MeasuringIncome and Measuring Sustainability

We examine what interpretation can be given to inclusive income , understood to be consumption plus the value of the net increase in all relevant capital stocks. We introduce the concept of instantaneously constant value income , defined as the maximum amount the economy can consume at a moment of time and keep the expected present value of utility of current and future generations constant. We argue that this income concept captures some of the concerns underlying sustainability. Our main result is that inclusive income equals instantaneously constant value income . We show that this result holds in a very general setting and, in particular, carries over to models incorporating technological progress when such progress can be captured by augmented stocks of knowledge. An important implication of our main result is that it provides a very simple method for deriving inclusive income, which does not involve any linearization of the Hamiltonian.     

A Contribution to the Theory of Welfare Accounting

A kind of unified theory is proposed as a dynamic generalization of the standard consumer-surplus methodology for evaluating welfare changes. The unified theory allows rigorous dynamic welfare comparisons to be inferred between any two economic situations—from just knowing current incomes and observing a short-run market demand schedule. Essentially, the change in present discounted future utility is exactly captured by the formula: difference in current income plus consumer surplus . This well-known formula is thereby shown to cover a far wider class of welfare comparisons than is customarily treated in the textbook static case.     

Natural resource accounting

There is as yet no consensus on the most appropriate way to incorporate the degradation of environmental capital into national income accounting procedure. Net product is currently derived by deducting from gross product the depreciation of man-made capital only. Deducting depreciation of natural capital in a similar manner will give a figure for true net product that provides a better indicator of that level of current income which is sustainable into the future. The user cost and net price methods of calculating the value of natural resource depreciation are analysed and assessed. On the basis of this assessment, the net price method is then used to adjust the national accounts of Zimbabwe for depletion of forests, soils and mineral resources, for the period 1980 to 1989. The results suggest that economic depreciation of natural resources represents approximately 2% of annual GDP, although this is regarded as a significant underestimate. The implications for integrating natural resource depletion into policy making, within the current national political climate, are then addressed.     

National accounts and environmental resources

In the paper, optimal growth theory is used to derive the appropriate definition of the net national product concept, when there are environmental resources and environmental damage to take into account. The basic conclusions are that conventional defined NP should be corrected by deducting environmental damage and adding the value of the net change of all resources.     

Sectoral Income

What is the income of each sector of an economy? E.g., in the case of a country endowed with petroleum resources, what is the income of its petroleum sector? Here we present a definition of sectoral income, which is compatible with an important line of theoretical literature on comprehensive national accounting. We do so first by splitting national income into individual income and then defining sectoral income by considering the contributions to individual income that the sectors give rise to.     

National Income Accounting and Public Policy

Modern national income accounting was designed in the early 20th century for the purpose of providing improved indicators about the performance of the economy so that government policy makers could better control the economy. The way that performance is measured affects the types of policies used to try to accomplish policy goals. Two attributes of national income accounting are analyzed for their effects on economic policy. First, government production is included in the national income accounts at cost, rather than at market value as private sector output is measured. This biases policy toward a larger public sector. Second, output is measured as a homogeneous dollar amount. This biases policy toward focusing on increasing quantities of inputs and outputs in the production process, rather than on innovation and entrepreneurship, which are the true engines of economic progress. Economic policy could be improved by focusing less on national income as an indicator of policy, and more on the underlying processes that foster economic progress.     

Valuing nature: From environmental impacts to natural capital

Economic valuation of natural and environmental assets is now a well established practice. Economic analysis provides several methods for discovering the impact on social welfare associated with changes in the ability of these assets to provide different goods and services. In general terms, these valuation exercises have been performed in the framework of Environmental Impact Assessment or, more generally, Cost Benefit Analysis. There is, however, an increasing demand nowadays to go beyond this framework and to value natural capital (natural resource stocks, land and ecosystems) as such. There are two main reasons for this new demand. On the one hand, sustainability requires that proper account should be taken of capital depreciation and, therefore, there is a need to value natural capital changes. This valuation process, nevertheless, only makes sense when some kind of substitution between natural and other forms of capital is allowed. On the other hand, there is also an increasing tendency to demand that the stock of natural capital present in a given territory be valued, either to discover one of the main components of social wealth or to help adequately plan changes in land use. Yet, whereas conventional valuation methods are probably adequate to fulfill the first task, this is less true in the case of the second, while even more difficulties arise in connection with the third one. Even if at first sight the process appears conceptually identical, these tasks are of a different order of magnitude, as the experience of both the World Bank and the Statistics Division of the United Nations in this respect clearly shows.     

生态效益外部性的计量思路与计量模式研究

会计概念中的生态效益外部性计量应从生态效益价值计量和生态收益计量两方面入手。生态效益价值计量将广泛运用公允价值模式,并结合生态学等学科方法,在生态效益生态因子计量基础上,分固碳释氧、涵养水源、生态防护、净化环境、生物多样性、生态游憩、保育土壤七类计量。生态收益计量基本采纳当前对收入的计量方法,分生态效益财政补偿收益计量和生态服务市场交易收益计量(后者又包括生态服务销售收入、生态服务劳务收入和生态服务合同收入)。期末对当期生态效益价值及生态收益的计量结果予以汇总,计量出当期的生态效益外部性。     

递延所得税的合理性辨析

递延所得税的会计规则操作成本巨大而益处甚微,是最令人费解的会计规则之一。本文发现,递延所得税的计算规则缺乏理论依据和实践基础,它是公共会计师行业为了自身利益而设计的金融分析规则。为确保会计信息的公益性和公信力,会计规则和税收法规之间应当进一步加强协调,不能放任二者差异的扩大。会计立法应当要求企业严格遵循依法记账原则,采用应付税款法记载其真实纳税额,同时在附注中披露会计处理与税收法规之间的主要差异,不得在报表中提供主观预期数据。如此,可妥善解决让最大多数的会计报表读者了解企业的法律事实和真实业绩和为确有需要的读者提供预期信息之间的矛盾。     

