China: Spectacular Growth and Inequality

A. Noel Doherty¹, F. Victor Lu^2
(1. Marketing Department, Tobin College of Business, St. John’s University, Queens, NY 11439, USA;
2. CIS/DS Department, Tobin College of Business, St. John’s University, Queens, NY 11439, USA)

Abstract: Economic growth in China has proceeded at a dramatic pace over the past thirty plus years. In this period, China adopted a number of economic policies and reforms that made significant and continuous economic progress possible. Much of the population benefited from the reforms but a large part of the population remains below or near the poverty line. There are vast differences in the geographical distribution of income. In this paper we will consider (1) the factors most responsible for China’s enormous economic expansion; (2) income inequality; and (3) current government policies and reforms to promote a more equitable distribution of income.

Key words: growth; inequality; convergence; reform; rebalancing and reform

JBE codes: D31, D63, E50, E51, F63, O10