We examine the relationship between atmospheric pollution, measured as sulphur dioxide emissions, environmental disasters, traffic congestion, access to parkland and well-being in urban China, using a large survey administered across 30 cities in 2003. We find that in cities with high levels of...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors predicting which employees receive employer-funded commercial pension insurance contributions in Shanghai's zhenbao (town insurance) program, introduced by the Shanghai Government in 2003. Design/methodology/approach – A series of...

This article measures education inequality between the coastal and inland provinces and compares it with rural-urban educational inequality in China, using Gini education coefficients and decomposition analysis. The main finding of the article is that disparities in access to education between...

This note examines the relationship between inequality and happiness in urban China using a large-scale survey administered in 31 cities in September 2002. We find that those who perceive income distribution to be unequal report lower levels of happiness, although results differ between high and...

This article draws on a survey of urban Chinese workers in 2005 to estimate the private returns to education and the income elasticity of education. Differences in the rates of return to schooling are examined between gender and between age groups. The estimated returns to schooling are found to...