Data literacy in economic development

In economic development and other economics electives, students regularly encounter economic measures of absolute and relative deprivation, from poverty measures like the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke index to measures of distribution like the Gini index. By “doing economics,” students practice applying economic measurement to real-world data and develop more general data literacy. The author proposes a series of exercises starting with stylized 10-household economies, proceeding to nationally representative cross-sectional surveys using MS Excel or Google Spreadsheets, and culminating in students applying their acquired data literacy to a team project. The data sources are easily tailored to alternative household surveys in low- and middle-income countries that include the required variables. Students learn data literacy through recognizing the properties of rectangular data, visualizing data appropriately, and creating aggregate economic measures.     

经济增长、收入分配对农村贫困变动的影响

文章利用了基于Lorenz曲线进行贫困测度及其分解的方法,实证研究了1985～2003年中国农村的贫困变动,以及经济增长和收入分配对贫困变动的影响.结果表明,经济增长使农村居民收入增加,大幅度减少了贫困,但农村居民的收入差距逐渐拉大,收入不平等加剧部分地抵消了经济增长的减贫成效.     

经济增长与收入分配相关性研究重点转移带来的政策启示

从有关经济增长与收入分配相关性的研究内容入手,分析经济增长和收入分配研究从功能性分配向规模化分配的理论转变过程,提出了针对此种演变带给我们的政策启示:在经济增长过程中,应同时关注收入差距问题。     

中国经济增长与收入差距关系的经验研究

经济增长与收入差距的关系是一个古老而又充满活力的问题。研究发现,尽管全国总量时序数据的Granger因果关系检验表明,中国的经济增长与收入差距不存在任何方向的因果关系,但以各省GDP增长率和城乡收入比为观测点的面板数据检验结果显示:不论是在短期还是在长期,收入差距的扩大都是引起经济增长的Granger原因;经济增长在短期会引起收入差距的扩大,但从长期看,有助于收入差距的缩小。     

New general theory of economic development: Innovative growth and distribution

Economic development, which refers to the process of progressive transformation of an economy, is a multifaceted term without a universal definition. This article presents the constitutive elements of economic development: growth, distribution, and innovation. Economic development has been ubiquitous with the economic progress of “developing” countries, but the changing economic circumstances of “developed” countries, such as stagnant growth, regional economic disparity within developed countries, and deepening income gaps among citizens of developed countries, have made this term also relevant to address the economic problems of developed countries. The mechanisms of economic development, with respect to both developed and developing countries, are elusive, and the existing theories have not been able to explain these mechanisms of economic development adequately. This article reviews the existing theories and presents a new theoretical framework to explain the process of economic development.     

教育不平等、收入非平衡与贫困陷阱——对农村教育和农民收入的考察

研究表明,无论是在短期还是长期内,农村居民受教育水平和职业培训的差异是造成收入差距的一个重要因素.同时,教育差距既推动了收入差距的扩大,又可能伴随着收入非平衡增长的扩大而扩大,低收入农户有陷入贫困陷阱的危险,而解决问题的关键是推进农村教育的均衡协调发展.     

Income inequality in China: causes and policy responses

The phenomenal economic growth in China has been accompanied by a rapid increase in income inequality. This paper reviews the historical trends and patterns of income inequality in China, discusses the potential causes underlying rising income inequality, and applies the functional distribution of income approach in understanding China’s income inequality. This analytical approach highlights how rising return to capital relative to wage incomes can be an important source for increasing income inequality in China. The paper provides the evidence which shows that the rapid economic growth in China has been relying on a model that pays high returns to various kinds of capital including financial capital and real estate, while the ownership of capital is very unequal. This finding prompts us to rethink about the causes of China’s income inequality and to formulate appropriate policies based on the new way of understanding this pressing issue of income distribution in China.     

经济增长与收入差距:一个基于主体的经济模拟途径

本文提供了一个基于主体的转轨经济模型,用于分析经济转轨过程中经济增长和收入差距的动态关联性.模拟实验结果表明:随着经济的持续增长,收入差距经历一个先扩大后缩小的过程;实施适度的累进税政策会在缩小收入差距的同时,促进经济高速增长.     

Inflation and the Income Share of the Rich: Evidence for 14 OECD Countries

This paper examines the distributional implications of inflation on top income shares in 14 advanced economies using data over the period 1920–2016. We use local projections to analyze how top income shares respond to an inflation shock, and panel regressions in which all variables are defined as 5-year averages to examine the impact of inflation on the position of the top-one-percent in the long run. Our findings suggest that inflation reduces the share of national income held by the top 1 percent. Furthermore, we find that inflation shocks and long-run inflation have similar effects on top income shares.     

