Inequality of rural residents'income in China since the targeted poverty alleviation strategy:New trends,causes,and policy implications

Poverty and income inequality are problems faced by many countries including China.Since the implementation of Targeted Poverty Alleviation(TPA),absolute poverty has been eradicated,meanwhile,Chinese rural residents' income and inequality have experienced unprecedented new dynamics,but still,very few studies have focused on them.Hence,we attempt to examine the new trends in Chinese farmers' income inequality and to understand its causes during this period.We observe that China's urban-rural income ratio has been shrinking and the urban-rural inequality has been decreasing from 2014 to 2021.The reduction in the Theil index indicates a decrease in the regional inequality of farmers' income as well,and the decline in inter-regional inequality among eight economic zones contributes about 80% to increased equality.These new trends are caused by the fact that,with the TPA,the incomes of rural residents especially that in destitute areas,grew faster than that of urban residents and farmers in prosperous areas.The higher share of non-agricultural industry and agricultural mechanization level have significant positive impact on regional equality of farmers' income,while urban-rural dual structure has significant negative inhibitory effects.The lowest farmers' income and the highest inequality in the Northwest,and the slowest growth in the Northeast deserve more attention in rural Revitalization.From these findings,we propose four policy implications that would be applied to improve Chinese farmers' income equality,govern relative poverty,and achieve common prosperity in the post-poverty era.

Mapping and measuring urban-rural inequalities in accessibility to social infrastructures

Equal access to social infrastructures is a fundamental prerequisite for sustainable development,but has long been a great challenge worldwide.Previous studies have primarily focused on the accessibility to social infras-tructures in urban areas across various scales,with less attention to rural areas,where inequality can be more severe.Particularly,few have investigated the disparities of accessibility to social infrastructures between urban and rural areas.Here,using the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan urban agglomeration,China,as an example,we investigated the inequality of accessibility in both urban and rural areas,and further compared the urban-rural difference.Accessibility was measured by travel time of residents to infrastructures.We selected four types of social infrastructures including supermarkets,bus stops,primary schools,and health care,which were funda-mentally important to both urban and rural residents.We found large disparities in accessibility between urban and rural areas,ranging from 20 min to 2 h.Rural residents had to spend one to two more hours to bus stops than urban residents,and 20 min more to the other three types of infrastructures.Furthermore,accessibility to multiple infrastructures showed greater urban-rural differences.Rural residents in more than half of the towns had no access to any infrastructure within 15 min,while more than 60%of the urban residents could access to all infrastructures within 15 min.Our results revealed quantitative accessibility gap between urban and rural areas and underscored the necessity of social infrastructures planning to address such disparities.

The effects of social security expenditure on reducing income inequality and rural poverty in China

Social security has,as one of its primary aims,the provision of financial support to those deemed to be poor or facing the threat of poverty.Based on China's national statistical data covering social insurance,social assistance,and social welfare between the period 1978–2018,this paper evaluates the effect of social security expenditure in reducing income inequality and rural poverty with cointegration analysis.It was found that there is a positive correlation between social security expenditure and the income gap of urban and rural residents in the long run,but the effect is very limited;nearly 99%of the changes of the urban–rural income gap come from its own contributions.Further research also shows that the elasticity of rural poverty incidence to social security expenditure is–0.2255,which indicates social security expenditure helps reduce rural absolute poverty.Based on these findings,the policy implications can be that much social security expenditure and a more equitable social security system should be encouraged.It will become one of the major anti-poverty strategies after 2020 in China when we win the battle against absolute poverty.

Income inequality and growth from functional orientation and spatial policy:Case study of Tibet,China

Economic inequality and poverty are problemsexperiencedbymanycountries.Considerable attention has been paid to these issues in recent times.Studies on economic inequality have been characterized by geographical disparities and a lack of consideration of functional orientation.As one of the most typical and featured mountainous areas in Western China,Tibet demonstrates both the necessity and urgency of conducting studies on income inequality and growth issues.This paper proposes to address these problems by exploring the temporal and geographical variations in income inequality in Tibet,thereby revealing the differences in functional zones.Spatial Markov chains and panel regression analysis were applied to identify the spatial-temporal dynamics of income disparity.The results of this study show that(1)the overall income inequality in Tibet shows an expanding trend in the period 2005–2010 and a converging trend in the period 2010–2015,and there is a large disparity in income inequality between functional zones;(2)Tibetan farmers and herdsmen may face great difficulties in achieving substantial growth in the near future;(3)frontier counties,cultivated land,and grassland areas have negative impacts on income growth,while cordyceps counties,GDP per capita,agricultural product proportion,transfer payments,the ratio of nonagricultural employment to the total employment,the length of the average schooling year,and the slaughter rate of cattle and sheep have positive impacts;and(4)functional orientation has made great differences to income inequality and its mechanism.In light of these results,evidence-based policies have been formulated to boost average household income and narrow income inequality in Tibet.

