持久收入假说与我国城镇居民消费——基于省级面板数据的实证分析

运用基于持久收入和暂时收入的两种分解方法的省际面板模型检验持久收入假说的三个假设.结果发现,我国城镇居民消费与持久收入和暂时收入均存在显著的相关关系,暂时收入的边际消费倾向不为零;就诸省份而言,暂时收入的边际消费倾向不同.进一步探讨了持久收入假说不能完全解释我国城镇居民消费行为的原因."λ假说"检验表明,城镇居民消费对当期收入过度敏感,其呈现理性化趋势.     

经济发展对环境资源公平配置的影响研究

伴随着我国经济的持续高速增长,地区之间的经济差距逐渐扩大,势必影响到地区之间的环境资源配置状况。对经济发展、经济公平与环境公平之间的相互关系进行了探讨。通过构建环境基尼系数来定量分析我国环境资源配置的公平状况;根据经济增长与环境质量之间的环境库茨涅茨经验曲线假定,采用数值分析方法研究了人均GDP、经济基尼系数对环境基尼系数的影响。我国1996～2008年SO2省际排放差异的实证研究结果与数值分析结果基本一致,表明随着我国经济发展水平的不断提高,经济基尼系数变大的同时,环境基尼系数反而呈现下降趋势。     

中国农村地区间居民收入差距及构成变化:1995—2008年——基于基尼系数的分解

本文采用分省的面板数据对农村地区间基尼系数分解结果表明,1995—2008年,中国农村地区间收入差距总体上仍然呈现上升趋势,基尼系数上升了0.0639,但增幅出现明显减弱趋势。基尼系数变化及农村居民工资性收入对基尼系数的贡献变化显示出与经济发展阶段变化一致的含义;结构性效应已不再是农村地区间收入差异的唯一构成来源,收入集中效应对基尼系数起了明显的增加作用,工资性收入的集中效应超过了其他收入来源。这些构成来源的变化蕴含着中国面临调节地区间农村收入差距的政策机遇。     

Carbon-reducing taxes and income inequality: general equilibrium evaluation of alternative energy taxation in Taiwan

Recently, several studies have been a detailed evaluation of the economic implications of energy taxation as a policy instrument to conserve energy and reduce carbon emissions. However, little attention has been devoted to inquiring about the economic implications of energy taxation in the newly industrialized countries (the so-called NICs). In this paper, we use a multisector, multihousehold computable general equilibrium model to assess the distributional effects of alternative energy taxation on the Taiwan economy. The counterfactual simulation technique is applied to investigate the income distribution implications of: (1) an increase in the import taxes of crude oil; and (2) an increase in the excise taxes of petroleum products. Our empirical results basing on Taiwan's data show that both energy taxes increase government revenue and the Gini coefficient, but reduce net value-added, private consumption, disposable income and equivalent variation. A raise in the Gini coefficient implies that there is a worsening in the distribution of income. The lowest income group suffers relatively large welfare and income loss, but the highest income group suffers a relatively small welfare and income loss. The distributional effects differ from household to household depending on the composition of their total consumption and the source of their factor income. Our findings reveal that the energy tax appears to be mildly regressive, there are broadly consistent with those cases of developed countries reported in previous studies.     

DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS AND CONSUMPTION INEQUALITY IN AUSTRALIA BETWEEN 1975 AND 1993

We examine trends in consumption inequality among Australian households using the Australian Bureau of Statistics Household Expenditure Surveys collected over the period 1975 to 1993. We find that the distribution of consumption is much more equal than that of income and that both income and consumption inequality rose by significant amounts over the period. However, consumption inequality rose by much less (the Gini coefficient for income inequality rose by 17 percent while that for nondurable consumption rose by 9 percent). We then examine the effects of demographic trends, specifically population aging and changing family structures, and find they account for only a minor fraction in the overall growth in economic inequality.     

Measuring fossil resource inequality—A case study for the UK between 1968 and 2000

This paper quantifies fossil resource inequalities amongst income quintiles in the UK between 1968 and 2000. It calculates a resource-based Gini coefficient using an input-output based resource allocation model.The results show that the Gini coefficient for total fossil resource consumption grew by 24% over the time period. By comparison the Gini coefficient for overall household expenditure rose by only 13%. The increase in resource inequality was prompted by the rising demand by high income quintiles for goods and services such as: “fuel and light” (heating and lighting the home), “car use” (private transportation), “recreation”, “travel” and “other services”. The analysis shows further that the Gini coefficient for “direct” fossil resources (“fuel and light” and “car use”) was lower and rose less steeply than the Gini coefficient for fossil resources embodied in other goods and services (indirect fossil resource requirements).Investigation into the drivers behind direct and indirect resource inequalities suggests a number of policy conclusions. Firstly, it is clear that policy initiatives to reduce fossil resource requirements (and the associated climate change impacts) must pay careful attention to distributional differences. Additionally, increased attention needs to be paid to the inequalities associated with indirect fossil resources consumption as well as the more visible direct resource inequalities.     

