Dynamic Measurement and Decomposition of Inequality in China From a Fair Perspective

Drawing on data from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS), our paper provides a dynamic measurement of unfair inequality in China and applies Shapley value decomposition to identify its main sources. The results show the share of unfair inequality in total inequality declines from 27.64% in 2012 to 20.63% in 2021. Household registration (hukou) and parental education emerge as the dominant factors, with average contributions of 33.96% and 29.07% across six survey waves. Over time, however, the influence of hukou has weakened (25.65% in 2021), while the role of education has grown (40.06% in 2021). Gender and parental occupation remain relatively stable contributors (averaging 12.25% and 11.68%), whereas the role of poverty increases from 11.22% in 2012 to 14.02% in 2021. From an intergenerational perspective, unfair inequality shows signs of persistence. At the individual level, unfair inequality increases steadily across the life cycle from ages 20 to 60. Poverty exerts a stronger effect among the young, the elderly, and residents of less developed regions, while parental education plays a greater role in more developed regions. These findings are robust to alternative specifications of environmental factors, measurement criteria, and methodological approaches.