Notes and comments. Ricardo on income tax: a note

Despite the fact that Ricardo experienced Pitt's income taxpolicies, and that he regarded taxation as the most importantissue to which the principles of political economy should beapplied, he rarely referred to actual tax reforms. This paperindicates that Ricardo's system of economics cannot bring aboutany tax that is completely compatible with his main criteriafor taxation (distribution neutrality, price neutrality andminimum taxation) as well as certainty, convenience and thesecurity of property. This result may explain why Ricardo didnot say which type of taxation system the British governmentshould establish.     

Ricardo on machinery: a dynamic analysis

I construct a dynamic two-sector model which formalizes Ricardo's argument on the effects of the introduction of machinery. My model does not require the inappropriate assumptions common to other Ricardian models. Using this model, I show that if machinery is introduced, both the demand for labour and the output of the consumption good must decline temporarily and can then recover. As well, the temporal decline of value of the gross produce is not a necessary condition for the above temporal decline of the demand for labour.     

The Dutch and Portuguese-Jewish background of David Ricardo

This article deals with the Dutch and Portuguese-Jewish background of David Ricardo. The important pieces of information, found in the Amsterdam municipal archives, on the one hand correct, and on the other complement, the data presented by P. Sraffa. Recently, new evidence has been found on Ricardo's stay in Amsterdam in the years 1783?–?85. This evidence throws new light on Ricardo's relationship with his uncle Moses in Amsterdam. It is shown that his formal education was poor, but that his informal education may have been rich. The question of whether Ricardo visited the famous Talmud Tora in Amsterdam is settled in the negative.     

Keynes,Ricardo and the classical theory of interest

Keynes made harsh and repeated attacks on the work of Ricardo, blaming him particulary for what Keynes called the ‘classical theory’ of interest. Garegnani and others argue that Keynes' criticisms of the classical theory of interest apply to later neoclassical writers, but not to Ricardo. This paper re-examines Keynes' criticisms. It argues that Keynes attacked Ricardoapos;s theory of interest despite his awareness that Ricardo did not hold the ‘classical theory’. Moreover, Keynes not only expressed sympathy for Ricardo's understanding of interest, but his criticisms which do apply to Ricardo do not address Ricardo's theory of interest.     

Tozer on machinery

This paper examines John Edward Tozer's mathematical treatment of the classical approach to the machinery problem and his discussion of some arithmetical examples that had been presented by Barton, Sismondi, McCulloch and Ricardo. It is shown that Tozer (1) made a genuine contribution to the contemporary debates on the machinery issue, (2) anticipated modern formulations of the problem of the choice of technique, and (3) revealed a puzzling inconsistency in Ricardo's argument in the famous chapter ‘On Machinery’.     

生产价格理论的另类思考及李嘉图难题的另解

传统观点认为,生产价格理论解决了李嘉图难题之一——劳动价值论所强调之等价交换原则与等量资本获取等量利润规律之间存在冲突.这个判断是不能成立的,生产价格理论只是绕开李嘉图难题从总量层面证明了劳动价值论,而且其证明的理论结构是存在逻辑缺陷的.这个李嘉图难题的存在源于其方法上的错误——混淆了动态与静态、非均衡与均衡、现象与本质.如果避免了李嘉图的方法性错误,不仅这个难题会消失,还可以将劳动价值论的证明从结构层面向前推进一步.     

Income distribution,fiscal policy,and delays in stabilization

This paper presents an explanation of the cycles of large fiscal expansions and macroeconomic stabilizations that are frequently observed in developing countries. In the model, different coalitions form and change depending on the position of three groups over the degree of redistribution and the timing of debt repayment. I show that seemingly unsustainable fiscal policies arise from a coalition of the poor and the rich when the distribution of income is highly unequal. When income is distributed more equally, instead, the patterns of fiscal policy and of the trade balance are consistent with the standard predictions of representative agent models. These features of the model seem consistent with available empirical evidence.     

收入增长和收入分配对城市减贫的影响

本文基于对贫困的分解,运用贫困弹性的动态特征,选取《中国统计年鉴》相关年份城市住户分组数据,深入分析收入增长和收入分配因素对中国1991-2009年间城市绝对贫困和相对贫困的影响。结果表明:(1)高速的经济增长对我国城市绝对贫困率下降起决定性作用,但收入分配恶化对城市相对贫困率上升有显著影响。(2)收入水平越高,则收入因素对城市减贫的促进作用越强,且分配因素所引起的贫困变动越大;收入分配越不平等,则收入因素对城市减贫的促进作用越弱,且分配因素所引起的贫困变动越小。因此,我国今后的城市减贫,应在继续保持经济较快增长的同时,以改善收入分配不平等为重点。     

收入分配、金融发展与宏观风险：一个文献综述

从收入分配角度解释金融危机是当前国际上正在热烈讨论的重要议题。本文旨在对这一研究领域的发展历程和最新进展做一个简单的综述。文章沿着收入分配研究的两条发展脉络——基于要素的收入分配理论和基于人际的收入分配理论——展开,并且分别考察了金融发展在两条路径的逻辑链条中起到的作用。最后,在回顾文献的基础上．提示出我国经济中潜在的宏观风险,得到对中国有借鉴意义的结论和启示。     

初次收入分配与技术进步——基于马克思主义经济学的视角

生产力概念的深化对于马克思主义的发展非常重要,考察初次收入分配与技术进步之间的关系是一个可行的切入点。在税收收入占比保持不变的情况下,劳动收入占比的下降意味着资本收入占比的上升。劳动收入占比的下降缩小了消费市场规模而抑制技术进步(消费效应),资本收入占比的提高使得企业技术投资面临更少的融资约束而促进技术进步(融资效应),初次收入分配与技术进步之间可能呈现出无关、线性或者倒U型关系,其具体关系要视消费效应和融资效应的相对强弱而定。基于中国省际面板数据的实证分析发现,中国初次收入分配与技术进步之间的关系呈现出倒U型关系,存在一个最有利于技术进步的初次收入分配格局,意味着当前需要同时保护劳动和资本的权利。     

The corn model, gluts and surplus value

The controversy over Ricardo's corn model has focused on theinterpretation of his early writings. Here, Ricardo's lateruse of a corn model example in his dispute with Malthus overgluts is discussed. Malthus's own use of a corn model tablein attempting to justify his use of a labour commanded measureof value is analysed; it is shown that he calculates what Marxwas to describe as surplus value from the physical conditionsof production and the real wage.     

