We explore the relationship between the level of village inequality in 1986, and the subsequent growth of household … incomes from 1986 to 1999. Using a detailed household-level data set from rural China, we find robust evidence that initial … correlated with household income growth: Whatever factor drives the inequality-growth relationship only operates in the long run …

The path of income inequality in post-reform China has been widely interpreted as "China's Kuznets curve." We show that … agrarian policy reforms. Our findings warn against any presumption that the Kuznets process will assure that China has passed …