城市化、城乡差距以及全国居民总体收入差距的变动——收入差距倒U形假说的实证检验

本文利用两部门模型,从理论和实证上分析了城市化、城乡差距与全国居民总体收入差距的关系。研究结果表明,改革开放以来,城市化是导致倒U现象出现的主要原因。首先,城市化的加快使得由城乡人口流动导致的收入差距于2001年开始缩小;其次,城市化意味着低收入农村人口比例的缩小和低收入城市人口比例的增加;最后,城市化促使我国农村内部收入差距拉大的速度放缓。由此,全国总体收入差距将在2006--2009年迎来倒U形曲线的拐点。     

民营经济的发展扩大了城乡居民收入差距吗

本文以农村劳动力进城务工为切入点,通过理论分析,认为随着中国整体民营经济的繁荣发展,城乡民营经济发展差距内生扩大,可能导致城乡收入差距呈现先扩大后缩小的倒“U”形变化趋势.以中国2000-2013年省级面板数据为样本,借助工具变量,运用两阶段最小二乘法(2SlS)进行计量检验,证实了上述倒“U”理论假说.同时,考虑区域经济发展差异性,对样本数据分东、中和西部区域组进行检验,实证进一步发现:(1)东部区域,民营经济总体发展水平与城乡民营经济发展差距均导致城乡收入差距呈现倒“U”形变化趋势;(2)中、西部区域各自民营经济总体发展水平均导致城乡收入差距呈现倒“U”形变化趋势,但城乡民营经济发展差距都正向地扩大了城乡收入差距,且西部边际扩大效应大于中部区域.     

经济增长扩大城乡收入差距原因分析

结构转变、提速了经济增长,而经济增长使城乡收入出现了差距。文章通过综合分析城乡结构转变及经济增长对城乡收入差距的影响,基于相关实证分析,结果显示:国内经济增长扩大城乡收入差距存在库兹涅茨倒U型关系;城乡经济结构的转变能助于缩小城乡收入的差距;城市化发展覆盖农业化发展,实现农业现代化,提高农业收入,倡导农村剩余劳动力进城务工,缩小城乡收入差距。注重产业结构合理配置、转变经济发展方式、逐步缩小城乡收入差距。     

中国城乡收入差距 影响因素实证分析——基于收入来源视角

中国城乡收入差距在1978～2010年总体呈上升趋势,收入来源分解显示工资性收入对城乡收入差距的贡献度最高,经营性收入和转移性收入的贡献度呈现此消彼长的趋势。计量模型显示总体受教育水平的提高导致工资性收入差距缩小,但城乡教育发展不平衡使经营性收入差距扩大,促进城市化进程不会缩短工资性收入差距,城乡金融发展差异的扩大进一步扩大了经营性和转移性收入差距。缩小城乡收入差距的主要措施包括提高教育水平,实现城乡教育公平、城乡金融均衡发展和均衡城市化进程。     

我国收入差距变化何时迎来倒U轨迹的拐点

改革开放以来,我国居民收入差距的不断扩大成为国内外学者关注的焦点问题之一。大量研究显示,目前我国城乡收入差距不断拉大的趋势仍将继续,距离库兹涅茨倒U曲线拐点的出现还较远。本文的分析显示,由于我国整体收入分配格局存在两个明显的特点,即巨大的城乡差距及农村收入差距大于城镇收入差距,加之近年来快速的城市化,居民总体收入差距的变动有望很快迎来倒U轨迹的拐点。     

结构转变、经济增长与城乡收入差距

经济增长体现为一个结构转变的过程,并通过结构转变影响城乡收入差距。综合分析产业结构、城乡结构转变,以及经济增长对城乡收入差距的作用机理,并基于1978—2011年的相关统计数据进行实证检验。结果显示：中国的经济增长与城乡收入差距存在库兹涅茨倒u型关系;城乡二元经济结构的转变有助于缩小城乡收入差距;城市化对城乡收入差距的影响则出现阶段性特征,城乡收入差距随城市化水平的提高呈现出先扩大后缩小的特征。应注重经济增长、转变经济发展方式、以科学发展观推进城市化发展。     

中小企业发展对城乡收入差距的影响机制研究——基于劳动力市场分割的视角

文章利用2001~2010年中国省级面板数据,考察了劳动力市场分割视角下中小企业发展对缩小城乡收入差距的影响。研究表明,中小企业发展的就业规模对缩小城乡居民收入差距具有显著的正向影响,但是劳动力市场分割对这种促进效应具有抑制作用;中小企业发展的经济规模与城乡居民收入差距之间存在类似库兹涅茨曲线的倒U型关系。文章结论的政策含义在于:打破劳动力市场分割,充分发展中小企业以吸收农村富余劳动力将会有益于降低城乡居民收入差距;坚持市场化改革,不断提高中小企业的经济规模,有助于跳出农村低收入水平陷阱。     

