Impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on single-person households in South Korea

Using nationally representative income and expenditure data from South Korea, we show that single-person households suffered a much greater decrease in household income and expenditure compared to multi-persons households during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Negative effects on income were largest for the single-person households in ages 50—64, mostly driven by decreases in earned income rather than business income. There was no corresponding decrease in consumption expenditures, however, other than on transportation expenditure for young men. Notably, there were significant decreases in non-consumption expenditures that are related to formal and informal consumption-smoothing mechanisms, such as spending on insurances, pensions, and household transfers. Our findings highlight the disproportionately negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the middle-aged single-person households. With reduced spending on consumption-smoothing mechanisms, this group is likely to be even more vulnerable to negative income shocks in the future.     

城市最低生活保障兼有消费改善与劳动供给激励效应吗?

最低生活保障制度是我国社会保障体系中兜底性、基础性的制度安排,是保障民生、促进分配公平、维护经济安全和社会稳定的重要机制.本文通过对城市低保制度消费改善与劳动供给效应的综合评估发现,我国城市低保从整体上改善了受助家庭的消费状况,影响了受助家庭的消费结构,起到了提升经济福利的效果,但是对受助家庭的劳动供给激励效应还比较小...     

城市化水平对农村居民消费的影响——1978～2008年数据的协整分析

本文运用时间序列计量技术,分析了农村居民消费与城市化水平的关系。结果显示,我国农村居民年人均消费支出和城市化率之间存在长期均衡的协整关系。从短期来看,它们之间的关系由短期偏离向长期均衡调整的力度较大。城市化率与农村居民消费之间存在双向因果关系。总的看来,要拉动农村居民消费,增加农村居民收入是关键,但加速城市化建设既能提高农民的收入又能拉动消费,以城市化促进农村消费应成为扩大内需重要战略。     

Consumption,financial wealth and labor income in Korea

By examining the relationship between consumption, financial wealth and labor income in Korea, this paper presents three key findings. First, we find evidence that Korean households hold a larger proportion of their wealth in human capital instead of financial wealth, compared to households in other countries. Potentially, this finding appears consistent with Koreans’ enthusiasm for human development through education despite low government funding. Another important finding is that only financial wealth fluctuations contain a large portion of temporary components. Hence, financial wealth is mainly responsible for adjustments to restore the long-run relationship between consumption, financial wealth and labor income during the examined period. Third, and perhaps most interestingly, this paper finds that before the 1997 Asian financial crisis, households in Korea had difficulty smoothing their consumption over time. This finding may be at least partly attributable to households’ limited access to bank loans and their low level of financial wealth accumulation prior to the crisis. In contrast, we find little evidence that households’ consumption behavior has changed during the recent global financial crisis.     

External Shocks and High Volatility in Consumption in Low‐Income Countries

According to the well‐known concept of consumption smoothing, the volatility of consumption is low even when income is volatile; this is confirmed by data from G7 countries. Surprisingly, however, consumption volatility in many low‐income countries is nontrivially higher than income volatility. Here I examine what causes high consumption volatility in low‐income countries. In general, volatile consumption makes consumers worse off. Therefore, understanding the causes of high consumption volatility can contribute to improving welfare in low‐income countries by suggesting measures to assist in the stabilization of consumption. Unlike much previous research, I focus on international factors when explaining high consumption volatility. The results suggest that external shocks, which are far more volatile in low‐income countries than in industrialized countries, strongly swing consumption. By capturing these mechanisms, the model I use successfully accounts for consumption volatility's differences between the sample low‐income country and sample industrialized country.     

