Abstract: This paper examines the change and trend of poverty, income distribution and the determinants of household income of rural China for the period of 1988-2002 by using the CHIP rural household data. The result shows that the absolute rural poverty falls sharply from 1988 to 2002 regardless of where the poverty line is set. Both the decomposition of poverty and the panel data analysis demonstrate that growth of income causes the fall of poverty. The multivariate regressional analysis in particular the quantile regression uncovers that the importance of the political and the political-related factors in determining rural household income gradually gives way to the market forces such as rural entrepreneurship and human capital in the form of schooling. Engagement in off-farm occupation is also important in raising household income level but its importance is declining from 1995 onwards.
Key Words: China, rural poverty, household income, quantile analysis.
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