Showing papers by "Yu Xie published in 2014"
TL;DR: It is established that China’s income inequality since 2005 has reached very high levels, with the Gini coefficient in the range of 0.53–0.55, and it is argued that China's current high income inequality is significantly driven by structural factors attributable to the Chinese political system and the rural-urban divide.
Abstract: Using multiple data sources, we establish that China's income inequality since 2005 has reached very high levels, with the Gini coefficient in the range of 0.53–0.55. Analyzing comparable survey data collected in 2010 in China and the United States, we examine social determinants that help explain China’s high income inequality. Our results indicate that a substantial part of China’s high income inequality is due to regional disparities and the rural-urban gap. The contributions of these two structural forces are particularly strong in China, but they play a negligible role in generating the overall income inequality in the United States, where individual-level and family-level income determinants, such as family structure and race/ethnicity, play a much larger role.
601 citations
TL;DR: It is found that the Asian-American educational advantage over whites is attributable mainly to Asian students exerting greater academic effort and not to advantages in tested cognitive abilities or socio-demographics.
Abstract: The superior academic achievement of Asian Americans is a well-documented phenomenon that lacks a widely accepted explanation. Asian Americans’ advantage in this respect has been attributed to three groups of factors: (i) socio-demographic characteristics, (ii) cognitive ability, and (iii) academic effort as measured by characteristics such as attentiveness and work ethic. We combine data from two nationally representative cohort longitudinal surveys to compare Asian-American and white students in their educational trajectories from kindergarten through high school. We find that the Asian-American educational advantage is attributable mainly to Asian students exerting greater academic effort and not to advantages in tested cognitive abilities or socio-demographics. We test explanations for the Asian–white gap in academic effort and find that the gap can be further attributed to (i) cultural differences in beliefs regarding the connection between effort and achievement and (ii) immigration status. Finally, we highlight the potential psychological and social costs associated with Asian-American achievement success.
237 citations
TL;DR: It is found that the influence of grandparents is contingent on living arrangements and the educational level of coresident grandparents directly affects the educational attainment of their grandchildren, with an effect size similar to that of parental education.
Abstract: The issue of whether the social class of grandparents affects grandchildren's socioeconomic outcomes net of the characteristics of the middle generation is much debated in the social mobility literature. Using data from the 2002 Chinese Household Income Project, we investigate the direct effects of grandparents on grandchildren's educational attainment in rural China. We find that the influence of grandparents is contingent on living arrangements. Although the educational level of coresident grandparents directly affects the educational attainment of their grandchildren, with an effect size similar to that of parental education, the education of noncoresident and deceased grandparents does not have any effect. These findings suggest that grandparents can directly affect grandchildren's educational outcomes through sociopsychological pathways. Our study not only adds an important case study to the literature but also sheds new light on theoretical interpretations of grandparent effects when they are found.
210 citations
TL;DR: New data reveal that in the past three decades, China has become a major contributor to science and technology, and now employs an increasingly large labor force of scientists and engineers at relatively high earnings and produces more science and engineering degrees than the United States at all levels, particularly bachelor’s.
Abstract: In the past three decades, China has become a major contributor to science and technology. China now employs an increasingly large labor force of scientists and engineers at relatively high earnings and produces more science and engineering degrees than the United States at all levels, particularly bachelor’s. China’s research and development expenditure has been rising. Research output in China has been sharply increasing since 2002, making China the second largest producer of scientific papers after the United States. The quality of research by Chinese scientists has also been improving steadily. However, China’s rise in science also faces serious difficulties, partly attributable to its rigid, top–down administrative system, with allegations of scientific misconduct trending upward.
140 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that agehypergamy maintains status hypergamy, a deeply rooted norm for couples in China, and implies a future "marriage squeeze" for men of low socioeconomic status.
105 citations
TL;DR: The authors suggest that although the basic structure of inequalities in science has remained unchanged, their intensities and mechanisms may have been altered by recent forces of globalization and internet technology, and that more attention has not been paid to the large, changing inequalities in the world of scientific research.
Abstract: In recent years, academic scholarship and public discourse have become increasingly preoccupied with social and economic inequality, which has risen in many countries It is surprising that more attention has not been paid to the large, changing inequalities in the world of scientific research I suggest that although the basic structure of inequalities in science has remained unchanged, their intensities and mechanisms may have been altered by recent forces of globalization and internet technology
83 citations
TL;DR: Wang et al. as mentioned in this paper used four nationally representative surveys: the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS), the China Household Finance Survey (CHFS), and the Chinese Household Income Project (CHIP) to estimate and compare poverty incidence rates in China.
59 citations
TL;DR: This article revisited the market transition theory of Nee (1989), using housing as an alternative to income as a measure of socioeconomic attainment, and found that housing space is a better outcome variable by which to evaluate Nee's market transition theories because it is a more consistent measure of socio-economic success than income before and after the economic reform.
