Fleshing Out the Olive? On Income Polarization in China /

In a rare example of an explicit national goal for income distribution besides reducing poverty, China's leadership has recently committed to expanding the middle-income share--moving to a less polarized "olive-shaped" distribution. Recognizing the potential trade-offs, the paper asks...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
1. Verfasser:
Ravallion, Martin
Körperschaft:
National Bureau of Economic Research
Weitere Verfasser:
Chen, Shaohua
Format:
Elektronisch E-Book
Sprache:
Englisch
Veröffentlicht:
Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2021.
Zusammenfassung:
In a rare example of an explicit national goal for income distribution besides reducing poverty, China's leadership has recently committed to expanding the middle-income share--moving to a less polarized "olive-shaped" distribution. Recognizing the potential trade-offs, the paper asks whether China's experience indicates that income-polarization was a by-product of past economic progress, including poverty reduction. The paper does not find robust time-series evidence of polarizing effects alongside either economic growth or population urbanization (including among those below the national median). There was strong co-movement between polarization and inequality. Larger urban-rural gaps in mean incomes are strongly polarizing in China.
Umfang:
1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);
Anmerkungen:
October 2021.
Schlagworte: