Worlds Apart: A Multi-Faceted Examination of China's Urban-Rural Dichotomies and Their Implications Open Access
Brielmaier, Spencer William (2010)
Published
Abstract
Abstract
Worlds Apart: A Multi-Faceted Examination of China's Urban-Rural
Dichotomies and their Implications
By Spencer W. Brielmaier
This work examines the multi-faceted economic and social disparities that currently exist along urban/rural parameters in the People's Republic of China. The specific focus is the extent to which inequality exists in many forms, the history and policies that enabled such disparate conditions and the surrounding implications. By analyzing specific macro data, past, current and future policy, scholarly opinion and societal trends, this work aims to broaden the knowledge and academic dialogue of this issue. In spite of national improvements in nearly all areas pertaining to quality of life, certain regions/provinces/spheres in China have benefitted far more greatly than others and such disparities are largely the result of government policy and are becoming increasingly unsustainable. Inequalities pertaining to healthcare, per capita income, technological penetration, and education are examined in great detail; the findings of which are extrapolated upon in order to advance the general understanding of the phenomena of China's urban/rural dichotomies. In various areas of economic development the government has concentrated its financial resources toward those regions with the highest economic growth while relatively neglecting those with less immediate growth potential and actualized economic substance. The resulting urban/rural dichotomy continues to expand as does the potential for inequality related social unrest and subsequent national instability. As China becomes an increasingly vital component of the 21st century's interdependent world economy and emerges as a geopolitical power, it challenges the status quo of global hegemony on a variety of levels. Simultaneously those internal challenges that affect Chinese prosperity have quickly become issues of international importance. This work was written in order to assess the implications of China's internal struggle with a vast urban/rural divide, while reinforcing the importance of a perceived domestic issue as being one with international ramifications and repercussions in an ever more globalizing world.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction...1
Chapter 1: Income Inequality...14
Examining Relative Per Capita Income...16
Examining the Gini Coefficient...18
Comparing Inequality on a Percentage Basis...20
Contextualizing the Per Capita Income Divide...21
History and Causes of Income Inequality...23
Conclusions on Income Inequality...28
Chapter 2: Education Inequality...31
Contextualizing the Challenges of
Education...33
Education in the People's Republic of China...34
Reform Era Education Policy...36
Post-Reform Inequality...34
Conclusions on Education Reform...45
Chapter 3: Urban/Rural Healthcare Disparity...48
Healthcare Inequality During the Reform
Era...51
Consequences and Concerns of Unequal Healthcare Funding...57
Conclusions on Reform Era Healthcare...61
Chapter 4: Technology Inequality...62
Technology Growth in China...64
User Demographics...68
Urban/Rural ICT Use Inequality...69
Conclusions on ICT Growth and Disparity...72
Chapter 5: Policy Moving Forward...74
Conclusion...88
Works Cited...101
Appendix Material
Appendix 1: Increasing Income Inequality in China...92
Appendix 2: Derivation and Decomposition of Gini Coefficients...93
Appendix 3: Decomposition of Income Inequality in China...94
Appendix 4: Average Per Capita Heath Care Expenditure...95
Appendix 5: Number of Hospital Beds in Urban and Rural China...96
Appendix 6: Medical Spending Per Capita, by Income Decile, 1995...97
Appendix 7: Number of Internet Users and Penetration Rate...98
Appendix 8: Penetration Rates by Country...99
Appendix 9: Income Structure of Internet Users...99
Appendix 10: Comparison in Urban and Rural Structure of Users...100
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