Managerial capital,occupational choice and inequality in a global economy

This study proposes a simple theory of trade with endogenous firm productivity, occupational choice and income inequality. Individuals with different managerial talent choose to become entrepreneurs or workers. Entrepreneurs enhance firm productivity by investing in managerial capital. The model generates three income classes: low‐income workers facing the prospect of unemployment, middle‐income entrepreneurs managing domestic firms and high‐income entrepreneurs managing global firms. Trade liberalization policies raise unemployment and improve welfare. A reduction in per‐unit trade costs raises top incomes and generates labour‐market polarization. A reduction in fixed exporting costs has an ambiguous effect on top incomes and personal income distribution. Policies reducing labour‐market frictions or the costs of managerial‐capital acquisition create more jobs and improve welfare. The income distributional effects of labour‐market policies depend on which policy is implemented.     

税收、收入不平等和内生经济增长

企业家(通过金融中介)从家庭借贷来支撑创新。二者在企业家的努力不为外人所见的情形下双方签订信用合同分享创新带来的垄断利润(即蛋糕)。两个有代表性经济人(企业家和家庭)的存在允许人们在内生经济增长模型里研究收入不平等。本文研究发现,企业家分配份额的增加一开始会提升增长速度,但是过了一定值后会拉低增长速度;而该份额的增加一直拉大企业家和工人间的收入差距。所以降低企业家获得的蛋糕的份额的分配改革可缩小收入差距。提高企业家来自创新的收入的税率将降低他们的努力程度,从而降低增长速度,但是该税率的提高有助于降低收入不平等程度。存款收入的税率提高尽管不会改变企业家的努力程度,但是也会降低经济增长速度,而且不会降低收入不平等(如果工人有一定比例的存款)。对于劳动收入(工人工资)的税率增加会加剧工人和企业家间的收入不平等,但对经济增长速度没有影响。     

我国收入分配面临的问题及其对策研究

自改革开放以来,我国的经济取得了快速的发展,与此同时,我国收入分配不公已受到社会各界广泛关注。在我国,城乡之间、地区之间、行业之间的居民收入存在明显的差距。调节收入分配,缩小贫富差距,必须坚持一切从我国实际情况出发,制定正确的政策,促进我国收入分配制度的不断完善。     

Drivers of the real effective exchange rates in high and upper‐middle income countries

This paper revisits the nexus between real effective exchange rate (REER) and total factor productivity (TFP) by controlling for trade openness, financial development and natural resources rents. We use a sample of 60 high‐income and upper‐middle income countries over the period 1995–2015 and employ the GMM estimation framework. Our results advance the empirical knowledge on the drivers of REER by providing robust evidence that the impact of TFP is not uniform across different country clusters. We find that in high‐income countries, increasing productivity causes the REER to depreciate hence becoming more trade competitive while the opposite is true for upper‐middle income countries. Furthermore, financial development and natural resources rents have no meaningful impact in the case of upper‐middle income countries but retain a significant effect in high‐income countries. Trade openness plays a key role in explaining the variation in REER in both country clusters.     

Entrepreneurs,jobs, and trade

We propose a simple theory of endogenous firm productivity, unemployment, and top income inequality. High-talented individuals choose to become self-employed entrepreneurs and acquire more managerial (human) capital; whereas low-talented individuals become workers and face the prospect of equilibrium unemployment. In a two-country global economy, trade openness raises firm productivity, increases top income inequality, and may reduce welfare in the country exporting the good with lower relative labor-market frictions. Trade openness reduces firm productivity, lowers top income inequality, and necessarily raises welfare in the other country. The effect of trade on unemployment is ambiguous. Unilateral job-creating policies increase welfare in both countries. However, they reduce unemployment and raise top income inequality in the policy-active country; and reduce top income inequality while increasing unemployment in the policy-passive country.     

Nonlinearity between Trade Openness and Economic Development

This paper utilizes the instrumental variable threshold regressions approach to reassess the trade–development link. It finds evidence that trade openness contributes to uneven development. Greater trade openness tends to have beneficial effects on real development of high‐income countries. For low‐income ones, however, trade openness appears to influence real income in a significant and negative way. The data also reveal that greater trade openness has a positive effect on capital accumulation, productivity growth, and financial development in high‐income countries, but a negative impact in low‐income ones.     

