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Biographical note
Edited by Björn Gustafsson, Professor Emeritus, Department of Social Work, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and Institute for the Study of Labour (IZA), Germany and Xiuna Yang, Senior Research Fellow, China Development Research Foundation (CDRF), China<i>‘This book offers a unique analysis of one of China’s major challenges. The best specialists have come together to present the question of inequality in all its aspects. This is essential reading for understanding the issues facing China today and the policies that need to be implemented.’</i>
- Mary-Françoise Renard, University Clermont Auvergne, France,
<i>‘China’s indisputable success in growth over the past 30+ years has also been accompanied by a less-appreciated sharp rise in inequality. This Handbook on Inequality in China is a MUST READ for anyone interested in the future of China’s continued development and emergence into the global economy. There is no other work, past or present, that addresses China’s inequality in the depth and breadth that the authors of this Handbook do.’</i>
- Scott Rozelle, Stanford University, USA,
<i>‘Lifting hundreds of millions out of poverty, China’s economic growth and market reform have had a significant impact on conditions of inequality. This richly informed Handbook brings together an international group of scholars to analyze the transformations and current state of the Chinese economy and society. Its focus on distributional issues and the role of policy in shaping the lives of individuals and households offers an accessible entrée to understanding income, wealth, employment, educational, health, housing, and other dimensions of inequality. The Handbook also makes a notable contribution in highlighting key sources of data about Chinese households.’</i>
- Weiping Wu, Columbia University in the City of New York, USA,
<i>‘Gustafsson and Yang’s </i>Handbook on Inequality in China<i> is a must read for anyone with an interest in inequality analysis, especially in a Chinese context. With an impressive array of expert contributors covering a comprehensive range of inequality-related topics, its 19 chapters constitute a major contribution to the literature.’</i>
- Gordon Anderson, University of Toronto, Canada,
Björn Gustafsson and Xiuna Yang bring together a range of leading specialists from China and the wider global community to discuss the country’s profound transformation since the late 1980s. They outline how China has transitioned from a low-income country to an upper middle-income country, illustrating its shift from a planned economy to one in which the state plays a considerably smaller role. Contributing authors explore China’s rapid urbanization and the impact of this on living standards and the wellbeing of citizens. The Handbook also examines educational access and child inequality, delving into recent policies on housing as well as trends in household wealth, health and happiness.
The Handbook on Inequality in China is a vital resource for students and academics in Chinese studies, economics, social policy and sociology. Policymakers will greatly benefit from its breadth of research into the economic complexities of life in contemporary China.