ECX3550 - ECX5550 - Business in Asia

The following figure (published in the Journal of Economic Literature, 2022) shows the correlation between urban and rural disparity (blue dotted line plotted along the left axis) and the overall inequality in the country (red squares along the right y-axis), since China implemented market-oriented reforms in 1978.

3.5- 0.5 3.3- Urban-rural disparity Gini coefficient 3.1- - 0.45 2.9- 0.4 2.7- 2.5- 0.35 2.3- 2.1 - 0.3 1.9- 0.25 1.7- 1.5 0.2 197 1980 1982 1984 12 198 1988 94 1990 199 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 14 20 20 Figure 3 from Zhang (2022)