GEP Research Paper 06/45
Inequality and Instability: an Empirical Investigation into Social Discontent in Urban China
Lina Song and Simon Appleton
Abstract
Instability, proxied by individual level data on satisfaction, is measured, its association with inequality is investigated, and the socio-economic determinants of overall satisfaction are modelled. A very recent national representative household survey (2002) with a module designed to serve this purpose has been the statistics source of this study. The results point to the role of income growth in quelling social discontent. Membership of the Communist Party and political participation also play a positive role. By contrast, unemployment exerts a strong depressive effect, as does exclusion from state welfare provision.
Issued in December 2006.
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