数字金融发展如何影响家庭“加杠杆”？——动态效应、异质性特征与机制检验

随着我国家庭部门杠杆率的快速攀升，家庭部门"加杠杆"成为学术界和业界共同关注的焦点之一。文章将中国数字普惠金融指数与中国家庭追踪调查（CFPS）数据相结合，从数字金融发展的角度，给出了一个近年来家庭杠杆率上升的解释，并探讨了其中的作用机制以及潜在影响。研究发现，数字金融发展能够显著推动家庭杠杆率的攀升，并对家庭杠杆率的攀升具有长期影响。从数量上看，数字金融发展每增加1%，相应杠杆率将上升0.0058%。在考虑了潜在的内生性后，文章所得结论依然成立。对该影响在不同群体中可能存在的异质性进行分析，结果发现，数字金融发展对家庭杠杆率的提升在有房贷、消费贷和经营贷家庭、中西部地区家庭、25-55岁家庭、农村地区家庭更为明显。机制分析表明，数字金融发展通过提高金融可得性、强化支付便利性和降低家庭面临的不确定性而对家庭杠杆率产生积极影响。文章研究结论对制定"数字中国"战略、理解结构性去杠杆中"守住不发生系统性金融风险的底线"等方面提供了有益思考。     

Consumption,Credit, and Macroeconomic Policies: Theory and Evidence from the United States

Abstract

The paper examines determinants of private consumption in the USA. The empirical model includes disposable income, the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index, the interest rate, and the real effective exchange rate. Anticipated movements in these determinants are likely to affect planned consumption, while unanticipated changes determine cyclical consumption. Fluctuations in private consumption are mostly cyclical with respect to changes in disposable income and the consumers’ sentiment index. In contrast, an increase in the interest rate decreases both planned and cyclical consumption. Fiscal policy has a direct negative effect on cyclical consumption, which is not dependent on the interest rate. Monetary growth, in contrast, increases liquidity to finance both planned and cyclical private consumption.     

Understanding income volatility in urban China

Higher income volatility is associated with a higher risk and a reduction in well-being. Income volatility is widely studied in many advanced economies, yet little is known about income volatility in China. In this paper we document trends in earnings volatility and household income volatility in urban China and examine what are the driving forces. Using the China Urban Household Survey, we find that male earnings volatility increased by 89% between 1992 and 2009. Earnings volatility is higher for older, less educated, and those who work in private service sector and non-SOEs. Decomposition analysis suggests that couple’s earnings shocks are positively correlated, while transfer income and other income help smooth out head earnings shocks. In addition, transfer income and other non-transfer income plays a larger role in smoothing out head earnings shocks for poorer households.     

Money growth volatility and the demand for money in Germany: Friedman’s volatility hypothesis revisited

Money Growth Volatility and the Demand for Money in Germany: Friedman’s Volatility Hypothesis Revisited. — Recently, the Bundesbank claimed that monetary targeting has become considerably more difficult by the increased volatility of short-term money growth. The present paper investigates the impact of German money growth volatility on income velocity and money demand in view of Friedman’s money growth volatility hypothesis. Granger-causality tests provide some evidence for a velocity/volatility linkage. However, the estimation of volatility-augmented money demand functions reveals that — in contrast to Friedman’s hypothesis — increased money growth volatility lowered the demand for money.     

房价压力会刺激文化消费吗?

文章应用CFPS2010、2012、2014年的调查数据,以房价收入比指数作为"房价压力"的代理变量,探讨了房价压力对文化消费的影响机制。在我国房价收入比畸高的社会环境下,消费者同时受到"释放压力型"消费需求的驱使和可支配收入减少的预算约束,为了缓解生活压力,获得心理慰藉,增加了对相对廉价且非必需的文化消费品的需求,即口红效应成为房价压力影响文化消费的传导机制。研究发现：控制户主受教育水平、家庭其他生活压力、地区经济发展水平和文化消费氛围等因素,在城镇中仅拥有一套及以下住房资产的家庭中,高"房价压力"显著提升了居民文化消费需求。在影响机制研究中,首先,通过验证房价压力对总消费的抑制作用剥离了财富效应的影响,其次,通过验证房价压力对大额消费品和小额消费品影响的异质性,证实了房价压力对文化消费影响口红效应的存在性。进一步将研究样本按照消费文化类型、收入阶层和受教育阶层分组后发现：开放的消费文化下高"房价压力"对居民文化消费的促进作用更强,中等收入阶层在高"房价压力"下进行"释放压力型"文化消费的需求最强烈。高学历层次居民在面对"房价压力"时更倾向选择文化消费作为释放压力的渠道。     

