We provide an historical survey of Chinese economic reform, a discussion of the current major problems, and measures of the evolution of inequality in China through time, 19791996.We argue that China’s most pressing reform needs now are in the social sphere, specifically the creation of an adequate social security system. The paper concludes with maps showing measures of inequality within each ...

Much controversy has developed recently over capital formation and the claim that the eocial security system has reduced savings and a3 a reeult the potential for economic growth in this country. Concerned that there was much misunderstanding with respect to the subject, the Comm483ioner of Social Security asked the Ofice of Reeearch and Statietics to make a presentation to top-level stag to cl...

This paper is the first attempt in the literature to investigate the effects of public social security on aggregate consumption in a time-series setting for a developing country, Turkey that has one of the most generous social security systems in the OECD region. In order to quantify the social security variable, the paper uses the social security wealth (SSW) series calculated for Turkey in a ...

D evelopment of social and economic infrastructure in every region is of the basic requirements of economic growth. Infrastructure stimulates economic activity, enhance the productivity of private sector’s inputs, improve economic performance and thus sustainable economic development, enhancing the social welfare and better income distribution. Since the different kind of infrastruct...

UNRISD’s recent publication, Combating Poverty and Inequality, attempts to explain how poverty reduction depends crucially on the interconnections among economic development, social policy and politics. It emphasizes that poverty and inequality cannot be addressed by narrow approaches to social protection or by economic growth alone. Instead, there is a need for new directions in macroeconomic ...

After around twenty years of neglect, inequality has been brought out of the cold. Inequality has re-entered the mainstream development policy agenda by featuring prominently in the World Bank’s World Development Report 2000/01. Inequality matters in its own right (see Inequality Briefing No 1) and it is key to reducing poverty. This paper draws on recent research to explore in what ways inequa...