The pain of inequality:Income gap and carbon intensity of well-being

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations sets out 17 sustainable development goals(SDGs)that call for global action to end poverty,protect the planet,and improve the lives and futures of all people,including reducing inequality and taking climate action.The academic and policy issues corresponding to these two goals are income distribution and low-carbon development respectively.This paper makes a connection between the two and examines the impact of income gap on carbon intensity of well-being(CIWB)based on panel data of 40 countries around the world,which has important theoretical significance and empirical reference value.The main conclusions are as follows:(1)During the sample period,the carbon intensity of well-being of 36 in the 40 countries showed a downward trend,indicating that the pressure brought by the increase of unit well-being level on carbon emission space was gradually decreasing.The biggest drop in carbon intensity of well-being is in Estonia.(2)According to the average value of the past years,the income gaps are large in Colombia,Costa Rica,Paraguay,Ecuador and Peru,and the five countries with the smallest income gap are Ukraine,Slovenia,Belarus,the Czech Republic and Kyrgyzstan Republic.(3)The regression results of the econometric model with carbon intensity of well-being as the dependent variable,income gap as the independent variable,and urbanization rate,energy consumption structure and export trade as the control variables show that the increase of income gap will increase carbon intensity of well-being,and the increase of urbanization rate,renewable energy consumption and export dependence will reduce carbon intensity of well-being.Finally,according to the research conclusions,the policy implications for China's future high-quality development are extracted.

Research on the Influence of Digital Economy on the Income Gap between Urban and Rural Areas in China

In recent years,with the rapid advancement of information technology and the widespread proliferation of the Internet,digital technology has been reshaping the value chains of traditional industries and giving rise to entirely new business models and industrial forms.Technologies such as the Internet,big data,and artificial intelligence are being applied across various sectors,while new formats like e-commerce,the sharing economy,and online education are flourishing.These developments have driven new consumption patterns and employment methods.The rapid rise of the digital economy not only boosts production efficiency and economic growth but also influences the income distribution between urban and rural areas to some extent.This paper begins by examining the current state and characteristics of the digital economy and then analyzes its impact on the urban-rural income gap.Additionally,it offers countermeasures and recommendations for narrowing this gap,providing theoretical support for promoting common prosperity.

Preliminary Study on Effects of the Model of Community-supported Agriculture(CSA) on Urban-rural Income Gap in China

The urban-rural income gap is widening,which has become a bottleneck restricting China＇s economic and social development.It is the current outstanding problems in the harmonious development of the society.Community Supported Agriculture（CSA） is one of the most important forms of sustainable agriculture and it has received the attention in recent years.This paper first introduces the rise and development of CSA in China,and discuss the impact of CSA on urban-rural income gap in China preliminarily in order to provide ideas for improving the farmers＇ income and narrowing the income gap between urban and rural areas.

The Approaches to Narrowing Urban-Rural Income Gap——From the Perspective of Rural Social Security

From the situations about the incomes and life quality of the urban and rural residents,the thesis briefly introduces the status quo of the urban-rural income gap and explores the impact of the income gap on social economy:firstly,it hampers economic development;secondly,it is detrimental to the social development.Then the thesis analyzes the role of a sound social security in narrowing urban-rural income gap:at first,it broadens the institutional environment of improving the agricultural efficiency;secondly,it eliminates the uncertainties influencing the farmers' income;thirdly,it improves the farmers' capacity to increase income;at last,it enhances the farmers' consciousness of wealth.Next the thesis inquires into the problems existing in the system of rural social security:the first problem is more obviously fragmented system;the second is inadequate security projects and narrower coverage;the third is an obvious lack of equality in urban and rural security;the fourth is even less sound management system;the last is the lagging of legislation.Afterwards the thesis proposes the countermeasures and suggestions to improve the system of rural social security and narrow urban-rural income gap:firstly,to integrate the social security system in rural areas;secondly,to perfect security projects and enhance the security system;thirdly,to integrate the administrative management of social security;at last,to enforce the legal system.