Abstract: This paper revisits the market transition theory of Nee (1989), using housing as an alternative to income as a measure of socioeconomic attainment. We argue that housing space is a better outcome variable by which to evaluate Nee’s market transition theory because it is a more consistent measure of socioeconomic success than income before and after the economic reform. Using three waves of a national household survey in 1988, 1995, and 2002, we compare temporal changes in the role of market and redistributive determinants for income and housing space. In support of a weak form of the theory, our results show that market determinants replaced redistributive determinants over time as the most significant predictors of housing space. In contrast, parallel analyses of income show mixed results for market and redistributive determinants.
44 citations
TL;DR: This longitudinal study of mortality among the elderly in China used a large representative sample to examine the association between mortality and three different socio-economic status (SES) indicators—education, economic independence, and household income per head.
Abstract: This longitudinal study of mortality among the elderly (65 and over) in China used a large representative sample to examine the association between mortality and three different socio-economic status (SES) indicators-education, economic independence, and household income per head. The results, while varying depending on the measures used, show that there is strong evidence of a negative association between SES and overall mortality. A cause-specific analysis shows that SES is more strongly related to the reduction of mortality from more preventable causes, such as circulatory disease and respiratory disease, than from less preventable causes such as cancer. We also investigated the effects of three sets of factors that may mediate the observed SES-mortality relationship: support networks, health-related behaviours, and access to health care. The results show that for both overall and cause-specific mortality, access to health care is the most important of the three.
22 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this article, Xie, Brand, and Jann proposed three methods, the stratification-multilevel method, the matching-smoothing method, and the smoothing-differencing method, for heterogeneous treatment effect analysis.
Abstract: -hte- performs heterogeneous treatment effect analyses as proposed by Xie, Brand, and Jann (2012, Sociological Methodology 42: 314-347). Three methods are supported, the stratification-multilevel method (-hte sm-), the matching-smoothing method (-hte ms-), and the smoothing-differencing method (-hte sd-). The -pscore- command (see -net sj 5-3 st0026_2-) and the -psmatch2- command (see -ssc describe psmatch2-) are required.
17 citations
TL;DR: Analysis of Chinese adults' attitudes towards three specific aspects of social environments: local government performance, severity of major social issues, and social trust revealed that variations in subjective social environments at the prefectural level were relatively small compared with individual level variations.
Abstract: Using data from the nationally representative China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), we describe Chinese adults' attitudes towards three specific aspects of social environments: local government performance, severity of major social issues, and social trust. We further explore how county level contextual factors and personal experiences relate to subjective social environments, while controlling for individual demographics. On average, Chinese adults in the CFPS endorsed moderately positive ratings for their local governments, but perceived high severities in various social issues, ranking economic inequality as the most severe. A moderate level of generalized trust (54%) was found, together with very high trust in parents and very low trust in Americans and strangers. Further analyses revealed that variations in subjective social environments at the prefectural level were relatively small compared with individual level variations. At the individual level, personal experiences such as perceived unfair treatment showed consistently negative effects on how people evaluated their social environments. At the contextual level, employment rates appeared more influential than other studied factors. Regional economic inequality, as indicated by prefectural Gini, was not associated with most studied outcomes.
TL;DR: Analyzing a Chilean youth sample of substance use, it is found that youths are susceptible to the detrimental role of peer drinkers, but the harmful relationship with one’s own drinking behavior may be exacerbated among youth who already have a high probability of socializing with peers who drink.
Abstract: When estimating the association between peer and youth alcohol consumption, it is critical to account for possible differential levels of response to peer socialization processes across youth, in addition to variability in individual, family, and social factors. Failure to account for intrinsic differences in youth’s response to peers may pose a threat of selection bias. To address this issue, we used a propensity score stratification method to examine whether the size of the association between peer and youth drinking is contingent upon differential predicted probabilities of associating with alcohol-consuming friends. Analyzing a Chilean youth sample (N = 914) of substance use, we found that youths are susceptible to the detrimental role of peer drinkers, but the harmful relationship with one’s own drinking behavior may be exacerbated among youth who already have a high probability of socializing with peers who drink. In other words, computing a single weighted-average estimate for peer drinking would have underestimated the detrimental role of peers, particularly among at-risk youths, and overestimated the role of drinking peers among youths who are less susceptible to peer socialization processes. Heterogeneous patterns in the association between peer and youth drinking may shed light on social policies that target at-risk youths.
15 Jul 2014
TL;DR: It is found that workers in the state sector enjoy a subjective premium in well-being - reporting significantly higher levels of happiness than their counterparts in the private sector.
