Market Transition, Industrialization, and Social Mobility Trends in Post-Revolution China

Abstract

Stratification scholars have long speculated about the influences of political institutions and economic development on intergenerational social mobility. China provides a unique opportunity to evaluate these speculations, as it has experienced rapid industrial expansion as well as the demise of socialism since its economic reform that began in 1978. Analyzing intergenerational data from six comparable, nationally representative surveys between 1996 and 2012, we uncover two countervailing social mobility trends in post-revolution China. On the one hand, there is evidence of a decline in social fluidity following China’s transition from state socialism to a market economy, as the link between origin and destination in vertical social status has significantly strengthened. On the other hand, horizontal mobility between the agricultural and nonagricultural sectors has increased sharply during the country’s rapid industrialization. Despite its recent decline, social fluidity in China is still much higher than that in mature capitalist societies. Moreover, cross-national comparisons reveal that a faster pace of industrialization is associated with greater horizontal mobility between the farming and non-farming classes. Finally, mobility in China is characterized by disproportionate flows between the farming and the managerial/professional classes and between farming and self-employment—patterns that are unique products of the Chinese household registration (hukou) system.