Personal Income Distribution and Market Structure

Income distribution affects market demand and its elasticity, and, as a consequence, the optimal behaviour of firms and market equilibrium. This paper focuses on the effects of income polarization, and presents a model where – for any unimodal density function describing income distribution of the consumers – income polarization leads to market concentration, i.e., to a smaller number of firms able to survive in the long run, provided that the firms' fixed costs are sufficiently low.     

Monopoly pricing with negative network effects: The case of vaccines

We study the market for vaccinations considering income heterogeneity on the demand side and monopoly power on the supply side. A monopolist has an incentive to exploit the external effect of vaccinations and leave the poor susceptible in order to increase the willingness to pay the rich. Even the possibility of price discrimination does not remove this incentive. We demonstrate that the weaknesses of standard policy measures are mitigated when income heterogeneity is taken into account. This offers an efficiency based rationale for distribution oriented national or international public health interventions.     

Market Demand Elasticity and Income Inequality

This paper deals with the analysis of the relation between aggregate demand for a consumption good and the distribution of income across consumers. We obtain sufficient conditions under which changes in income inequality lead to an increase or decrease in the market demand elasticities. The conditions are satisfied for individual demand functions commonly used in economic models, in particular, for the typical demand functions on luxury goods and necessities. An earlier version of this paper was titled “Market demand elasticity, equilibrium stability and income inequality”. The authors are grateful to an anonymous referee, Aydin Cecen and Herbert Scarf for helpful comments and suggestions. R. Ibragimov gratefully acknowledges the financial support from the Yale Graduate Fellowship and the Cowles Foundation Prize.     

Price competition, quality and income disparities

A market is considered, the demand side of which consists of a large number of consumers with identical tastes but different income levels, and the supply side, of two firms selling at no cost products which are relatively close substitutes for each other. Consumers are assumed to make indivisible and mutually exclusive purchases. A full characterization of the demand structure and the non cooperative market solution is given, and the dependence of the latter on income distribution and quality parameters is analyzed.     

我国收入分配失衡对消费需求的影响分析

伴随着经济的发展,我国收入分配情况却呈现出失衡的状态,收入差距正在扩大。收入分配情况直接影响一国的消费需求总量和结构,我国的消费需求内需不足,为利用内需拉动经济增长带来较大阻力。为此,今后应致力于消除由不合理因素造成的收入差距过大的问题,继续深化产业结构调整,充分发挥市场的调节作用,发挥政府在收入再分配中的重要作用,提高整个社会的福利水平。     

The demand for casino gaming

In this study an econometric model is developed to examine the determinants of the demand for casino gaming, specifically the demand for slot machine wagering at riverboats and racinos. In addition to examining the effects of traditional demand variables, the effect on wagering of variables such as location of a wagering facility and of government restrictions, is examined. A unique measure of accessibility of market area customers to a facility and to competing facilities was developed. The demand for wagering at a facility was found to increase as access by customers in its market area increases and to decrease as access by its customers to competing riverboats, racinos or Indian casinos increases. Government restrictions were found to have an adverse effect on wagering at a riverboat. On the other hand, wagering at a riverboat was found to increase when such restrictions were imposed on competing riverboats. The presence of total loss limits and restrictions on boarding times at a riverboat were found to have reduced wagering by 36% and 35%, respectively. With respect to traditional demand variables, slot machine wagering demand was found to be price elastic at the beginning of the sample period declining to slightly below unit elasticity by the end of the period. Table games offered at a gaming facility were found to be substitutes for slot machines. Demand was found to be negatively related to per capita income at lower income levels and positively related at higher income levels. The proportion of income wagered was found to be greater at upper and lower income levels relative to middle income levels. Demand was found to be positively related to days of operation and number of slot machines.     

市场潜能与地区收入差距——基于空间视角

基于空间经济学理论,构建两类空间面板模型,理论分析并实证检验市场潜能对地区间整体及地区内城乡结构性收入差距的影响.结果表明:市场潜能对地区间整体收入水平的提高具有显著促进作用,市场潜能较高的地区将获得更强的经济发展动力,从而该地区居民收入水平也就更高;收入水平呈现空间集聚特征,不同地区之间市场潜能对收入增长的影响存在显著异质性,且这一差距在较大程度上解释了中国不同地区之间尤其是东西部之间的收入差距;市场潜能与城乡结构性收入差距之间表现出先缩小后扩大的U型影响,其拐点在7.02处,对于尚未超过该拐点的地区而言提高市场潜能仍然是改善地区内城乡结构性收入差距的重要手段.     

