Different Privileges, Divergent Paths: Income Loss Among Administrative Elites and Market Elites in China During Covid-19

ABSTRACT: Covid-19 has affected everyone in China, but not equally. Previous studies have mostly focused on the more severe income loss experienced by socio-economically disadvantaged groups during the pandemic, ignoring income disparities within elite groups. Using data from the 2021 Chinese General Social Survey, this paper finds that administrative elites experienced relatively less income loss during the pandemic, while market elites faced more severe losses, even exceeding those of the non-elite group. The disparity between the two elite groups in their resilience to income risk, represented by the type of pay, is an important mechanism behind their divergence in income loss. Additionally, in regions where the redistribution system was further strengthened, the income losses of administrative elites decreased further, while in areas with more severe market closures, the income losses of market elites increased further. This study enhances our understanding of the heterogeneity within China’s elites and the tension between the market system and the redistribution system in contemporary China. KEYWORDS: Covid-19, China, administrative elites, market elites, income loss.