Changes in the employment structure in rural China were studied with a focus on off-farm self-employment.Data from the Chinese Household Income Project surveys were used,covering the same 14 provinces from 1988 to 201...Changes in the employment structure in rural China were studied with a focus on off-farm self-employment.Data from the Chinese Household Income Project surveys were used,covering the same 14 provinces from 1988 to 2018.We found that the proportion of adults in rural China with self-employment as their primary form of off-farm employment increased from only 2 percent in 1988 to 11 percent in 2013,with no further increases through 2018.In 1988 and 1995,the rate of self-employment was highest in the eastern region but this regional pattern subsequently disappeared.The probability of being self-employed in rural China was higher among married males than among unmarried persons.Having a migration experience increased the likelihood of being self-employed.Since 1995,self-employed households have had a higher average income than other categories of household.Based on estimates of income functions,we conclude that the income premium from being self-employed increased rapidly from 1988 to 1995 to become remarkably large when only a few adults were self-employed.However,as a larger fraction of the rural population entered self-employment,the payoff from being self-employed has rapidly diminished,although it was still substantial in 2018.展开更多
We estimate the size of the global middle class in China and 33 other countries and analyze China’s expanding middle class in an international context.The“ghbal middle class”is defined in terms of being neither poo...We estimate the size of the global middle class in China and 33 other countries and analyze China’s expanding middle class in an international context.The“ghbal middle class”is defined in terms of being neither poor nor rich in the developed world.China’s global middle class has grown rapidly and has been catching up with the middle class in developed countries.By 2018 China’s global middle class constituted 25 percent of China s population;in absolute size it was nearly double the size of the global middle class in the US and was similar in size to that of Europe.Cross-country analysis of the relationship between the middle-class share of the total population and GDP per capita reveals an inverted-U pattern.China is not an outlier from the cross-country pattern but the speed with which its middle-class has expanded is unusual.The only other countries with similarly large,rapid expansions of the middle class are transition economies.展开更多
文摘Changes in the employment structure in rural China were studied with a focus on off-farm self-employment.Data from the Chinese Household Income Project surveys were used,covering the same 14 provinces from 1988 to 2018.We found that the proportion of adults in rural China with self-employment as their primary form of off-farm employment increased from only 2 percent in 1988 to 11 percent in 2013,with no further increases through 2018.In 1988 and 1995,the rate of self-employment was highest in the eastern region but this regional pattern subsequently disappeared.The probability of being self-employed in rural China was higher among married males than among unmarried persons.Having a migration experience increased the likelihood of being self-employed.Since 1995,self-employed households have had a higher average income than other categories of household.Based on estimates of income functions,we conclude that the income premium from being self-employed increased rapidly from 1988 to 1995 to become remarkably large when only a few adults were self-employed.However,as a larger fraction of the rural population entered self-employment,the payoff from being self-employed has rapidly diminished,although it was still substantial in 2018.
文摘We estimate the size of the global middle class in China and 33 other countries and analyze China’s expanding middle class in an international context.The“ghbal middle class”is defined in terms of being neither poor nor rich in the developed world.China’s global middle class has grown rapidly and has been catching up with the middle class in developed countries.By 2018 China’s global middle class constituted 25 percent of China s population;in absolute size it was nearly double the size of the global middle class in the US and was similar in size to that of Europe.Cross-country analysis of the relationship between the middle-class share of the total population and GDP per capita reveals an inverted-U pattern.China is not an outlier from the cross-country pattern but the speed with which its middle-class has expanded is unusual.The only other countries with similarly large,rapid expansions of the middle class are transition economies.
