城乡居民的收入流动性研究

本文根据基尼系数的排序关系推导了收入流动性的一种测度方式,并以我国城乡居民住户调查数据为基础描述了我国城乡居民收入流动性的变化特征.本文的结论表明,我国城镇居民收入流动性表现出明显的下降倾向,而农村居民的收入流动性则略有上升.     

劳动工资理论的误区及其矫正

劳动要素所得过低是导致我国收入分配差距过大的重要因素.所谓劳动力成本低廉的竞争优势,在很大程度上是挤压了劳动者合理的生存工资、生活条件和最基本的社会保障而形成的.这是新古典经济学市场竞争决定收入分配从而决定雇佣环境带来的后果,走出这一误区就需要在认识这些理论缺陷的同时补上遗漏的工资理论信息,为改变劳动报酬偏低的收入分配格局提供理论支撑和政策导向.     

技术依赖假说与实际工资的变化：理论描述与实证研究

针对我国实际工资水平较低的问题,理论界从比较优势假说、经济结构假说和收入分配假说不同的分析角度,分别给出了不同的解释。而技术依赖假说则强调,实际工资的变化与技术进步之间存在着密切的依赖关系：当技术进步偏向利用资本、节约劳动时,实际工资呈下降趋势;当技术进步偏向利用劳动、节约资本时,实际工资呈上升趋势。对我国实际工资水平变化的实证研究也为上述解释提供了支持。     

外商直接投资对我国的工资效应分析——基于1997-2006年面板数据的实证研究

本文利用我国28个省1997-2006年的面板数据实证检验FDI对我国整体以及东部、中部、西部三大区域的工资差距效应和工资溢出效应,结论表明FDI增加了我国内外资部门之间的工资差距,对内资部门的工资溢出效应不显著。分区域来看,FDI显著增加了我国东部和中部地区内外资部门之间的工资差距,但对于西部地区的工资差距不具有显著影响;FDI对东部地区内资部门的工资水平具有正向溢出效应,对中部地区内资部门的工资水平溢出效应为负,对西部地区内资部门的工资溢出效应不明显。     

未被观测经济与居民收入不平等——基于中国省级面板数据的实证研究

未被观测经济（NOE）对经济发展具有诸多影响,但对居民收入不平等的影响尚未引起足够重视。文章基于动态均衡解的劳动报酬模型得到,随着NOE规模扩大,收入不平等程度（即劳动者从事NOE部门的报酬与从事可观测部门的报酬之差）呈现单调递增的变化过程,但边际变化率先增后减。当考虑劳动者决策的随机动态调整因素时,NOE规模与收入不平等之间存在高低两个动态变化均衡点。在该模型基础上,基于2000-2010年中国省级面板数据,证实了NOE规模与居民收入不平等之间存在显著正向影响关系,人力资本水平、市场化程度和腐败水平也与居民收入不平等呈正向影响关系,而城市化水平则呈较显著的负向影响关系。基于实证结果,提出了相关的政策建议,并对未来研究方向进行展望。     

收入差距与中国房地产价格:理论与实证——兼论当前房地产调控的有效性

本文从房地产同时具有消费属性和资产属性出发,通过构建一个理论模型,分析收入差距对房地产价格的影响机制,理论模型认为收入差距对房地产价格具有正向影响,经济的基本面和房地产的基本面对房价的上涨不具有完全的解释力。在理论模型的基础上,利用中国的数据实证分析收入差距对中国房地产价格的影响,实证结果表明收入差距对房地产价格具有显著的正向影响,说明中国当前较大的收入差距是房地产价格上升的重要影响因素。     

Insecurity of property rights and social matching in the tenancy market

This paper shows that insecurity of property rights over agricultural land can have large efficiency and equity costs because of the way it affects matching in the tenancy market. A principal-agent framework is used to model the landlord's decision to rent when he takes into account the risk of losing the land to the tenant and when contract enforcement is decreasing in social distance with the tenant. These effects are quantified for the case of local land rental markets in the Dominican Republic. Results show that insecure property rights lead to matching in the tenancy market along socio-economic lines, severely limiting the size of the rental market and the choice of tenants for landlords, both with efficiency costs. Social segmentation reduces access to land for the rural poor, with high equity costs. Simulations suggest that improving tenure security would increase rental transactions by 21% and the area rented to the poor by 63%. Increased property rights security is hence beneficial not only to asset owners, but also to those with whom they might interact in the market.     

Tax progressivity, income distribution and tax non-compliance

This article examines the determinants of tax non-compliance when we recognise the existence of an imperfectly competitive “tax advice” industry supplying schemes which help taxpayers reduce their tax liability. We apply a traditional industrial organisation framework to model the behaviour of this industry. This tells us that an important factor determining the equilibrium price and hence, the level of non-compliance, is the convexity of the demand schedule. We show that in this context, this convexity is affected by the distribution of pre-tax income, the progressivity of the tax-schedule and the way in which monitoring and penalties vary with income. It is shown that lower pre-tax income inequality as well as a less progressive tax code may cause more tax minimisation activities. Therefore, the frequently advocated policy of reducing the highest tax rate may fail as a policy directed at improving tax discipline. One way of offsetting the possible harm to tax compliance from a less progressive tax could be an adjustment of the penalty and monitoring functions.     

A political economy perspective on persistent inequality,inflation, and redistribution

In this paper we examine the dynamics of the link between inequality and inflation from a political economy perspective. We consider a simple dynamic general equilibrium model in which agents vote over the desired inflation rate in each period, and inequality is persistent. Inflation in our model is a mechanism of redistribution, and we find that the link between inequality and inflation within any period or over time depends on institutional and preference related parameters. Furthermore, we find that differences in the initial distributions of wealth can yield a diverse set of patterns for the evolution of the inflation and inequality link. Relative to existing literature, our model leads to more precise predictions about the inflation–inequality correlation. To that end, results in the extant empirical literature on the inflation and inequality link need to be interpreted with caution.     

Inter-provincial migration and inequality during Vietnam's transition

Vietnam's economic boom during the transition to a market economy has centered on very rapid growth in some sectors and provinces, yet poverty has diminished across the entire country. With capital investments highly concentrated by province and sector, geographic labor mobility may be critical in spreading the gains from growth. Conversely, rising income inequality may be attributable in part to impediments to migration. We first use census data to investigate migration patterns and determinants. We then examine the role of migration as an influence on income ratios between pairs of provinces. The former analysis robustly confirms economic motives for migration but also suggests the existence of poverty-related labor immobility at the provincial level. Examination of income ratios between pairs of provinces reveals that the impact of migration on inequality can be either negative or positive. A robust inequality-reducing impact of migration is found for migration flows into provinces where most of Vietnam's trade-oriented industrial investments are located.