Social mobility in China, 1645-2012: A Surname Study, job market paper
This paper estimates the rate of intergenerational social mobility in Late Imperial, Republican and Communist China by examining the changing social status of originally elite surnames over time. More specific, it identify surnames (or surname with places of origin) that are much more likely to show up among elites than among the general population during the initial period, and see how rapidly these surnames regress to mediocrity. It finds much lower rates of mobility in all eras than previous studies have suggested, though there is some increase in mobility in the Republican and Communist eras. But even in the Communist era social mobility rates are much lower than are conventionally estimated for China, Scandinavia, the UK or USA. These findings are consistent with the findings of Campbell and Lee (2011) on the importance of kin networks in transmission of status over generations. But it may reflect mainly a tendency of conventional mobility studies to overestimate rates of social mobility.
job_market_paper_social_moblity_in_china_1645-2012_surname_approach.pdf | |
File Size: | 985 kb |
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Descending Mainlander-Taiwanese: social mobility of Taiwan, 1949-2012. Working paper, working paper, 2013
This paper estimates the social mobility of Taiwan after 1949, when the National Party of China was defeated in mainland China, and started to pursue social and economic policies different from those in mainland China. I trace the changing social status of “new mainlanders” who migrated to Taiwan as the ruling class around 1949. From 1957 population census, a group of 300 surnames were held by mainlanders with a proportion of 0.95 and above. 30 surnames were held by native Taiwanese with a proportion of 0.98 and above. I trace the relative status of these groups over time among top college students, doctors, and entrepreneurs. It shows that in Taiwan social mobility is slightly higher than in mainland China after 1949, but still much higher than conventional studies have suggested.
descending_mainlander-taiwanese_social_mobility_of_taiwan_1945-2010.pdf | |
File Size: | 609 kb |
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Taiping Rebellion as a genetic shock: insufficient public primary schooling of Lower Yangzi in the Republican Era, 1900-1949, working paper, 2013
This paper explores the differential impact of the Taiping rebellion (1851-1864) and consequent mass migration on 60 counties in the lower Yangzi region of China. In the first few decades of the twentieth century, traditional education was replaced by modern education and informal tutoring was replaced by formal schools. It finds that places were less successful in financing primary schooling if they experienced a greater diversity shock. A diversity shock made local population more diverse culturally, linguistically and even genetically after the rebellion relative to its pre-Taiping population, as measured by inconsistency in surname distribution. This result is robust to controlling for trends in population density, for geographic factors that correlated with influences from the Western world, access to the political center, and initial educational outcomes. Overall, in the lower Yangzi delta, the richest area of China, modern primary enrollment was below 30% during the Republic era. This is one reason why elites from the exam era persist into the Republic era, and hence why there was low social mobility before 1949.
the_taiping_rebellion_as_a_diversity_shock.pdf | |
File Size: | 667 kb |
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基因:历史长期延续性和经济增长差异的一个来源:G Clark经济史研究综述, WORKING PAPER, 2013
G Clark经济史研究综述.pdf | |
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Working in progress:
(1) “Diffusion of development: genetic and geographic proximity to Shanghai.”
(2) “Entrenched inequality and the role of kinships,evidence from Suzhou County.”
(3) 《群组视角:社会不平等和社会流动的一个新测度》
(4) 《族群异质性和经济增长》
(5) "One man, one pen and one vote, provincial exam quotas that hold China together, 1645-1905"
(6) "No quota, no fair: the impact of abolishing exam system, 1905-1949"
(7) "Affirmative actions on regions not ethnicities: provincial quotas on the college entrance examination, 1949-2014"
(1) “Diffusion of development: genetic and geographic proximity to Shanghai.”
(2) “Entrenched inequality and the role of kinships,evidence from Suzhou County.”
(3) 《群组视角:社会不平等和社会流动的一个新测度》
(4) 《族群异质性和经济增长》
(5) "One man, one pen and one vote, provincial exam quotas that hold China together, 1645-1905"
(6) "No quota, no fair: the impact of abolishing exam system, 1905-1949"
(7) "Affirmative actions on regions not ethnicities: provincial quotas on the college entrance examination, 1949-2014"