A New Data Set Measuring Income Inequality

This article presents a new data set on inequality in the distributionof income. The authors explain the criteria they applied inselecting data on Gini coefficients and on individual quintilegroups' income shares. Comparison of the new data set with existingcompilations reveals that the data assembled here representan improvement in quality and a significant expansion in coverage,although differences in the definition of the underlying datamight still affect intertemporal and international comparability.Based on this new data set, the authors do not find a systematiclink between growth and changes in aggregate inequality. Theydo find a strong positive relationship between growth and reductionof poverty.     

Inequality,Mobility and Income Distribution Comparisons

This paper examines the relationship between the cross-sectional and lifetime income distributions using a simple model of relative income mobility. It asks whether cross-sectional comparisons between countries can provide a good indication of lifetime inequality differences if income mobility is similar, and whether lifetime inequality increases by less than cross-sectional inequality if the latter increases as a result of higher mobility. Analytical and simulation methods are used to show that the answer to both questions is negative. Comparisons must allow for different types of mobility, the nature of the age-income profile and the age distribution in each country. JEL classification: D31.     

分项收入不平等效应与收入结构的优化

从分项收入角度考察城乡收入不平等,不仅能判断产生收入不平等的原因,还能判断什么分项收入有利于增加收入总量;不仅能量化收入不平等效应,还能根据收入不平等效应来优化收入结构。研究发现,分项收入具有性质不同、大小不等的收入不平等效应,其中工资性收入扩大收入不平等的效应最强、转移性收入次之、财产性收入最小;经营性收入是唯一具有缩小收入不平等效应的分项收入。据此,我们认为,城乡居民收入结构优化的方向应该是,稳定维持工资性收入、适当调整转移性收入、适度控制财产性收入并努力增加经营性收入。     

Alternative Retirement Income Arrangements and Lifetime Income Inequality: Lessons From Australia

This paper examines the implications for lifetime income equality of alternative retirement income arrangements, using the Australian scheme as a benchmark. In Australia, the pay-as-you go financed age pension is means-tested and thereby provides a contrast with those countries where part or all of a basic pension is paid to all aged persons. Many governments are considering an increase in the level of means-testing. The results show that the introduction of a universal pension coupled with significant changes and simplifications to the structure of taxation and superannuation have little effect on the redistributive impact of the tax structure in a life cycle framework. The presence of means-testing appears to have no significant effect on life-time inequality. The results suggest that it is possible to eliminate complexities from the system providing retirement benefits without having any deleterious effect on equity. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

我国城镇居民收入流动对长期收入不平等影响研究

收入流动是研究收入不平等问题的一个重要视角。笔者通过对我国城镇居民收入流动对长期收入不平等影响的分析发现:(1)在考虑到收入流动的情况下,城镇居民的长期收入不平等并没有各个单独年份的收入不平等那么严重;(2)收入流动对长期收入不平等的缓解程度取决于收入流动的自身变动情况,我国城镇居民收入流动在2000年后呈现整体下降态势,其对我国城镇居民长期收入不平等的缓解程度也出现下降。(3)导致阶层固化的收入流动不利于缓解长期收入不平等,这也解释了进入2000年后我国城镇居民收入流动对长期收入不平等缓解程度呈现明显下降。     

城市化对于中国居民收入不均的影响

本篇论文重新定义了城市化和中国人口收入不均的关系,以中国居民的收入不均变化是否遵循着库兹涅茨倒U型曲线为切入点。根据本文的研究,尽管中国城市地区和农村地区收入不均的变化没有遵循库兹涅茨的倒U型假说,但是中国总的收入不均变化遵循了这一假说。中国总体收入不均遵循倒U假说的主要原因就是：由城市化导致的收入不均已经在近十年来进入下降的阶段,从而使得中国总体收入不均水平也在下降或使其加速缓慢。在未来,对于总体收入不均水平的下降,两项政策将刻不容缓：一方面,限制劳动力流动的户籍制度必须打破,从而使城市化加快;另一方面,农村居民的收入必须尽快提高,从而使城乡差距缩小。     

金融摩擦、收入风险与财富不平等

本文通过构建带有职业选择的两部门异质模型,探讨了个体面临的金融摩擦和收入风险对财富分配的作用机制。结果发现,经济中存在的金融摩擦会通过职业选择、自我保险和自融资来影响个人的财富积累,从而导致财富的集中和不平等。对模型模拟的结果表明:降低金融摩擦在总体上会降低财富不平等程度,但对不同财富阶层的影响不同,其在大幅减少前1%和前10%阶层财富份额的同时,虽然也会在一定程度上提升后50%阶层的财富份额,但提升幅度并不大,过高或过低的企业家收入风险,都会加大财富不平等程度,因而存在一个使经济中财富不平等程度最低的适度企业家收入风险水平;虽然金融摩擦和收入风险都会影响经济中的财富不平等,但收入风险本身对财富不平等程度的影响较小,其主要是通过金融摩擦放大了经济中财富不平等的程度。     

Social Transfers And Income Inequality In Old Age

Abstract

This paper examines variation in old-age income inequality between industrialized nations with modern welfare systems. The analysis of income inequality across countries with different retirement income systems provides a perspective on public pension policy choices and designs and their distributional implications. Because of the progressive nature of public pension programs, we hypothesize that there is an inverse relationship between the quality of public pension benefits and old-age income inequality—that is, countries with comprehensive, universal, and generous public pension systems will exhibit more equal distributions of income in old age.