经济全球化、中国收入分配与“人口红利陷阱”

文章从经济全球化影响中国收入分配的各个层面入手,通过数理推导和实证分析探讨了贸易全球化、生产与投资的全球化、金融深化、科技进步、教育水平等对中国国内收入分配的影响。结果发现,贸易全球化短期内会加剧中国的收入差距,原因可归结为人口红利陷阱,但长期内将有助于缩小中国的收入差距;生产与投资的全球化也会扩大收入差距,而金融发展与深化对中国收入分配差距的影响最大;技术进步、受教育程度提高和劳动力由低阶部门向高阶部门的转移则能在一定程度上缓解收入差距过大。     

对外贸易发展与我国地区间收入差距的关联研究

我国对外开放基本上是按照从沿海向内陆的顺序逐步展开的,这种渐进式的改革所导致的地区间对外贸易差异与我国地区间收入差距是否存在着某种关联？以1994—2009年为样本期,以经济依据划分的东、中、西部为对象,实证考察了我国地区间对外贸易与收入差距的关系,证明S—S定理不成立,地区间对外贸易发展差异是导致地区间收入差距的重要因素,最后提出政策思考。     

数字服务贸易与国家创新能力：基于收入差距的中介效应研究

作为一种新的贸易形态与商业模式,数字服务贸易在推动国家创新发展中的作用愈发显现。本文基于2011—2019年全球66个国家的面板数据,就数字服务贸易对国家创新能力的影响作用进行了实证研究,探讨收入差距在二者之间可能发挥的作用,并基于不同经济发展水平的国家样本展开了异质性分析。结果表明：数字服务贸易对国家创新能力的提升具有显著的正向影响;收入差距在二者之间发挥部分中介作用;高收入国家发展数字服务贸易对国家创新能力的显著提升作用更强,而中等收入国家受限于经济发展所处阶段,短期内一定的收入差距可以阶段性地提升国家创新能力,但长期来看,仍需避免收入差距过快拉大的现象。为此,包括我国在内的中等收入国家需要在既定发展条件下,通过改革收入分配制度,推动数字服务贸易与收入差距协调发展,进而共同促进国家创新能力的提升。     

Moral Hazards,Bankruptcy Costs,and International Financial Capital Mobility*

Using a model with moral hazard and bankruptcy costs, we show that the direction of intertemporal trade between countries depends on differences in their autarkic distributions of wealth. We also examine the consequences of redistribution policies and bail‐out policies in this framework. We show that, in the presence of bankruptcy cost and capital market imperfections due to moral hazard, the very rich and the very poor do not undertake any risk and choose to be passive lenders. Only individuals whose wealth lies within an intermediate range choose to become entrepreneurs. Redistributive policies influence the supply of entrepreneurship and autarkic interest rates.     

Internet usage and the income gap between self-employed individuals and employees: Evidence from China

Using longitudinal data from the China Family Panel Studies, we investigate the impact of Internet usage on the income gap between self-employed individuals and employees in China, considering the sample selection bias and individual heterogeneity issues. We divided employment statuses into three types―small entrepreneur, own-account worker, and employee. The findings reveal the following: First, the returns from Internet usage differ by employment type, which is lower for self-employed individuals than that for employees. Second, the difference in Internet usage contributes to widening the income gap, whereas the difference in the returns from Internet usage to income contributes to narrowing it. Finally, Internet usage exerts a greater impact on the income gap between employees and small entrepreneurs than that between employees and own-account workers. These empirical results suggest that the division of Internet access may exacerbate the segmentation of the formal and informal sectors in China.     

North–South trade and income inequality

This paper investigates the effects of North–South trade on international income inequality. While empirical studies suggest that trade liberalization encourages income convergence and reduces the per capita income gap between poor and rich countries, North–South trade is shown to increase the income gap between the two regions. On the other hand, trade liberalization by either region increases the welfare of both regions, and does not necessarily reduce the gap in “real income” or utility.     

产业结构、固定资产投资与城乡收入差距——基于中部地区省级面板数据的实证分析

产业结构对城乡收入差距具有正向作用,固定资产投资可以改善收入差距恶化.对外贸易发展也是缩小中部地区城乡收入差距的重要因素,而财政农业支出、非国有化水平对城乡收入差距的影响并不显著.要使城乡居民收入差距得到有效遏制,必须坚持效率与公平动态发展的原则,统筹城乡发展,大力改善农村地区的投资环境,完善用工和最低工资制度,重视出口贸易的发展,加大财政对农村、农民和农业的支持力度.     

How Does Fiscal Consolidation Impact on Income Inequality?

In this paper, we assess the impact of fiscal consolidation on income inequality. Using a panel of 18 industrialized countries from 1978 to 2009, we find that income inequality significantly rises during periods of fiscal consolidation. In addition, while fiscal policy that is driven by spending cuts seems to be detrimental for income distribution, tax hikes seem to have an equalizing effect. We also show that the size of the fiscal consolidation program (in percentage of GDP) has an impact on income inequality. In particular, when consolidation plans represent a small share of GDP, the income gap widens, suggesting that the burden associated with the effort affects disproportionately households at the bottom of the income distribution. Considering the linkages between banking crises and fiscal consolidation, we find that the effect on the income gap is amplified when fiscal adjustments take place after the resolution of such financial turmoil. Similarly, fiscal consolidation programs combined with inflation are likely to increase inequality and the effects of fiscal adjustments on inequality are amplified during periods of relatively low growth. Our results also provide support for a non‐linear relationship between inequality and income and corroborate the idea that trade can promote a more equal distribution of income.     

