The Income Gap Between Urban And Rural Residents In China: Theoretical Analysis·Realistical Judgement·Strategic Think

The income gap between Chinese urban and rural residents is prominent day by day,which has become the significant problem restricting coordinate development of economics and the comprehensive construction of well-off society in China. Since the reform and opening up, our government and multitudinous theorists have been concentrating on studying continuously the concrete countermeasure and the measure in order to settle the dual division condition in urban and rural areas, to narrow the urban-rural gap and solve the peasants'difficulties practically. However, with the policy of narrowing the urban-rural income gap unceasingly appearing and the dynamics unceasingly enhancing, the urban-rural income gap has not narrowed, instead, presented further worsening, and even risk falling into"the Latin-American trap". Prosperity is insufficient to safeguard the social stability, and the gap between the rich and the poor may cause the entire society to disrupt actually. China has a large population of peasants. If their income cannot grow effectively, we will have to encounter the serious hindrance in the expansion of domestic needs, which will probably affect coordinate and healthy development of the national economics at large, and even endanger the social stability, ruin achievements which have been brought by the reform and opening up policy.It is precisely under such a kind of social background and practical demand that impels and drives the author to take this article"On How to Narrow the Income Gap between Urban and Rural Residents in China"as a research of the doctoral dissertation. Under the direction of Marxism and the western scholars'theories on income gap, with the aid of the correlative materials and systematic analysis, by means of analyzing the present situation and cause of the income gap between our urban and rural residents and using the typical experience and defeat lessons of other countries for reference, we will finally realize the optimization and the innovation in the theory and the mechanism of narrowing the gap between urban and rural residents. The full text is divided into seven chapters, specifically as follows:The first chapter consists of the introductory remarks, which mainly introduces significance and background of the selected topic, present researching situation domestic and abroad, researching train of thought and writing frame, and researching methods and innovation points as well.The second chapter is about the comments on the gap of income distribution and some fundamental theories. This chapter examines and defines the intension of income distribution and the gap of income distribution again with the help of the domestic and foreign scholars'viewpoints. Then it introduces the assessing indexes of distribution disparity, mainly including the Lorentz curve and the Gini's coefficient, the Tyre index, the Atkinson index, the variance and the coefficient of variation and so on. Based on this, this chapter straightens out and analyzes the Marxism's theory on urban-rural income gap and the western scholars'theory on income gap. Although various classical writers, theoretical schools and the scholars all elaborated the cause of the income gap and the policy significance from different angles, they have provided the theoretical foundation and the policy instruction for researching and narrowing the income gap between Chinese urban and rural residents. They will also certainly have effect on the offering of performable and the operable measures.The third chapter covers the essence of the income gap between the urban and rural residents at present. By comparing the average personal net income of urban inhabitants with that of rural inhabitants, in this chapter, the author calculates the relative and absolute income difference of urban and rural residents, and the Gini,s coefficient, counts historical evolution process of the income gap between the urban and rural residents in China since 1978. Then the author analyses per capital disposable income of urban residents and rural residents from the wage income, the managerial income, the property income and the transferability income, and introduces the influence of the different source of income on the income gap between the urban and rural residents through the comparison. Based on the profound perspective of the present basic situation, the author predicts the trend of development of the income gap between the urban and rural residents. And the author draws a conclusion that it will further expand in the near future and gradually reduce in the long run. Although looking from the long-term trend of development, the income gap between the urban and rural residents will reduce gradually, the reality concerns us very much. Then this causes us to ponder over the income gap between the urban and rural residents. Reasonable and moderate income gap will form the important power to the reform and development, which has a positive effect on the economical development, the improvement of the people's lives and social stability; but excessive income gap will have a series of negative effects on domestic politics, economics and so on.The fourth chapter analyses the cause of widening the income gap of the urban and rural residents. This chapter tells about the formation and continuous expansion of the income gap of the urban and rural residents, which embodies the rate of rise for the peasants is not able to catch up with that of the urban inhabitants. At the same time, it is lower than the speed of the national economic development. The reasons are various. Looking from the objective factors, it is due to the historical and cultural accumulation which has been formed in our countryside since long ago. It includes, natural conditions are backward and the natural resources are relative insufficient; the awareness of small-scale farming is deep-rooted while the sense of market is blunted; the agriculture is feeble naturally which is unable to compete against other industries and so on. Looking from the subjective factor, it is the dual economic structure of city and countryside including dual industrial policy of city