Suchergebnisse

The political consequences of income inequality in China have attracted increasing attention among researchers, and conventional wisdom states that economic development can mitigate negative views on inequality. I investigate the effects of subjective and objective changes in economic well-being on public opinion concerning income inequality based on a 2004 Chinese national survey. On the one hand, I find weak evidence of a negative correlation between perceived better economic well-being and negative opinion about inequality in China. On the other hand, I identify consistent evidence of a negative correlation between objective intergenerational upward mobility and negative views about inequality. It is worth noting that while the effect of intergenerational upward mobility is large, it is unable to completely reverse negative views about inequality among Chinese citizens. Hence, I suggest that economic development plays only a limited role in mitigating anger about inequality in China. Adapted from the source document.

Elites often use social policies to garner political support and ensure regime survival, but social policies are not a silver bullet. Using two waves of Chinese national surveys, I find that a recent policy of abolishing school fees has significantly increased citizens' demand for greater government responsibility in financing compulsory education. I argue that policy awareness, rather than policy benefits, drives citizens' demand. Finally, I show that policy awareness has enhanced citizens' trust in China's central government, but not in local governments. This asymmetry in regime support has two sources-the decentralization of education provision and biased media reporting-which induce citizens to credit the central government for good policy outcomes. Given that citizens' responses are primarily influenced by policy awareness that is promoted by the state media, this study casts doubt on the use of social policies to sustain long-term political support. Adapted from the source document.

A substantial literature in comparative politics and political economy emphasizes the importance of income inequality in redistributive policies and regime transition. I argue that individual perceptions of equal opportunity affect the degree of resentment toward income inequality. Governments can influence perceptions of equal opportunity through the distribution of public goods and services, such as educational opportunity. Employing various empirical strategies, I systematically estimate both the subjective and objective effects of unequal educational opportunity on attitudes toward income inequality. The first set of evidence is based on two survey experiments conducted in China in 2009 and 2012, respectively; the second set on a 2004 China national survey using a quasi-regression discontinuity design as well as propensity score matching analysis. These complementary analyses offer consistent evidence that inequality of educational opportunity increases resentment toward income inequality. Adapted from the source document.