The changes in the employment structure in rural China are studied with a focus on off farm self-employment. Data from the China Household Income Project surveys covering the same 14 provinces from 1988 to 2018 are used. We find that the proportion of adults in rural China with self-employment...

Using household data from 1988 to 2018, we confirm that the increase in income inequality in China has come to a halt in recent years but show that inequality in wealth and consumption continues to increase. We report a clear convergence of inequality across the different dimensions of income,...

Available data indicates a growing urban-rural income gap (the ratio of mean urban to rural incomes) with a significant increase from around 1.8 in the late 1980's to over 3 today. These estimates do not take into account the higher volatility of rural incomes in China. Current literature based...