Faithin Omaha eBook Collection

Download or read book Labor Market Distortions, Rural-urban Inequality, and the Opening of People's Republic of China's Economy written by Thomas Warren Hertel and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2004 with total page 41 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The authors find that reform of the Hukou system has the most significant impact on aggregate economic activity, as well as income distribution. Whereas the land market reform primarily benefits the agricultural households, this reform's primary beneficiaries are the rural households currently sending temporary migrants to the city. By reducing the implicit tax on temporary migrants, Hukou reform boosts their welfare and contributes to increased rural-urban migration. The combined effect of both factor market reforms is to reduce the urban-rural income ratio dramatically, from 2.59 in 2007 under the authors' baseline scenario to 2.27. When viewed as a combined policy package, along with WTO accession, rather than increasing inequality in China, the combined impact of product and factor market reforms significantly reduces rural-urban income inequality. This is an important outcome in an economy currently experiencing historic levels of rural-urban inequality"--Abstract.