Macroeconomic Volatility, Trade and Financial Liberalization in Africa

This paper examines the effects of financial and trade liberalization on growth volatility of real output and consumption in Africa. Our results suggest trade liberalization is associated with greater output and consumption growth volatility while financial liberalization increases the efficacy of consumption smoothing and stabilizes income and consumption growth. In addition, we find financial market depth and institutional quality operate jointly with trade and financial openness to reduce volatility in output and consumption growth. There is also evidence that good institutions which foster low inflation levels and volatility promote consumption and output growth stability.     

为什么中国文娱消费偏低?基于人口年龄结构的解释

促进文娱消费对于拉动文化产业高质量发展、满足人民精神文化需求至关重要，但我国居民文娱消费增速偏低，对此学界还欠缺足够的经验论证。文章基于人口年龄结构视角，利用中国家庭追踪调查数据（CFPS2016）考察中国城镇居民人口年龄结构变迁对文娱消费的影响。实证结果发现：整体而言，城镇家庭少儿人口占比具有显著的文娱消费需求效应，但家庭老年人口占比增加对文娱消费需求形成挤压；进一步研究发现，文娱消费需求效应伴随少儿的成长表现更为旺盛，而老年阶段的文娱消费需求随着年岁增长愈加不敏感。进一步机制分析表明，家庭收入水平和教育程度能够正向调节家庭老龄化的文娱消费需求效应，在收入水平更高、教育背景更好的家庭，人口老龄化对文娱消费的挤出效应愈不明显；在教育背景、健康状况更优的家庭，少儿抚养数量增加带来的正向文娱消费需求会被部分挤出。旨在促进城镇居民文娱消费的政策应该顺应我国人口结构变动规律，充分尊重不同年龄消费群体的文娱消费选择及习惯，重点关注"多子化"、高收入、高学历家庭的文娱消费需求，在全面提高居民收入水平的基础上，培育发展壮大细分文娱产业和消费市场，让更多居民对文娱"能消费"、"愿消费"。     

居民收入占比的结构性因素与趋势

随着我国经济的快速增长,居民收入占比近年来出现下降的趋势。从产业结构变动,城乡结构变动以及出口结构变动等角度,使用格兰杰因果检验和协整模型检验经济增长、产业结构变动、出口依存度与居民收入占比之间存在的关系及影响程度。结果表明,我国经济结构调整应当以提高居民收入为目标,要充分发挥工业化和城市化发展的优势促进就业,建立收入增长的有效机制并不断提高居民收入水平,从而实现扩大消费、增加内需、拉动经济增长的发展目标。     

Income shocks,coping strategies,and consumption smoothing: An application to Indonesian data

Using the Indonesian Family Life Survey, this study investigates whether Indonesian farmers respond differently to income shocks (crop loss) depending on the level of their asset ownership, and whether their responses are aimed at preserving consumption levels or at accumulating assets. We consider a framework in which assets contribute directly to the income generation process. In this context, the need to accumulate assets to ensure future income may lead poor farmers to behave quite differently in terms of both their responses to shocks and their consumption decisions. Our results suggest that while non-poor farmers smooth consumption relative to income, poor households use labor supply to compensate the income loss and, on average, they save half of this extra income. These results confirm the importance of savings for poor households, and highlight a crucial role for policies that support savings or, more precisely, the accumulation of productive assets.     

Income diversification before and after economic shocks: evidence from urban and rural Zimbabwe

The article examines changes in income and activity diversification in Zimbabwe before and after macroeconomic policy changes and the droughts of the early 1990s. Data from two comparable national surveys straddling a period of economic volatility show that the percentage of households earning income from private and informal sources grew considerably, while income from government and formal sources declined. In general, rural households tend to have a more diversified portfolio of income than urban households, and the degree of income diversification decreases with the level of urbanisation. Following the shocks, there was a marked reduction in income diversification, notably among the poor. The findings thus strengthen the need for public provision of well-designed safety nets.     

