experienced at its peak in the Cultural Revolution, and is near the peak level of inequality experienced during the Great Famine. Econometric analysis establishes that regional inequality is explained in the different phases by three key variables—the ratio of heavy industry to gross output value, the degree of centralization, and the degree of openness. Inequality has increased alongside spectacular performance in growth and poverty reduction. As China enters the WTO, pro-active measures encouraging liberalisation and investment in the inland regions may be required to promote more equitable growth in the future.

Keywords: Inequality; Decentralization; Polarization; Chinese economy; Industrialization; Openness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D63 O18 P27 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2001-07
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (64)

Downloads: (external link)
https://cepr.org/publications/DP2887 (application/pdf)
CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org

Related works:
Working Paper: FIFTY YEARS OF REGIONAL INEQUALITY IN CHINA: A JOURNEY THROUGH REVOLUTION, REFORM AND OPENNESS (2001)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:2887

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
https://cepr.org/publications/DP2887

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers Centre for Economic Policy Research, 33 Great Sutton Street, London EC1V 0DX.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().