Partial Correlation in Terms of Path Coefficients

The distribution of members of the American Statistical Association (ASA) by several demographic and professional measures is characterized. The analysis is based on a 1979 survey of ASA members who resided in the U.S. More detailed analysis focuses on how demographic and professional characteristics affect the distribution of income and the odds of participating in ASA activities. Several interesting observations are made. Years of experience since highest degree is the most important predictor of income. Highest degree and whether employed in academia are also important. There is a significant difference between the distribution of income for men and women; although the difference is insignificant at one year of experience, it increases with the experience level. Although the survey represented a 100% sample of blacks, Hispanics, and native Americans in the ASA, there is insufficient data to formulate a detailed model of income for this minority group; its average income, however, falls below the expected income of the majority population for higher experience levels. For both the odds of attending annual meetings and serving ASA as an officer or committee member, the most important discriminator is the highest degree of the member. Race is also a significant factor: blacks, Hispanics, and native Americans were least likely to attend annual meetings, and Asians and Pacific Islanders were least likely to hold office. Years of experience is important also for predicting the odds of having held office but not of having attended meetings.     

基于人口特征的收入差距分解分析——以重庆市为案例

 摘　　要:本文使用2005年全国1％人口抽样调查中重庆市的抽样调查数据，同时采用基于人口特征的收入群体分解和基于回归方程的收入来源分解二种方法考察了重庆市居民的各种人口特征对收入分配差距的影响。研究结果表明城乡差异是现阶段居民收入分配差距偏大的主要原因，特别是城乡居民之间受教育机会、职业选择上巨大的机会不平等将对收入分配差距扩大产生长期的影响。     

中国收入流动性再探讨

 本文利用“中国营养健康调查”(1989-2006)数据,从不同角度测度了中国收入流动性,分析了其对社会福利的影响,并按不同收入阶层对收入流动性进行分解,最后考察了个体的教育特征对收入流动性的影响。研究发现,城市和农村的收入流动性都先上升后下降,在收入分配差距较大的背景下,收入流动性降低加固了现有收入分层,形成“穷者越穷、富者越富”的马太效应,收入流动性并未改善社会福利;低收入阶层对总体收入流动性贡献最大,但大都在中低收入阶层内部变动;同时,受教育程度较高的个体不易向下流动,城市个体尤为显著。因此,在制定收入分配、教育政策时对低收入群体进行扶持,将有利于促进合理的收入流动进而缩小收入分配差距。     

农户行为特征与农业科技需求——基于对重庆市农户的调查

采用重庆地区16个区县内1 710名农户的调查数据,运用主成分分析法将影响农户科技需求的因素归为七类,在此基础上建立排序选择模型,并进行实证研究。结果表明:重庆地区农户科技需求程度不高且存在地域差异;社会文化行为特征对科技需求起主导作用;经济行为特征中的农户收益水平偏低,限制了农户对科技产品的消费能力;农户的社会地位、其它他因素对农业科技需求有负向影响。     

Voluntary versus involuntary sample surveys in the microcensus

The author compares aspects of voluntary and involuntary sample surveys in West Germany. "The German microcensus as a non-voluntary survey draws a random sample from the total population which includes persons that would also respond in a voluntary survey (respondents) and persons that would not respond (non-respondents). The population of a voluntary survey, however, includes only respondents. Hence, statistical inference from a voluntary sample survey is only valid for the total population, if the population of respondents does not differ from the total population. This null hypothesis must be rejected from the comparisons of data from the German microcensus of 1985, 1986 and 1987 and corresponding voluntary test sample surveys. The discrepancies are great in central demographic and socio-economic variables such as region of residence, community size, age, marital status, income and social security." (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

1995—2012年国内个人收入分布函数演化研究

基于国家统计局1995―2012年个人人均年收入数据,运用数据拟合方法,研究国内绝大多数个人人均年收入的累积分布函数和概率密度函数从1995—2012年的演化过程,结果显示:累积分布函数为C(x)=Ae-(x-μ)2/2σ2,遵循高斯分布;概率密度函数为P(x)=B(x-μ)e-(x-μ)2/2σ2,概率密度函数图像的宽度随着时间的推移从1995—2012年逐步变宽,是(x-μ)因子推动概率密度函数P(x)中的e-(x-μ)2/2σ2部分,在使图像逐步变宽的同时右方出现了一个逐年加长的类似指数函数的长尾,这种图像提示从1995—2012年极少数人获取了极大数量的个人收入;进一步利用个人人均年收入的概率密度函数P(x)计算相应的Gini系数在这一时期的演化后发现,当今中国收入不公平性已很严重,各级相关部门应当从政策改革和福利分配方面有所重视。     

A Bayesian hierarchical model for categorical longitudinal data from a social survey of immigrants

Summary.  The paper investigates a Bayesian hierarchical model for the analysis of categorical longitudinal data from a large social survey of immigrants to Australia. Data for each subject are observed on three separate occasions, or waves, of the survey. One of the features of the data set is that observations for some variables are missing for at least one wave. A model for the employment status of immigrants is developed by introducing, at the first stage of a hierarchical model, a multinomial model for the response and then subsequent terms are introduced to explain wave and subject effects. To estimate the model, we use the Gibbs sampler, which allows missing data for both the response and the explanatory variables to be imputed at each iteration of the algorithm, given some appropriate prior distributions. After accounting for significant covariate effects in the model, results show that the relative probability of remaining unemployed diminished with time following arrival in Australia.     