Luxembourg Income Study data indeed show that cross-national variation in old-age income inequality is partly explained by differences in the percentage of seniors’ total income derived from public pension transfers. Sweden, for example, has the highest level of government transfers and the lowest level of old-age income inequality, while Israel and the United States have the lowest levels of dependency on government transfers and the highest levels of income inequality. A notable exception is Canada, where public transfers represent only a moderate portion of elderly income, yet old-age income inequality is relatively low. These findings suggest that quality of public pension benefits does indeed play a role in explaining differences in old-age income inequality between industrialized nations, yet these variations are also likely influenced by other factors.     

International Trends in Income Inequality and Social Policy

In most OECD-countries income inequality has increased during the last two decades. In this paper, we investigate whether changes in the overall distribution of income can be attributed to social policy measures. For most (but not all) countries we find a possible relationship between changing welfare state policies (as measured by expenditure ratios and replacement rates) and changing income inequality. Especially the United Kingdom and the Netherlands combined an above-average rise in inequality with a reduction in the generosity of the welfare system.A more elaborate budget incidence analysis for the Netherlands indicates that in the period 1981–1997 inequality of disposable household income increased sharply. The two main forces behind this phenomenon were a more unequal distribution of market incomes and changes in social transfers. Fundamental social security reforms in the Netherlands indeed seem to have made the income distribution less equal. However, income inequality in the Netherlands is still below the OECD average at the end of the observed period.     

信贷增长如何影响中国的收入和财富不平等

本文基于中国家庭追踪调查(CFPS)数据考察了信贷增长对中国家庭收入和财富不平等的影响。整体而言,信贷增长可以缩小家庭收入不平等,主要作用机制是信贷增长通过提高中低收入群体的劳动收入和单位时薪以缩小劳动收入不平等。同时,文献中所发现的信贷增长可能恶化收入不平等的机制——扩大家庭间非货币金融资产差距,在我国表现并不明显,原因在于中国家庭的非货币金融资产比例较低,这一点对于高收入家庭也不例外,且大部分家庭难以从金融资产交易中获利。信贷增长带来了各个收入组的房屋价值上涨,但高收入家庭房产价值上涨的幅度高于中低收入家庭,因此房价上涨扩大了不同收入家庭所持有的房产价值差异。考虑到家庭调查数据往往对高收入家庭的收入和财产覆盖不完整,上述结论可能低估了信贷增长对极少数高收入家庭收入和资产的影响。本文有助于更好地理解我国信贷增长对收入分配问题的影响,为相关政策制定提供了一定启示。     

Income Inequality and Mortality: A Norwegian Perspective*

While Norway has experienced income growth accompanied by a large decline in mortality during the past several decades, little is known about the distribution of these improvements in longevity across the income distribution. Using municipality‐level income and mortality data, we show that the stark income gradient in infant mortality across municipalities in the 1950s mostly closed in the late 1960s. However, the income gradient in mortality for older age categories across municipalities persisted until 2010 and only flattened thereafter. Further, the infant mortality gap between rich and poor Norwegian families based on individual‐level data persisted several decades longer than the gap between rich and poor municipalities and only finally closed in the early 21st century.     

Geographic Inequality in Income and Mortality in Germany*

We use data from the German Federal Statistical Office on population counts, births, deaths and income to study the development of socio‐economic inequality in mortality rates from 1990 to 2015 for different age groups and both genders. Ranking the 401 German districts by average disposable income per capita, we observe large inequalities in district‐level mortality rates in 1990, which had almost disappeared, or at least been flattened considerably, by 2015 particularly for infants, children and the very old. The most important driver of this reduction in inequality is German reunification in 1990. As indicated by more detailed analyses comparing districts in the former East and the former West, even five years after reunification there was a large gap in disposable income, with all Eastern districts considerably poorer than the poorest district in the West. At the same time, mortality rates were higher for all age groups and both genders in the East. Income has caught up, to the extent that there are equally poor districts in the East and West in most recent years (although the West is still much richer on average). Mortality rates in the East have improved considerably and are even below mortality rates for similarly poor districts in the West in the most recent data.     