Abstract: Situated in China’s market transition, this study examines the relationship between economic sectors and individuals’ happiness in post-reform urban China. Using datasets from the Chinese General Social Surveys 2003, 2006 and 2008, we find that workers in the state sector enjoy a subjective premium in well-being – reporting significantly higher levels of happiness than their counterparts in the private sector. We also find that those remaining in the state sector report being significantly happier than do former state sector workers who moved into the private sector, whether the move was voluntary or involuntary. Sectoral disparity in the allocation of social welfare benefits serves as the primary nexus linking state-to-private mobility and happiness. Those who made voluntarily state-to-private moves experienced a trade-off in enjoying higher payoffs while losing job security, whereas involuntary downward mobility left long-term psychological scars on those who experienced layoffs or unemployment. Economic Sectors and Happiness in Post-Reform Urban China 3 INTRODUCTION Past research on both industrialized and transitional societies has well documented the detrimental effects of job displacement and unemployment, clearly showing that job security is important for individuals’ subjective well-being and health (e.g., Brand, Levy and Gallo 2008; Burgard, Brand and House 2007; Darity and Goldsmith 1996; Frijters, Haisken-DeNew, and Shields 2004; Gallo et al. 2006; Hayo and Seifert 2003; Namazie and Sanfey 2001; Winkelmann and Winkelmann 1998; Young 2012). However, individuals who experience job displacement and unemployment constitute only a small fraction not only of the total labor force but also of those exposed to insecure working conditions. That is, job security can be viewed broadly as a spectrum of employment-related structural resources and protections allocated differentially across economic sectors. For example, and as discussed more below, researchers have long argued that the U.S. and other western countries have dual labor markets characterized by large disadvantages for workers in the secondary compared to the primary sector in terms of wages, working conditions, and employment stability (Bulow and Summers 1986; Cain 1976; Doeringer and Piore 1971; Reich, Gordon and Edwards 1973; Wachter 1974). A similar distinction also exists in transitional countries such as Russia and Poland, where the private sector exposes workers to greater risks than the state sector, including higher job termination rates and fewer opportunities to obtain permanent positions (Acquisti and Lehmann 2000; Lehmann and Wadsworth 2000; Lehmann, Wadsworth and Acquisti 1999). In general, workers in relatively weak labor market positions tend to have lower perceptions of job security, lower wages, and fewer fringe benefits, and thus to have lower subjective well-being than their counterparts (Linz and Semykina 2008; Yu 2008; Zhao 2012). China provides researchers with a valuable opportunity to examine the role that job security plays in determining individuals’ subjective well-being. China’s economic reform has achieved remarkable success over the past three decades, dramatically shifting employment markets and initiating as well large-scale and striking social changes. One such change during the market reform was the smashing of the iron rice bowl – or the displacement of guaranteed life-time job security, medical benefits, housing, education, and other elements of social welfare given to all public workers by the uncertain potential of jobs in the market economy (Tang and Parish 2000). Today, about 40 percent of China’s population has no job-related benefits (Kuruvilla, Lee and Gallagher 2011). In addition, China’s market reform is progressing gradually and unevenly, with Economic Sectors and Happiness in Post-Reform Urban China 4 social groups affected differentially by the destruction of the iron rice bowl. Recent studies argue that “fragmented markets” have emerged in China, characterized by heterogeneous institutional arrangements, inconsistent practical logic, and distinctive allocation mechanisms between the state and private sectors (Zhao 2012; Zhao and Zhou 2012). Workers in the private sector in urban China enjoy significantly fewer fringe benefits than their counterparts in the state sector, especially those working in government agencies and public institutions (Wu 2013). In addition to representing a fruitful research setting, China is a country that has reason to be interested in empirical findings on how changing employment markets are affecting subjective well-being. From 1978 to 2010, the employment share of stateand collective-owned units declined from nearly 100% to less than 50%, while the share of private and other non-state enterprises grew concomitantly from nearly nothing to over 50% (China Statistical Yearbook 2011). How this shift has affected perceived well-being, and how well-being may vary by employment sector and sociodemographic group are highly salient questions. For instance, a recent rise in the number of college graduates taking China’s national civil service exam suggests that differences between the state and private sectors have become important factors for youth making career choices (Li, H. 2013). Using data from the Chinese General Social Surveys, this study investigates the relationship between economic sector employment and subjective well-being. We attempt to address two research questions. First, does workers’ subjective well-being differ by economic sector? Second, if yes, does job security or some other factors explain the observed difference?
01 Jan 2014
TL;DR: This paper found that the cultural orientation of Asian American families is different from that of white American families in ways that mediate the effects of family SES on children's academic achievement, and that a fraction of the Asian-white achievement gap can be explained by ethnic differences in behaviors and attitudes.
Abstract: We advocate an interactive approach to examining the role of culture and SES in explaining Asian Americans’ achievement. We use Education Longitudinal Study (ELS) 2002 baseline data to test our proposition that the cultural orientation of Asian American families is different from that of white American families in ways that mediate the effects of family SES on children’s academic achievement. The results support our hypothesis, indicating that: (1) SES’s positive effects on achievement are stronger among White students than they are among AsianAmericans; (2) the association between a family’s SES and behaviors and attitudes are weaker among Asian-Americans than among Whites; (3) a fraction of the Asian-white achievement gap can be accounted for by ethnic differences in behaviors and attitudes, particularly ethnic differences in family SES’s effects on behaviors and attitudes. Culture and Asian-White Achievement Difference 3