收入不平等与经济增长：移动的库兹涅茨曲线*——新时期收入分配改革的思路与意义

准确判断收入不平等对经济增长的影响,对于客观评价中国各个阶段的收入分配制度改革尤为重要。本文在统一增长理论的框架下引入收入不平等因素,构建了一个人口数量、不平等和经济增长同时内生的理论模型,并利用CGSS数据构造收入不平等指标,使用中国省际非平衡面板数据进行经验检验。研究发现：收入不平等与经济增长之间呈现倒U型关系。更重要的是,随着经济发展水平的提高,倒U型曲线将逐渐向左移动,即最优的收入不平等程度随着经济发展水平的提高而逐渐降低。这一发现意味着改革开放以来,中国各个时期的收入分配制度改革均是在特定历史条件下的最优选择。本文的结论具有深刻的政策含义：为了提高经济增长率,需要进一步巩固“脱贫攻坚”成果,逐渐加大收入分配调节力度,使收入分配制度改革紧跟经济发展的步伐,根据经济发展水平不断缩小收入不平等程度。     

Poverty among ethnic minorities: the transition process,inequality and economic growth

This article investigates the process of reducing poverty in ethnic minority households. Using two recent Vietnam household surveys, we find that ethnic minority households are more likely to be persistently poor and less likely to be persistently non-poor than ethnic majority households. The within-group component generated by the variation in income within each ethnicity group explains more than 90% of the change in total inequality. Income redistribution plays an important role in decreasing the poverty gap and decreasing poverty severity. Different ethnic groups have different poverty patterns, which should be noted when designing policies to alleviate poverty and inequality.     

收入分配视角下经济增长与环境质量的关系

利用2003—2010年中国省级面板数据,将城乡收入差距的基尼系数作为衡量收入差距的指标,并将该指标作为主要的解释变量引入线性计量模型,使用主成分分析方法设计反映环境质量的综合指标,探讨了中国经济增长与环境质量之间的关系。研究结果显示:收入分配不公并不必然带来环境质量恶化,城乡收入差距与环境质量之间存在显著的负向关系;随着人均产出的上升,环境质量逐渐得到改善,"倒U型"的环境库兹涅茨曲线并不存在;地方政府对环境保护的重视程度会显著影响一个地区的环境质量。     

Income and religion: a heterogeneous panel data analysis

A recent empirical literature has addressed the relationship between income and religion, but most of the studies are based on microdata. Macroeconomic analysis of the issue has largely ignored the potential heterogeneity between countries. Using retrospective data on church attendance rates for a panel of countries between 1925 and 1990, we apply heterogeneous panel data estimators and reveal that the effect of participation in religious activities on income per capita is mostly non-significant. This is consistent with some of the recent research that casts doubt onto the influence of religion on income, once causality is taken into account.     

Income inequality and economic growth

Despite the extensive existing literature on income inequality and economic growth, there remains considerable disagreement on the effect of inequality on economic growth. Existing literatures find either a positive or a negative relationship. In this paper, we attempt to theoretically examine that relationship with a stochastic optimal growth model. We make the disagreement clear within a single model. We conclude (i) that both are possible – that is, higher inequality can retard growth in the early stage of economic development, and can encourage growth in a near steady state, (ii) that income redistribution by high income tax does not always reduce income inequality. Income inequality can be reduced by higher income tax in a near steady state, but it cannot be reduced in the early stage of economic development, and (iii) that two government polices – rapid economic growth and low income inequality – can be achieved by low income tax in the early stage of economic development, but both cannot be achieved simultaneously in a near steady state.     

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.     

法人财产制与居民收入差距:需要明确的问题

是否应当调整法人财产收益以缩小我国持续拉大的居民收入差距,这在理论界存在着一定争议.从法人财产的基本内涵入手,通过剖析法人财产制在收入分配过程中的实际作用,对优化我国收入分配体系,缩小居民收入差距提供了一个总体的思路.我们认为,法人财产源自于生产的社会化需求和市场经济的基本运作规律,并具有相当的效率优势,与收入分配公平间并不存在直接的冲突,因此,调整法人财产来缩小居民收入差距不仅不具备理论合理性,也缺乏现实可行性.缩小我国居民收入差距的正确路径是:完善法人财产制,强化再分配和三次分配,优化配套制度.     

收入不平等对经济增长影响的实证研究

采用联立方程分析方法,实证分析了收入不平等对经济增长影响的三种机制,探讨了收入不平等如何通过影响物质资本投资、人力资本投资和居民消费来作用于经济增长。结果表明,从长期看收入不平等的扩大会刺激物质资本投资,但不利于人力资本投资和居民消费增长,收入不平等对经济增长的长期影响为负。因此,从经济发展的角度政府不应容忍收入不平等的过分扩大。     

Measuring the Labor Income Share of Developing Countries: Lessons From Social Accounting Matrices

This paper addresses the challenges of measuring the labor income share of developing countries. The poor availability and reliability of national account data as well as the fact that self-employed—whose labor income is hard to capture—account for a major share of the workforce and often work in the informal sector render its computation difficult. Consequently, measuring the labor share requires assumptions. I consult social accounting matrices in addition to national account data to gain information on the production structure and self-employed incomes in developing countries. The final data set covers about 90 developing countries from 1990 to 2011. The data suggest that the finding of declining labor shares of previous studies also applies to the sample of low and middle-income countries. Furthermore, I find the labor share in developing countries to be about one-half in size and hence less than the standard “two-thirds” in economic literature.     

拟合的收入分布函数在贫困线、贫困率测算中的应用

对于贫困线、贫困率的测算有多种方法。根据个人收入分布的拟合函数,可以为贫困线、贫困率的测算提供比较科学的依据。     

Income inequality and economic growth—the Kuznets curve revisited

In a neoclassical growth framework with a typical political-economy mechanism, this paper reexamines the relationship between the income inequality and economic growth by introducing government spending into the production function and the utility function. It demonstrates that Kuznets’ famous inverted-U shape relationship between inequality and economic growth will hold—the growth rate will be first increasing with the income inequality before the growth rate decreases with inequality. __________ Translated from The Journal of World Economy (世界经济), 2005,(5) (in Chinese)