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.

Comparative Research on Prediction Model of China's Urban-rural Residents' Income Gap

By using the data concerning China's urban-rural residents' income gap from 1978 to 2010,this paper mainly researches the application of several kinds of models in predicting China's urban-rural residents' income gap.By conducting empirical analysis,we establish ARIMA prediction model,grey prediction model and quadratic-polynomial prediction model and conduct accuracy comparison.The results show that quadratic-polynomial prediction model has excellent fitting effect.By using quadratic-polynomial prediction model,this paper conducts prediction on trend of China's urban-rural residents' income gap from 2011 to 2013,and the prediction value of income gap of urban-rural residents in China from 2011 to 2013 is 14 173.20,15 212.92 and 16 289.67 yuan respectively.Finally,on the basis of analysis,corresponding countermeasures are put forward,in order to provide scientific basis for energy planning and policy formulation:first,strengthen government's function of public service,coordinate resources,and strive to provide an equal opportunity of development for social members,so as to promote people's welfare and promote social equality;second,breach industrial monopoly and bridge income gap between employees in monopoly industry and general industry;last but not the least,support,encourage and call for government to establish social relief fund,adjust residents' income distribution from the non-governmental perspective,and endeavor to promote the income level of low-income class.

Granger Causality Test of Urban-rural Income Gap and Employment of Rural Labor Forces——A Case Study of Shouguang City

Taking Shouguang City in Shandong Province as an example, this article researches the mutual relationship between urban-rural income and employment of rural labor forces, and conducting cointegration test and Granger causality test on the variable sequences using statistical data. The results show that the average annual income of rural labor forces influences the income per capita of rural residents, and there is a Granger causality relationship between the income per capita of rural residents and urban employees' average wage. Engaging in production concerning agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery makes the total income per capita in rural areas of Shouguang City higher than the average wage of urban residents in Shouguang City, even in Weifang City. The comparative advantage in terms of income causes the city to loose attraction to rural residents in Shouguang City. The comparative advantage drives more rural labor forces in Shouguang City to engage in primary industry, thereby greatly reducing the pressure of employment and transfer of rural labor forces. Finally important following measures are put forward to promote employment and on-the-spot transfer of rural labor forces: vigorously propel agricultural industrialization; increase rural residents' income; improve the living conditions for rural residents.

Research on the Impact of Rural Labour Forces Transfer on the Urban-rural Income Based on Economics of Discrimination

On the basis of the analytical frame of discrimination, the thesis establishes a model of transfer of rural labour forces into city, and researches the impact of rural labour forces transfer on urban-rural income. The results show that the transfer of rural labour forces into city can increase urban-rural income and bridge the income gap between city and village to a certain extent. However, the capital stock of city in China is greatly more than that of the village, so the rural labour forces transfer cannot eliminate the urban-rural income gap completely. In order to elevate the rural income level in China and narrow urban-rural income gap, the government should paint a picture with two brushes at the same time: on one hand, the government should promote the transfer of rural labour forces into city, and change the status quo of dual urban-rural labour forces market structure; on the other hand, the government should increase the input in rural areas and promote the increase of rural capital stock so as to further increase rural residents' income in the process of labour forces transfer.

Impact of Growing Income Inequality on Sustainable Development in China: A Provincial-level Analysis

A growing body of literature has documented the rapidly increasing Income disparities that accompanied China's economic growth in the 1980s and 1990s, and the driving factors behind this. Growing income inequality in its turn may have important implications for the accumulation of physical capital, human capital, and natural capital and as a consequence for sustainable economic development. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential impact of income inequality on savings, human resources and the environment in China. It starts with an overview of the different causal mechanisms through which income inequality may affect the accumulation of physical capital, human capital, and natural capital, and discusses to what extent these causal relationships may be relevant in the case of China. Next, provincial data for the year 2002 are used to explore the relationship between income inequality and different elements of sustainable development in China. It is found that income inequality does not affect aggregate savings levels. Rising inequality, however, contributes to lower health and possibly also to higher fertility levels. It also lowers the use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture and therefore is likely to reduce water pollution. Other types of environmental degradation are not affected.

