Income inequality and poverty in urban China: evidence from survey data

Abstract

This thesis investigates income inequality and poverty in urban China using survey data from 2002. It shows that in urban China, income in the coastal region is less equally distributed than in the interior region, although social welfare is higher. Developed cities have more inequality than less developed cities, but they also have a higher level of social welfare. Further decomposition analysis indicates that intragroup inequality accounts for the dominant part of overall inequality no matter how groups are categorized - by region, by city level, by gender, or by education. There is a significant difference in the incidence of poverty between interior regions and coastal regions, with the interior region having a higher headcount ratio and a greater poverty gap ratio. It is also found that developed cities have lower poverty than less developed cities.