Using three comparable national representative household surveys for China in 1988, 1995 and 2002, this paper provides micro level evidence of a policy of absolute regressive taxation and an inverted welfare system. It reviews the economic effects of taxes and subsides and shows that a dual and...

China’s impressive growth has been accompanied by increasing inequality and a widening rural– urban divide. This paper identifies and examines nine major dimensions of this divide: income, consumption, education, healthcare, employment, child care, pensions, access to public services and...

The Lewis dual economy model is widely recognised in development economics for its profound explanatory power and applications in economic development. However, there remain some confusions and ambiguities, especially with respect to the definition of surplus labour and the wage determination...