A Study on China's Regional Income Inequality

Using the targets such as absolute dispersion, ratio of high - low Income, coefficient of variation and Ginl coefficient, we analyze the China’s per capita income inequality from 1952 to 1995. We find the trends in the China’s per capita Income differences, i.e., from 1952 to 1978 the differences increase; from 1978 to the early of 1990’ s decrease; and from the early of 1990’ s to 1995 a little increase. But in the light of absolute levels, the differences Increase from year to year. And we preliminarily analyze the cause of the regional per capita income inequality.

Attitudes toward income inequality:perspectives from farmers living in a poverty-stricken rural area of China

The attitude of the least advantaged people to income inequality is important in regard to social stability,which is also a major concern of the government and researchers in China.This paper aimed to investigate the perceptions and attitudes of the least advantaged people toward income inequality in China.An empirical analysis was conducted on farmers' attitudes to income inequality based on a questionnaire survey of 308 farmers in four villages in Yingshan,Hubei Province.Our results show that the respondents consider the income inequality as severe,and ability,hard work,and individual choices are the major determinant factors of income.It is shown that farmers in less developed areas are more likely to accept income inequality,and they ascribe this to their own failure rather than to social injustice.However,it is not the case that people living in poverty-stricken areas are satisfied with antipoverty policies;and these policies are expected to be further improved to increase the income of the poor.

Territorial Inequality of Net Income per Peasant in Shandong Province and Its Mechanism

Income inequality among farmers living in different regions was an important form of territorial inequalities. Studying the territorial inequality of the net income per peasant was an emphasis of this paper, and Shandong Province was pointed as the case study region. By the help of logistic regression, it could be found that the special distribution of the net income per peasant in Shandong Province was affected by three factors： distance to No.308 National Highway, distance to the coastline in the east of Shandong Province, and urbanization rates. Based on the decomposition of Gini index, the net income per peasant was divided into four parts, and it was found that the income from family business and salary were the two major sources of income. As to the mechanism for income inequality, it was proved that urbanization was still the key factor. In order to reduce income inequality, the local governments should promote urbanization through improving road networks, such as building highways, which could connect rural areas with the major nodes such as big cities and the port cities in the east.

Income Inequality Generates Chaos

The present paper is an attempt to bridge the gulf between economics and econophysics. That is, constructing a chaos-based theoretical model, we show the behavior of the goal-driven agents exhibits the behavior of the purpose-free agents. Main conclusion is: economy becomes chaos if 1) capital gain of the middle class people is large enough for them to consume eight times as much as their income gain and 2) market for the middle class people is large enough and number of the middle class people is 16 times as large as the amount of products made by one producer.

The relationship between income inequality and obesity in all 47 prefectures of Japan: Ecological study

The link between income inequality and obesity inJapanwas evaluated. Income inequality of all 47 prefectures of Japan as expressed by Gini coefficient was obtained from National Statistics Center, Japan. The rate of obesity (%) was also obtained from National NutritionSurvey,Japan. The effect of income inequality on obesity was evaluated by ecological study. Income inequality as expressed by Gini coefficient was 0.31 ± 0.01 and the rate of obesity was 31.6% ± 5.6%. Gini coefficient was significantly and positively correlated with the rate of obesity (r = 0.490, p = 0.0005). Income inequality was might be associated with the rate of obesity inJapan.

Income inequality and financial crises:evidence from the bootstrap rolling window

This study aims to investigate the validity of the Rajan hypothesis,which argues that increasing income inequality plays a key role in the outbreak of financial crises.The relationship between income inequality and credit booms are examined in 10 developed countries:Australia,Canada,Denmark,Finland,France,the United Kingdom,Japan,Norway,Sweden,and the United States.In doing so,a bootstrap rolling-window estimation procedure is used to detect any possible causal link between inequality and credit booms in financial crisis sub-periods.The results reveal that the Rajan hypothesis is supported for the 1989 crisis in Australia,the 1991 and 2007 crises in the United Kingdom,and the 1929 and 2007 crises in the United States.Therefore,increasing income inequality has positive predictive power on credit booms in Anglo-Saxon countries.However,the hypothesis is not confirmed for Scandinavian and continental European countries.Our study is novel in its use of the bootstrap rolling-window procedure,which allows us to detect the possible relationship between inequality and credit booms in financial crises.The findings suggest that a progressive taxation policy or investments to accumulate human capital and increase the labor force are more beneficial than temporary solutions.