Influence of social capital on farmer household income gap:total effect and structural effect

Based on the survey data of typical villages in Shaanxi Province,China,the effect of social capital on the income gap of farmers' households was analyzed using the Shapley value of the total amount of social capital and the social capital structure.The results show the following:first,social capital can expand the household income gap,and the effect of this index on the household income gap is 7.54%.Second,the indexes of the social capital dimension can expand the household income gap,and the structural effects of the household income gap on social networks,social trust,and social participation are 3.17%,3.64%,and 0.65%,respectively.Third,no dimension of the path is the same as the effect on the household income gap.

Globalization and Income Gap from the Perspective of Developing Countries

Using political economic theory, this paper analyzes the impact of economic globalization on international income distribution, including the income gap between developed countries and developing ones, the income gap among the developing countries. The paper states that because the economic globalization is the globalization of capitalism manufacture style and developed countries dominates the process, the income gap between developing countries and developed one is difficult to be narrowed, and the income gap in developing countries will enlarge.

Institutional Distance and CrossNational Income Gaps

ihis paper examines the root causes of current cross-national institutional difference from the perspective of national hetereogeneity and provides detailed explanations on the justification and effectiveness of using cross-national genetic distance as the instrumental variable （IV） of institutional difference. We combined 10,585 samples by pairing 146 countries and regions, created a cross-national institutional distance variable composed of 14 indicators from the World Bank and the Heritage Foundation in three aspects including differences of political system, economic system and institutional implementation attributes, and conducted a cross-section IV estimation for the long-term effect of institutional differences on cross-national income gaps using data between 1996 and 2010. Empirical results indicate that institutional difference has a long-term significant positive effect on cross-national income gaps and such an effect has a tendency to increase during sample period. With factors like human capital, geographical factor, language and religion under control, we still arrived at similar conclusions. The empirical results are demonstrated to be robust using different genetic distance measurement indicators and estimation methods.

Intergenerational Transmission of Income Gap for Chinese Urban and Rural Households

An accurate understanding of the intergenerational transmission of income gap is the foundation for theoretical research and policy formulation to address this issue. This paper has employed the method of two sample instrumental variables to effectively integrate CHIP data and CFPS data and correct the temporal income bias, life-cycle bias and coresidence bias, which are common problems in existing studies, and investigated the tendencies of intergenerational transmission of income gap for China's urban and rural households between 2002 and 2012. Results of empirical study indicate that the intergenerational transmission of income gap for China's urban and rural households has been on the decline yet the level of intergenerational transmission is greater for urban residents than for rural residents. This level of intergenerational transmission of income gap in China is at a medium international level lower than that of countries like the United States, Brazil and Japan and higher than that of Sweden and Chinese Taiwan. Further analysis of the intergenerational mobility of various income groups suggests the following: the intergenerational solidification of the bottom and top income groups of urban residents has significantly improved, which is the source for the reduction of intergenerational transmission of income gap. Rural residents of bottom income group are vulnerable to falling into the trap of intergenerational transmission of low income. In order to mitigate the intergenerational transmission of income gap, efforts must be made to improve educational allowance policy and increase the opportunities for children from poor and underprivileged families to receive education and to eliminate the divide of labor markets to create equal job opportunities for each and every worker.

Income Gap and the Risk of MiddleIncome Trap Facing China

International experience shows that economic stagnation and deterioration of income distribution are both the cause and effect of each other and also reinforce each other.Such a relationship may put some high-growth countries into the middle-income trap.Income levels in China are above average,but economic growth is decelerating.At such a time,China should attach great importance to addressing the widening income gap.This paper attempts to integrate official data on income with researchers' surveys to examine income distribution in China.It reveals the causes for unequal and unfair income distribution and illustrates the policy significance of reforming primary and secondary distributions to adjust the pattern of income distribution.