我国新旧所得税会计准则的比较研究

2006年2月15日。财政部发布了39项会计准则,并将于2007年1月1日起率先在上市公司执行。本文以《企业会计准则第18号——所得税》为例,对比分析了我国新旧所得税会计准则在制定准则所依据的基础观念、所得税会计差异的分类、所得税会计方法、财务报表列报与披露等方面的主要变化,分析了产生差异的原因,并对新准则的相对优势进行了简要评价。     

Green national accounting with a changing population

Summary. Following Arrow et al. (2003), this paper considers green national accounting when population is changing and instantaneous well-being depends both on per capita consumption and population size. Welfare improvement is shown to be indicated by an expanded "genuine savings indicator", taking into account the value of population growth, or by an expanded measure of real NNP growth. Under CRS, the measures can be related to the value of per capita stock changes and per capita NNP growth, using a result due to Arrow et al. (2003). The results are compared to those arising when instantaneous well-being depends only on per capita consumption.Received: 30 January 2003, Revised: 31 March 2003, JEL Classification Numbers: D60, D90, O47, Q01.This paper is inspired by the recent investigation of the genuine savings criterion and the value of population by Arrow et al. (2003). I thank Kenneth Arrow, Partha Dasgupta, Lawrence Goulder, and a referee for helpful discussions and comments. I gratefully acknowledge the hospitality of the Stanford University research initiative on the Environment, the Economy and Sustainable Welfare, and financial support from the Hewlett Foundation through this research initiative.     

Twenty-Five Years of Counting for Nothing: Waring's Critique of National Accounts

Marilyn Waring’s If Women Counted (1988) shows how national income accounting became infused with the patriarchal values dominant during its post–World War II development. This article revisits Waring’s analysis in the light of continued support of gross domestic product as a useful statistic. It explains the historical and personal context for her analysis, emphasizing postwar patriarchal values as well as Waring’s experience as a Member of the New Zealand Parliament (1975–84) and her active engagement with women in developed and developing countries. It illustrates the support If Women Counted gives to reformers and recognizes that change has occurred, including provision for satellite accounts in the United Nations System of National Accounts (UNSNA). Nevertheless, the paper concludes that Waring’s profound challenge to the central framework of UNSNA will continue as long as the system excludes unpaid household work and impacts on the natural environment from its core statistics.     

Development of the SEEA 2003 and its implementation

The preparation of the System of Environmental and Economic Accounts 2003 marks an important milestone in the world of official statistics. Just as the development of the original guidelines for national accounting in the 1950s was the first step toward today's robust, internationally comparable economic statistics, the System of Environmental and Economic Accounts 2003 offers hope to bring order and comparability to environmental statistics. How the system came to be and why it is an important achievement are outlined. This is followed by an overview of its accounting structure. A discussion of the implementation of the SEEA 2003, both in ideal terms and as actually practiced in statistical offices, concludes.     

民营企业员工收入差异的实证研究--基于主成分回归分析

文章回顾了国民收入与民营企业员工收入差异的相关理论研究。通过主成分回归分析法,以基尼系数作为评价影响民营企业员工收入差异因素的标准。基于1998-2012年间民营企业员工收入的数据基础之上,以SPSS17.0对民营企业员工收入差异进行实证研究。从民营企业员工收入差异视角探讨城镇居民收入差异与基尼系数变动的关系,为国家个人收入分配政策和民营经济发展政策的制定有一定的启示意义。研究结果表明,行业收入及综合能力、人均经济产值、生活保障是影响民营企业员工收入差异的三项重要因子。     

An Operative Framework for Total Hicksian Income Measurement: Application to a Multiple-Use Forest

A methodology for estimating total hicksian income in multiple-use forests is presented. The approach consistently incorporates commercial as well as non-commercial economic values and enables the measurement of national accounting aggregates taking into account variation in man-made and natural capital. Innovative solutions are developed (i) for the estimation of non-market values, such as recreation, where an attempt to determine exchange values has been made simulating markets, (ii) for timber, where standing timber valuation methods have been extended to cover uneven stands, and (iii) for carbon fixation valuation, where only permanently fixed carbon after 1990 has been taken into account. The methodology is applied to a multiple-use pinewood in the Guadarrama mountains, near Madrid (Spain). Timber, cattle grazing, hunting, recreation, carbon fixation and conservation values are measured and integrated in the accounting system, using primary microeconomic data from the case study. Results indicate the importance of non-commercial income, which accounts for 51% of the total income, and the social relevance of the analysed forest, implying that only 31% of the total income generated is appropriated by the forest owner.     

收入结构对家庭消费倾向和消费结构的影响——基于心理账户视角的研究

本文关注不同收入结构对家庭消费的影响,从行为经济学视角解释了近年来中国居民消费率和非工资性收入占比同时提高的现象。本文使用中国家庭跟踪调查（CFPS）数据,采用面板数据双向固定效应模型进行分析。结果显示,转移性收入和财产性收入的边际消费倾向显著高于工资性收入和经营性收入,财产性收入的边际消费倾向最高,而工资性收入和经营性收入间的边际消费倾向无统计差异。工资性收入和经营性收入更多用于居住等生活必需支出,财产性收入和转移性收入则用于提高众多子类消费。此外,以上结果在城乡间和地区间具有异质性。