A multidimensional investigation on spatiotemporal characteristics and influencing factors of China's urban-rural income gap (URIG) since the 21st century

Urban-rural income gap (URIG) has been documented for decades but its theoretical explanation, spatiotemporal distribution characteristics and the influencing factors remains unqualified. Here, we developed a conceptual framework based on the locational production theory, used Theil index, inequality coefficient, OLS and GWR to deconstruct the multidimensional spatiotemporal features and influencing factors of China's URIG and sub-URIG at provincial and prefectural levels since the 21st century. Our findings indicate that (1) since the 21st century, the URIG in China has been narrowed, but it remains significant, with the URIG in the less developed western China being much higher than that in the developed eastern coastal China. (2) In terms of sub-income, wage income and business income may contribute to closing the URIG, while the property income tend to widen the URIG in China. (3) The impact of sub-income on URIG is spatially heterogeneous, and different sub-income significantly impacts different regions. (4) In terms of influencing factors, urbanization has always been the major driver to narrow China's URIG. Through time, the positive effects of regional economic development, industrial and agricultural development and innovation intensity on narrowing the URIG have become increasingly significant, while there is significant spatial heterogeneity in each influencing factor.