Economic Growth, Income Distribution and Poverty Reduction in Contemporary China

Economic Growth, Income Distribution and Poverty Reduction in Contemporary China
Author: Shujie Yao
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 439
Release: 2004-11-10
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1134321406

China has experienced over a quarter century of rapid economic growth, which has had a phenomenal impact on the global economy. Entering into the twenty-first century implies that China has begun a new phase of economic and social development. Yao reviews the economic development history of contemporary China from 1949 to the present, paying special attention to growth, inequality and poverty reduction. A real Chinese economic miracle should have two important features: high income growth and a fair distribution system so that poverty can be eradicated.

The Quality of Growth and Poverty Reduction in China

The Quality of Growth and Poverty Reduction in China
Author: Xiaolin Wang
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 129
Release: 2014-05-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3642363466

The rapid growth over the past three decades has been instrumental in lifting over 600 million people in China out of poverty, and people want to know why and how it happened. International evidence has made it clear that a global economy based on current patterns of consumption and production is simply not sustainable. Policymakers have repeatedly been advised that economic growth, poverty reduction, equity, and environment and resource sustainability must be integrated into national development strategies. What about China? The principle limitation of existing China-focused economic studies lies in its imbalances from the perspective of analysis and the impact of growth on poverty and inequality. A limited number of studies are devoted to structural transformation and China’s structural imbalances, social disparities and the impact of science and technology on growth and productivity. This book addresses the alarming environmental consequences of China’s growth patterns within an overall quality growth framework. It contributes to the economic growth and development literature and current policy discourse on China by expanding the policy analysis to include several important new areas using the most recent data available. This includes analyzing the macroeconomic factors that underlie the need for China to advance its economic transformation; examining how social inequalities, including health, education and gender, have evolved and presenting the scale of environmental problems associated with China’s growth miracle. This report represents the first attempt to integrate the issue of environmental sustainability and climate change into the quality growth context, providing readers with a comprehensive account of China’s success and challenges in its three decades of rapid economic growth.

Inequality and Growth in Modern China

Inequality and Growth in Modern China
Author: Guanghua Wan
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2008-04-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0199535191

This volume provides comprehensive, up to date coverage of inequality and poverty issues in China. Going beyond standard data sources and using state-of-art research techniques, this volume substantiates a number of findings and conclusions and ensures policy recommendations are reliable and robust.

Partially Awakened Giants

Partially Awakened Giants
Author: Shubham Chaudhuri
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 34
Release: 2006
Genre: Absolute Poverty
ISBN:

Abstract: The paper examines the ways in which recent economic growth has been uneven in China and India and what this has meant for inequality and poverty. Drawing on analyses based on existing household survey data and aggregate data from official sources, the authors show that growth has indeed been uneven-geographically, sectorally, and at the household level-and that this has meant uneven progress against poverty, less poverty reduction than might have been achieved had growth been more balanced, and an increase in income inequality. The paper then examines why growth was uneven and why this should be of concern. The discussion is structured around the idea that there are both "good" and "bad" inequalities-drivers and dimensions of inequality and uneven growth that are good or bad in terms of what they imply for both equity and long-term growth and development. The authors argue that the development paths of both China and India have been influenced by, and have generated, both types of inequalities and that while good inequalities-most notably those that reflect the role of economic incentives-have been critical to the growth experience thus far, there is a risk that bad inequalities-those that prevent individuals from connecting to markets and limit investment and accumulation of human capital and physical capital-may undermine the sustainability of growth in the coming years. The authors argue that policies are needed that preserve the good inequalities-continued incentives for innovation and investment-but reduce the scope for bad ones, notably through investments in human capital and rural infrastructure that help the poor connect to markets.

China's (uneven) Progress Against Poverty

China's (uneven) Progress Against Poverty
Author: Shaohua Chen
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 57
Release: 2004
Genre: China
ISBN:

"While the incidence of extreme poverty in China fell dramatically over 1980-2001, progress was uneven over time and across provinces. Rural areas accounted for the bulk of the gains to the poor, though migration to urban areas helped. The pattern of growth mattered. Rural economic growth was far more important to national poverty reduction than urban economic growth. Agriculture played a far more important role than the secondary or tertiary sources of GDP. Rising inequality within the rural sector greatly slowed poverty reduction. Provinces starting with relatively high inequality saw slower progress against poverty, due both to lower growth and a lower growth elasticity of poverty reduction. Taxation of farmers and inflation hurt the poor. External trade had little short-term impact. This paper a product of the Poverty Team, Development Research Group is part of a larger effort in the group to understand the causes of country success in poverty reduction"--World Bank web site.

People's Livelihood In Contemporary China: Changes, Challenges And Prospects

People's Livelihood In Contemporary China: Changes, Challenges And Prospects
Author: Peilin Li
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 247
Release: 2013-12-26
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9814522279

Since being established in 1949 — and especially since the reform and opening up 30 years ago — China has experienced the most drastic changes ever in its 5000-year history. During this period, China has transformed from an agricultural society into an emerging, dynamic, and industrialized nation and has undergone rapid urbanization. The standard of living of the Chinese continues to rise and is taking rapid strides forward to a higher level of comprehensive well-being.China's development over the past 60 years has indicated that the livelihood of the people is a key factor in economic and social construction in contemporary China. Having sufficient food and clothing is the first step in improving the livelihood of the people. A higher level of well-being can be achieved only after the basic needs are met. This “higher level of well-being” comprises of employment as the foundation, education as the key point, income distribution as the source, social security as the support, and public safety as an assurance.This book offers fresh perspectives by prestigious scholars from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Based on a unique source of data which is available only to Chinese scholars, this book showcases key issues on people's livelihood and social construction in Contemporary China, including income disparity, social security system, employment situation, post-80s generation and so on.

