Research On Welfare Inequality In China Under Multidimensional Framework

Since the Reform and Opening,with the rapid development of the economy,income inequality has become increasingly prominent.According to relevant data of the National Bureau of Statistics,the Gini coefficient has risen from 0.382 in 1988 to 0.467 in 2017,and its value has remained above 0.45 in recent years,which is still above the international warning line.With the deterioration of income gap,there are also great differences in housing,education and medical treatment among residents,which leads to the aggravation of housing inequality,education inequality and health inequality,and deepens the complexity of the inequality in China.Therefore,the inequality in any dimension can't represent the overall inequality,the measurement of inequality should be extended from the one-dimensional field to the multidimensional welfare field,and the economic factors and non-economic factors that affect the level of individual welfare incorporated into the analytical framework to construct a single value index of the multi-dimensional space,which is used as the measurement index of welfare inequality in China.This paper attempts to explore the current situation and causes of welfare inequality in China from the perspective of micro data,and puts forward some suggestions on how to reduce welfare inequality.Based on the China Family Panel Studies(CFPS)from 2010 to 2016,this paper studies the welfare inequality in China from four dimensions:income,education,health and housing.Firstly,this paper studies the changes of inequality in different dimensions to illustrate the complexity of inequality at the present stage.Secondly,the measurement of inequality is expanded from the one-dimensional field to the multidimensional field;this paper chooses Tsui index and multidimensional Gini coefficient to explore the changing trend of welfare inequality in recent years.Thirdly,based on the factor decomposition method of welfare inequality,this paper analyzes the reasons for the formation of welfare inequality in China,and reasonably quantifies the contribution degree of the correlation between dimensions and different dimensions to welfare inequality.Finally,from a dynamic perspective,whether China's short-term welfare inequality has been transformed into long-term welfare inequality.In the first part,this paper firstly introduces the background and significance of the study of welfare inequality in China,then comb the relevant literature about welfare inequality from several aspects of one-dimension and multi-dimension,and finally summarize the research ideas,framework and the possible innovations.In the second part,this paper mainly introduces the concept related to welfare inequality.Based on the development process of welfare economics,we introduces the connotation of welfare from the three aspects of the old welfare economics school,the new welfare economics school and the feasible ability theory,and then draws out the connotation of welfare inequality under the feasible ability theory.In the third part,this paper mainly introduces the measurement indicators and decomposition methods related to welfare inequality.Firstly,this paper introduces a one-dimensional index of inequality,including Gini coefficient,Theil and Atkinson index;then introduces the welfare inequality index,including the Tsui index and the multidimensional Gini coefficient;finally introduces the factor decomposition method of welfare inequality.In the fourth and fifth parts,this paper uses CFPS to analyze related issues of welfare inequality in China.The results show that the changing trend of inequality in different dimensions is different,and it is difficult for the inequality of any dimension to comprehensively reflect the welfare inequality in China.China's welfare inequality has generally increased in 2010-2016,and inequality in the eastern region and the western region is generally higher than the central region.The inequality of income and housing dimensions contributes 90%to China's welfare inequality,while the contribution of inequality of other dimensions and inter-dimensional correlation are smaller,but shouldn't be ignored.In addition,due to changes in the welfare distribution,China's short-term welfare inequality didn't translate into long-term welfare inequality during 2010-2016.In the sixth part,this paper summarizes the results of empirical analysis and puts forward some suggestions to reduce welfare inequality and increase individual welfare level.