MEASURING RURAL INCOME INEQUALITY AND ANALYZING AGRICULTURAL AND NON-AGRICULTURAL INCOMES IN DISTRICTS AT CPEC IN PAKISTAN USING GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM

Abstract

This study has two-fold objectives. First, analyze the rural income inequality and its decomposition by employment status and education of the household. Second, analyze the income inequality of districts of Pakistan located at the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Theil Index, a member of the generalized entropy inequality and inequality decomposition technique. Furthermore, the Geographic Information System GIS was used to map the rural income (agricultural and non-agricultural). Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey (2012-13), provincial and district representative data set, was used. Results show that the households mainly earned from agriculture and those in which heads had the post-secondary qualification make the largest contributions to rural income inequality. A decomposition of income inequality within and between districts on CPEC routes indicates higher variations. GIS based mapping of rural income depicts districts on routes of CPEC having a large non-agricultural income.

Keywords

• china-pakistan economic corridor
• geographic information system
• inequality-decomposition
• rural income inequality
• theil index.