收入水平、不平等感知与主观福祉

利用中国家庭追踪调查数据,基于规范视角分析了不平等感知对居民主观福祉的影响,结果显示：个体对不平等的感知越强,其主观福祉越低,且这种不平等厌恶主要存在于中高收入群体;收入水平越高,个体获取信息的能力越强、更加关注社会差距问题,从而产生了更强烈的不平等感知;伴随着不平等感知越强,个体参与慈善捐赠的概率也越高。因此,在推进共同富裕中,不仅要完善客观收入分配结构,更要重视居民对社会收入差距的感知,加强有效信息的及时公布,合理引导公众预期。此外,三次分配在中国有较良好的群众基础,可以充分发挥其在缩小收入差距中的补充作用。     

分项收入的城乡不平等效应——基于区域差异视角的实证分析

本文分别从全国、省际和八大经济区域三个视角出发,利用全国及31个省级地区的相关统计数据,采用城乡居民总收入相对差距系数及其相应的分解方法,对分项收入的城乡不平等效应进行比较与分析.研究结果显示,四种分项收入的不平等效应不但具有性质与大小的差别,而且具有显著的区域差异.从影响性质来看,经营性收入导致城乡收入差距缩小,而工资性收入、转移性收入和财产性收入则导致城乡收入差距扩大;从影响大小来看,工资性收入、转移性收入、经营性收入和财产性收入对城乡收入差距的影响依次呈递减状态.同时,通过区域间的比较,我们发现各分项收入的城乡不平等效应在不同的地区具有不同的表现.     

收入不平等与个体健康——基于2005年中国综合社会调查的实证分析

文章利用2005年中国综合社会调查（CGSS2005）数据与县级社会统计资料,通过拟合多层Logistic回归模型,分析了地区收入不平等程度对个体健康状况的影响,系统检验了绝对收入理论和收入不平等理论。结果表明,即使在控制了个体收入对健康的凹陷效应之后,县级收入不平等程度仍对个体自评健康具有显著的负面影响。对收入不平等影响健康的作用机制的进一步分析表明,社会心理机制仅能部分解释不平等对健康的负面效应,而新唯物主义机制未能得到经验支持。     

老年人收入结构与收入不平等研究

采用2013年和2018年中国家庭收入调查(CHIP)数据,基于收入来源视角和基尼系数分解法,对我国老年人收入结构和收入不平等进行了研究.结果显示:2013-2018年期间,老年收入结构显著变化,收入不平等程度呈现下降趋势.具体表现为,养老金收入比重下降,工资性收入比重显著增加.在收入不平等程度下降过程中,养老金收入的结构效应和集中效应起到强化作用,工资性收入结构效应起到阻碍作用,其他分项收入作用较弱;城乡老年人收入结构及其分布特征呈现显著差异性.据此,老年收入结构优化的方向应该是,稳定并逐步提高养老金等转移性收入水平和比重,适度调整和控制工资性收入、经营性净收入和财产性净收入在城乡间的均衡性,以缩小收入差距.     

收入差异下的老年心理健康不平等及影响机制

基于2005-2014年中国老年健康影响因素跟踪调查的四次追踪数据,采用潜变量增长曲线模型,分析了基于收入差异的老年心理健康不平等变动趋势及影响机制。结果显示：第一,由收入差异导致的老年心理健康不平等随年龄增长呈收敛趋势,符合年龄中和效应理论;第二,身体失能是年龄中和效应存在的关键原因,身体失能比增龄在缓和由收入差异导致的心理健康不平等中的调节作用更大;身体失能降低了收入对老年心理健康不平等的影响作用;与低失能老年人相比,在高失能老年人中基于收入差异的心理健康不平等随年龄增长的收敛趋势更加明显。因此,应推动全人口、全周期健康管理,提高低失能老年群体的收入水平,并完善高失能老年群体的心理慰藉服务体系和社会功能补偿机制。     

