This paper studies the income inequality and economic development relationship by using unbalanced panel data of OECD and non-OECD countries(regions)for the period 1962-2003.The nonparametric estimation results show t...This paper studies the income inequality and economic development relationship by using unbalanced panel data of OECD and non-OECD countries(regions)for the period 1962-2003.The nonparametric estimation results show that income inequality in OECD countries is almost on the backside of the inverted-U relationship,while non-OECD countries are approximately on the foreside,except that the relationship in both country groups shows an upturn at a high level of development.Development has an indirect effect on inequality through control variables,but the modes are different in the two country groups.The model specification tests show that the relationship is not necessarily captured by the conventional quadratic function.The cubic and fourthdegree polynomials,respectively,fit the OECD and non-OECD country groups best.Our finding is robust regardless of whether the specification uses control variables.Development plays a dominant role in mitigating inequality.展开更多
In order to reduce the regional differentials or narrow the gap in economic development between eastern and western areas and prevent the intensification of contradictions resulting from the regional inequality during...In order to reduce the regional differentials or narrow the gap in economic development between eastern and western areas and prevent the intensification of contradictions resulting from the regional inequality during the development process, the government of China launched the Great Campaign of Western Development （GCWD） in 2000. In this paper, we will evaluate the effects of the first 10 years＇ GCWD and use the latest Chinese annual data from 1978 to 2010 to investigate the problem of regional differentials in the development process, evaluate the effects of GCWD policy and test whether there is a regional Kuznets inverted-U curve in the regional development of China. The result shows that there are both good and bad news： the good news is that the inverted U-shaped curve of absolute differential between eastern and western areas finally emerges （the previous studies showed that the inverted-U curve did not appear and the differentials between eastern and western areas became worse） and the bad news is that the differential is in the first half of the inverted U-shaped curve in our choice of time span （1978-2010）, that is, it is still in the situation of deterioration, and the turning better point will emerge in 2025. Although the western areas have benefitted from GCWD, the absolute gap has been still widened. To narrow the gap, the western areas should accelerate the industrial development and the government should adjust the policy and make more efforts to support the development of the industry in the western areas, especially cultivate and support the development of the western characteristic and advantageous industry rather than just supporting the construction of infrastructure in the western areas.展开更多
基金Research funding from the City University of Hong Kong under Strategic Research Grant (Project No. 700233)the China National Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 7097113)
文摘This paper studies the income inequality and economic development relationship by using unbalanced panel data of OECD and non-OECD countries(regions)for the period 1962-2003.The nonparametric estimation results show that income inequality in OECD countries is almost on the backside of the inverted-U relationship,while non-OECD countries are approximately on the foreside,except that the relationship in both country groups shows an upturn at a high level of development.Development has an indirect effect on inequality through control variables,but the modes are different in the two country groups.The model specification tests show that the relationship is not necessarily captured by the conventional quadratic function.The cubic and fourthdegree polynomials,respectively,fit the OECD and non-OECD country groups best.Our finding is robust regardless of whether the specification uses control variables.Development plays a dominant role in mitigating inequality.
文摘In order to reduce the regional differentials or narrow the gap in economic development between eastern and western areas and prevent the intensification of contradictions resulting from the regional inequality during the development process, the government of China launched the Great Campaign of Western Development （GCWD） in 2000. In this paper, we will evaluate the effects of the first 10 years＇ GCWD and use the latest Chinese annual data from 1978 to 2010 to investigate the problem of regional differentials in the development process, evaluate the effects of GCWD policy and test whether there is a regional Kuznets inverted-U curve in the regional development of China. The result shows that there are both good and bad news： the good news is that the inverted U-shaped curve of absolute differential between eastern and western areas finally emerges （the previous studies showed that the inverted-U curve did not appear and the differentials between eastern and western areas became worse） and the bad news is that the differential is in the first half of the inverted U-shaped curve in our choice of time span （1978-2010）, that is, it is still in the situation of deterioration, and the turning better point will emerge in 2025. Although the western areas have benefitted from GCWD, the absolute gap has been still widened. To narrow the gap, the western areas should accelerate the industrial development and the government should adjust the policy and make more efforts to support the development of the industry in the western areas, especially cultivate and support the development of the western characteristic and advantageous industry rather than just supporting the construction of infrastructure in the western areas.
