Ping Xu

Bio: Ping Xu is an academic researcher from University of Rhode Island. The author has contributed to research in topics: Welfare & Immigration. The author has an hindex of 10, co-authored 20 publications receiving 236 citations. Previous affiliations of Ping Xu include Florida State University College of Arts and Sciences & Louisiana State University.

Immigration Attitudes and Support for the Welfare State in the American Mass Public

Abstract: In this article, we explore the relationship between Americans’ attitudes toward immigrants and immigration and their attitudes toward welfare. Using data from the Cumulative American National Election Study from 1992 to 2012, we find ample evidence of the influence of immigration attitudes on both individuals’ attitudes toward welfare recipients and their attitudes toward increased welfare spending. These immigration effects persist even in the face of statistical controls for attitudes toward African Americans and attitudes toward the poor; indeed, in our models, the magnitude of the effects of immigration attitudes surpasses the magnitude of effects of attitudes toward blacks. Further, our findings of immigration effects withstand a range of robustness tests. Our results point to the possible “immigrationalization” of Americans’ welfare attitudes and provide strong evidence that how Americans think about immigration and immigrants is a major factor in how they think about welfare.

Economic Context and Americans' Perceptions of Income Inequality*

Abstract: Objectives. The increase in income inequality in the United States over the past three decades has been well documented, though Americans differ in their perceptions of rising inequality. In this article we investigate the degree to which context shapes individuals’ perceptions of rising income inequality in the United States. Methods. Using objective data on state-level income inequality and survey data from the 2004 American National Election Study (ANES), we estimate a series of ordered logit models depicting individuals’ perceptions of rising income inequality as a function of state income inequality and various control variables. Results. We find that individuals residing in states with high income inequality are more likely than other individuals to perceive large increases in national income inequality over the past 20 years. We also consider possible interaction effects for state income inequality with political knowledge and family income, but our evidence suggests that such effects are limited to family income. We find that individuals from lower income strata are more likely to translate state income inequality into inequality perceptions than those with higher incomes. Conclusion. State inequality context significantly shapes individuals’ perceptions of rising income inequality, particularly among those with lower incomes. A large literature documents the substantial rise in income inequality in the United States since the early 1970s (Morris and Western, 1999; Gottschalk and Danziger, 2005; Jacobs and Skocpol, 2005; Bartels, 2008; McCall, 2005; Piketty and Saez, 2003; Goldin and Katz, 2008). During this period, the income gap between individuals at different income levels in the United States has grown faster than that in other advanced Western democracies (Bartels, 2008; Jacobs and Skocpol, 2005). Political scientists have begun to consider the political effects of income inequality, including inequality in responsiveness by elected officials to citizens with lower incomes

Imported Inequality? Immigration and Income Inequality in the American States

Abstract: In this article, we use data from the American states from 1996 to 2008 to explore the effects of immigration on income inequality. Empirical evidence from both static and dynamic models shows that the foreign-born population has a strong positive effect on state-level income inequality, even when we control for a range of federal and state political and economic contextual variables. We also find that the positive relationship between immigration and state income inequality is driven primarily by low-skill immigrants (rather than high-skill immigrants), and we provide some evidence that high-skill immigrants lower income inequality for some segments of the income distribution. We conclude that immigration—particularly low-skilled immigration—has an important effect on income inequality in the American states.

Post-Wenchuan Earthquake Reconstruction and Development in China

Abstract: On May 12, 2008, a deadly earthquake that measured at an 8.0 magnitude occurred in Wenchuan County, Sichuan Province, China. As one of the most damaging catastrophes in contemporary China, the earthquake resulted in 69,227 deaths, 374,643 injuries, 17,923 missing, and an estimated direct economic loss of 845.2 billion RMB (State Council of the PRC, Post-Wenchuan Earthquake Restoration and Reconstruction Counterpart Provinces Supporting Program, 2008b). After the earthquake, the Chinese government issued a series of policies to rebuild and re-develop the earthquake stricken areas. Major goals of the post-Wenchuan reconstruction policies (i.e., housing for every family, job stability for at least one family member, basic economic, social welfare, infrastructure, and ecological improvements in the affected areas) were accomplished within 3 years, resulting in positive social and economic outcomes. This chapter describes two major mechanisms, the counterpart assistance program and the sustainable development approach, and maintains that they both contributed to an efficient and comprehensive reconstruction of the earthquake-impacted areas. We provide an in-depth case study on the reconstruction of Shuimo town, a town that was destroyed in the earthquake. We explain how the counterpart assistance program and the sustainable development efforts have transformed Shuimo from a highly polluted town to a tourism destination. We further identify major lessons learned from the Shuimo case study.

Economic growth and income inequality

Abstract: We investigate whether income inequality affects subsequent growth in a cross-country sample for 1965-90, using the models of Barro (1997), Bleaney and Nishiyama (2002) and Sachs and Warner (1997), with negative results. We then investigate the evolution of income inequality over the same period and its correlation with growth. The dominating feature is inequality convergence across countries. This convergence has been significantly faster amongst developed countries. Growth does not appear to influence the evolution of inequality over time. Outline

Why Men Rebel

Abstract: Why Men Rebel was first published in 1970 on the heels of a decade of political violence and protest not only in remote corners of Africa and Southeast Asia, but also at home in the United States. Forty years later, the world is riveted on uprisings in the Middle East, and the United States has been overtaken by a focus on international terrorism and a fascination with citizen movements at home and abroad. Do the arguments of 1970 apply today? Why Men Rebel lends new insight into contemporary challenges of transnational recruitment and organization, multimedia mobilization, and terrorism.