预期收入与中国的“收入—幸福之谜”

基于中国最大的民生态度调查——“中国经济生活大调查”,通过实证分析发现,绝对收入、相对收入以及收入不平等等相关变量是解释“收入—幸福之谜”的重要因素。但相比之下,幸福感作为一个主观变量,更关键的是其会受到个体对环境变化预期的影响,即预期收入(而非总体收入或绝对收入)是影响和决定中国居民幸福感的首要因素,预期收入越高,其减少“很不幸福”“不幸福”和“一般”概率的可能性就越大。无论对居民总体、还是不同异质性群体而言,该结论均较为稳健。机制分析发现,增强文化自信和道路自信、提升国民的预期收入,能有效克服“收入—幸福之谜”效应。为此,应提倡政府不断强化预期管理,弘扬和践行“中国梦”精神,增强国民自信和理想信念,提高社会预期和经济预期。     

收入差距测度及分解方法述评(英文)

本文按研究对象将收入差距划分为总体收入差距和组群收入差距两大类,从收入不平等、极化和组群收入差距三个层面梳理了收入差距的测度及其分解方法。其中,收入不平等侧重于对总体收入差距的刻画;极化着眼于收入分布中的“聚集”或“扎堆”现象,其衡量指标大体上可分为两极分化测度指标和多极分化测度指标。在收入差距的分解上,Shapley分解和组群收入差距的分布分解方法都是较为前沿的研究领域。文章还强调了各种收入差距衡量指标或分解方法的适用性和针对性,以便有的放矢地选用合适的相关指标和方法,更精准地探寻收入差距的成因。     

经济增长:一种从收入分配角度的解释--兼论中国改革20年收入分配与经济增长的关系

当代收入分配理论的一个基本观点认为,收入分配不平等不利于经济增长。而我国改革开放后的20多年里,一方面收入分配差距不断扩大;另一方面国民经济持续增长。我国收入分配差距扩大,一方面推动了消费结构升级,引起消费需求增长;另一方面又通过增加储蓄,提高了投资需求。但若使收入分配差距继续扩大,对经济增长的影响会走向反面。因此可以得出结论,经济落后国家的收入分配不平等影响经济增长呈倒U曲线演进。     

SPECIAL ISSUE： INCOME INEQUALITY IN CHINA Inter-industry Inequality： An Important Source of the Urban Income Gap--Regression-based Decomposition

基于回归方程的收入差距分解发现,1988年、1995年和2002年,行业间收入不平等对中国城镇居民收入差距的贡献越来越大,而且这主要是由一些收入迅速提高的垄断行业造成的。同时,区位、教育、所有制和职业类型以及是否有第二职业对收入差距的贡献也在提高,是否完全就业和年龄对收入差距的贡献明显下降。因此,缩小中国城镇收入差距,亟需打破劳动力市场进入壁垒和产品市场行业垄断。此外,减轻地区间的劳动力流动障碍、普遍提高劳动者的受教育水平等措施也将是未来政府缩小城镇收入差距的重要政策着力点。     

城乡收入差距：一个基于数字鸿沟的新解释

城乡收入差距是我国分配结构的一种表现形式，也是我国解决收入差距、实现共同富裕的关键问题。我国城乡收入差距的影响因素复杂，且具有比较明显的阶段性特征。在数字经济时代，城乡间的数字经济发展不平衡或数字鸿沟成为影响城乡收入差距的新因素。数字鸿沟在影响我国城乡收入差距方面有着较为明显的作用，表现为数字基础设施、数字产业化、产业数字化以及数据要素不平衡对城乡收入差距具有一定的影响，在引入替代变量进行实证检验后也得到了相同的结论。因此，我国未来在解决城乡收入差距问题和最终实现共同富裕目标方面，必须重视城乡数字鸿沟问题，并采取积极有效策略来消解城乡间存在的数字鸿沟。     