Market Power with Interdependent Demand: Sale of Emission Permits and Natural Gas from Russia

With implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, Russia will most likely be able to exert market power in the emission permit market. But, as Russia is also a big exporter of fossil fuels, the incentives to boost the permit price may be weak. However, a significant share of Russia’s fossil fuel exports is natural gas. If a high permit price boosts the demand for natural gas through substitution from more polluting fuels and thus increase gas profits, this may increase the incentives to exert monopoly power in the permit market. Moreover, a large fossil fuel exporter may use its market position to influence the effective demand for permits. Hence, the relationship between permit income and fossil fuels exports runs in both directions. In this article, we explore the interdependence between the revenues from permit and fossil fuel exports both theoretically and numerically. A computable general equilibrium model suggests the fact that Russia as a big gas exporter has small effect on the incentives to exert monopoly power in the permit market. Moreover, Russia’s monopoly power in the permit market has a small, but non-negligible impact on the optimal level of Russian gas exports.     

人工智能技术创新缩小了性别收入差距吗？——基于中国家庭追踪调查的经验分析

人工智能技术创新在提高制造业生产效率的同时,也在重塑行业内劳动力市场中不同群体的“技能-技术”匹配关系和收入分配。本文基于中国家庭追踪调查(CFPS)数据考察人工智能技术创新对制造业性别收入差距的影响,并从理论上探讨其内在影响机理。研究发现：(1)技术进步扩大了行业中的性别工资差距,但使整体工资水平趋于上升；(2)技术进步使低技能群体的性别收入差距缩小,但却扩大了高技能群体的性别收入差距；(3)制造业中人工智能技术创新主要通过教育程度、行业内性别偏好、女性精细化能力优势以及低技能工作对体力技能需求下降的方式影响性别工资差距。     

金融结构转型与收入分配优化*

本文阐释了金融结构(包括银行业结构)影响收入分配的理论机制，并运用动态面板模型和面板门槛模型分析了金融结构对收入分配的影响效应。研究表明：(1)金融制度功能的有效发挥依赖于金融资源在数量规模和结构层次上的匹配程度，金融要素之间根据市场主体的融资需求形成相互分工协作，在促进金融结构转型过程中实现收入分配优化；(2)在资本密集型产业优先发展的战略背景下，银行业结构对收入分配存在逐级递减的正向影响效应，大型商业银行市场融资份额占比过高将不利于优化收入分配；(3)在经济增长进程中，金融结构对收入分配存在倒“U”型影响效应，金融结构由“银行主导型”向“市场主导型”转变将有利于优化收入分配。     

金融结构转型与收入分配优化*

本文阐释了金融结构(包括银行业结构)影响收入分配的理论机制，并运用动态面板模型和面板门槛模型分析了金融结构对收入分配的影响效应。研究表明：(1)金融制度功能的有效发挥依赖于金融资源在数量规模和结构层次上的匹配程度，金融要素之间根据市场主体的融资需求形成相互分工协作，在促进金融结构转型过程中实现收入分配优化；(2)在资本密集型产业优先发展的战略背景下，银行业结构对收入分配存在逐级递减的正向影响效应，大型商业银行市场融资份额占比过高将不利于优化收入分配；(3)在经济增长进程中，金融结构对收入分配存在倒“U”型影响效应，金融结构由“银行主导型”向“市场主导型”转变将有利于优化收入分配。     

中国行业垄断的收入分配效应

收入分配差距过大是中国社会发展的难点和热点问题,行业垄断已经成为加剧中国收入分配矛盾的重要原因。为此,本文构建新的垄断-竞争两部门利润分享模型,揭示行业垄断影响收入分配的内在机制,并结合中国的经验数据进行实证分析。研究表明,行业垄断在产品与要素市场中,通过最终产品消费的福利转移、要素的区别定价以及垄断利润在不同就业者之间的非均衡分享导致收入分配差距的扩大;在行业垄断力量对经济干预较多的阶段,收入差距扩大问题较为严重,并且往往表现为劳动总收入的下降。因此,持续提升劳动者收入,保持收入分配的合理化,必须配合行之有效的行政垄断部门改革,打破行业垄断所形成的二元经济结构,降低行业垄断在生产和分配领域中的影响。     

建立现代产权制度,解决消费需求不足

产权制度经历了从古典产权制度到现代产权制度的演进.受古典产权制度的制约,我国劳动力市场所具有的两个特点决定了工资的市场定价必然将工资定位在低点,它导致了相当一部分就业人口长期的低收入,从而产生收入分配差距偏大和总消费需求不足.因此,必须建立现代产权制度,才能够解决收入分配差距偏大和总消费需求不足的问题.现代产权制度是构建和谐社会的经济基础.     

