Growth with Inequality: An International Comparison on Income Distribution

“China’s economic growth and structural change in the reform era and its acceleration in the early twenty first century are reshaping the global economy. Perceptions of whether the fruits of growth have been distributed equitably will determine whether growth retains its priority. This interesting and important book sheds new light on these big questions. Some of the new insights are surprising.”– Professor Ross Garnaut, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, The University of Melbourne

“This book shows that income disparity is a result of economic and social development and that increasing inequality may lead to social and political instability. This, in turn, is likely to affect the economic development process. This is particularly the case in China where increasing income disparity is pushing the country to the tipping point that may affect China’s modernization process.”– Professor Li Shi, Beijing Normal University

“This book provides a useful assessment of growth and inequality in a rapidly changing world. Several chapters focus on the growing concerns with rising inequality, the cause and effect of such inequality, and its relation to overall growth and poverty reduction. This book will assist the international development community in understanding inequality in today’s world as well as providing a useful pedagogical tool for policy makers and other researchers.” —Shaohua Chen, Senior Statistician, The Development Economics Research Group of the World Bank

This book shows the inconsistencies of high growth and increasing inequality with case studies of 11 countries and regions, and OECD members based on original household surveys. It indicates the seriousness of income inequality, explores factors that caused the inequality and analyzes their economic and social consequences.

The book raises three key questions: (1) Can high growth shrink inequality gradually? (2) Can government intervention be efficient to equalize income distribution? (3) Is income disparity an engine or an obstacle of high growth?