and countryside , system of national income distribution divided by cities and countryside and the system of dual employment isolated by cities and countryside; promotion of systematic reform, including the reform on system of income distribution in our country, reform of economic systems of city and countryside, grading of market and internationalization of economics; arrangements of economic systems containing land systems in countryside, social educational systems, social security systems and systems of public product supply; the influence of economic policies including giving priority to development of the heavy industry, the financial policies, the tax policies and the banking policies; in addition, there are other factors and so on. All these can affect the enhancement of the peasants'income and eventually lead to the expansion the income gap of the urban and rural residents in our country.The fifth chapter is about the judgment on value and reflection on policy of the income gap of residents. This chapter judges and reflects the scholars'disputes which have existed in the domain of distribution since the 1990s. They mainly include the judgments on"Theory of Reason, Overstatement and Polarization"of the income gap; the judgment on the enlarging of income which is caused by"the market mechanism"; the judgment on the existence of"Inverted U-type"hypothesis; the judgment on"internationally universal standard"as well as on"relations between efficiency and justice"and so on. Through pondering over the theories and analyzing the materials on hand, the author gives the answers and explanations one by one, moreover, realizes several innovations, mainly including: inducing three standards which define whether the income gap is reasonable and putting forward the proposition that we can't statically or simply confirm whether the income gap of inhabitants in China is reasonable at present; pointing out that between economical growth and gap of income,there is no fixed, inherent relation, thinking that"Inverted U"hypothesis exists in our country is rather farfetched and dogmatic; indicating that taking the Gini's coefficient as a single basic norm for reference, simultaneously establishing a set of comprehensive system as the standard to judge the disparity of income difference.The sixth chapter is about the use of the experience of other countries for reference to adjust the income gap of the urban and rural residents. In this chapter, the author first introduces some major practice in the developed countries: setting up financial support and protection system upon agriculture, implementing uniform supply system in the city and countryside on public products, insisting agricultural development path between industrialization and modernization, promoting the distinctive procedures of carrying out the process of urbanization. Then the author analyzes the experience and lessons in developing countries on: attaching importance to reforms of land system in the countryside, strengthening the construction of social security systems in countryside, working out effective policies for the shift of labor force, improving service systems on rural finance and so on. Although the cultural background, natural resources and social condition in each country are various, the measures which they took to deal with the income gap of the urban and rural residents are also different, the experience and lessons they obtained greatly inspired us in reducing the income gap of the urban and rural residents. In this chapter the author finally brings forward some correct opinions on how to benefit from overseas experience and normatively reduce the income gap of the urban and rural residents in our country in several aspects, such as the optimization on system of financially supporting agriculture, the supplies of public products in countryside, the improvement of social security in countryside, the implementation of agricultural modernization, the promotion of countryside urbanization and the organizational construction in countryside.The seventh chapter is about the reflection of strategies on reducing the income gap of the urban and rural residents in China. In this chapter, comparing with the enlightenment and reflection gained in reducing the income gap of the urban and rural residents in developed countries and the developing ones; aiming at the present situation, developing trend and causes of the gap between urban and rural areas; under the guidance of Marxist theory on development of cities and countryside, and under the guidance of western theory on income, the author puts forward the requirements, main way and essential measures of reducing the gap between city and countryside. Altogether three innovations have been realized, mainly including the realization of supplying mainstay of rural public products and variety of supplying methods. In this article, the author points out that combining with the government's leading role, the society's organization and individual participation, on the premise of determination of property right, private capital is introduced in terms of the principle of"Who Invest, Who charge, Who Benefit"; in perfecting the management system of social security in countryside, it is necessary to bring the agricultural insurance into the social security system in countryside; concerning promoting organizational construction in villages, the author proposes that regarding developing agricultural associations, guilds, cooperatives and peasants specialized cooperative organizations, etc. as a significant measure to preserve and realize peasants legal right, offer guidance in agricultural management and promote peasants'increasing income. Finally, the author also puts forward some related questions which should be noticed in adjusting the income gap between urban and rural residents. In brief, it's a long way to reduce the income gap between urban and rural residents. But if we all attach great importance to it and take positive measure to settle it step by step, we believe an excellent stage, in which"city drives countryside while countryside promotes city, city integrates with countryside, complement each other's advantages and develop side by side", will present itself before us in the near future.