Income and wealth inequality and the life cycle: a non-parametric analysis for China

This paper uses the techniques of non-parametric density and regression estimation to estimate the Chinese age/income and age/wealth distributions, using survey data relating to 1987. Although there is evidence of a clear life-cycle profile of income earning and wealth accumulation, the results suggest that only a small part of observed inequality can be explained by life-cycle factors. This finding contradicts the results of some other researchers.