POLICY UNCERTAINTY,ELECTORAL SECURITIES,AND REDISTRIBUTION*

This article investigates how uncertainty about the adoption of a redistribution policy affects political support for redistribution when individuals can trade policy‐contingent securities in the stock market. In equilibrium the support for redistribution is smaller than where no “policy‐insurance market” is available. This implies that in economies with well‐developed financial markets redistribution decreases with the level of participation in these markets and with income inequality. Furthermore, the existence of a policy‐insurance market may lead to a less equal distribution of income than where no insurance is available even if a majority of individuals are redistributing resources through private transfers.     

封闭经济约束与城乡居民 消费过度敏感性变动

封闭经济约束为解释居民消费过度敏感性提供了来自经济一体化的新视角。本文利用1985-2007年中国省际城乡面板数据考察省级居民消费过度敏感性变动，以验证封闭经济约束假说是否适用于中国。本文研究发现：省级居民消费存在过度敏感性，但剥离全国层面消费和收入总体波动后，敏感性会稳健地明显降低。消费过度敏感性的变动表明，省级居民消费过度敏感性主要归因于中国与其他国家之间国际商品和金融市场相对于各省份之间国内商品和金融市场的更封闭。为有效提振居民消费需求以扩大内需，亟须通过提高金融和商品贸易开放水平并拓展贸易开放的广度和深度来纠正居民消费过度敏感性，尽快完善金融体系运行机制、加快转变对外贸易发展方式、落实贸易市场多元化和产品多样化战略、降低内陆地区对外贸易的物流成本是重要政策手段。     

What determines the likelihood of structural reforms?

We use data for a panel of 60 countries over the period 1980–2005 to investigate the main drivers of the likelihood of structural reforms. We find that: (i) external debt crises are the main trigger of financial and banking reforms; (ii) inflation and banking crises are the key drivers of external capital account reforms; (iii) banking crises also hasten financial reforms; and (iv) economic recessions play an important role in promoting the necessary consensus for financial, capital, banking and trade reforms, especially in the group of OECD-countries. Additionally, we also observe that the degree of globalisation is relevant for financial reforms, in particular in the group of non-OECD countries. Moreover, an increase in the income gap accelerates the implementation of structural reforms, but increased political fragmentation does not seem to have a significant impact.     

Finance and income inequality in Kazakhstan: evidence since transition with policy suggestions

Kazakhstan gained independence in 1990 and has undergone significant changes in economic, social and trade conditions since then. We analyse the effects of financial development on income inequality in Kazakhstan, incorporating economic growth, foreign investment, education and the role of democracy as the drivers. We establish that income inequality in Kazakhstan is impaired by financial development. In summary, we send three messages for policy purposes. First, strengthening financial sector is necessary to close the gap between ‘haves and have-nots’. Second, attracting FDI beyond the hydrocarbon sector is necessary to alleviate inequality. Finally, adaptation of education system to the new social and economic environment would help in improving income distribution.     

中国各地区城乡收入差距及其影响因素研究

本文基于1997—2008年中国31个省、直辖市、自治区的城乡居民收入数据的研究表明,各地区城乡收入差距沿东、中、西部递增。养老、医疗等转移支付收入对城乡居民收入差距的影响分析表明,转移支付收入并未起到缩小城乡收入差距的作用,其对城乡收入的贡献沿东、中、西部递减。对城乡收入差距的分析结果表明,除西藏外,其他地区的城乡收入差距在不断扩大。借鉴市场化指数的方法,构建了城乡收入差距的地区公平性指数。分析结果表明,我国城乡收入差距呈区域性特点。基于面板数据的研究表明,经济发展、财政偏向是城乡收入差距扩大的主要影响因素,市场化程度、财政分权、对外开放及金融发展等则因区域不同而对城乡收入差距的影响不同。     

Occupational Choice and Dynamic Incentives

We study an overlapping generations version of the principal-agent problem, where incentive contracts are determined in general equilibrium. All individuals are workers when young, but have a choice between becoming entrepreneurs or remaining workers when old. Imperfections in the credit market give rise to rents in entrepreneurial activities involving capital. These rents motivate poor young agents to work hard and save to overcome the borrowing constraints. With a labour market that is subject to moral hazard, the increased effort raises social welfare. Policies that reduce credit market imperfections, or redistribute income, may reduce welfare by dampening this effect.