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Measuring the Level and Inequality of Wealth: An Application to China

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  • Patrick Ward

Abstract

type="main"> We construct and compare three distinct measures of household asset wealth that complement traditional income- or expenditure-based measures of socioeconomic status. We apply these measures to longitudinal household survey data from China and demonstrate that household asset wealth has been increasing over time, a theme consistent with many previous studies on the process of development in China. Unlike other studies that have shown rising income inequality over time, however, we show that asset wealth inequality has actually been declining in recent years, indicating widespread participation in the benefits of economic reforms. Furthermore, the evolution in the cumulative distribution of household welfare is such that social welfare has been increasing with the passage of time, despite rising inequality in the early years of the survey.

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  • Patrick Ward, 2014. "Measuring the Level and Inequality of Wealth: An Application to China," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(4), pages 613-635, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:revinw:v:60:y:2014:i:4:p:613-635
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    1. Mathieu J. P. Poirier & Karen A. Grépin & Michel Grignon, 2020. "Approaches and Alternatives to the Wealth Index to Measure Socioeconomic Status Using Survey Data: A Critical Interpretive Synthesis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 148(1), pages 1-46, February.
    2. AlAzzawi, Shireen & Hlasny, Vladimir, 2019. "Household asset wealth and female labor supply in MENA," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 3-13.
    3. Mario Biggeri & Luca Bortolotti & Vincenzo Mauro, 2021. "The Analysis of Well‐Being Using the Income‐Adjusted Multidimensional Synthesis of Indicators: The Case of China☆," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 67(3), pages 684-704, September.
    4. Hlasny, Vladimir & AlAzzawi, Shireen, 2019. "Asset inequality in the MENA: The missing dimension?," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 44-55.
    5. Ward, Patrick S., 2016. "Transient Poverty, Poverty Dynamics, and Vulnerability to Poverty: An Empirical Analysis Using a Balanced Panel from Rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 541-553.
    6. Thi Kim Thanh Bui & Guido Erreygers, 2020. "Multidimensional Inequality in Vietnam, 2002–2012," Economies, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-31, April.
    7. Fernandes, Cristina & Fernandes, Cristina & Crespo, Nuno & Simoes, Nadia, 2016. "Poverty, richness, and inequality: Evidence for Portugal using a housing comfort index," Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, IOS Press, issue 4, pages 371-394.
    8. Vladimir Hlasny & Shireen AlAzzawi, 2018. "Return migration and socioeconomic mobility in MENA: Evidence from labour market panel surveys," WIDER Working Paper Series 035, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Zhou, Yixiao & Tyers, Rod, 2019. "Automation and inequality in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    10. Iacopo Odoardi & Carmen Pagliari, 2020. "Household Wealth as a Factor of Economic Growth: A Case Study of Italy," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 14(3), September.
    11. Doss, Cheryl R. & Catanzarite, Zachary & Baah-Boateng, William & Swaminathan, Hema & Diana Deere, Carmen & Boakye-Yiadom, Louis & Suchitra, J.Y., 2018. "Do men and women estimate property values differently?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 75-86.
    12. Ignazio Drudi & Giorgio Tassinari & Fabrizio Alboni, 2017. "Changes in wealth distribution in Italy (2002-2012) and who gained from the Great Recession," PSL Quarterly Review, Economia civile, vol. 70(281), pages 129-153.
    13. Janneke Pieters & Samantha Rawlings, 2020. "Parental unemployment and child health in China," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 207-237, March.
    14. Phuc Phan & Martin O’Brien, 2019. "Multidimensional Wellbeing Inequality in a Developing Country: A Case Study of Vietnam," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 145(1), pages 157-183, August.
    15. Chodziwadziwa W. Kabudula & Brian Houle & Mark A. Collinson & Kathleen Kahn & Stephen Tollman & Samuel Clark, 2017. "Assessing Changes in Household Socioeconomic Status in Rural South Africa, 2001–2013: A Distributional Analysis Using Household Asset Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 133(3), pages 1047-1073, September.
    16. Wenkai Sun & Xianghong Wang & Xiaoxi Zhang, 2015. "Minimum wage effects on employment and working time of Chinese workers——evidence based on CHNS," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-22, December.
    17. Frank A. Cowell & Philippe Kerm, 2015. "Wealth Inequality: A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 671-710, September.
    18. Hada Melissa Sáenz Vela & Luis Gutiérrez Flores & Enrique Eliseo Minor Campa, 2018. "Una nota sobre la ponderación del índice de privación social de México\A note on the weighting of the Mexican Social Deprivation Index," Estudios Económicos, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos, vol. 33(2), pages 313-331.
    19. Jing Yuan & Xiaomin Liu & Yinghui Wang & Zongwu Cai, 2024. "Impact of Minimum Wage Standard on Occupational Income Inequality and Common Prosperity in China," WORKING PAPERS SERIES IN THEORETICAL AND APPLIED ECONOMICS 202404, University of Kansas, Department of Economics, revised Feb 2024.
    20. Vladimir Hlasny & Shireen AlAzzawi, 2018. "Return migration and socioeconomic mobility in MENA: Evidence from labour market panel surveys," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-35, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

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