“城居保”对中国农村家庭消费支出异质性实证研究

[目的]全面分析城乡居民基本养老保险制度对农村家庭各项消费支出现状的影响,就进一步完善该项政策和稳定农村消费市场提供重要的理论参考。[方法]文章以消费和储蓄生命周期理论为分析框架,通过选取合理的样本面板数据,运用系统GMM回归分析方法探究了城乡居民基本养老保险制度对农村家庭消费支出水平的影响。[结果]财产性收入是影响农民参与城乡居民基本养老保险制度的主要因素以及投保档次的制约因素,作以存量财富为基础的财产性收入要比流量形式存在的财富具有更强抵御风险的能力,即财产性收入在很大程度上可以增加农村家庭对养老保险的依赖程度。另外,城乡居民基本养老保险制度对农村家庭消费能力表现出异质性影响。其中,城乡居民基本养老保险制度对农村家庭生活消费支出、食品性等日常性支出、文体消费支出水平明显要高于对医疗消费支出水平。[结论]国家要加大宣传城乡居民基本养老保险制度的积极和辐射作用,让广大农村家庭能够真正了解这项政策的意图。同时,要逐步破解城乡二元结构等制度性障碍,让更多农村家庭能够享受到与城镇居民相同的养老待遇。     

中国水资源利用秩序评价

水资源利用秩序反映了水资源供给侧效率和需求侧公平的程度。采用秩序模型对我国30个省级行政区2008—2017年的水资源利用状态进行测度,通过测量高低收入人群收入差距的变动状况度量公平程度,使用数据包络分析法将全要素生产率的增长进行分解,从而度量其效率发挥状况,将二者综合,计算水资源总秩序水平。研究结果表明:我国大多数省级行政区水资源利用纵向秩序较好、横向秩序较差,因此应采取措施,以保障水资源利用秩序保持在较高且比较稳定的水平上。     

The impact of (un)conventional expansionary monetary policy on income inequality – lessons from Japan

ABSTRACT

This paper analyzes the impact of conventional and unconventional monetary policy on income inequality in Japan, using hitherto unexplored data from the Japan Household Panel Survey. Empirical evidence shows that expansionary monetary policy in Japan has contributed to diminishing the gender pay gap through an increase in working time of women relative to men, but also to increasing the education pay gap. These effects may have materialized via the aggregate demand channel and the labour productivity channel. In contrast, expansionary monetary policy has had no significant impact on the development of the age pay gap.     

Autocatalytic Growth and Development and the South-North Convergence

Abstract:

This article engages with the issue of income convergence between North and South by using the autocatalytic hypothesis of growth and development. Two system models describe positive and negative feedback loops which govern economic flows between North and South. The analysis of endogenous and exogenous negative feedbacks points to the process that would slowly push the world economy towards vanishing growth rates and, eventually, halt its material growth. The present work rejects convergence in per capita GDP between North and South from the theoretical perspective. Such an outcome would stand against one of the fundamental properties of autocatalytic dynamics—centripetality— that has its causal roots in the competitive process and capitalist institutions. In that sense, the autocatalytic hypothesis provides a theoretical explanation for those empirical analyses that dismisses convergence.     

Financial Insecurity in a World of Plenty

Abstract

The U.S. economy is addicted to the simulative impacts of household borrowing. Household debt has grown dramatically since the 1990s and has served to mitigate the detrimental effects of stagnant household wages. The accumulation of this debt has also had the macroeconomic impact of stimulating the economy, pushing it closer towards full employment. However does full employment stimulated by household indebtedness actually represent economic progress? It is argued that even the poorest citizen in a modern industrialized society is better off than a king of feudal Europe, yet in the United States such material prosperity is often tied to social insecurity thanks to debt. The growth of this debt has been enabled by a financial system that has evolved dramatically over the past forty years. The U.S. financial system’s primary role is no longer to finance investment but is rather a tool that enables a separation of ownership from use. Debt has fueled corporate profits which have enriched the shareholding class while at the same time the system has reduced the financial security of the majority of workers. This article crystalizes these issues by analyzing the differentials in financial circumstances faced by workers and shareholders in several major U.S. firms.     

Do Rising Top Incomes Spur Economic Growth? Evidence From OECD Countries Based on a Novel Identification Strategy

We investigate the causal relationship between the growth rate of top income shares and economic growth in 12 OECD economies for the period 1950–2010. To analyze patterns of short- and long-run causality, we build upon recent advances in structural-vector autoregressive modeling of non-Gaussian systems. This framework allows us to discriminate between rival transmission channels by means of dependence tests, since independent shocks are unique for a particular causation pattern. We consider the share of income accruing to the top 1 percent (1), to the next 9 percent (9), and to the top decile (10). While structural models display considerable heterogeneity across countries, mean group and pooled results strongly favor a specific transmission pattern. In particular, 1 has a long-run positive impact on economic development. This result, which is also confirmed by identified impulse-response functions, is particularly evident for the post-1980 period.     

Life Course Perspective on Economic Shocks and Income Inequality Through Age-Period-Cohort Analysis: Evidence From Finland

Utilizing age-period-cohort analysis, this paper examines the development of income distribution across periodic economic fluctuations in relation to cohorts and age groups. The empirical analysis is based on the Finnish Income Distribution Statistics and Household Expenditure Surveys covering the period of 1966–2015. The findings suggest that the period and cohort effects can be identified as the main effects on relative income, while the age effects have no meaningful impact when the control variables are taken into account. This result reveals a connection between the effects of economic shocks and cohort placement on labor market entry. Additionally, absolute income analysis suggests that economic shocks create stagnation points in income development, which are especially detrimental to cohorts who are transitioning into labor markets. Additionally, middle-income attainment has not changed due to periodic shocks but rather is related to inter-cohort inequalities and relative income differences, where the baby boomer generation is a clear winner.     

A Different Perspective on the Evolution of UK Income Inequality

This paper scrutinizes the conventional wisdom about trends in UK income inequality and also places contemporary inequality in a much longer historical perspective. We combine household survey and income tax data to provide better coverage of all income ranges from the bottom to the very top (and make our estimates available to other researchers). We make a case for studying distributions of income between tax units (i.e. not assuming the full income sharing that goes with the use of the household as the unit of analysis) for reasons of principle as well as data harmonization. We present evidence that income inequality in the UK is as least as high today as it was just before the start of World War 2.