The Politics of Inequality as Organised Spectacle: Why the Swiss Do Not Want to Tax the Rich

In 2015, Swiss voters had the opportunity to impose a tax on the super rich in a popular vote and thereby fund a redistributive policy. However, a large majority voted against its seemingly obvious self-interest and rejected the tax. We propose an explanation for this puzzling outcome, bridging the usually separate behavioralist and institutionalist perspectives on the politics of inequality. We start from the observation that political economy tends to neglect processes of preference formation. Theorising preferences as socially constructed, we show that interest groups played a major role in shaping the outcome of the vote. Business frames were multiplied through allied parties and the media and had a major impact on individual voting behaviour. In addition, we demonstrate that interest groups representing business interests derive the content of their communication from business’s structurally privileged position in the capitalist economy. Specifically, creating uncertainty about possible perverse effects of government policies on jobs and growth is a powerful tool to undermine popular support. Frames based on this structural power ultimately explain why the Swiss refrained from ‘soaking the rich.’     

资本回报率、人力资本投资与收入不平等——基于Galor-Zeira模型的扩展

资本回报率下降对人力资本投资、收入不平等程度有较大影响。本文将可变资本回报率加入Galor-Zeira模型,理论推导发现:收入不平等陷阱并非不可逾越的障碍。当技能劳动力工资高于受教育固定成本时,随着资本回报率下降,接受教育的遗赠临界水平将降低,更多家庭将发现投资人力资本是有利的,稳态的技能劳动力比例将提高。在当前资本回报率下降的大背景下,提高技能劳动力工资、降低受教育成本、对教育贷款实施财政减免优惠、为农村中等教育支出减负和提升农村教育质量、倡导节俭和重视遗赠的文化氛围在长期都有助于提高技能劳动力比重以及缓和收入不平等。     

Personal Income Tax Reform in China in 2018 and Its Impact on Income Distribution

In the context of personal income tax (PIT) reform in China in 2018, this paper examines some of the major issues of concern regarding the reform and income distribution. Using the China Personal Income Tax Micro‐simulation model, the paper compares the differences between the 2011 and 2018 PIT systems, and finds that residents relying on different income sources may face a large degree of real tax rate change. Once the tax system is altered to PIT 2018, the coverage of PIT for wage earners will decrease from 46.9 to 23.4 percent, the income redistributive effect will drop from 1.95 to 1.22 percent and the PIT's role in fiscal revenue will also be negatively affected. Nevertheless, if individual income continues to grow, the share of PIT in fiscal revenue is expected to return to the 2018 level in 2022, but its income redistribution function is difficult to recover in the short term. The paper finds that the effect of PIT on income distribution depends on the tax structure. Gradual transition to an “entirely comprehensive” tax system when conditions are appropriate will achieve better income redistribution results at a lower average tax rate.     

海南城乡居民消费水平差异性分析和预测

从1985-2018年海南城乡居民收入、消费数据出发，分别建立消费关于收入、消费差距关于收入差距的自回归模型，结果表明农村居民当期消费更易受近期收入和消费水平的影响，具有不稳定性。再利用GM(1,1)模型预测城乡居民收入差距，结合自回归模型，完成未来10年海南城乡消费差距的预测：收入差距和消费差距将呈直线递增趋势，收入差距的增幅高于消费差距增幅。缩小海南城乡居民消费差距的根本途径在于缩小收入差距，应因地制宜，切实提高农民收入水平。     

自然资源依赖对城乡收入差距的影响研究

［目的］针对全国31个省（市、区）（不含港澳台地区）、自然资源依赖度高的地区和自然资源依赖度低的地区，从整体和分区域研究自然资源依赖对城乡收入差距的影响，探究不同区域其影响程度的差异性，进而为弱化各区域城乡收入差距，解决由城乡收入差距拉大造成的各类社会矛盾具有重要的现实意义。［方法］从理论上分析了自然资源依赖对城乡收入差距的影响，并利用1999—2017年的省级面板数据，运用固定效应模型，从全国和分区域实证分析了自然资源依赖对城乡收入差距的影响。［结果］针对全国，自然资源依赖会拉大城乡收入差距； 分区域结果，针对自然资源依赖度高的地区，自然资源依赖拉大城乡收入差距； 针对自然资源依赖度低的地区，自然资源依赖对城乡收入差距影响不显著。［结论］为缩小城乡收入差距，需要降低经济体对自然资源的依赖，针对自然资源依赖度高的地区，政府通过将部分自然资源收益转化为农业创新基金和农村基础设施投入，促进自然资源收益向农村公共资本转化，完善现有的自然资源收益分配及转化制度； 鼓励资源型产业技术创新，加大研发投入，延长资源产业链； 加大农村教育投入、提升农村人力资本质量。     

Estimating yield curves of the U.S. Treasury securities: An interpolation approach

Following the approach of interpolation, this paper proposes the multiple exponential decay model to fit yield curves for both the U.S. TIPS market and the conventional Treasury security market. Several estimation methods, including the unconstrained/constrained nonlinear minimization, quadratic programming, and the iterative linear least squares, are applied to estimate the unknown parameters according to different curve‐fitting purposes. Comparisons between the proposed model and the alternatives show that the multiple exponential decay successfully (1) adapts to a variety of shapes associated with yield curves, (2) (partially) keeps in line with the economic interpretations of Nelson–Siegel summarized by Diebold and Li ( 2006 ), and (3) dominates the competing models in curve‐fitting performance measured by mean fitted‐price errors over the sample period. In addition, the exact specification of a nonparametric interpolation model is pinned down by applying three statistical tools, which enable us to jointly take into account validity, optimality, and parsimoniousness of the proposed model.     

The Great Recession,Austerity and Inequality: Lessons from Ireland

The advent of the Great Recession and the widespread adoption of fiscal austerity policies have heightened concern about inequality and its effects. We examine how the distribution of income in Ireland—a country which experienced one of the most severe economic contractions—has evolved over the years 2008 to 2013. Standard cross‐sectional analysis of the income distribution shows broad stability in the Gini coefficient and in decile shares, with one main exception: the share of the bottom decile fell sharply, with the largest fall in average incomes being for that group. Longitudinal analysis shows that the falls in the average income for the bottom decile were not due to decreasing income for those remaining in the bottom decile, but to falls in income from those initially located in higher deciles. The extent of redistribution through taxes and transfers increased strongly, as measured by the Reynolds‐Smolensky index, which rose from 0.20 before the onset of the crisis to 0.27 in 2013. Analysis indicates that about three‐quarters of this increased redistribution is due to automatic stabilisers and one‐quarter to discretionary policy changes.     

我国旅游地区收入分析及对策探讨

旅游收入是旅游经济活动的重要内容，它一方面反映了旅游者的旅游需求通过旅游经营者的旅游供给而不断得到满足，另一方面又体现着旅游产业部门和企业在产经营活动的价值运行与价值实现。旅游收入与分配是旅游经济运行的前提，对其进行考察分析，是十分重要的。本章从收入和分配两个方面入手，对旅游收入分类、指标、旅游企业收入和分配以及旅游收入乘数的作用等进行了分析和阐述。     

谈高校资料室网上信息资源的开发利用

面对浩如烟海的网络信息资源丰富又无序、新颖又形象、急需开发利用。本文探讨了开发利用网上信息资源的必要性,介绍了如何开发利用网上信息资源,为用户充当网络信息导航员,发掘网上信息,丰富现有信息源等几种方法。