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Evolution of Urban–rural Living Standards Inequality in T hailand: 1990–2006
Author(s) -
Fang Zheng,
Sakellariou Chris
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
asian economic journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.345
H-Index - 28
eISSN - 1467-8381
pISSN - 1351-3958
DOI - 10.1111/asej.12015
Subject(s) - inequality , standard of living , distribution (mathematics) , economics , rural area , demographic economics , geography , political science , mathematics , law , mathematical analysis , market economy
The present study examines the developments in urban–rural living standard inequality in T hailand from 1990 to 2006 using a methodology that allows for the identification of individual contributors to changes in inequality. We also propose a method to analyze the changes over time in urban–rural living standards. We find that the urban–rural gap in living standards in T hailand has narrowed substantially since the early 1990s, both at the mean and especially for households in the upper part of the expenditure distribution; however, the narrowing of the gap at the bottom of the expenditure distribution has been negligible. The study also identifies the main individual contributors to changes over time in living standards between urban and rural areas in T hailand.