The Effect of Statistical Methods on the Estimation of Urban-Rural Income Gap and Its Re-calculation
Abstract: The urban-rural income gap is overestimated because of the under-estimation of wage income of rural residents caused by statistical omission and the overestimation of per capita income of urban residents caused by survey range error. The reason for such omission and error are related. This paper analyzes the impact of different investigation methods, based on outflow and inflow areas, on estimating the statistical income. By re-calculating the income gap between rural residents and urban residents between 2001 and 2009 and deviation caused by various investigation methods, we provide a new perspective on understanding the status and role of adjusting the income gap. By combining population employment structure provided by the outflow method, and the individual income data provided by the inflow method, we are able to get more accurate income information of rural migrants. The result is more reasonable to judge the income gap between urban and rural areas.
Keywords: urban-rural income gap, rural migrant worker, statistical method
JEL Classification: C42, D31, O15
文章出处:劳动经济研究,2013年第1卷第1期