A Review on Singapore's Economic Growth

Abstract

INCREASED WAGE INEQUALITY HAS BEEN OBSERVED IN MANY COUNTRIES. THE CHIEF EXPLANATION IS THAT THE INCREASING DEMAND FOR HIGHLY SKILLED LABOR, WHICH SEEMS TO BE CAUSED BY THE SPREAD USAGE OF COMPUTERS, RAISES WAGES FOR HIGH-SKILLED WORKERS. THIS PAPER STUDIES THE CHANGE IN EARNING DISTRIBUTIONS OF THE URBAN CHINESE ECONOMY, WITH QUANTILE REGRESSION AND COUNTERFACTUAL DECOMPOSITION ANALYSIS. SPECIFICALLY, WE EXAMINE HOW THE WAGE DISTRIBUTION HAS CHANGED IN URBAN AREAS OF CHINA BETWEEN 1995 AND 2002; FURTHERMORE, WE DECOMPOSE THE CHANGES TO BE THE CONSEQUENCE OF WORKERS¿ CHARACTERISTICS CHANGES AND THE CONSEQUENCE OF CHANGES IN RATES OF RETURN TO THESE CHARACTERISTICS. WE FIND THAT BOTH REAL WAGE AND REAL WAGE INEQUALITY IN URBAN AREAS OF CHINA HAVE INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY DURING THE PERIOD. OUR MODEL, WHICH DISPLAYS HIGH ACCURACY IN ESTIMATING THE REAL WAGE DISTRIBUTIONS, SHOWS THAT BOTH GENDER GAP AND RATES OF RETURN TO EDUCATION HAS INCREASED BETWEEN THE TWO YEARS. WITH COUNTERFACTUAL D