Preferences for Social Insurance and Redistribution in China

• In Event: Mass Attitudes toward Inequality and Redistribution in East Asia

Abstract

This paper aims to study the political consequences and implications of increasing social risks in China. It approaches the politics of social risks and redistribution in contemporary China from the micro level. To that end, I design a survey experiment to collect data in China on individuals’ preferences for risk sharing with various social groups and for risk pooling at various administration/regional levels under different circumstances of social risks. In the survey experiment, the treatment conditions are news that describe the profile of Chinese social insurance as having 1) high risks and inequalities; 2) low risks and inequalities; 3) high risks and low inequalities; or 4) low risks and high inequalities. After the treatments, respondents are asked questions about their policy preferences for social insurance reform such as incorporating outsiders/migrants into the current insurance, pooling insurance funds at a higher administration level or across different regions. The data can tell us how Chinese preferences for income redistribution and risk pooling in social insurance change with their perceptions of social risks and inequalities, advancing our understanding of the micro-foundation of risk pooling and redistribution in Chinese social insurance development and reform.

Author

• Xian Huang, Rutgers University