Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/211211 
Year of Publication: 
2018
Series/Report no.: 
WIDER Working Paper No. 2018/174
Publisher: 
The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Helsinki
Abstract: 
In this paper we describe the major trends in China's income inequality over the past 40 years and explain them as the outcome of four interleaved stories. The first story is a standard development story characterized by structural change, market development, labour absorption, and the Kuznets inverted-U path of inequality. The second is the economic transition story, in which changes in income distribution result from the shift from plan to market. Third is incomplete transition, with opportunities for rent-seeking, corruption, and hidden income. Fourth is the story of government efforts to moderate inequality through social and welfare policies.
Subjects: 
China
inequality
development
transition
welfare policy
JEL: 
D31
O15
O53
P20
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
ISBN: 
978-92-9256-616-6
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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