Join the University of Kentucky Confucius Institute (UKCI) and College of Agriculture, Food and Environment in welcoming Dr. Scott Rozelle as the first speaker in the 2017 Spring Distinguished Scholars Series. His lecture entitled The Inequality of Human Capital Among China’s Children and China’s Future Growth and Stability and discussion will take place at the Auditorium in the William T. Young Library on Tuesday, March 7, 3:00p.m.
About the Speaker: Scott Rozelle is the Helen F. Farnsworth Senior Fellow and the co-director of the Rural Education Action Program in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. His research focuses almost exclusively on China and is concerned with: agricultural policy, the economics of poverty and inequality, with an emphasis on rural education, health and nutrition. He is fluent in Chinese and has established a research program in which he has close working ties with several Chinese collaborators and policymakers. In recognition of his outstanding achievements, Rozelle has received numerous honors and awards, including the Friendship Award in 2008, the highest award given to a non-Chinese by the Premier.
About the Lecture: Despite the recent robust growth, there is concern that as China moves up the income ladder that its high level of inequality may be a breeding ground for future instability. China’s income distribution is one of the most unequal in the world!! It has become such an important issue that the new president of China, Xi Jinping, is—at least publically—making the reduction of inequality one of the top priorities of his new development agenda. But, the focus on income equality today may be missing the factors that will determine equality in the next generation. One of the largest sources of inequality in the future is the inequality of human capital among young cohorts today. The overall goal of the presentation will be to document China human capital inequality gaps for children ages 6 months to college age. In addition—and perhaps more importantly, we will look at ways that have been shown to shrink the inequality.
