Chinese Household Income Project, 1988

The purpose of this project was to measure and estimate the
distribution of 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 ration coupons and other direct subsidies, and the imputed value of
housing. The rural component of this collection consists of two data
files, one in which the individual is the unit of analysis and a second
in which the household is the unit of analysis. 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 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 (e.g., grains, cotton, flax,
sugar, tobacco, fruits and vegetables, tea, seeds, nuts, lumber,
livestock and poultry, eggs, fish and shrimp, wool, honey, and silkworm
cocoons), 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 and a second in which the
household is the unit of analysis. 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 and durable and
non-durable 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
rations 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 of 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 both 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.