Chinese Household Income Project, 1995

The purpose of this project was to measure and estimate the
distribution of personal income in both rural and urban areas of the
People's Republic of China. The principal investigators based their
definition of income on cash payments and on a broad range of
additional components: payments in kind valued at market prices,
agricultural output produced for self-consumption valued at market
prices, the value of food and other direct subsidies, and the imputed
value of housing services. The rural component of this collection
consists of two data files, one in which the individual is the unit of
analysis (Part 1) and a second in which the household is the unit of
analysis (Part 2). Individual rural respondents reported on their employment
status, level of education, Communist Party membership, type of
employer (e.g., public, private, or foreign), type of economic sector
in which they were employed, occupation, whether they held a second job,
retirement status, monthly pension, monthly wage, and other sources of
income. Demographic variables include relationship to householder,
gender, age, and student status. Rural households reported extensively
on the character of the household and residence. Information was
elicited on type of terrain surrounding the house, geographic
position, type of house, and availability of electricity. Also
reported were sources of household income (e.g., farming, industry,
government, rents, and interest), taxes paid, value of farm, total
amount and type of cultivated land, financial assets and debts,
quantity and value of various crops, amount of grain purchased or
provided by a collective, use of chemical fertilizers, gasoline, and
oil, quantity and value of agricultural machinery, and all household
expenditures (e.g., food, fuel, medicine, education, transportation,
and electricity). The urban component of this collection also consists
of two data files, one in which the individual is the unit of analysis (Part 3)
and a second in which the household is the unit of analysis (Part 4).
Individual urban respondents reported on their economic status within
the household, Communist Party membership, sex, age, nature of
employment, and relationship to the household head. Information was
collected on all types and sources of income from each member of the
household whether working, nonworking, or retired, all revenue
received by owners of private or individual enterprises, and all
in-kind payments (e.g., food, durable goods, and nondurable goods). Urban
households reported total income (including salaries, interest on
savings and bonds, dividends, rent, leases, alimony, gifts, and
boarding fees), all types and values of food subsidies received, and
total debt. Information was also gathered on household accommodations
and living conditions, including number of rooms, total living area in
square meters, availability and cost of running water, sanitary
facilities, heating and air-conditioning equipment, kitchen
availability, location of residence, ownership of home, and
availability of electricity and telephone. Households reported on all
their expenditures including amounts spent on food items such as
wheat, rice, edible oils, pork, beef and mutton, poultry, fish and
seafood, sugar, and vegetables by means of coupons in state-owned
stores and at free market prices. Information was also collected on
rents paid by the households, fuel available, type of transportation
used, and availability and use of medical and child care.
The Chinese Household Income Project collected data in 1988, 1995, 2002, and 2007. ICPSR holds data from the first three collections, and information about these can be found on the series description page. Data collected in 2007 are available through the China Institute for Income Distribution.