Estimating an Import Demand Function in Developing Countries: A Structural Econometric Approach with Applications to India and Sri Lanka

Owing to the unavailability of time‐series data on the domestic market‐clearing price of imports, the estimation of notional price and income elasticities of aggregate import demand remains a daunting task for a large number of developing countries. This paper develops a structural econometric model of a two‐goods representative agent economy that incorporates a binding foreign exchange constraint at the administered prices of imports. A theoretically consistent parameterization of the “virtual relative price” of imports circumvents the data problem, and thus enables the estimation of income and price responses by cointegration approach. The price and income elasticity estimates for India and Sri Lanka, in contrast to the extant literature, have correct signs, high statistical significance, and plausible magnitudes.     

Aggregation effects on price and expenditure elasticities in a quadratic almost ideal demand system

Abstract.  While it is well known that demand elasticities calculated at the macro level will in general differ from those calculated at the micro level because of aggregation effects, there remain the questions of how large the effects are and how they vary with the degree of inequality in the income distribution. We explore these questions with models based on a quadratic version of the Almost Ideal Demand System. We investigate the elasticity differences theoretically and then calibrate the models and generate numerical results, using income data for seven countries with widely different distributions. The aggregation effects are found generally to be rather small, even with highly unequal income distributions.     

房地产市场对股票市场波动的响应机制研究

借助余弦相似度概念,定义并创设了房地产市场景气度评价变量,据此在短期条件下基于消费者均衡理论,依据斯卢茨基方程测度了各商品支出对股票投资收益率变动的收入效应和替代效应,从而揭示了房地产市场对股票收益率变动的响应过程及其关键因素。研究发现,短期条件下,当股票投资收益率提高时,资金在房地产市场与股票市场间的流动受限,投机性房地产支出变动只有收入效应,无替代效应,导致短期房地产市场偏离长期均衡状态;当投机性房地产需求收入弹性高于临界值时,房地产市场对股票市场波动呈现正响应,且投机性房地产需求收入弹性和银行储蓄率越高正响应越强,由此印证了我国股票市场和房地产市场的强关联性。     

Managerial capital,occupational choice and inequality in a global economy

This study proposes a simple theory of trade with endogenous firm productivity, occupational choice and income inequality. Individuals with different managerial talent choose to become entrepreneurs or workers. Entrepreneurs enhance firm productivity by investing in managerial capital. The model generates three income classes: low‐income workers facing the prospect of unemployment, middle‐income entrepreneurs managing domestic firms and high‐income entrepreneurs managing global firms. Trade liberalization policies raise unemployment and improve welfare. A reduction in per‐unit trade costs raises top incomes and generates labour‐market polarization. A reduction in fixed exporting costs has an ambiguous effect on top incomes and personal income distribution. Policies reducing labour‐market frictions or the costs of managerial‐capital acquisition create more jobs and improve welfare. The income distributional effects of labour‐market policies depend on which policy is implemented.     

The structure of optimal tariff rates in a large country with market power

We theoretically analyze the optimal tariff problem that arises in a large country with market power. By using a model with more than two traded goods, we derive (1) the condition for optimal import tariff rates to be ranked, and (2) the condition under which the optimum import tariff becomes uniform. These conditions are established in a three-good model and in an N-good model. The results are evaluated on the basis of compensated excess demand elasticity, and hence do not require information on income effects. I would like to thank Tatsuo Hatta, Makoto Okamura, Katsuhiko Suzuki and two anonymous referees for their helpful comments and suggestions.     

Housing Prices in Urban China as Determined by Demand and Supply

This paper studies the demand for and supply of residential housing in urban China since the late 1980s when the urban housing market became commercialized. Using aggregated annual data from 1987 to 2012 in a simultaneous equations framework we show that the rapid increase in the urban residential housing price can be well explained by the forces of demand and supply, with income determining demand and cost of construction affecting supply. We find the income elasticity of demand for urban housing to be approximately 1, the price elasticity of demand to be approximately ?1.1 and the price elasticity of supply of the total housing stock to be approximately 0.5. The resulting long‐run effect of income on urban housing prices in elasticity terms is approximately 0.7, because the increase in income has shifted the demand curve outward more rapidly than the supply curve.