Although the rise in women’s labor force participation has improved women’s socio-economic status, it has not led to a commensurate decline in their share of intrahousehold housework over the past half-century—a phenomenon often referred to as the “gender stall.” Using longitudinal data from the 2012–2022 China Family Panel Studies and a two-way fixed-effects model with a lagged independent variable approach, this study examines how wives’ earnings share affects their housework time in China. We construct a novel index to measure couple-level gender role attitudes and investigate whether the association between wives’ relative earnings and intrahousehold housework time allocation varies across households with different couple-level GRA profiles. The results show that, overall, a higher wives’ earnings share is significantly associated with a shorter wives’ housework time. However, the effects are heterogeneous across households. In couples where both spouses hold egalitarian gender role attitudes, a higher wives’ earnings share significantly reduces wives’ housework time, consistent with the relative resources theory. By contrast, in couples where both spouses hold traditional (inegalitarian) attitudes, the effect of wives’ earnings share is statistically insignificant, supporting the “doing gender” hypothesis.

This study uses national survey data from the Chinese Household Income Project for 2002, 2013, and 2023 to examine the influence of task-based factors on the gender wage gap (GWG) in urban China in 2002-2023. We construct multi-period indicators of non-routine task intensity and employ decomposition methods to explore two channels through which tasks influence the GWG. The results indicate that the wage premium for non-routine tasks was higher for women than for men during the period 2002-2023, and several robustness checks support this conclusion. The gender differences in the non-routine task wage premium vary by age and education group, and across the wage distribution. The decomposition results suggest that gender disparities in wage premiums for non-routine tasks (the price effect) contributed to narrowing the GWG in all three sample periods, although the magnitude of this effect declined from 2002 to 2023. By contrast, gender differences in the allocation of non-routine tasks (the endowment effect) widened the GWG in 2002 and 2023, while narrowed it in 2013. Additionally, both the endowment and price effects on the GWG differ across wage distributions in each period.

Using individual firm data from the Orbis and Global Risk Information Database and regional level data, this study investigates the influence of corporate board composition and the regional development of private sector on corporate crimes in China during the period from January 2020 to September 2023. The empirical results indicate that board size and board gender diversity significantly influence the crime rate, whereas the effect of board independence is insignificant. This study first finds that private sector development significantly reduces corporate crime. These findings are robust across various samples and estimation models. Furthermore, the effects of board composition and private sector development differ by corporate crime type.

The determinants of the wage gap between the public and private sectors have attracted global attention. However, the empirical evidence on the impact of marketisation on this wage gap remains limited. Using national longitudinal survey data from the China Family Panel Studies for the years 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018 and employing a decomposition method, this study investigates the relationship between marketisation and the wage gap between the public and private sectors in China. The results of separate wage functions indicate that marketisation advancement may increase wages in both the public and private sectors, with a slightly larger effect observed in the private sector. Several robustness checks confirm these findings. The decomposition results show two channels that contribute to narrowing the wage gap: the differences in labour force allocations between high- and low-marketisation regions and the differences in marketisation wage premiums. The wage gap and the effects of these two channels vary across wage distributions and are more pronounced among high-wage workers than among those in the medium- and low-wage groups. These findings suggest that promoting market-oriented reforms may enhance market competition, which contributes to narrowing the wage gap.

Income inequality driven by racial and ethnic factors significantly impacts sustainable social and economic development. This study performs a meta-analysis of data extracted from 55 previous studies to investigate the ethnic wage gap in China. The results reveal that although the ethnic wage gap in China has had a statistically significant and economically meaningful impact during its economic transition period, it remains low. The ethnic wage gap is more pronounced among female workers, workers in rural regions, and workers in the public sector than among male workers, workers in urban regions, and those in the private sector. Furthermore, the ethnic wage gap has exhibited a U-shaped trend during the transition period, indicating that it has increased in recent years.

Using national survey data from the Chinese Household Income Project and regional official data, this study examines the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on the gender wage gap in China from 2002 to 2018. Four findings emerge. First, FDI, measured as working in foreign-invested enterprises (FIE) and regional FDI rate, significantly increases the wage level. Second, the gender difference in wage return to FIE differs by industrial sector: It is significant in the service sector while insignificant in the manufacturing sector. Third, the decomposition results indicate that both gender differences in FIE employment (endowment effect) and wage return to FIE (price effect) widen the wage gap, while both effects of regional FDI reduce the wage gap. Lastly, both the endowment and price effects of regional FDI contribute to reducing the wage gap in each ownership sector, while the price effect is greatest for FIEs.

Using national longitudinal survey data spanning 2014-2020 and employing a decomposition approach, this study investigates the influence of trade unions on the wage gap between formal and informal workers in China. The results reveal a union wage premium for both formal and informal workers, with the premium being larger for informal workers. The decomposition results indicate that the disparity in union membership density widens the wage gap, whereas the difference in union wage premium narrows the wage gap. These results suggest that policies aimed at expanding union coverage may increase the wages of informal workers and influence the wage gap between formal and informal workers.

In China, household incomes have undergone significant changes due to rapid economic growth. While it is argued that income change may influence participation in risky financial markets, there is limited empirical evidence for China. Using national longitudinal survey data, this study first examines the impact of income change on the holding of risky financial assets (RFAs) in China. It uses fixed- and random-effects models, and propensity score matching methods, to address endogeneity issues. The empirical results indicate that income change reduces the likelihood of holding RFAs and their shares. The negative effect of income change on participation in risky financial markets varies by demographic group. This effect is more pronounced among middle-aged and elderly individuals, women, and urban residents compared to their counterparts, including youth, men, and rural residents. The findings suggest that policies aimed at reducing income risk may promote the development of the stock market.