The relationship between rural surplus labor transfer,urbanization and income gap

Based on the time series data of Shandong province from 2001 to 2018,a VAR model consisting of three variables,namely,rural surplus labor transfer,urbanization and urban-rural income gap,was constructed,and the interaction among the three variables and their characteristics were empirically analyzed.The results show that urbanization and rural surplus labor transfer are Granger causation to each other,and there is a positive correlation between urban-rural income gap and rural surplus labor force in long-term equilibrium,while there is a negative correlation between urban-rural income gap and rural surplus labor force transfer.Therefore,it is necessary to fully recognize the relationship between the transfer of rural surplus labor,urbanization and urban-rural income gap,accelerate the urbanization construction,promote the rural surplus labor to gather in cities,and gradually narrow the urban-rural income gap.

Co-integration Analysis of the Effect of Population Urbanization on Urban-rural Income Gap in Jiangxi Province

This paper selects related data on the urbanization and the incomes of urban and rural residents in Jiangxi Province from 2000 to 2014, applies the theory of co-integration by Eviews Software, meanwhile, studies and analyzes the population urbanization and the income gap between urban and rural residents in Jiangxi Province through establishing an index system. Results： There is a cause-and-effect relationship, as well as duality, between the urban-rural income gap and the level of population urbanization in Jiangxi Province. With continuous promotion of the urbanization course in 1990-2014, the income gap between urban and rural residents in Jiangxi Province presents a phenomenon of expanding first, narrowing second and expanding again.

The Impact of the Upgrading of Industrial Structure in the Yangtze River Delta on the Urban-Rural Income Gap

Firstly,this paper conducts theoretical analysis and current situation analysis,and then proposes research hypotheses.Secondly,using spatial Dubin model and partial differential method,it empirically studies the impact of industrial structure advancement and rationalization on the urban-rural income gap.The results show that:(1)Both industrial structure and urban-rural income gap have significant spatial dependence;(2)The increase in the industrial structure rationalization will narrow the urban-rural income gap in local region,while its spillover effect on neighboring areas is not obvious.(3)The impact of the industrial structure advancement on the urban-rural income gap is not linear.It is first expanded and then narrowed.The industrial structure advancement in the Yangtze River Delta will generally narrow the urban-rural income gap at this stage.Finally,this paper put forward relevant suggestions.

Influence of Transportation Accessibility on Urban-rural Income Disparity and Its Spatial Heterogeneity

Transportation accessibility has been treated as an important means of reducing the urban-rural income disparity.However,only a few studies have examined the effects of different types of transportation accessibility on urban-rural income disparity and their spatial heterogeneity.Based on data from 285 prefecture-level(and above)Chinese cities in 2000,2005,2010,2015,and 2020,this study uses spatial econometric models to examine how highway accessibility and railway accessibility influence the urban-rural income disparity and to identify their spatial heterogeneity.The result reveals that highway accessibility and railway accessibility have‘coreperiphery’ring-like circle structures.The urban-rural income disparity exhibits strong spatial clustering effects.Both highway accessibility and railway accessibility are negatively associated with urban-rural income disparity,and the former having a greater effect size.Moreover,there is a substitution effect between highway accessibility and railway accessibility in the whole sample.Furthermore,these associations differ in geographic regions.In the central region,highway accessibility is more important in reducing the urban-rural income disparity,but its effect is weakened with the increase of railway accessibility.In the western region,railway accessibility has a larger effect on narrowing the urban-rural income disparity,and this effect is strengthened by the increase of highway accessibility.We conclude that improving transportation accessibility is conducive to reducing the urban-rural income disparity but its effect is spatial heterogenetic.Highways and railways should be developed in a coordinated manner to promote an integrated transport network system.

Development Strategy, Urbanization and the Urban-Rural Income Gap in China

Analyzing the reasons for the lag in urbanization and the persistent widening of the urban- rural income gap in China from the viewpoint of government development strategy, we find that the government＇s strategy of encouraging the development of capital-intensive sectors has resulted in a relative fall in labor demand in urban areas and thus delayed the progress of urbanization, hampered the effective transfer of the rural population into urban areas and widened the urban-rural income gap. Using the technology choice index （TCI） to measure the degree to which government policy is biased towards capital-intensive sectors, this paper conducts empirical tests of a series of theoretical hypotheses on the basis of Chinese provincial panel data for 1978-2008. We further find that changes in China＇s urban-rural income gap conform to a U-curve pattern, i.e. in the course of economic development, the income gap first decreases then increases.

