Is China’s inflation pushed by wages? An empirical research based on excess wages

Abstract

Whether China’s inflation since 2007 is demand-pull or cost-push has become the study focus. Different opinions about the originations of the inflation indicate different policies against further inflation. VAR research based on the import price, money supply, excess wage and inflation rate finds that money supply instead of excess wage has made the most contribution for current inflation since 2000. Further evidence from sectoral data also confirms the conclusion of the VAR research. So there was no “wage-inflation” vicious circle in China during 2000–2007.

Keywords

inflation / demand pull / cost push / excess wage