收入不平等对中国居民幸福感的影响及其机制研究

本文立足于社会规范视角,以中国综合社会调查(CGSS)数据为基础,考察与分析区域层次的收入不平等对居民幸福感的影响及其机制。结果显示,当前中国的收入不平等会损害个人对幸福的积极体验。与高收入群体相比,低收入群体更容易产生这种负向感知。相对剥夺和关系信任构成的社会心理过程是影响收入不平等与个人幸福感关系的重要机制,资源供给机制未获调查数据的支持。在此基础上,本文认为,国民幸福感的高低并非取决于收入不平等本身,而是分配体系构建的合理性。所以,建立具有公平正义价值导向的收入分配体系是提升中国居民幸福感的发展方向。     

The relationship between different social expenditure schemes and poverty,inequality and economic growth

In this article, we study how social expenditure is related to poverty, income inequality and GDP growth. Our main contribution is to disentangle these relationships by the following social expenditure schemes: 1) “old age and survivors”, 2) “incapacity”, 3) “health”, 4) “family”, 5) “unemployment and active labour market policies” and 6) “housing and others”. For this purpose, we employ OLS and 2SLS regression models using a panel data set for 22 Member States of the European Union from 1990 until 2015. We find total public social expenditure to be negatively related to poverty and inequality, but not related to GDP growth. The results vary substantially between the different social expenditure schemes, which makes more accurate targeting possible.     

The Racial Structure of Economic Inequality in the United States: Understanding Change and Continuity in an Era of “Great Divergence”*

The “great divergence” of America's rich from its middle class and poor has led some observers to see a country increasingly stratified by income and wealth, more so than by race. In this article, the first in a two‐part series, we argue that this conclusion overlooks the persistent importance of the racial “structure” of inequality. A decomposition of income inequality between 1980 and 2010 using the Theil Index shows that inequality between racial groups accounts for a rising share of total income inequality over this period nationally and in most states. We also demonstrate that within‐state trends in the between‐race component of inequality are not fully accounted for by trends in income inequality and racial diversity per se. These findings lay the groundwork for a forthcoming companion piece in Social Science Quarterly that shows that between‐race inequality is strongly linked to welfare policy outcomes in the United States.     

Subjective Social Status,Income Inequality and Subjective Perceptions of Mobility (2003-2013)*

Using a sample of over 90,000 urban and rura1 residents from the Chinese Social Survey (CSS) and China Genera1 Social Survey (CGSS) from 2003 to 2013, we analyzed the structural features and influencing factors underlying subjective social status in China. Our findings indicate that over these years, such identification has consistently assumed the shape of a bowling pin: those who “identify with a low social status” account for more than half of respondents, a much higher proportion than in most countries. At the individual level, the net effect on subjective social status of such objective indicators as education, income and occupation has been relatively small, and lessened over the ten years. The correlation between subjective perceptions of mobility and subjective social status is quite strong, but the upward impetus provided by perceptions of upward mobility weakened over the period. At the macro-level, the tempo of economic growth failed to raise the level of class identification, and income inequality had a markedly negative effect. Our research findings further demonstrate that curbing the income gap and increasing opportunities for mobility are important for raising the level of class identification during the transition period.     

Multidimensional Inequality in South Korea: An Empirical Analysis

The objective of this study is to review the theoretical limitations of single dimensional approaches for measuring inequality and to prove the effectiveness and practicality of the concept of “multidimensional inequality” by analyzing the inequality embedded in Korean society. This study constitutes nine dimensions of inequality (income, education, health, employment, social capital, leisure, work‐family reconciliation, housing, and social security) and analyzes inequality through the lens of each dimension by using data from of the first to fifth wave of the Korea Welfare Panel Study. The findings show a high degree of correlation among the dimensions of income, education, health, and social capital. However, work‐family reconciliation and housing have a relatively low correlation with income and the other dimensions. Second, multidimensional disparities were found between the groups of gender, age, and region. In conclusion, this study found a high degree of overlap between the concepts of income‐oriented inequalities and the multidimensional inequality approach. By capturing the notions of the multidimensional disparities that exist in each of the different groups, this study confirmed the effectiveness of multidimensional inequality as a useful concept for informing the creation of social policy intervention to alleviate inequality.     

