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The Urban-Rural Income Gap and Inequality in China

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  • Terry Sicular
  • Ximing Yue
  • Björn Gustafsson
  • Shi Li

Abstract

Using new household survey data for 1995 and 2002, we investigate the size of China's urban-rural income gap, the gap's contribution to overall inequality in China, and the factors underlying the gap. Our analysis improves on past estimates by using a fuller measure of income, adjusting for spatial price differences and including migrants. Our methods include inequality decomposition by population subgroup and the Oaxaca- Blinder decomposition. Several key findings emerge.

Suggested Citation

  • Terry Sicular & Ximing Yue & Björn Gustafsson & Shi Li, 2006. "The Urban-Rural Income Gap and Inequality in China," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2006-135, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:rp2006-135
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