要素生产率和要素配置作用下的中国城乡收入差距

根据城乡生产函数差异的特征事实构建了城乡收入差距模型,利用我国各省1997—2009年数据研究城乡劳动力比、固定资产比、人力资本比、农业中间品投入、工业化和第三产业规模对城乡收入差距的影响。结果显示,我国城乡要素生产率与城乡要素配置的差异对城乡收入差距具有决定性作用;城乡劳动力比的增长明显有助于缩小城乡收入差距,而城乡人力资本比、固定资本投入比、农业成本、以及相邻地区间的相关性都导致了城乡收入差距的扩大。缩小城乡差距的重要途径是加快农村劳动力的城市化、增加农村教育投入、提高农业生产率、增加农村的物质资本投入,各省缩小城乡收入差距的努力对邻近省份也会产生积极影响。     

中国农村的收入差距与健康

随着收入差距的扩大,收入分配对健康和健康不平等的影响日益受到关注。本文利用中国健康营养调查(CHNS)1997年和2000年农村的面板数据回答两个问题:收入差距对健康的影响以及影响健康的方式;收入差距的扩大是否会导致健康不平等的加剧,尤其是低收入人群的健康是否受到更为不利的影响。研究发现,首先收入差距对健康的影响存在滞后效应;其次,收入差距对健康的影响呈现“倒U”型,在收入差距较高时,收入差距对健康的影响主要为负向的,一个可能的原因是收入差距影响到公共卫生设施的供给。再次,收入差距的扩大会加强收入效应,其含义是如果低收入人群的收入更容易受到负向冲击,那么收入差距对低收入人群的健康更为不利。     

我国城乡居民收入分配差距研究

本文利用我国1987-2009年的相关统计数据,以全国和东部、中部、西部地区为出发点,将区域教育发展、城市化水平、产业结构、经济开放度和政府经济行为等多个影响城乡居民收入分配差距的因素同时纳入到面板数据模型之中,实证研究了我国城乡居民收入分配差距与其影响因素之间是否存在Kuznets"倒U"关系。研究结果发现:在全国范围内,教育产出、城市化水平与城乡居民收入差距之间存在显著的"倒U"现象;东部地区的经济开放度与城乡居民收入差距之间存在显著的"倒U"现象;教育投入、政府经济行为、产业结构与城乡居民收入差距之间不存在"倒U"现象。针对以上研究结论,我们提出了一系列解决我国城乡居民收入分配差距的政策和建议,为政府制定相关政策提供有益的参考。     

城镇居民财产性收入不平等研究

本文利用《中国城市（镇）生活与价格年鉴》提供的数据,分析了财产性收入在影响我国城镇居民总收入不平等中所处的地位和具有的特点。在此基础上,本文进一步研究了财产性收入内部的不平等和各部分对总体不平等的贡献率,以及个人所得税在财产性收入调节中的作用。研究表明,目前我国城镇居民财产性收入增长迅速,并且对总收入不平等的贡献率呈明显的上升趋势。此外,财产性收入差距不断扩大,其内部不平等情况十分严重,目前个人所得税对财产性收入不平等的调节效果不明显,今后仍有很大的调控空间。     

THE STRUCTURE OF AMERICAN INCOME INEQUALITY*

Income inequality is examined using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and a consistent decomposition analysis. I only use inequality measures that satisfy the Principle of Transfers, have the property that a ceteris paribus increase in inequality within any subgroup increases overall inequality, and are independent of the scale of income and population. Decompositions are carried out by family size and by age of head for several definitions of income and income recipient. Whilst changing the time unit over which income is measured has a substantial impact on inequality, the effect of removing the between-age-group component of inequality is relatively slight.     

GLOBALIZATION AND REGIONAL INCOME INEQUALITY: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM WITHIN CHINA

China's recent accession to the WTO is expected to accelerate its integration into the world economy, which aggravates concerns over the impact of globalization on the already rising inter-region income inequality in China. This paper discusses China's globalization process and estimates an income generating function, incorporating trade and FDI variables. It then applies the newly developed Shapley value decomposition technique to quantify the contributions of globalization, along with other variables, to regional inequality. It is found that: (a) globalization constitutes a positive and substantial share of regional inequality and the share rises over time; (b) domestic capital, however, emerges as the largest contributor to regional inequality; (c) economic reform characterized by privatization exerts an increasingly significant impact on regional inequality; and (d) the relative contributions of education, location, urbanization and dependency ratio to regional inequality have been declining.     

