The Impact of Household Registration Restrictions and the Integration Reform on Urban-Rural Disposable Income Disparity in China

Abstract

This thesis studies the effects of the restrictions on the agriculture and non-agriculture household registration system often called urban and rural hukou, and its abolition on the disposable income disparity between urban and rural areas in China. This thesis uses the difference between the non-agriculture hukou and urbanization rates to measure the hukou limitation and its impact on income disparity in urban and rural areas. As for the integration reform, the study uses a dummy variable about before and after the integration reform and a dummy variable with additional regression specification of year to estimate the impact of such dichotomy on the income gap among Eastern, Western, and Central China. The results suggest that the stronger the hukou limitation, the more significant the income inequality between urban and rural areas, but the results are not valid in Eastern developed regions. The dual-track system has a more substantial impact on increasing the income gap in economically underdeveloped Western China. However, the thesis suggests that the integration reform cannot significantly diminish the income disparity between cities and the countryside. To see the complete thesis, please visit https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/undergraduate_honors_theses/d217qq90r.