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Provincial Variation in Marketization and Successful Aging in China: A Multilevel Analysis

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Abstract

This study examined the association between levels of marketization at the province level and individuals’ likelihood of successful aging in China. We merged individual-level data collected from the 2000 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) with province-level data from various statistical yearbooks of China. The sample included 11,199 oldest-old from 22 provinces. Successful aging was dichotomously measured following Rowe and Kahn’s framework. Levels of marketization were indicated by the proportion of non-state-owned sector employees in the province. Two-level random intercept logistic regression models were estimated. The results indicated a positive association between levels of marketization of the province where older persons resided and their odds of successful aging, controlling for individuals’ socio-demographic characteristics, health-related behaviors, and childhood health-related conditions. Furthermore, this positive association was more pronounced for non-elites than for former elites. More research is needed to understand the potential causal nature of the relationship between levels of marketization and successful aging.

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Notes

  1. A state-controlled economy refers to an economic system in which the State controls allocation of resources and goods, and plans economic activities including production and investment.

  2. A market-based economy refers to an economic system in which market forces determine prices, resource allocation, production, and investment.

  3. State-owned sector in China includes state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in which all assets are owned by the central government, and collective-owned enterprises that are often sponsored by the local governments with owners loosely specified (e.g., residents of the city in which the enterprise locates). For example, PetroChina and Sinopec are two major Chinese SOEs. Some Cotton & Woolen Manufactories in certain municipalities are examples of collective-owned enterprises.

  4. National Bureau of Statistics of China uses gross output value to measure the total achievements and overall scale of industrial production during a given period. It refers to the total volume of final industrial products produced and industrial services provided during a given period.

  5. Cadres are officials holding responsible or managerial positions in the Chinese Communist Party and government.

  6. Township and Village Enterprises are enterprises that are owned and managed by local residents in rural communities. Together with the rural private enterprises, they form the rural non-stateowned sector.

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Acknowledgments

This work is based on the doctoral dissertation of the first author, Jiaan Zhang, under the direction of her dissertation committee, Drs. Ruth Dunkle, Mary Gallagher, Ronald Inglehart, and Lydia Li. She would like to thank her dissertation committee for their guidance and support. The data used for this project comes from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS), which was supported by NIA/NIH grants awarded to Duke University, with matching support from Chinese institutions. We thank Wu Puzhou for his assistance in drawing Fig. 1 and Betsy Essex for her assistance in editing the manuscript. Thanks also go to three anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and constructive suggestions on an earlier version of this paper.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Work, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong, China

    Jiaan Zhang

  2. School of Social Work, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-1106, USA

    Lydia W. Li

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  1. Jiaan Zhang
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Correspondence to Jiaan Zhang.

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Zhang, J., Li, L.W. Provincial Variation in Marketization and Successful Aging in China: A Multilevel Analysis. Population Ageing 8, 203–222 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12062-015-9119-x

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