Economic Reforms and Gender Inequality in Urban China

This study jointly examines the gender earnings gap and employment rate in urban China using a longitudinal data set that covers the period of 1989–2004. Consistent with previous studies, we find that gender earnings gap increased by 5 percentage points between 1989 and 1997. Since then, its changes have become much more moderate. Actually, after controlling for observed characteristics, the size of the earnings gap in 2004 is almost the same as it was in 1997. The widening earnings gap in the 1989–1997 period was accompanied by a rising employment gap between men and women, particularly among those aged 45 and older. The stability in the gender earnings gap in the later years co-occurred with a decline in the employment of less educated women.
JOUR
Liu, Haoming
2011
Economic Development and Cultural Change
59
4
839-876
10.1086/660006
1232