Income Inequality in Mountain Areas: The Case of Agroforestry Farming Systems in Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania

Land degradation due to use of unsustainable agricultural practices has affected many communities in rural mountain areas rendering them to be more vulnerable to income poverty and inequality. In this case, agroforestry systems promise to offer great solutions as they can be developed in unfavourable conditions where other production systems would either rapidly degrade the land or otherwise would not be possible. However, little is known whether agroforestry can address issues of income inequality in mountain areas. Hence, we conducted a study to investigate the nature and determinants of income inequality in Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania. Specifically, we used the cross-sectional research design and we calculated the income percentile shares, Gini coefficients and the coefficient of variation (CV), to pinpoint the nature of income inequality in the study area. The determinants of income inequality were analysed using the step by step multiple linear model. The results of analysis suggested prevalence of income inequality. Crop production was the main source of income in the agroforestry systems of the study area. Earnings from crops and timber were decreasing income-inequality amongst smallholder farmers. Our disaggregated analysis showed that off-farm income was also decreasing income-inequality for farmers with farmlands located close to homestead, for female-headed households, for farmers who did not access extension services, and those who were members of community-based financial institutions. Estimated incomes increased with household assets, size of farmland, and age of household head. However, the same decreased with household size. We found gender disparity to be one of the key issues that need attention in formulating future policies to reduce inequality. We recommend promotion of livelihood diversification as well as the designing and implementation of tailor-made training and farm financing mechanism to help the less resource-endowed farmers in mountain areas to raise their economic portfolios and social status and combat income poverty and inequality.

The Impact of Finance Development on the Income Inequality Between the Urban and the Rural： Evidence From Henan Province in China

Finance is one important factor to promote economic development. Meanwhile, it also has a dubious effect on income inequality in accordance with the prior literatures. In order to promote economic development, most of China’s governments provide many policies to boost financial development. However, these policies should also be evaluated with its impact on the income inequality. As one important province in China, Henan also wants to have a rapid economic development with policies on financial development. Therefore, this paper uses the vector autoregressive model to detect the impact of financial development on income inequality between the urban and the rural, and the results suggest one positive impulse on financial development would cause income inequality to be increased immediately, but to be decreased after the fourth period. Thus, Henan’s policies on financial development would achieve the goal to promote economic development without the detrimental effect on income inequality.

Global Income Inequality and Poverty Reduction:Trends and Remedies

There is a global consensus that world economy need not only grow faster,but also grow in a way that the poor receive a greater share of the benefits of that growth.It is well documented that income inequality is on the rise,with the richest 10%earning up to 40%of total global income.The poorest 10%earn only between 2%and 7%of total global income.After long time of neglect,inequality has re-entered the mainstream development policy agenda at both national and global levels indicating that relevant policies should be universal in principle paying attention to the needs of disadvantaged and marginalized populations.As highlighted in almost all SDG’s documents,income inequality is a global problem that requires global solutions.This involves improving the regulation and monitoring of financial markets and institutions,encouraging development assistance and foreign direct investment to regions where the need is greatest.Facilitating the safe migration and mobility of people is also key to bridging the widening divide.SDG 10 encompasses 10 targets with the objective of promoting social,economic,and political inclusion of all,irrespective of age,sex,disability,race,ethnicity,origin,religion,or economic or other status.Achieving SDG 10 reaffirms that the 2030 development agenda will focus not only on eradicating poverty but also on tackling inequalities in all its forms through adopting sound policies to empower the bottom percentile of income earners,and promote economic inclusion of all regardless of sex,race,or ethnicity.This paper analyses the resent status of income inequality and its relationship with economic growth and poverty in selected developing countries.The paper highlights that there is a triangular relationship between income distribution,poverty and economic growth;while accelerated economic growth is a primary factor in reducing poverty,inequalities can constrain poverty reduction significantly.

China＇s Household Consumption Decline Amidst Rising Income Inequality： A Theoretical and Empirical Study

This paper studies the relationship between the widening urban-rural income inequality and weak household consumption demand in China. The theoretic model shows that households with higher income have lower average and marginal propensity to consume （APC and MPC）, and that the larger the income gap is, the weaker household consumption demand becomes. This paper tests the theoretical model with the panel data of 28 Chinese provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions from 1978 to 2009. The results show that with an increase of RMBIO, O00 in income, household APC drops by 25.6 percent and MPC by 7.0 percent,＂ and that if the income gap widens by one unit, household consumption rate drops by 6. 5 percentage points. Simulation results reveal that the widening urban-rural income inequality caused an extra drop of 3.42 percentage points in household consumption rate from 2000 to 2008, which accounts for 30.8 percent of the total drop in household consumption rate during that period.