我国居民收入分布与财产分布的极化

本文利用CHIP和CFPS住户调查数据,讨论了我国居民收入和财产分布的极化特征。本文给出了收入分布和财产分布的总体极化特征,并对收入和财产分布的DER指数进行了分解分析。本文的研究结果表明,尽管收入分布的极化指标比较稳定,但财产分布的极化现象在2002年到2013年期间有所加剧;财产分布的极化程度比收入极化要更为严重;城乡组间贡献仍是收入和财产分布极化的主要贡献因素;从根据收入构成的分解结果来看,工资收入和经营收入是收入分布极化的主要来源,财产收入对于总收入的极化程度的影响在逐渐增强;财产分布极化按照分项财产的构成分解表明,房产净值和金融资产对于全部净财产极化程度具有非常重要的影响。     

Bayesian estimation for the Pareto income distribution

The Bayes estimators of the Gini index, the mean income and the proportion of the population living below a prescribed income level are obtained in this paper on the basis of censored income data from a pareto income distribution. The said estimators are obtained under the assumptions of a two-parameter exponential prior distribution and the usual squared error loss function. This work is also extended to the case when the income data are grouped and the exact incomes for the individuals in the population are not available. The method for the assessment of the hyperparameters is also outlined. Finally, the results are generalized for the doubly truncated gamma prior distribution. Now deceased.     

Detecting Overdispersion in Large Scale Surveys: Application to a Study of Education and Social Class in Britain (with Comments)

A practical problem with large scale survey data is the potential for overdispersion. Overdispersion occurs when the data display more variability than is predicted by the variance–mean relationship for the assumed sampling model. This paper describes a simple strategy for detecting and adjusting for overdispersion in large scale survey data. The method is primarily motivated by data on the relationship between social class and educational attainment obtained from a 2% sample from the 1991 census of the population of Great Britain. Overdispersion can be detected by first grouping the data into a number of strata of approximately equal size. Under the assumption that the observations are independent and there is no variability in the parameter of interest, there is a direct relationship between the nominal standard errors and the empirical or sample standard deviation of the parameter estimates obtained from each of the separate strata. With the 2% sample from the British census data, quite a discernible departure from this relationship was found, indicating overdispersion. After allowing for overdispersion, improved and more realistic measures of precision of the strength of the social class–education associations were obtained.     

Variance estimation for a low income proportion

Summary. Proportions below a given fraction of a quantile of an income distribution are often estimated from survey data in comparisons of poverty. We consider the estimation of the variance of such a proportion, estimated from Family Expenditure Survey data. We show how a linearization method of variance estimation may be applied to this proportion, allowing for the effects of both a complex sampling design and weighting by a raking method to population controls. We show that, for data for 1998–1999, the estimated variances are always increased when allowance is made for the design and raking weights, the principal effect arising from the design. We also study the properties of a simplified variance estimator and discuss extensions to a wider class of poverty measures.     

A subset selection procedure for multinomial distributions

A subset selection procedure is developed for selecting a subset containing the multinomial population that has the highest value of a certain linear combination of the multinomial cell probabilities; such population is called the ‘best’. The multivariate normal large sample approximation to the multinomial distribution is used to derive expressions for the probability of a correct selection, and for the threshold constant involved in the procedure. The procedure guarantees that the probability of a correct selection is at least at a pre-assigned level. The proposed procedure is an extension of Gupta and Sobel's [14] selection procedure for binomials and of Bakir's [2] restrictive selection procedure for multinomials. One illustration of the procedure concerns population income mobility in four countries: Peru, Russia, South Africa and the USA. Analysis indicates that Russia and Peru fall in the selected subset containing the best population with respect to income mobility from poverty to a higher-income status. The procedure is also applied to data concerning grade distribution for students in a certain freshman class.     

Assessing the Quality of Household Panel Data: The Case of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics

Evidence from a number of methodological studies are used to assess the overall quality of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). Despite substantial cumulative non-response over the nearly two decades spanned by the study, the sample is found to maintain its representation of the nonimmigrant population of the United States. The most important reasons for this result are that the study's following rules insure that the sample replaces itself in the same manner as the population (through the formation of new families by the offspring of old) and that nonresponse is largely unsystematic. Nonresponse also appears to be largely random with respect to parameters in a number of behavioral models. The accuracy of measures is assessed by comparing survey measures with national aggregates and with highly accurate individual validating data. PSID reports of transfer income appear to compare more favorably with program aggregates than do reports from other large-scale surveys such as the Current Population Survey. Finally, although PSID survey measures generally are unbiased when compared to validating data, they contain amounts of measurement-error variance that range from trivially small to very large.     

