Income inequality among minority farmers in China: Does social capital have a role?

© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd We used recently available household panel data collected by China\u27s National Bureau of Statistics to examine the effects of natural, human, material, and social capital on income inequality among minority farmers in China\u27s Xinjiang Province between 2011 and 2012. Results obtained from panel quantile regression and correlated random effects’ models show that income inequality and the poverty of ethnic farmers have been decreasing to some extent. Results also indicated that human capital exacerbates income inequality among the minorities, whereas the effect of natural capital on income inequality is not evident. Social and material capital reduce income inequality among ethnic minorities. Results from the decomposition of the Gini coefficient indicate that material and social capital contribute to a substantial majority of the income inequality in the region