THE SPATIAL STRUCTURE OF INCOME INEQUALITY IN THE ENLARGED EU

This study examines how personal disposable income is distributed across regions, countries and larger geographical areas in the EU25 and how this distribution changed during the second half of the 1990s. Moreover, it assesses the "statistical" effect resulting from the enlargement of the European Union, and therefore the community of people for which inequality is measured. A three-level spatial decomposition of the overall personal inequality in the EU reveals that a fifth of its amount is attributed to the east–west income gap and that intra-regional inequality accounts for three quarters. The study detects a convergence of both average national income levels and within-country personal income inequality. Inequality is rising primarily in the Scandinavian social-democratic welfare states and decreasing in the Mediterranean countries of the EU15. In Eastern Central Europe, the rapid growth of inequality which had been observable during the first years of transition has come to an end.     

CHANGES IN CANADIAN FAMILY INCOME AND FAMILY CONSUMPTION INEQUALITY BETWEEN 1978 AND 1992

This paper uses Canadian cross-sectional income and expenditure data to examine changes in the distribution of family income and family consumption during the period 1978 to 1992. Family consumption data are analyzed because in the presence of intertemporal consumption smoothing, the cross-sectional distribution of consumption may characterize the distribution of lifetime wealth. I find that both Canadian family income inequality and Canadian family consumption inequality moved countercyclically. In addition, both Canadian family income inequality and Canadian family consumption inequality trended upward over the period; however, the change in family consumption inequality was much smaller than the change in family income inequality, suggesting that inequality in the distribution of lifetime wealth may have changed much less than is suggested by changes in the distribution of income.     

LIFE SATISFACTION AND INCOME INEQUALITY

Do people care about income inequality and does income inequality affect subjective well‐being? Welfare theories can predict either a positive or a negative impact of income inequality on subjective well‐being and empirical research has found evidence of a positive, negative, or non‐significant relation. This paper attempts to determine some of the possible causes of such empirical heterogeneity. Using a very large sample of world citizens we test the consistency of the effect of income inequality in predicting life satisfaction. We find that income inequality has a negative and significant effect on life satisfaction. This result is robust to changes of regressors and estimation choices and also persists across different income groups and across different types of countries. However, this relation is easily obscured or reversed by multicollinearity generated by the use of country and year fixed effects. This is particularly true if the number of data points for inequality is small, which is a common feature of cross‐country or longitudinal studies.     

INEQUALITY AND THE MEASUREMENT OF RESIDENTIAL SEGREGATION BY INCOME IN AMERICAN NEIGHBORHOODS

American metropolitan areas have experienced rising residential segregation by income since 1970. One potential explanation for this change is growing income inequality. However, measures of residential sorting are typically mechanically related to the income distribution, making it difficult to identify the impact of inequality on residential choice. This paper presents a measure of residential segregation by income, the Centile Gap Index (CGI), which is based on income percentiles. Using the CGI, I find that a one standard deviation increase in income inequality raises residential income segregation by 0.4–0.9 standard deviations. Inequality at the top of the distribution is associated with more segregation of the rich, while inequality at the bottom and declines in labor demand for less-skilled men are associated with residential isolation of the poor. Inequality can fully explain the rise in income segregation between 1970 and 2000.     

PERMANENT INCOME, CONVERGENCE AND INEQUALITY AMONG COUNTRIES

The literature on inequality has generally focused on the analysis of annual per capita income. This paper adopts a different approach by considering the life-cycle dimension of inequality and convergence between economies from 1960 to 2000. We analyze the present value of the set of incomes individuals obtain throughout their whole life (permanent income). On the basis of this approach, various simulations are made to determine the effect on inequality in permanent income of variables such as survival rates and the long-run growth rates in current income. The results indicate that survival rates are an important source of inequality. Inequality in permanent income is about one third higher than in current income. The implication of this finding is that if the whole life-cycle dimension is not considered, the level of inequality among economies is being underestimated.     

收入增长和分配对我国农村减贫的影响-方法、特征与证据

改革开放30年来,在农村居民收入水平快速增长的大背景下,农村减贫进程却表现出明显的波动性和不一致性。基于此,本文在贫困分解的基础上,运用贫困弹性的动态特征,从理论和实证的角度探讨了收入增长和收入分配对贫困减少的影响,解释上述问题。文章发现:(1)人均收入水平越高,贫困越有可能和收入不平等联系在一起;(2)收入不平等越严重的地区,贫困对收入不平等的反应越迟钝;(3)1998年是我国农村反贫困性质发生改变的拐点。文章建议,今后农村反贫困政策的重点应从以促进收入增长的开发式扶贫向以改善收入分配为重点的社会保护式扶贫政策转变。     

STATE PATTERNS IN FAMILY INCOME INEQUALITY

It is well known that U.S. income inequality began to increase in the 1970s and increased sharply in the 1980s. Yet, what is less well known is that this upward trend was not uniform across states. Some states experienced almost no increase in family income inequality, while other states experienced dramatic increases. We use the variation in state trends to examine factors that may underlie shifts in U.S. income inequality. Among numerous factors, we include variables that allow us to examine the role that state and local economic development policy may play. Also, in examining state income inequality differences that could not be explained by economic factors, we explore the possibility that cultural and social norm factors affect state income inequality.