IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/osf/socarx/enbxv.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

From Workers to Capitalists in Less Than Two Generations: A Study of Chinese Urban Elite Transformation Between 1988 and 2013

Author

Listed:
  • , Stone Center

    (The Graduate Center/CUNY)

  • Yang, Li
  • Novokmet, Filip
  • Milanovic, Branko

Abstract

Economic and social transformation of China during the past 40 years is without precedent in human history. While the economic transformation was extensively studied, social transformation was not. In this paper, we use for the first time harmonized household surveys covering the period 1988-2013 to study the changes in the characteristics the richest 5 percent of China’s urban population. We find that the elite changed from being composed of high government officials, clerical staff, and workers in 1988 to professionals and small and large business owners in 2013. The educational level of the elite increased substantially. Membership in CCP has a positive (albeit small) effect on one’s income but is particularly valuable to large business owners. (Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality Working Paper)

Suggested Citation

  • , Stone Center & Yang, Li & Novokmet, Filip & Milanovic, Branko, 2020. "From Workers to Capitalists in Less Than Two Generations: A Study of Chinese Urban Elite Transformation Between 1988 and 2013," SocArXiv enbxv, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:enbxv
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/enbxv
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://osf.io/download/5e6648eb0f987d037449806c/
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.31219/osf.io/enbxv?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thomas Piketty & Li Yang & Gabriel Zucman, 2019. "Capital Accumulation, Private Property, and Rising Inequality in China, 1978–2015," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(7), pages 2469-2496, July.
    2. Petra Persson & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2016. "The Limits Of Career Concerns In Federalism: Evidence From China," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 14(2), pages 338-374, April.
    3. Fan, Joseph P.H. & Wong, T.J. & Zhang, Tianyu, 2007. "Politically connected CEOs, corporate governance, and Post-IPO performance of China's newly partially privatized firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 330-357, May.
    4. Li, Hongbin & Meng, Lingsheng & Wang, Qian & Zhou, Li-An, 2008. "Political connections, financing and firm performance: Evidence from Chinese private firms," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 283-299, October.
    5. Harvey, David, 2007. "A Brief History of Neoliberalism," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199283279.
    6. Gustafsson,Björn A. & Shi,Li & Sicular,Terry (ed.), 2008. "Inequality and Public Policy in China," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521870450.
    7. Kanbur, Ravi & Wang, Yue & Zhang, Xiaobo, 2021. "The great Chinese inequality turnaround," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 467-482.
    8. Robert C. Allen, 2017. "Class Structure and Inequality during the Industrial Revolution: Lessons from England’s Social Tables, 1688-1867," Working Papers 20170002, New York University Abu Dhabi, Department of Social Science, revised May 2017.
    9. Thomas Piketty & Li Yang & Gabriel Zucman, 2017. "Appendix to "Capital Accumulation, Private Property and Rising Inequality in China, 1978-2015"," Working Papers 201707, World Inequality Lab.
    10. McLaughlin, Joanne Song, 2017. "Does Communist party membership pay? Estimating the economic returns to party membership in the labor market in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 963-983.
    11. Calomiris, Charles W. & Fisman, Raymond & Wang, Yongxiang, 2010. "Profiting from government stakes in a command economy: Evidence from Chinese asset sales," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(3), pages 399-412, June.
    12. Huang,Yasheng, 2008. "Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521898102.
    13. Guo, Di & Jiang, Kun & Kim, Byung-Yeon & Xu, Chenggang, 2014. "Political economy of private firms in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 286-303.
    14. James Kai‐sing Kung & Chicheng Ma, 2018. "Friends with Benefits: How Political Connections Help to Sustain Private Enterprise Growth in China," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 85(337), pages 41-74, January.
    15. Ruixue Jia & Masayuki Kudamatsu & David Seim, 2015. "Political Selection In China: The Complementary Roles Of Connections And Performance," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 631-668, August.
    16. Haiyan Ding & Hui He, 2018. "A Tale of Transition: An Empirical Analysis of Economic Inequality in Urban China, 1986-2009," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 29, pages 106-137, July.
    17. Hongbin Li & PakWai Liu & Junsen Zhang & Ning Ma, 2007. "Economic Returns to Communist Party Membership: Evidence From Urban Chinese Twins," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(523), pages 1504-1520, October.
