Uneven human capital development in contemporary China: a non-monetary perspective on regional and gender inequality

Regional inequality is one of the most challenging issues facing China in the coming decade. Whilst this matter can be approached from different angles; mainstream scholars have tended to examine this issue by way of monetary measurement (e.g. GDP or income per capita). This study draws attention to...

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Main Author: Su, Fang
Format: Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/12305/
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author Su, Fang
author_facet Su, Fang
author_sort Su, Fang
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Regional inequality is one of the most challenging issues facing China in the coming decade. Whilst this matter can be approached from different angles; mainstream scholars have tended to examine this issue by way of monetary measurement (e.g. GDP or income per capita). This study draws attention to the non-monetary aspect in order to shed new light on regional inequality. Accordingly, this research focuses on the gaps and trends of human capital development, a key non-monetary index proxying for regional inequality in transitional China. Taking education and health status as two key indicators, in particular, this research aims to trace the trends in regional inequality over the last two decades, investigate to what extent those two dimensions can help to identify and integrate factors behind regional disparities, and to analyse some profound policies and implications. Based upon official educational and health status statistics at provincial level, this study develops a model to exam regional disparity between the three economic development zones from 1990 to 2005. Main findings are that different perspectives of regional inequality bring out different consequences; from the viewpoint of human capital development, regional inequality presents positive findings in uneven development. Secondly, causes of development are fairly diverse and different measurements may significantly vary outcomes. Thirdly, uneven development is a spontaneous phenomenon underlying development, which over varying lengths of time may have stimulated economic growth in a positive way. Finally, limitations are discussed associated with policy implications.
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spelling nottingham-123052025-02-28T11:18:33Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/12305/ Uneven human capital development in contemporary China: a non-monetary perspective on regional and gender inequality Su, Fang Regional inequality is one of the most challenging issues facing China in the coming decade. Whilst this matter can be approached from different angles; mainstream scholars have tended to examine this issue by way of monetary measurement (e.g. GDP or income per capita). This study draws attention to the non-monetary aspect in order to shed new light on regional inequality. Accordingly, this research focuses on the gaps and trends of human capital development, a key non-monetary index proxying for regional inequality in transitional China. Taking education and health status as two key indicators, in particular, this research aims to trace the trends in regional inequality over the last two decades, investigate to what extent those two dimensions can help to identify and integrate factors behind regional disparities, and to analyse some profound policies and implications. Based upon official educational and health status statistics at provincial level, this study develops a model to exam regional disparity between the three economic development zones from 1990 to 2005. Main findings are that different perspectives of regional inequality bring out different consequences; from the viewpoint of human capital development, regional inequality presents positive findings in uneven development. Secondly, causes of development are fairly diverse and different measurements may significantly vary outcomes. Thirdly, uneven development is a spontaneous phenomenon underlying development, which over varying lengths of time may have stimulated economic growth in a positive way. Finally, limitations are discussed associated with policy implications. 2011-12-13 Thesis (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en arr https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/12305/1/SF_PhD.thesis_2011.Nov.pdf Su, Fang (2011) Uneven human capital development in contemporary China: a non-monetary perspective on regional and gender inequality. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham. Human capital Regional disparities China
spellingShingle Human capital
Regional disparities
China
Su, Fang
Uneven human capital development in contemporary China: a non-monetary perspective on regional and gender inequality
title Uneven human capital development in contemporary China: a non-monetary perspective on regional and gender inequality
title_full Uneven human capital development in contemporary China: a non-monetary perspective on regional and gender inequality
title_fullStr Uneven human capital development in contemporary China: a non-monetary perspective on regional and gender inequality
title_full_unstemmed Uneven human capital development in contemporary China: a non-monetary perspective on regional and gender inequality
title_short Uneven human capital development in contemporary China: a non-monetary perspective on regional and gender inequality
title_sort uneven human capital development in contemporary china: a non-monetary perspective on regional and gender inequality
topic Human capital
Regional disparities
China
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/12305/