Methods of Measuring and Decomposing the Income Gap： A Survey

In this study, we classify the income gap into the total income gap and the inter-group income gap depending on the subjects of study. Measurement and decomposition methods are discussed at three levels： income inequality, polarization, and the inter-group income gap. While income inequality focuses on description of the overall income gap, polarization aims to examine the phenomenon of the ＂clustering effect＂ in income distribution, for which the measurement indexes used can be broadly divided into bi-polarization and multi-polarization indexes. The Shapley decomposition method and decomposition of the distribution of inter- group income differences are cutting edge techniques for the decomposition of the income gap. We also stress the applicability and relevance of income gap measurement indexes and decomposition methods, to facilitate selection of the most appropriate methods for more accurate detection of the causes of the income gap.

The Effects of Financial Structure on Urban-Rural Income Gap Viewed through Economic Growth and Urbanization

From the perspective of economic growth and urbanization,this paper proposes several hypotheses on how financial structure affects urban-rural income gap combining with the stylized facts of Chinese economy,and then uses a panel data of 29 provinces over 1996-2015 to conduct empirical analysis.Theoretical analysis shows that owing to the distinct availability of urban and rural residents for financial services,financial structure has a distinct impact on their income disparity.Meanwhile,through the function of credit allocation,financial structure plays important roles in the processes of economic growth and urbanization,and then has indirect effects.The results indicate that increasing the ratio of direct financing has a direct impact on shrinking the urban-rural income gap,and has an indirect impact through economic growth and urbanization.More importantly,the intermediary effect of urbanization is stronger than that of economic growth.Therefore,releasing the controls on financial markets helps shrink the urban-rural income gap in China.

Opportunity Inequality in Income Gap of China-A Decomposition Based on Regression Equation

Using China General Social Survey(CGSS)data and a decomposition method based on regression equation,this paper decomposes the reasons for income gap in urban areas,rural areas and the whole country in general into three factors-opportunity inequality stemming from environmental factors,income inequality stemming from effort factors,and income inequality from luck and unknown factors.The results are as follows.(1)From 2010 to 2015,opportunity inequality on a national,urban and rural scale went up first and down later,with a rising contribution from Hukou(household registration)at birth.(2)Estimate shows that China’s opportunity inequality was 24.39%in 2010,28.04%in 2012,peaks at 35.72%in 2013 and falls to 30.56%in 2015,but the percentages would be 8%overestimated if Party membership,migration,and the interactions between environmental and effort factors are excluded.(3)In the 2010-2015 period,the average opportunity inequality in rural areas was 33.31%,about eight percentage points higher than in urban areas.While age and gender can explain the high rate in rural areas,difference in the place of residence is the main reason for inequality in urban areas.Therefore,this paper proposes three ways to mitigate opportunity inequality-coordinating regional development,improving fair competition in employment,and accelerating the reform of Hukou system.

The impact of transfer payments on urban-rural income gap--Based on fuzzy RD analysis of China’s midwestern counties data

In this paper,using 1054 counties data of 15 provinces in Midwestern China from 2000 to 2007,we analyze the impact of transfer payments on urban-rural income gap.By choosing Develop-the-west Strategy that is a quasi-natural experiment and using regression of discontinuity of location,the result shows that local government in western China pays more transfer payments than in the central region,however,the income gap between urban-rural residents in the western region increases by 20%.The widening effects are robust in different bandwidth situation such as distance or latitude and longitude.Meanwhile,the mechanism analyses find that urban residents benefit more than rural residents from transfer payments.Therefore,we believe that transfer payments should be more targeted to invest in rural areas,at the same time,the central government should rationalize the structure of transfer payments as soon as possible,and correct the urban bias and structure bias of local fiscal expenditure.

Filling the Income Gap

Income distribution has become one of the people’s main concerns in China where more than 30 years of reform and opening up have also resulted in an ever-expanding wealth gap. But narrowing down