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The Economic Causes and Consequences of Social Instability in China

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  • John Knight

Abstract

Social instability is a concept that economists rarely analyse, and yet it can lurk behind much economic policy-making. China

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  • John Knight, 2012. "The Economic Causes and Consequences of Social Instability in China," Economics Series Working Papers 619, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:oxf:wpaper:619
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. John Knight & Li Shi & Deng Quheng, 2010. "Son Preference and Household Income in Rural China," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(10), pages 1786-1805.
    2. Alesina, Alberto & Perotti, Roberto, 1996. "Income distribution, political instability, and investment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 1203-1228, June.
    3. Campos, Nauro F. & Nugent, Jeffrey B., 2002. "Who is afraid of political instability?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 157-172, February.
    4. Knight, John & Ding, Sai, 2012. "China's Remarkable Economic Growth," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199698691.
    5. Knight, John & Deng, Quheng & Li, Shi, 2011. "The puzzle of migrant labour shortage and rural labour surplus in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 585-600.
    6. Jack A. Goldstone & Robert H. Bates & David L. Epstein & Ted Robert Gurr & Michael B. Lustik & Monty G. Marshall & Jay Ulfelder & Mark Woodward, 2010. "A Global Model for Forecasting Political Instability," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(1), pages 190-208, January.
    7. Hirschman, Albert O., 1973. "The changing tolerance for income inequality in the course of economic development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 1(12), pages 29-36, December.
    8. Shang-Jin Wei & Xiaobo Zhang, 2011. "The Competitive Saving Motive: Evidence from Rising Sex Ratios and Savings Rates in China," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 119(3), pages 511-564.
    9. Matthew Rabin, 1998. "Psychology and Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 11-46, March.
    10. John Knight & Ramani Gunatilaka, 2011. "Does Economic Growth Raise Happiness in China?," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 1-24.
    11. Aisen, Ari & Veiga, Francisco José, 2013. "How does political instability affect economic growth?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 151-167.
    12. William Easterly & Jozef Ritzen & Michael Woolcock, 2006. "Social Cohesion, Institutions, And Growth," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(2), pages 103-120, July.
    13. Appleton, Simon & Song, Lina, 2008. "Life Satisfaction in Urban China: Components and Determinants," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 2325-2340, November.
    14. Paul Collier & Anke Hoeffler, 2004. "Greed and grievance in civil war," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 56(4), pages 563-595, October.
    15. Knight, John & Gunatilaka, Ramani, 2012. "Income, aspirations and the Hedonic Treadmill in a poor society," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 67-81.
    16. Perotti, Roberto, 1996. "Growth, Income Distribution, and Democracy: What the Data Say," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 149-187, June.
    17. Frijters, Paul & Liu, Amy Y.C. & Meng, Xin, 2012. "Are optimistic expectations keeping the Chinese happy?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 159-171.
    18. Alesina, Alberto & Özler, Sule & Roubini, Nouriel & Swagel, Phillip, 1996. "Political Instability and Economic Growth," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 189-211, June.
    19. Easterlin, Richard A. & Morgan, Robson & Switek, Maggie & Wang, Fei, 2013. "China's Life Satisfaction, 1990-2010," IZA Discussion Papers 7196, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Knight, John & Gunatilaka, Ramani, 2010. "Great Expectations? The Subjective Well-being of Rural-Urban Migrants in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 113-124, January.
    21. John Knight & Linda Yueh, 2008. "The role of social capital in the labour market in China1," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 16(3), pages 389-414, July.
    22. Paolo Mauro, 1995. "Corruption and Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(3), pages 681-712.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Ruilian Zhang & Sandy Worden & Junzhuo Xu & John R. Owen & Guoqing Shi, 2022. "Social stability risk assessment and economic competitiveness in China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-7, December.
    2. John Knight, 2014. "Economic Causes and Cures of Social Instability in China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 22(2), pages 5-21, March.
    3. Li, Shi & Vendryes, Thomas, 2018. "Real estate activity, democracy and land rights in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 54-79.
    4. Luigi Bonatti & Andrea Fracasso, 2016. "Modelling The Transition Towards The Renminbi'S Full Convertibility: Implications For China'S Growth," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(S1), pages 146-170, December.
    5. Bargstädt, Dorothee, 2017. "Freiwillige Selbstverpflichtung von Unternehmen in Antikorruptionsinitiativen: Der Einfluss des nationalen Kontextes auf internationales Engagement am Beispiel chinesischer und indischer Unternehmen," PIPE - Papers on International Political Economy 28/2017, Free University Berlin, Center for International Political Economy.
    6. Rexford Abaidoo & Elvis Kwame Agyapong, 2022. "Commodity price volatility, inflation uncertainty and political stability," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 69(3), pages 351-381, September.
    7. Cai, Zhaoyang & Liu, Zhexi & Zuo, Siming & Cao, Shixiong, 2019. "Finding a Peaceful Road to Urbanization in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 560-563.
    8. Dat Tho Tran & Minh Hoang Doan & Nhung Tuyet Do, 2020. "Vietnam after 2020: toward a prosperous economy, social inclusion and environmental sustainability," International Journal of Economic Policy Studies, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 313-326, August.
    9. Bartolini, Stefano & Sarracino, Francesco, 2015. "The Dark Side of Chinese Growth: Declining Social Capital and Well-Being in Times of Economic Boom," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 333-351.
    10. Bartolini, Stefano & Sarracino, Francesco, 2014. "The dark side of Chinese growth: Explaining decreasing well-being in times of economic boom," MPRA Paper 57765, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Stefano Bartolini, 2014. "Building sustainability through greater happiness," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 25(4), pages 587-602, December.
    12. John Knight, 2016. "China’s Inequality is Important – but which Inequality?," CSAE Working Paper Series 2016-20, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    13. John Knight, 2017. "China’s evolving inequality," Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4), pages 307-323, October.
    14. John Knight, 2015. "The Principal-Agent Problem, Economic Growth, Subjective Wellbeing and Social Instability: China’s Effective but Flawed Governance," Economics Series Working Papers 758, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    15. Roland Cheo, 2017. "Migrant Workers and Workplace Bullying in Urban China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 87-115, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    China; Civil unrest; Corruption; Developmental state; Economic growth; Governance; Happiness; Inequality; Social instability;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O20 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - General
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth
    • P26 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Property Rights

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