The Increasing Inequality of Wealth in China, 2002-2013

John Knight, Shi Li () and Haiyuan Wan

No 816, Economics Series Working Papers from University of Oxford, Department of Economics

Abstract: The inequality of wealth in China has increased rapidly in recent years. Prior to 1978 all Chinese households possessed negligible wealth. China therefore presents a fascinating case study of how inequality of household wealth increases as economic reform takes place, marketisation occurs, and capital accumulates. Wealth inequality and its growth are measured and decomposed using data from two national sample surveys of the China Household Income Project (CHIP) relating to 2002 and 2013. Techniques are devised and applied to measure the sensitivity of wealth inequality to plausible assumptions about under-representation of and under-reporting by the wealthy. An attempt is made to explain the rising wealth inequality in terms of the relationships between income and wealth, house price inflation, differential saving, and income from wealth.

Keywords: China; wealth inequality and its decomposition; top-tail income c (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C80 D31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-12-20
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cna and nep-tra
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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