The impact of the rise and collapse of Japan's housing price bubble on households’ lifetime utility

This study estimates the impact of the dramatic changes in housing prices during Japan's bubble from the late 1980s to the 1990s on households’ asset accumulation and utility over their life cycle. We construct a life-cycle model explaining households’ consumption/saving and housing decisions under collateral and borrowing constraints. We estimate this model using data from the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES), which includes data on households’ housing wealth estimated from objective information. Using the estimated model, we then conduct a counterfactual simulation in which we assume that housing prices remained constant during the bubble period. Doing so allows us to quantify the gains/losses of lifetime utility due to the housing price boom and bust. We find that 72.2% of the households experienced an average decrease in lifetime utility equivalent to 5.7% of lifetime income. On average, Japan's housing price boom and bust caused a loss in lifetime utility equivalent to 4.7% of lifetime income. Moreover, we compare the impact of the housing price bubble across cohorts and find that the impact was greatest for those who experienced the bubble at ages 35–45.     

Income instability and consumption-savings in South Korean farm households, 1965–1970

This paper describes the sources and extent of income instability among a representative sample of South Korean farm households during 1965–1970. An index of income instability is included in a consumption function to estimate its effects on saving-consumption behaviour. Authors conclude that the households studied saved large amounts and that part of this saving was due to unstable incomes.     

杠杆率的持续性与溢出效应:基于四部门的实证研究

文章采用TVP-VAR模型系统考察了我国非金融企业部门、金融部门、居民部门、政府部门四部门杠杆分别对总产出和资产价格波动的时变影响，从产出效应和潜在风险两方面实证检验了各部门杠杆率的可持续性。研究发现：杠杆率过快增长会加重资产价格波动，使金融不稳定性上升，削弱杠杆率对产出增长的促进作用。当前，非金融企业部门、政府部门、居民部门杠杆对产出仍有较显著的正向影响，而金融部门杠杆上升对产出的正向影响最小，对资产价格波动的正向影响最大。进一步，文章实证研究了杠杆率变动在部门间的信息溢出，发现政府部门加杠杆将显著推升全社会杠杆率，金融部门杠杆率上升对非金融企业部门杠杆有挤出作用，居民部门杠杆则可以分担部分非金融企业和政府部门的过剩杠杆。因此，当前应优先调控金融部门杠杆，减少资金在金融体系内空转套利，其他三个部门则应保持杠杆率总量的平稳。研究结论对于宏观金融稳定和结构性去杠杆政策的实施有重要的实践意义。     

Nature and determinants of household retirement savings behaviour in South Africa

This study investigates the savings behaviour among South African households using the General Household Survey data for the periods 2002–04 and 2008–10. The age-cohort analysis shows that households achieve their income peaks when the household heads are in their early forties, earlier than in most other countries. Although initial support for the life-cycle hypothesis framework in the form of smoothed consumption was found from multivariate analysis, a closer examination reveals that the consumption–income ratio is also smooth over the age and cohort variables. This indicates that savings rates do not follow a hump-shape pattern as required in the life-cycle hypothesis framework. While households are seen to be able to maintain their consumption in retirement years through government grants, a large portion of the grants seem to be utilised for savings. This shows that the government grants have the dual effect of sustaining consumption levels while disincentivising savings during working years.     

收入分配与中国居民消费——理论和基于中国的实证研究

本文研究了城乡收入差距扩大对中国居民消费需求的影响.基于生命周期框架的理论研究表明,收入水平越高,居民平均消费倾向和边际消费倾向越低;收入差距越大,居民消费需求越低.文章使用1978—2008年我国28个省、市、自治区的面板数据对理论模型进行了实证检验.结果显示,收入水平提高10000元,居民平均消费倾向下降25.6%,边际消费倾向下降7%;城乡收入差距扩大1单位,居民消费率下降6.5个百分点.数值模拟结果表明,城乡收入差距扩大导致居民消费率在2000—2008年间下降了3.42个百分点,解释了这一期间居民消费率下降的30.8%