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Social inequalities and wage, housing and pension reforms in urban China

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  • Li, Bingqin
  • Sen, Gong

Abstract

This paper studies the sources of social inequalities largely neglected by the previous researches on urban China’s socio-economic reforms. The research focuses on the policy guided differential treatments to the employees of non-enterprises and the employees of enterprises in the reforms of the work related rewarding schemes, including wage, pension and housing. A simple model is developed to look at the determinants of individuals’ total work rewards and the combined effects of these reforms. The authors use the model to explain the logic behind the seemingly random welfare reform policies and their interactions with the wage reforms. This paper argues that the average amount of reward for the nonenterprise employees is consistently higher than that for the enterprise employees in all the three aspects of wage, housing and pensions. The gap has widened in recent years. The welfare reforms reinforce the income inequalities between the two groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Bingqin & Sen, Gong, 2003. "Social inequalities and wage, housing and pension reforms in urban China," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 21778, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:21778
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/21778/
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Gustafsson, Bjorn & Shi, Li, 1997. "Types of Income and Inequality in China at the End of the 1980s," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 43(2), pages 211-226, June.
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    4. Xiaogang Wu & Yu Xie, 2002. "Does the Market Pay Off? Earnings Inequality and Returns to Education in Urban China," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 454, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    5. Fleisher, Belton M. & Wang, Xiaojun, 2001. "Efficiency Wages and Work Incentives in Urban and Rural China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 645-662, December.
    6. Wang, Zhi & Zhai, Fan, 1998. "Tariff Reduction, Tax Replacement, and Implications for Income Distribution in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 358-387, June.
    7. Chengze Simon Fan & Herschel I. Grossman, 2001. "Incentives and corruption in chinese economic reform," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(3), pages 195-206.
    8. John R. Logan & Yanjie Bian & Fuqin Bian, 1999. "Housing inequality in urban China in the 1990s," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(1), pages 7-25, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Fulong Wu, 2007. "The Poverty of Transition: From Industrial District to Poor Neighbourhood in the City of Nanjing, China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(13), pages 2673-2694, December.
    2. Fei Yan, 2018. "Urban poverty, economic restructuring and poverty reduction policy in urban China: Evidence from Shanghai, 1978–2008," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 36(4), pages 465-481, July.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

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