    18. Chen, Jie & Dickson, Bruce J., 2010. "Allies of the State: China's Private Entrepreneurs and Democratic Change," Economics Books, Harvard University Press, number 9780674048966, Spring.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ranaldi, Marco, 2021. "Global Distributions of Capital and Labor Incomes: Capitalization of the Global Middle Class," SocArXiv 3g59r, Center for Open Science.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Feng, Xunan & Johansson, Anders C. & Zhang, Tianyu, 2014. "Political participation and entrepreneurial initial public offerings in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 269-285.
    2. repec:zbw:bofitp:2020_020 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Hao, Liang & Rong, Wang & Haikun, Zhu, 2020. "Growing up under Mao and Deng : On the ideological determinants of corporate policies," BOFIT Discussion Papers 20/2020, Bank of Finland, Institute for Economies in Transition.
    4. Liang, Hao & Wang, Rong & Zhu, Haikun, 2020. "Growing up under Mao and Deng: On the ideological determinants of corporate policies," BOFIT Discussion Papers 20/2020, Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT).
    5. Shuangyan Li & Anum Shahzadi & Mingbo Zheng & Chun-Ping Chang, 2022. "The impacts of executives’ political connections on interactions between firm’s mergers, acquisitions, and performance," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 653-679, May.
    6. Zhang, Yi & Liu, Chun & Wang, Ting, 2020. "Direct or indirect? The impact of political connections on export mode of Chinese private enterprises," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    7. Ms. Sonali Jain-Chandra & Niny Khor & Rui Mano & Johanna Schauer & Mr. Philippe Wingender & Juzhong Zhuang, 2018. "Inequality in China – Trends, Drivers and Policy Remedies," IMF Working Papers 2018/127, International Monetary Fund.
    8. Huang, Zhangkai & Li, Lixing & Ma, Guangrong & Qian, Jun, 2021. "The reversal of privatization in China: A political economy perspective," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    9. Yang, Jie & Ma, Jieqiong & Zhang, Yong & Hong, JungHwa, 2018. "With whom should you have dinner? A multidimensional framework for understanding political ties in China," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 61(6), pages 891-898.
    10. Christopher Marquis & Cuili Qian, 2014. "Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting in China: Symbol or Substance?," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(1), pages 127-148, February.
    11. Haitian Lu & Hongbo Pan & Chenying Zhang, 2015. "Political Connectedness and Court Outcomes: Evidence from Chinese Corporate Lawsuits," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 58(4).
    12. Wu, Guiying Laura, 2018. "Capital misallocation in China: Financial frictions or policy distortions?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 203-223.
    13. Lin, Chen & Lin, Ping & Song, Frank M. & Li, Chuntao, 2011. "Managerial incentives, CEO characteristics and corporate innovation in China's private sector," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 176-190, June.
    14. Karplus, Valerie J. & Geissmann, Thomas & Zhang, Da, 2021. "Institutional complexity, management practices, and firm productivity," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    15. Liu, Qigui & Luo, Tianpei & Tian, Gary, 2016. "Political connections with corrupt government bureaucrats and corporate M&A decisions: A natural experiment from the anti-corruption cases in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 52-80.
    16. Ek, Chanbora & Wu, Guiying Laura, 2018. "Investment-cash flow sensitivities and capital misallocation," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 220-230.
    17. Gradín, Carlos & Wu, Binbin, 2020. "Income and consumption inequality in China: A comparative approach with India," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    18. Feng Liu & Hui Lin & Huiying Wu, 2018. "Political Connections and Firm Value in China: An Event Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 551-571, October.
    19. Joseph D Piotroski & T J Wong & Tianyu Zhang, 2022. "Political Networks and Stock Price Comovement: Evidence from Network-Connected Firms in China [Do some outside directors play a political role?]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 26(3), pages 521-559.
    20. Cull, Robert & Li, Wei & Sun, Bo & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2015. "Government connections and financial constraints: Evidence from a large representative sample of Chinese firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 271-294.
    21. Giannetti, Mariassunta & Yu, Xiaoyun & Liao, Guanmin & You, Jiaxing, 2017. "The Externalities of Corruption: Evidence from Entrepreneurial Activity in China," CEPR Discussion Papers 12345, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:enbxv. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: OSF (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://arabixiv.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.