From income to consumption: measuring households partial insurance

This article computes the degree of consumption insurance with respect to transitory and permanent income shocks. The lack of income–consumption data in the US surveys forces researchers to use an empirical strategy to impute consumption. This procedure is avoided by using the Spanish Household Budget Continuous Survey, which contains true panel data on consumption and income information in the same survey. We find full insurance for transitory income shocks and partial insurance for permanent shocks for some sub-groups. For the full sample, a 10% permanent income shock induces a 4.8% permanent change in consumption, with higher insurance capacity for college, home-owner and high-wealth households. We also compute the role of durables and family income transfers as smoothing devices. The comparison of insurance level when based on true consumption data versus imputed consumption data shows that the use of imputed consumption underestimates permanent insurance.     

Income Inequality and Macroeconomic Volatility: An Empirical Investigation

We explore the impact of macroeconomic volatility on the distribution of income. Using a cross‐section of developed and developing countries, we find that greater output volatility, defined as the standard deviation of the rate of output growth, is associated with a higher Gini coefficient and income share of the top quintile. The coefficients suggest that a strong effect on inequality resulting from a reduction in volatility: the Gini coefficient of a country like Chile would fall by 6 points if it were to reduce its volatility to the same level as Sweden or Norway. Our results seem not to be driven by the high‐inequality/high‐volatility Latin American countries.     

The Changing Pattern of Sources of Income and its Impact on Inequality: The Method and its Application to Australia, 1975–94

This paper proposes a new method of explaining the temporal change in economic inequality in terms of changes in the sources of income. The method is based on the decomposition of the Gini coefficient by source of income. Using this method, the paper also examines changes of the sources of private income in Australia over the last two decades and their impact on the distribution of income. It will be seen that not only have the shares of income from different sources changed, but that there has been significant change in inequality of distribution of the components themselves.     

Report of China Household Income Disparity

Based on China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) data, China’s Gini Coefficient stood at 0.61 in 2010, above the global average of 0.44, according to the World Bank. The high Gini Coefficient represents a large income disparity of the country. It is understandable that a high Gini is common in fast-growing economies and can be reduced through government’s transfer payments given the experience of OECD countries. This paper illustrates the breakdown of China’s Gini, regional, rural and urban differences in household income. Specifically, it is found that poor health, insufficient social welfare and low education level are the main reasons for poverty of rural households. This paper also provides solutions to reduce the Gini coefficient. In the short term, China government can invest more on social insurance and implement large-scale transfer payments. The figure shows that China government has sufficient financial sources to strengthen secondary distribution to subsidize the low-income group. In the long term, government can increase overall educational level and reduce the opportunity inequality to narrow the income gap.     

On the potential economic costs of cutting carbon dioxide emissions in Portugal

The objective of this paper is to estimate the impact of reducing carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion activities on economic activity in Portugal. We find that energy consumption has a significant impact on macroeconomic activity. In fact, a 1 ton of oil equivalent permanent reduction in aggregate energy consumption reduces output in the long term by €6,340. More importantly, and since carbon dioxide emissions are linearly related to the amounts of fuel consumed, our results allow us to estimate the costs of reductions in carbon dioxide emissions. We estimate that a uniform standard for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion activities would lead to a marginal abatement cost of €95.74 per ton of carbon dioxide. This is a first rough estimate of the potential economic costs of policies designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. At this level one may conclude that uniform, across the board reductions in carbon emissions would have a clear negative effect on economic activity. Hence, at the aggregate level there is clear evidence for a trade-off between economic performance and a reduction in carbon emissions. This opens the door to the investigation of the scope for policy to minimize the costs of environmental policy and regulation.     

三大经济支撑带创新能力地区差距及分布动态演进

基于我国内地2001—2013年30个省市（除西藏外）R&D人员全时当量、R&D经费、专利授权量、技术市场成交额、新产品销售收入5个指标数据,采用主成分分析法,计算得出各省市创新能力综合评价指数,以及全国和“一带一路”沿线省（市、自治区）、京津冀地区、长江经济带三大经济支撑带的创新能力水平。在此基础上,利用Dagum基尼系数和Kernel密度估计方法,对三大经济支撑带创新能力的地区差距及分布动态进行实证研究。结果发现：①三大经济支撑带创新能力呈不断上升趋势,“一带一路”沿线省（市、自治区）经济带的创新能力低于全国平均水平,而京津冀地区经济带和长江经济带的创新能力高于全国平均水平;②三大经济支撑带创新能力的总体差距不断扩大,2005年之后,地区差距成为造成总体差距不断扩大的主要原因;③Kernel密度估计显示,随时间推移,全国和三大经济支撑带的创新能力虽然得以提升,但地区差距仍呈现持续扩大趋势。     

