In this article, we examine the relationship between market transition and gender
gap in earnings in urban China. We analyze change in the gender gap in human
capital, political capital, labor-force placement, and family structure; change in the
amount of monetary return to these determinants; and the changing significance of
these sources of influence. We do so by analyzing two national samples from the 1988
and 1995 Chinese Household Income Project (CHIP) and city-level data for 1995.
We found no longitudinal change nor city-level variation in the gender gap in
earnings. Despite this stability, the proportion of the gender gap in earnings
attributable to education and occupational segregation increased over time. This
change is disproportional, occurring largely only in the most marketized cities. In these
highly marketized cities, the significance of market-related mechanisms — education
and occupation and industry-placement — has increased, while the contribution of
redistribution-related mechanisms — affiliation with the state sector, party
membership, and seniority — has decreased. These changes indicate that the Chinese
market transition is a nonlinear, cumulative process.