Edward Elgar Publishing Market Development in China: Spillovers, Growth and Inequality (Advances in Chinese Economic Studies series)

Market Development in China presents the analysis of leading specialists on the causes, benefits and problems resulting from China's transition to a market economy. As the authors illustrate, it is generally recognized that in the last 25 years China has achieved a rate of economic growth unmatched in any of the world's major countries. However, this growth has been unequally shared, so that by the year 2000, China also exhibited what to many observers was an alarming degree of income inequality at individual, sectoral, and regional levels. This books deals with several facets of China's spectacular economic growth and its rising income inequality. It is shown that geographical and sectoral distribution of social services has increased the degree of inequality among Chinese households. On the positive side though, there is evidence that regionalization of commodity markets has decreased, promoting pricing equality, which is surely a cornerstone of income equality. Analysis is also presented on regional technology spillovers, rural-urban labor migration, and the relationship between FDI and the ability of state-owned enterprises to cope with the pressures of hard budget constraints. The book provides updated evidence on China's social and economic inequalities and their causes. The contributions make up a cohesive and valuable study that will appeal to scholars and researchers at many levels of academe in the fields of economics, Asian studies - and Chinese studies in particular - as well as development economists. Review 'This book. . . presents the most insightful and comprehensive examination of current Chinese market development. . . The book is designed for use in a wide-range of studies on Chinese economic development, especially in market development, technology diffusion as well as education inequality. Each independent paper delivers a different research field, so it has wide appeal. Students and scholars who are studying or conducting research on Chinese economic development will find this book of particular interest.' -- Jiandong Chen, Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy About the Author Edited by Belton M. Fleisher, Ohio State University, US, Haizheng Li, Georgia Institute of Technology, US and Hunan University, China and Shunfeng Song, University of Nevada, Reno, US