Financial Structure and Income Inequality: Evidence from China

This study investigates the relationship between financial structure and income inequality in China and explores a channel for changes of financial structure to influence income inequality. Our results suggest that, relative to total bank credit, an increase in the raised capital from the stock market reduces income inequality, whereas a rise of turnover in the stock market augments income inequality. Financial structure affects income inequality by influencing the development of medium-sized enterprises. Our evidence supports the financial structure relevancy view. To reduce income inequality, the Chinese government should help to promote equity financing and decrease excessive speculation on the stock market.     

Household Debt and Income Inequality, 1963–2003

I construct an economy with heterogeneous agents that mimics the time-series behavior of the earnings distribution in the United States from 1963 to 2003. Agents face aggregate and idiosyncratic shocks and accumulate real and financial assets. I estimate the shocks that drive the model using data on income inequality, aggregate income, and measures of financial liberalization. I show how the model economy can replicate two empirical facts: the trend and cyclical behavior of household debt and the diverging patterns in consumption and wealth inequality over time. While business cycle fluctuations can account for the short-run changes in household debt, its prolonged rise of the 1980s and the 1990s can be quantitatively explained only by the concurrent increase in income inequality.     

人口老龄化对收入不平等的作用效应研究述评

收入不平等与经济增长的关系一直是经济学家们长期关注的问题,然而随着人口老龄化的到来,收入分配问题再一次成为焦点。本文将人口老龄化对收入不平等的影响研究归纳为四个方面:正、反向作用、微小作用和不确定性作用。归纳发现,此方面研究的理论基础包含永久性收入假说、人口理论、世代交叠模型、家庭交叠模型、基尼系数和数值模型,且基于不同理论基础得出的结论差别较大。本文在归纳文献的基础上,提出现有文献在人口老龄化概念的界定、收入不平等的衡量指标以及不平等指数分解三方面存在缺陷,并提出将人口老龄化对收入不平等的作用机制作为进一步的研究方向。     

人力资本、社会保障与中国居民收入不平等——基于个体相对剥夺视角

本文通过Kakwani个体相对剥夺指数测度中国城乡居民的收入不平等程度,并分析了人力资本和社会保障对居民个体收入不平等的影响机制及其城乡差异。研究发现:人力资本积累和社会保障制度能够有效抑制居民收入不平等程度的恶化,人力资本和社会保障主要通过收入增长效应和收入差距减缓效应来降低居民收入不平等程度,且稳健性检验结果依然显著;城乡之间不同收入人群在人力资本积累和社会保障再分配上存在群体差异性和阶层分化,导致城乡居民收入不平等的异质性。加强人力资本要素集聚和提高生产效率,构建城乡一体化的社会保障体系,遏制城乡居民多维贫困的代际传递,对于降低城乡居民收入不平等尤为关键。     

Financial Development and Income Inequality: Long-Run Relationship and Short-Run Heterogeneity

This article examines the dynamic relationship between financial development and income inequality using the PMG. We find that financial development will reduce inequality in the long run, while it can increase inequality in the short run. Using the estimates of country-specific short-run coefficients, we also find that adverse short-run effects of financial development are associated with the vulnerabilities of countries in terms of their greater susceptibility to crises and poor quality of governance. Good governance seems to be important for achieving inclusive growth though financial development.     

Income Inequality,Growth, and the Enlargement of the European Union

This study investigates the relation between income inequality and economic growth, namely, the Kuznets curve, in the context of EU enlargement. The results have implications regarding how the latest enlargement of the European Union affects the relationship between income inequality and growth, for both EU member countries and the European Union as a region. Estimation results show that there is no evidence of a significant original or reverse Kuznets curve for any of the groups of countries in this study. Therefore, empirical results suggest that the latest enlargement, and a possible future accession of the candidates, may not change the fact that a Kuznets curve does not exist for the European Union.     

浅析金融发展与城乡居民收入不平等

本文以1978—2005年间山东省金融发展与城乡收入差距的时间序列为基础对二者关系进行了Granger因果检验,结果表明山东省金融发展对城乡收入差距有单向Granger因果关系,进而以ADL模型和以向量自回归（VAR）模型为基础,运用脉冲相应函数和方差分解技术定量分析了金融发展对城乡收入差距作用的大小。得出结论：金融发展与城乡收入差距之间存在协整关系;在长期,金融发展对山东省城乡收入差距有显著拉大作用,并据此就山东省金融发展与城乡收入差距提出了简要地政策建议。     

人民币汇率波动与收入不平等:影响渠道及应对

本文基于2006—2018年我国28个省份的省级面板数据,探讨了人民币汇率波动对收入不平等产生的影响以及影响渠道。研究结果表明,人民币汇率波动的增加会通过外商直接投资渠道与就业渠道扩大收入不平等。因此,在有序推进人民币汇率市场化、人民币汇率波动逐渐增加的背景下,应稳步推进经济发展与扩大就业,促进外汇市场的发展与完善,加强劳动力市场的建设,完善失业人员培训保障机制,不断提升经济开放程度及教育水平,以避免人民币汇率波动对收入不平等的负面影响。