ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the relationship between women’s market labor and their status in rural China. It analyzes the role of women in labor markets by studying employment trends and how women’s participation in agriculture has affected farm output. The book argues that the deficiency of Chinese farmers’ land rights takes precedence over their lack of other rights. It looks at income inequality. Using a combined Box-Cox and Box-Tidwell model specification, the book examines regional inequality in rural China. It reviews both theoretical and practical issues involved in the decomposition of China’s aggregate income distribution into three components: the rural intra-group distribution, the urban intra-group distribution, and the rural-urban income disparity. The book investigates the factors affecting urban-rural household income disparity in China between 1998 and 2002.
