Paying for Progress in China: Public Finance, Human Welfare and Changing Patterns of Inequality

摘要

The question of "who pays" for China's meteoric economic rise lies at the heart of the current leadership's policy dilemma: how can gaping inequalities be contained or resolved before the resulting social tensions undermine the sustainability of growth and the legitimacy of the regime? Reports abound of those who pay for progress with their health or even their lives - in China's factories and coal mines - or who are being dispossessed of land and livelihood. This book shows how the cost of progress is largely borne by those least equipped to bear it, usually situated at the lower end of a very wide income distribution and in disadvantaged rural areas. Understanding and analysing this situation is the main aim and contribution of this valuable collection.