The Uncertainty of Academic Rent and Income Inequality: The OECD Panel Evidence

The article presents an alternative view on the education—income inequality relationship, which calls into question the neoclassical claim that education increases labor productivity and hence contributes to a higher output, wage and consequently more even income distribution. In the context of public policies, education needs to be seen not only as a factor of income mobility, but also as a “positional good,” which benefits graduates at the expense of non-graduates. Education generates “academic rent,” by which we mean uneven remuneration of workers based on academic signs of distinctions that do not necessarily reflect differences in productivity. Using the robust panel model on a sample of OECD (Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development) countries from 1980 to 2015, we show that investments in human capital lead to lower inequality, but overinvestments tends to increase income inequality, which may be related to academic rent. In discussing this result, we consider that uncertainty of academic rent under the condition of a rapid transformation of the workplace caused by the fourth industrial revolution.     

The Importance of Tax Adjustments When Evaluating Wage Expectations*

Using elicited expectations of future gross salaries, we evaluate characteristics causing German students to make larger or smaller estimation errors. While students seem to underestimate actual salaries by 18 percent, we show that these errors are highly attributable to misconceptions of the progressive income tax. Developing a suitable adjustment procedure, we correct students’ estimates and find that errors decline by 12 percentage points. Conducting regression analyses, we reveal strong connections with students’ age, gender, work experience, secondary school track, and knowledge about student loans. These results change notably if not controlling for students’ misconceptions of the tax system.     

Structural transformation and productivity growth in India during 1960–2010

In this paper, we examine the role of structural change and sectoral productivity growth in explaining the aggregate productivity of India relative to the United Sates during 1960–2010. We set up a simple two sector general equilibrium model and calibrate it to fit the structural transformation of United States. Our calibrated model for India highlights the relative importance of agricultural productivity growth in explaining its slow process of catching up in terms of aggregate productivity. We show that India could have progressed at a much faster rate and closed a substantial part of its aggregate productivity gap if its agricultural sector had grown at a rate at par with the United States. It is India's relative productivity growth in the non-agricultural sector that explains all the recent success in its closing the aggregate productivity gap with the United States. We also found that an elimination of relative distortion in agriculture in India could result into a modest improvement in the aggregate labour productivity.     

多渠道增加陕西省农村居民财产性收入研究

文章在分析陕西农民增加财产性收入渠道现状的基础上,具体分析了制约陕西农民多渠道增加财产性收入的因素,进而研究了多渠道增加农村居民财产性收入的措施:构建农民产权制度保障、健全市场机制、培养现代农村人力资本、发展农村集体经济、完善农村社会保障制度及充分发挥政府规范和引导作用。     

基于公共选择视角的“灰色收入”防控机制创新

灰色收入即为非法收入及其他来源不明的收入，具有参与范围扩大化、标的形式多样化、实地操作隐蔽化、实现标准奢侈化、实现手段智能化等趋势特点。产生原因有法律缺失、教育缺位、监管失严、权力信息不明等，对应的防控措施有严格法律界定、加强生活圈管理、加强多方监管、推进收入和财产公示等。     

我国化肥价格波动与农民收入关系的实证分析

本文利用1978～2008年的时间序列数据,运用脉冲响应函数和方差分解技术考察化肥价格波动与农民收入之间的关系,发现化肥价格的波动与农民收入变化之间存在着双向的因果关系,即化肥价格的上涨导致农民增收缓慢,而化肥价格上涨的根本原因在于＂需求拉动＂和＂成本推动＂。今后必须从需求和供给两方面采取对策：一方面通过建立化肥直接补贴制度和化肥储备制度,从需求上控制化肥价格上涨;另一方面通过采用新型化肥生产技术和给予化肥生产企业生产用能以优惠政策,从供给上控制化肥价格上涨。     

后危机时代扩大居民消费的路径

后危机时代,中国扩大内需的重点在于增加消费,而增加消费的重点在于增加城乡中低收入群体的消费。为此,必须增加居民的收入尤其是城乡中低收入群体的收入,并优化其收入结构。     

企业应对劳动力成本增加的品牌战略研究

我国城乡居民人均收入将于2020年翻一番，由此引发的问题是劳动力成本的快速提高。文章在品牌经济学的框架下，分析指出通过品牌战略建设提高产品溢价能力，是企业应对劳动力成本上升的有效手段。通过构建引入选择成本的需求函数，证明了品牌溢价能力与其品牌信用度呈正比关系。在理论分析的基础上，文章提出了应对收入倍增的品牌战略路径，主要包括自主品牌-自主品牌、自主品牌-他人品牌、他人品牌-自主品牌、他人品牌-他人品牌等四种方式。企业可根据实际情况，选择合适路径实现从无品牌到弱势品牌，再到强势品牌的转变。