Abstract
China’s rapid economic transformation is similar in some ways to those that have occurred in other rapidly developing nations. Is the pattern in China the same? Cross-country macrodata are used to compare class self-identification transition in China with other similar countries. Survey microdata from two sources are used to test the comparative pattern to test the determinants of such identification in both China and around the world. The changing structure of self-identification that occurs in many rapidly growing economies are found to be absent in China. In fact, as China has continued to grow, such change as has occured is found to be downward, despite the immense material improvement there. Objective data on income distribution in China do not explain this phenomenon, but distinct features of China's urban real estate market might.
Highlights
China’s rapid economic transformation is similar in some ways to those that have occurred in other rapidly developing nations
Sufficiently strong economic growth over an extended period of time is synonymous in the minds of many with “economic development,” which is a process characterized by many other social changes
A rapidly “developing” economy, in addition to increased per capita income, often sees significant political and environmental changes and such changes in social organization as less of the workforce found in agriculture, more people working in the formal sector of the economy, demographic transition (Hafner and Mayer-Foulkes 2013), and a greater reliance on formal titling in property and credit markets (De Soto 2000)
Summary
China’s rapid economic transformation is similar in some ways to those that have occurred in other rapidly developing nations. A rapidly “developing” economy, in addition to increased per capita income, often sees (whether as cause or effect) significant political and environmental changes and such changes in social organization as less of the workforce found in agriculture, more people working in the formal sector of the economy, demographic transition (Hafner and Mayer-Foulkes 2013), and a greater reliance on formal titling in property and credit markets (De Soto 2000) It is marked by a change in class structure (Easterly 2001), with more people identifiable as being in the upper and especially middle classes (Landes 1998). To a first approximation, as societies develop, more of their members feel more of an identification with the middle class and its values This is partly driven by the aforementioned changes in average material standard of living, while others, e.g., McCloskey (2010), posit causation in the other direction.
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