We investigate whether Chinese household incomes have caught up to those of the middle class in the developed world …. Using nationwide survey data for 2002 and 2013, we find considerable catch up. Defining the global middle class as being … neither poor nor rich in the developed world, we estimate that China's global middle class grew rapidly after 2002, reaching …

We examine whether economic downturns reshape the distribution of population income giving rise to a "middle-class … squeeze." We test this hypothesis using alternative definitions of middle-class, such as income-based measures from the … recessions do not produce a middle-class squeeze overall, the unanticipated shocks resulting from the Great Recession did …

This paper studies the effects of globalisation on the income share of the middle class. Our findings suggest that … globalisation, proxied by the KOF Economic Globalisation Index, reduces the income share of the middle class. The income share of … and inequality measures. Our results are robust for alternative definitions of the middle-class income share and hold for …