经济增长与城镇不同阶层收入分配问题研究

本文利用1978～2006年的时间序列数据.对城镇不同阶层收入分配不平等与经济增长之间的关系进行了实证研究。研究结果表明:城镇不同收入阶层的收入分配不平等与经济增长之间存在协整关系;库兹涅茨倒U型曲线对于城镇各收入阶层来说都是不存在的;经济增长对低收入阶层的收入分配不平等程度不具备调整能力,但对中、高收入阶层的收入分配不平等程度却有极大的调整作用。在一定的显著性水平下,当滞后一定期数时。经济增长是收入分配不平等的格兰杰原因。总体而言,随着经济的增长,收入分配不平等程度趋于扩大,需要深化分配制度改革。     

Labour employed in production and labour commanded: a Ricardian conjecture

This paper explains the origin of some important ambiguitiesin the analysis of value and prices put forward by Smith inhis Wealth of Nations by considering the possibility that theyreflect a previous draft of the book where the quantity of labouremployed in production was indicated as the sole determinantof real price and exchange ratios. This conjecture is evidencedindirectly by the way in which Smith presented his own analysisat the end of Book I, Chapter IV; by some passages containedin Book I and Book II which suggest that the quantity of labouremployed in production should play a crucial role within theanalysis of exchangeable value; and by the important modificationsintroduced by Smith in Book I, Chapter VI, after the first editionof the Wealth of Nations was published.     

收入分配不平等与经济增长:回到库兹涅茨假说

本文运用一个政治经济模型,研究在财政支出同时具有生产性和消费性,同时进入总生产函数和代表性个人的效用函数时收入分配不平等对经济增长的影响。本文的分析表明:在经济均衡时,增长率与税率呈倒U型关系。随着税率增加,经济增长率先升后降;在政治均衡时,收入分配越不平等,实际资本税率就越高,因此收入分配不平等与经济增长间存在一定程度的库兹涅茨倒U型关系     

影响收入分配关系的五个问题与八点建议

基于与收入分配密切相关的五个重要问题的分析,文章认为,我国现阶段收入分配的症结不在于雇员薪酬比重、政府收入规模(宏观税负)、国有经济比重等带有总量特征的指标出现了什么严重问题,而在于收入分配的结构存在较为显著的不合理,差距扩大,公正性不足,转移支付和直接税的再分配优化机制构建不到位、作用发挥不够,以及对财产性收入的影响缺乏有效的引导与约束,国有企业的资产收益对公共福利贡献较弱,等等。文章从政府与财政的职能定位出发,考虑全局的可持续发展和社会和谐,提出了八点完善收入分配关系的建议。     

中国金融发展与收入分配、贫困关系的经验分析——基于动态面板数据的研究

本文利用2001—2007年中国省际面板数据,运用系统的广义矩(GMM)估计方法,研究金融发展对收入分配和贫困的影响。结果发现,中国的金融发展更有利于贫困家庭收入水平的提高,减少收入分配不平等。贫困家庭的收入增长大约有31%可以归因于金融发展的收入分配效应,而剩下的69%是由于金融发展的增长效应所致。另外,没有证据表明金融发展与收入分配存在倒U型关系。在非农产业比重高的省份,金融发展会加剧贫富差距。     

中国的税收结构、经济增长与收入分配

本文通过实证分析,说明在中国现阶段的经济制度和税收结构下,流转税类、所得税类、资源税类和财产税类份额的增加会扩大资本所有者和劳动所有者市场收入的分配差距,而特定目的税类和行为税类份额的增加则会缩小资本要素与劳动要素的收入分配差距。同时,所得税类、资源税类和行为税类份额的增加会提高经济的总体规模,而财产税类和特定目的税类份额的增加则会降低经济的总体规模。这说明在现阶段的中国经济中,有必要对所得税类和财产税类进行结构和职能两方面改革,使这两种税能够体现社会公平的税收职能。单纯地从税收结构的数量调整上讲,目前应提高所得税类的税收份额,并降低财产税类(即房地产税)的税收份额。     

中国出口贸易利益测算与行业差异分析——基于出口收入指数的方法

本文以出口收入指数方法为基础构建出口收入份额指标,计算和分析了2001-2009年期间中国出口的相对贸易利益及其分行业状况。中国在世界平均出口收入指数中的相对份额虽然呈现出一定的上升趋势,但主要是在低技术行业依靠出口规模而获取贸易利益,在高技术行业中国获得的市场份额和贸易利益都很少。面板数据计量检验显示,中国制造业各行业出口收入份额与技术投入、资本和劳动要素投入比例呈现较弱的正相关关系,与外资进入以及参与产品内分工的程度呈现较显著的正相关关系。中国欲摆脱以代工方式加入全球价值链而赚取低廉代工费的现实处境,须致力于物质资本和人力资本积累,提高自主创新能力,从而形成以技术为主导的竞争优势。