Eliminating Poverty Through Development in China

Eliminating Poverty Through Development in China
Author: China Development Research Foundation
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 269
Release: 2019-09-10
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1134042108

In recent years China has achieved impressive economic growth, and also made remarkable progress in human development. However, contemporary China is still faced with the great challenge of widespread poverty. This not only constitutes a barrier against China’s pursuit of sustainable economic growth, but also poses a potential threat to China’s attempts to construct a harmonious society in the future. This book, written by three renowned poverty-reduction experts under the aegis of the China Development Research Foundation - one of China’s leading think-tanks - and drawing on the research of over twenty of China’s top scholars in this field, examines China’s efforts to eliminate poverty through development. It analyses all of the key issues, providing a review of China’s past record in poverty alleviation, comparing this with the experiences of other countries, identifying the new characteristics and trends in poverty in recent years, and discussing the factors responsible. It assesses the objectives and success of the poverty alleviation policies adopted by the Chinese government in a comprehensive way, and puts forward suggestions for policy makers. Overall, this book is a valuable account of China’s own thinking on its problems of poverty, and the best ways to tackle it and achieve sustainable economic development.

Rural Poverty, Growth, and Inequality in China

Rural Poverty, Growth, and Inequality in China
Author: Yangyang Shen
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 292
Release: 2022-02-24
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9811696551

This book aims to empirically and theoretically study how the economic growth and inequality affected China’s rural poverty since China’s reform and opening-up. Apart from the trickle-down effect, some empirical researches show that rising inequality usually links with unfairly shared of the economic growth, which is not good for the poor, and this book particularly concerns with the impact of inequality on poverty reduction. In 11 chapters, it leads readers to review the dynamic changes of rural poverty in China, and estimates rural poverty by various methods, for instance, with analysis by monetary poverty (including income and expenditure poverty), multidimensional poverty, absolute poverty, and relative poverty. Especially attention is paid to apply the “growth-inequality-poverty triangle” model for long-term poverty dynamic changes evaluation. The book revisits poverty reduction strategies in different development periods for rural China and evaluates the poverty eradication achievements stage-by-stage under different analytical methods, in order to provide an objective assessment. Among the chapters, pro-poor growth, Shapley decomposition, poverty elasticity, density estimation, multidimensional poverty analysis, and policy simulation methods are applied for both national wide discussion and rural sub-group heterogeneity analysis. In addition to students, teachers, and researchers in the areas of development, economic growth, equity, and welfare, the book is also of great interest to policy makers, planners, and non‐government agencies who are concerned with understanding and addressing poverty-related issues in the developing countries.

Four Decades of Poverty Reduction in China

Four Decades of Poverty Reduction in China
Author: World Bank;Development Research Center of the State Council, the People's Republic of China
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 170
Release: 2022-09-22
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1464818789

Regardless of the poverty line used, the speed and scale of China’s poverty reduction is historically unprecedented. Over the past 40 years, the number of people in China with incomes below US$1.90 per day—the international poverty line as defined by the World Bank to track global extreme poverty—has fallen by close to 800 million, accounting for almost three-quarters of the global reduction in extreme poverty. In 2021, China declared that it had eradicated extreme poverty according to its national poverty threshold, and that it had built a “moderately prosperous society in all respects.†? However, a significant number of people remain vulnerable, with incomes below a threshold more typically used to define poverty in upper-middle-income countries. China has set a new goal of approaching common prosperity by 2035, which can help keep the policy focus on the vulnerable population. Four Decades of Poverty Reduction in China: Drivers, Insights for the World, and the Way Ahead explores the key drivers of China’s poverty alleviation achievements and considers the lessons of China’s experience for other developing countries. The report also makes suggestions for China’s future policies. China’s approach to poverty reduction was based on two pillars. The first aimed for broad-based economic transformation to open new economic opportunities and raise average incomes. The second was the recognition that targeted support was needed to alleviate persistent poverty; this support was initially provided to disadvantaged areas and later to individual households. The success of China’s economic development and the associated reduction of poverty also benefited from effective governance, which helped coordinate multiple government agencies and induce cooperation from nongovernment stakeholders. To illustrate the role of broad-based economic transformation for poverty alleviation, separate sections of the report analyze growing agricultural productivity, incremental industrialization, managed urbanization and rural-to-urban migration, and the role of infrastructure.

China's Growth and Poverty Reduction

China's Growth and Poverty Reduction
Author: Shaohua Chen
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 30
Release: 2001
Genre: China
ISBN:

The authors investigate recent rends in poverty, and inequality in China, decomposing data on poverty reduction to see who has benefited most from China's economic growth. They find that, by several measures, poverty declined significantly in the 1990s, across a wide range of poverty lines, except that a slight slowdown in China's export, and economic growth in 1997-99 might have hurt the poor. There was a slight increase in the poverty headcount between 1997 and 1999, using lower poverty lines, and a worsening of the poverty gap index. Average per capita consumption declined for farmers, especially those living in poor regions such as Gans, Heilongjiang, Sanxi, and Xinjiang. It is unclear whether this decline was attributable to Asia's economic crisis. Economic growth contributed significantly to poverty reduction, but rising inequality worsened both rural, and urban income distributions - except during the Asian crisis, when the distribution remained relatively stable. The poor benefited far less than the rich from economic growth. Income growth reached, or exceeded the average growth rate only for the richest twenty percent of the population. The authors then examine the relationship between human capital, growth, and poverty. They find that the accumulation of human capital had slowed, and that there is a huge regional disparity in human capital stock. And the distribution of education is becoming increasingly skewed. China must address this problem if it is to succeed in attacking poverty, and inequality.