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This paper analyses the impact of changes in social institutions, i.e. in the informal and formal social security system, on income inequality in China. This study uses an inequality decomposition analysis approach comparing household survey data for 1988 with 1995. Since 1992 was a decisive year for accelerating to increase the role of market mechanism in China, comparing these two periods shows significant changes in social institutions and their impacts on income inequality. It provides meaningful implications for inequality issues in the present China. In a first step the paper looks at the impact of changes in the family based social security system on income inequality. Secondly, the paper investigates the contribution of current social security system reforms as a potential tool to cope with increasing inequality. Three main results emerge from the analysis: first, the family based social security is losing its importance mainly through the changes in employment pattern in a household. This change has a significant impact on income inequality. Second, this study shows that the introduction of new formal social security system helped to equalise the distribution of retired household members' income in urban areas. Third, however, these changes have only benefited a restricted number of persons. Benefits for rural migrants are low and most of the rural population has still no access to the new system. Important steps forward will be to raise the fund-pooling level, and to include nonfarming workers into the new system. Ce document analyse l'impact des changements survenus dans les institutions sociales chinoises -- à savoir le système de sécurité sociale formelle et informelle -- sur l'inégalité des revenus. L'auteur procède à une décomposition des inégalités en comparant des données d'enquêtes auprès des ménages réalisées en 1988 et en 1995. L'année 1992 ayant marqué un tournant décisif en Chine, avec le rôle accru des mécanismes de marché, la comparaison de ces deux périodes fait apparaître des évolutions sensibles au sein des institutions sociales et met en évidence leurs conséquences en matière d'inégalité des revenus. Cette analyse comparative apporte un éclairage utile sur les problématiques actuelles d'inégalités en Chine. Elle s'intéresse tout d'abord aux conséquences de ces évolutions sur l'inégalité des revenus dans le système de sécurité sociale fondé sur la famille. Elle s'attache ensuite à la contribution potentielle des réformes du système de sécurité sociale pour faire face aux inégalités croissantes. Trois grands résultats émergent de cette recherche : i) le système de sécurité sociale fondé sur la famille perd de son importance, du fait notamment de l'évolution de la structure des emplois au sein des ménages, qui aggrave nettement l'inégalité des revenus ; ii) l'introduction d'un nouveau système de sécurité sociale formelle favorise l'égalisation des revenus des membres retraités dans les ménages urbains ; iii) mais ces évolutions n'ont profité qu'à un nombre restreint d'individus. Les bénéfices pour les migrants des zones rurales sont faibles et, pour l'essentiel, la population rurale n'a toujours pas accès à ce nouveau système. Deux mesures contribueront à améliorer la situation -- l'augmentation du niveau des fonds gérés en commun et l'intégration des travailleurs non agricoles dans le nouveau système.

This study analyses the impact of changes in social institutions, i.e. in the informal and formal social security system, on income inequality in China. This study uses an inequality decomposition analysis approach comparing household survey data for 1988 with 1995.Three main results emerge from the analysis: first, it findsthat the family based social security is losing its importance mainly through the changes in employment pattern in a household. This change contributes to rising income inequality. Second, thestudy shows that the introduction of new formal social security system helped to equalise the distribution of retired household members' income in urban areas in 1995. Third, however, these changes have only benefited a restricted number of persons. Benefits for rural migrants are low and most of the rural population has still no access to the new system.

This paper focuses on the fiscal decentralization in the Philippines after the 1991 Local Government Code. It first examines the intergovernmental fiscal relationship between central and local governments by using fiscal decentralization indicators, and then investigates its impact on local finance. After fiscal decentralization, the local expenditure responsibility is expanded while the local fiscal capacity is not strengthened in the Philippines. Local governments consequently comes to depend heavily on fiscal transfers from the central government, internal revenue allotments (IRAs), which has a substantial influence on local finance. The heavy dependence on IRAs makes local finance unpredictable and unstable. The distribution of IRAs also affects the horizontal balance between provincial governments.

This paper analyses the effect of fiscal decentralisation on health outcomes in China using a panel data set with nationwide county-level data. We find that counties in more fiscally decentralised provinces have lower infant mortality rates than counties where the provincial government remains the main spending authority, if certain conditions are met. Spending responsibilities at the local level need to be matched with county governments' own fiscal capacity. For county governments that have only limited revenues, the ability to spend on local public goods such as health care depends crucially upon intergovernmental transfers. The findings of this paper, therefore, support the common assertion that fiscal decentralisation can lead to more efficient production of local public goods, while also highlighting the conditions required for this result to be obtained. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

This paper analyses the effect of fiscal decentralisation on health outcomes in China using a panel data set with nationwide county-level data. We find that counties in more fiscally decentralised provinces have lower infant mortality rates than counties where the provincial government remains the main spending authority, if certain conditions are met. Spending responsibilities at the local level need to be matched with county governments’ own fiscal capacity. For county governments that have only limited revenues, the ability to spend on local public goods such as health care depends crucially upon intergovernmental transfers. The findings of this paper, therefore, support the common assertion that fiscal decentralisation can lead to more efficient production of local public goods, while also highlighting the conditions required for this result to be obtained.

This study analyzes the effect of fiscal decentralization on health outcomes in China using a panel data set with nationwide county-level data. We find that counties in more fiscal decentralized provinces have lower infant mortality rates compared to those counties in which the provincial government retains the main spending authority, if certain conditions are met. Spending responsibilities at the local level need to be matched with county government's own fiscal capacity. For those local governments that have only limited revenues, their ability to spend on local public goods such as health care depends crucially upon intergovernmental transfers. The findings of this study thereby support the common assertion that fiscal decentralization can indeed lead to more efficient production of local public goods, but also highlights the necessary conditions to make this happen.

Decentralising health services â[euro]\" the transfer of power and responsibility from the central to the local level should help the poor if local resources, accountability and governance are in good shape. The process in China and India had negative effects because local governments remained under-funded and health was not seen as their priority. Contrary to this, decentralisation in Indonesia and the Philippines produced better health outcomes because they reformed healthcare funding. This is key to successful pro-poor decentralisation.OECD Development Centre Policy Insights No 18, May 2006]

This paper reports the results of an analysis of changes in income inequality, and in its determinants, in urban China since the economic reforms that began in 1978. The intention is to identify new characteristics of economic inequality. It first shows that income differentials acrossand in provinces widened and that their economic rankings were becoming fixed during the period from 1988 to 1995. Second, age was the major factor in inequality in 1988, while education became the important factor in 1995. Third, education significantly contributed to increasing inequality during the period. Fourth, the higher education-level groups had less within-group inequality. These changes reflect the penetration of the market mechanism into China after the reforms. However, this will be problematic without equality of opportunity.

Aging can be harmful to an economy over the long run, as an increase in the share of the elderly population reduces both the labor force and output per adult, and increases the social security burden. Policy changes can partly offset the labor squeeze. Possible measures include increased female participation rates, increased flexibility of migration policies, and improved relevance and quality of technical and vocational training to reduce possible skills mismatch. Moreover, it is crucial to establish an efficient and sustainable elderly care system to meet the rising needs of the elderly. Three key areas for policy actions are (i)reforming the elderly care service subsidy scheme to focus more on services and performance,(ii) establishing a standardized care needs assessment system and clear standards of elderly care services, and (iii) developing human resource development strategies targeting care service managers and providers.