Statistical materials. Results of the 1985 socio-demographic sample survey of the population

Results from the five percent socio-demographic sample survey of the USSR conducted in 1985 are presented. Data are provided on the educational status of the population and the labor force by nationality, republic, sex, and rural or urban area; income; marital status; marriage duration; divorce and separation; intervals between marriages; family size; family characteristics; families with children under 18; internal migration; and distribution of women by number of children ever born, republic, nationality, educational status, and expected family size     

Measuring Social Tension from Income Class Segregation

We develop an index that effectively measures the level of social tension generated by income class segregation. We adopt the basic concepts of between-group difference (or alienation) and within-group similarity (or identification) from the income [bi]polarization literature; but we allow for asymmetric degrees of between-group antagonism in the alienation function, and construct a more effective identification function using both the relative degree of within-group clustering and the group size. To facilitate statistical inference, we derive the asymptotic distribution of the proposed measure using results from U-statistics. As the new measure is general enough to include existing income polarization indices as well as the Gini index as special cases, the asymptotic result can be readily applied to these popular indices. Evidence from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics data suggests that, while the level of social tension shows an upward trend over the sample period of 1981 to 2005, government’s taxes and transfers have been effective in reducing the level of social tension significantly.     

Posterior Distributions for the Gini Coefficient Using Grouped Data

When available data comprise a number of sampled households in each of a number of income classes, the likelihood function is obtained from a multinomial distribution with the income class population proportions as the unknown parameters. Two methods for going from this likelihood function to a posterior distribution on the Gini coefficient are investigated. In the first method, two alternative assumptions about the underlying income distribution are considered, namely a lognormal distribution and the Singh–Maddala (1976) income distribution. In these cases the likelihood function is reparameterized and the Gini coefficient is a nonlinear function of the income distribution parameters. The Metropolis algorithm is used to find the corresponding posterior distributions of the Gini coefficient from a sample of Bangkok households. The second method does not require an assumption about the nature of the income distribution, but uses (a) triangular prior distributions, and (b) beta prior distributions, on the location of mean income within each income class. By sampling from these distributions, and the Dirichlet posterior distribution of the income class proportions, alternative posterior distributions of the Gini coefficient are calculated.     

基于社会核算矩阵的厦门市产出与居民收入乘数分析

 内容提要：基于厦门市2002年投入产出表及其它相关数据，笔者构建了厦门市2002年的宏观社会核算矩阵，并对居民账户进行了细分。在此基础上，利用基于社会核算矩阵的SAM乘数模型，本文考察了各类产业在外生冲击下的产出效应和居民收入效应，并分析了外生冲击及转移支付对居民收入分配结构的影响。结果显示，产出乘数和居民收入乘数较高的行业分别是那些与其它行业具有较高关联度的行业和对社会就业带动作用较大的劳动密集型行业；厦门市当前经济的结构和转移分配都有利于改善当前居民收入差距过大的现状，但前者的效应不大。     

农村居民消费不平等的微观结构分析

提出了个体微观数据基尼系数的组群、要素统一分解式,并利用该分解式考察消费结构、区域结构和收入不平等对农村居民消费不平等的影响.采用了2009年福建省农村居民生活状况调查数据进行分析,得出结论:食品、衣着类消费的增长可以降低农村居民的消费不平等,其中谷物、薯类、食用油、蔬菜及制品、肉禽蛋奶及制品的消费增长对消费公平性的提高产生积极的作用;组内不平等在总体消费不平等中占80％以上,消费差异主要表现为内部的差异;农村居民的消费不平等受收入不平等影响显著.     

中国城镇家庭收入增长益贫性形成机制研究

 借助社会福利函数对益贫式增长测度的可分解性,结合中国健康与营养调查（CHNS）提供的家庭就业率、劳动参与率、劳动报酬率、劳动时间等微观数据,追溯居民收入形成的劳动力市场特征要素,将居民收入和各劳动力市场特征的效用性、公平性与增长的损益相结合,应用要素分解模型阐释中国新世纪以来城镇家庭收入增长的益贫性及其形成机制,由此得到更具针对性的收入益贫式增长政策启示。     

中国劳动收入份额的测算研究：1993-2008

 劳动收入份额的准确测算至关重要。本文首先从定义和数据两个方面剖析了劳动收入份额的测算问题,分析了其对测算结果准确性的影响。然后总结归纳了现有的基于测算问题的修正方法,并进行必要的方法评析。最后,借助于城镇和农村住户抽样调查与人口数据估算中国的OSPUE。在此基础上,利用资金流量表数据对1993－2008年中国劳动收入份额进行合理的估算与必要的修正,并进行相应的变动分析与国际比较。