Urbanization, Inequality, and Poverty in the People's Republic of China
Zhang, Yuan | July 2016
Abstract
Relying on the present literature, official statistics, and household survey data in the People's Republic of China, this paper summarizes research findings on the relationship between urbanization, urban'rural inequality, and poverty, and provides further empirical evidence on the role of urbanization and government policies in urban poverty. Several conclusions can be drawn from. First, urbanization has a significant effect on reducing both poverty of rural residents and poverty of migrating peasants, and, consequently, has a positive effect on narrowing the rural'urban income or consumption gap. Urban labor markets play an important role in this effect. Second, urbanization is positively correlated with urban poverty. This can be explained by the competition between migrating peasants and urban workers in the labor market, and the failure of the government's anti-poverty policies in urban areas. Third, the existence of an informal sector has a negative effect on the poverty of urban citizens. Being employed by the informal sector significantly increases the probability of falling into poverty for urban citizens. Fourth, the minimum wage has a positive effect on reducing urban poverty, while the effect of other policies, such as Di Bao and the minimum living standard, is limited.
Citation
Zhang, Yuan. 2016. Urbanization, Inequality, and Poverty in the People's Republic of China. © Asian Development Bank Institute. http://hdl.handle.net/11540/6621.Keywords
Development Indicators
Environmental Indicators
Economic Indicators
Educational Indicators
Demographic Indicators
Health Indicators
Disadvantaged Groups
Low Income Groups
Socially Disadvantaged Children
Rural Conditions
Rural Development
Social Conditions
Urban Development
Urban Sociology
Urban Plans
Urbanism
Urban agriculture
Economic Development
Rural Urban Migration
Cities
Alleviating Poverty
Anti-Poverty
Extreme Poverty
Fight Against Poverty
Global Poverty
Health Aspects Of Poverty
Indicators Of Poverty
Participatory Poverty Assessment
Poverty Eradication
Poverty Analysis
Poverty In Developing Countries
Poverty Reduction Efforts
Urban Poverty
Urbanization
Urban Services
Urban Projects
Urban Problems
Urban Poverty
Urban Policy
Urban Planning
Urban Infrastructure
Urban Health
Urban Government
Urban Economic Development
Urban Development Finance
Urban Development
Urban Conditions
Urban Communities
Urban Population
Poor
Economic forecasting
Health expectancy
Social groups
Political participation
Distribution of income
Inequality of income
Developing countries
Rural community development
Mass society
Social change
Social policy
Social stability
Population
Sustainable development
Peasantry
Urban policy
Urban renewal
Local government
Urban renewal
Urban housing
Urban sociology
Transit systems
Rapid transit
Public transit
Mass transit
Show allCollapse