中国农村消费行为及其制约因素分析

农民收入水平低、消费不力一直是制约我国经济增长的大问题。研究表明:收入与消费倾向负相关,且持久收入弹性小于暂时收入弹性,利率与消费倾向显著正相关,这暗示:由于对未来的支出存在悲观预期,农民更注重将持久性收入列入储蓄计划,而将利息收入、外出务工收入等额外的暂时性收入用于改善生活。农业投入不足是农村消费市场疲软的最根本原因。价格对农民消费行为的影响具有滞后性。因此,启动内需,关键在于改善农村消费环境,拓宽就业渠道,减轻农民负担。     

我国地区间公共福利基尼系数及其经济增长效应研究

本文采用1995—2007年我国31个省(市)的福利性财政支出数据,应用基尼系数方法测算了我国省(市)间的公共福利差距。通过分解计算基尼系数的地区构成,发现东、中、西部地区间的经济差距是我国福利性财政支出差异的主要表现方面。鉴于此,本文利用VAR模型和脉冲响应函数,计算并比较东、中、西部地区福利性财政支出基尼系数的经济增长效应差异性。结果表明:东、中部地区公共福利基尼系数的经济增长效应正负交替出现,但最终负向且趋于平稳;而西部地区公共福利的经济增长效应则一直是负向且稳定的。     

消费条件模型和各地区消费条件指数

本文建立了一个消费条件模型来考察影响我国人均消费水平变化的各种因素 ,包括交通运输和通讯等基础设施条件、城市化水平、消费者信用手段的发展、社会保障体系的发展 ,以及收入分配差距等等。模型发现城市化水平是在收入水平以外对人均消费影响最大的变量。交通运输和通讯设施条件也对消费有重要影响。银行卡普及率和养老保险的普及有正的影响 ,而以吉尼系数表示的收入差距可能具有负影响。基于模型取得的对消费影响的经验参数 ,作者建立了一个中国各地区消费条件指数 ,对各省市自治区的消费条件状况进行刻画。这对于进一步研究消费变动的未来趋势将有重要意义     

河南省城乡收入差距的实证分析

选取2003--2012年数据,通过人均可支配收入、人均消费、基尼系数等指标对河南省城乡居民收入差距进行测度,并分析河南省各地区城乡收入差距状况。河南省城乡居民人均收入和人均消费的绝对差距都在持续加大,其相对差距呈缩小趋势;全省收入分配差距较大,城镇内部和农村内部的收入分配相对合理,但农村内部的贫富差距大于城镇。最后,对缩小城乡收入差距提出相关对策与建议。     

Household income mobility in rural China: 1989–2006

This article analyzes household income mobility in rural China between 1989 and 2006. The results indicate that incomes in rural China are highly mobile. The high degree of rank and quantity mobility implies re-ranking and mean convergence in income distribution, but the disparity between them also enlarged with leveling-up and Gini divergence brought about by economic growth. In addition, there exists considerable transitorily poor and rich in positional mobility. Though, transitory movement provides an opportunity for both poor and rich and decreases long-term inequality, it also causes considerable income fluctuations and economic insecurity. Moreover, the equalizing effect of income mobility on income inequality is weakening.     

ECONOMIC FREEDOM & HAPPINESS INEQUALITY: FRIENDS OR FOES?

This article examines the relationship between economic freedom and happiness inequality for a large sample of countries. We find that economic freedom is negatively associated with happiness inequality and robust to several alternative measures of happiness inequality, including the standard deviation, mean absolute difference, coefficient of variation, and Gini coefficient. Among the economic freedom areas, legal system and sound money are negatively correlated with happiness inequality. Drawing on the Engerman‐Sokoloff hypothesis, we use a measure of factor endowments as an instrument for economic freedom to provide a further robustness test, finding a negative association between economic freedom and happiness inequality. (JEL D63, I31, P16)     

中国现行统计方法基尼系数的推算及结果

根据中国统计年鉴城镇居民和农村居民收入数据的特点,对相应的基尼系数计算进行了研究和探讨,并给出了一种推算方法,计算了1982-2001年城镇、农村和全国居民的基尼系数。对推算出的城镇和农村居民基尼系数结果进行了经济分析。     

二次分配对城镇居民收入差距的调节效果分析——基于2007—2010年安徽省城镇住户调查数据

本文利用安徽省城镇住户调查数据探讨了二次分配对城镇居民收入差距的调节效果。研究表明,个人所得税和最低生活保障制度对收入差距的调节效果微乎其微;社会保障支出在一定程度上缩小了可支配收入的基尼系数,但是考虑到单位对住房公积金、养老保险、医疗保险的配套支出,最终的结果扩大了城镇居民的收入差距;目前,养老金和退休金对调节收入差距的效果最为显著,但是养老金和退休金的收入差距也比较大。