Urban-rural Income Inequality Research Articles

Will China's WTO accession worsen farm household incomes?

Many fear China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) will impoverish its farmers via greater import competition in its agricultural markets. We explore that possibility bearing in mind that, even if producer prices of some (land-intensive) farm products fall, prices of other (labor-intensive) farm and nonfarm products could rise. New estimates, from the global, economy-wide numerical simulation model known as Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP), of the likely changes in agricultural and other product prices as a result of WTO accession, are drawn on to examine empirically the real income implications of China's WTO accession. The results suggest farm–nonfarm income inequality may well rise within China but rural–urban income inequality need not. The article concludes with some policy suggestions for alleviating any pockets of farm household poverty that may emerge as a result of WTO accession.

Regional Unemployment in Transitional China: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis

The purpose of this paper is to explain the pattern of regional unemployment in transitional China. A model is developed to explore how urban unemployment in the provinces is influenced by peasants' wages, formal sector wages, and the size of the formal sector. Evidence from panel data suggests that a significant indicator of high unemployment rates is greater Urban–Rural Income Inequality within the province. The hypothesis is that the urban–rural income gap produces migration, and more rural migrants substitute for urban workers, causing further urban unemployment. Since the economic reforms began in 1978, the non-state owned enterprises have been carrying an increasing weight in the economy, and they have contributed significantly to the rapid economic growth of China. Empirical evidence shows that economic reforms have reduced unemployment. The provinces that are still heavily dependent on the state sector are therefore more likely to experience higher unemployment.

Role of Rural-Urban Income Inequality in Fertility Reductions: Cases of Turkey, Taiwan, and Morocco

Studies pertaining to the relationship between population growth and economic development use the aggregate per capita income or energy consumption to measure the general well-being of the population. The Lorenz curve, as a measure of inequality, indicates a larger dispersion from the line perfect equality for the less developed countries compared with the more developed ones. This means that, for the less developed countries, a large proportion of the population subsists on an income which is even lower than the quite inadequate national average. The distinction between average well-being and the well-being of the average man is more and more recognized by the countries of the Third World as being an important criterion for evaluating the success of development plans. The importance of distributive justice as opposed to uncontrolled economic development has been brought to a sharper focus by the development planners of the Third World countries. Previous studies have demonstrated the importance of incorporating the nature of distribution of income as an important intervening variable in the study of the overall relationship between population growth and economic development.' Following the lead of Kuznets, I developed a measure of income inequality which represents the difference between rural and urban per capita income.2 This measure was justified in terms of the distinctiveness of urban and rural sectors in the development process. The per capita incomes of rural and urban sectors were derived by dividing the gross national products originating in the agricultural and the industrial