The distributive impact of private pensions in the context of the institutional designs of public pension systems across OECD countries

Income inequality has been increasing across the developed world for the last few decades. The welfare state has played an important role in reducing income inequality, but it has now entered into an era of transformation. The shift from public to private pension schemes is one of the main policy instruments in this shift. An increase in private pensions is expected to create an increase in income inequality. Therefore, using data from OECD SOCX, this study examined how the effect of private pensions on income inequality might be changed by the institutional design of public pension systems. The results suggest that the effect of private pensions differs when the institutional design of the public pension system is considered. An increase in private pensions is related to an increase in income inequality when the public pension has a low level of coverage and a high level of earnings‐relatedness.     

Beyond Piketty: A new perspective on poverty and inequality in India

The socio-economic literature has focused much on how overall inequality in income distribution (frequently measured by the Gini coefficient) undermines the “trickle down” effect. In other words, the higher the inequality in the income distribution, the lower is the growth elasticity of poverty. However, with the publication of Piketty’s magnum opus (2014), and a subsequent study by Chancel and Piketty (2017) of evolution of income inequality in India since 1922, the focus has shifted to the income disparity between the richest 1% (or 0.01%) and the bottom 50%. Their central argument is that the rapid growth of income at the top end of millionaires and billionaires is a by-product of growth. The present study extends this argument by linking it to poverty indices in India. Based on the India Human Development Survey 2005–12 – a nationwide panel survey-we examine the links between poverty and income inequality, especially in the upper tail relative to the bottom 50%, state affluence (measured in per capita income) and their interaction or their joint effect. Another feature of our research is that we analyse their effects on the FGT class of poverty indices. The results are similar in as much as direction of association is concerned but the elasticities vary with the poverty index. The growth elasticities are negative and significant for all poverty indices. In all three cases, the disparity between the income share of the top 1% and share of the bottom 50% is associated with greater poverty. These elasticities are much higher than the (absolute) income elasticities except in the case of the poverty gap. The largest increase occurs in the poverty gap squared – a 1% greater income disparity is associated with a 1.24% higher value of this index. Thus the consequences of even a small increase in the income disparity are alarming for the poorest.     

The impact of globalization and financial development on India’s income inequality

This paper empirically examines the combined effects of globalization and financial development on income inequality in a unified framework for an emerging economy. Using annual data for the Indian economy over the period 1980–2014, we show that the perceived benefits of globalization and financial development have not trickled down; rather, has aggravated income inequality. Our results also indicate that while inflation aggravates income inequality, education seems to alleviate the differential effect. Proactive measures in providing access to financial services, creating equitable employment opportunities, and improving the quality of education are required to offset the negative impacts of globalization and financial development on income disparity.     

The Inequality Effect of Urbanization and Social Integration

On the basis of the China Social Survey (CSS2011) and related urban statistics, this article conducts an analysis of the “unequal” effects of urbanization and of problems in rural migrants’ social integration with urban residents in the course of their urbanization. We found that although the increased rate of population urbanization did not produce a significant difference between “rural migrants” and “city people” in terms of income, migrants fare considerably worse than city people with regard to social security, cultural life, psychological acceptance and status identification. This kind of inequality transforms the original urban/rural dual structure into a new dichotomy that divides urban dwellers into the migrant population and residents with urban household registration, thereby impeding social integration. This finding will help us understand the causes of the social barriers in current urbanization and may provide theoretical and empirical reference material for “new-type urbanization,” particularly as it relates to the transformation of the rural migrant population into urban citizens.