中国老年人口收入差异研究

老年人口是一个弱势群体,但是也有很强的异质性,老年人口的收入差异是一个值得关注的问题。基于中国老龄科研中心2000年"中国城乡老年人口一次性抽样调查"的数据,采用"五分法"对中国老年人口的收入差异进行分析,发现老年人口内部的收入差异较大,总收入的一半以上集中在20%收入最高的老年人群当中。文章还分别考察了不同收入组的收入结构以及不同特征老年人口的收入差异情况,并根据这些发现提出若干政策建议,以缩小老年期的收入差异,建设一个和谐的老龄社会。     

Cultural Connection Predicts Perceptions of Financial Security for Māori

This paper examines the impact of relative income on income satisfaction with given absolute income. We conducted an experiment in China where participants earned three different levels of income according to their relative performance in a task. While the treatment group was informed about their relative income, the control group only knew their own absolute income. We found that while controlling for absolute income and other factors, information about relative income increases the satisfaction of the high-income group and reduces the satisfaction of the low-income group. Relative income may interact with individual characteristics, such as gender, to affect income satisfaction. We also found that relative income treatment significantly increases income satisfaction inequality, primarily by causing social comparisons among different income groups, which has some welfare implications.     

Median Relative Partial Income Polarization Indices: Investigating Economic Polarization in Poland During the Years 2005–2015

In recent years, more and more attention has been focused on the effects of economic growth and inequality changes on income polarization, as well as on the changes in the middle income class fraction. A significant part of the literature that deals with these issues is focused on polarization indices. However, the polarization indices proposed by researchers do not allow for an assessment of impact of the income distribution changes on the disappearance of the middle income class. Moreover, the general income polarization indices do not allow for assessment of polarization within the distinguished income classes. This study proposes a class of median relative polarization partial indices, which allows for a comprehensive assessment of the median relative polarization over time, within the distinguished income classes, as well as the impact of income distribution changes (its polarization or convergence) on the change of the middle income class fraction (its disappearance or increase). Using Social Diagnosis panel data (a study carried out by the Social Monitoring Council), the proposed new tool has been used to verify the hypothesis of whether changes in the household income distribution in Poland during the years 2005–2015 have led to income polarization within the three distinguished income groups—lower, middle and upper income classes. Empirical analysis shows that despite the lack of overall polarization of incomes in the household population, there was a convergence of incomes in the upper and lower income classes and polarization of incomes within the middle income class. It implies that the income distribution has not been petrified, and as on average individuals in the lower and upper income classes tend to reduce the distance to the median income, whereas the members of the middle income class tend to be pushed out of the middle class. Moreover, the flows of households into the middle income class were higher than the outflows from this class, resulting in economic convergence, i.e. changes in income distribution leading to an increase of the middle income class fraction.

     

The Association Between Perceived Income Inequality and Subjective Well-being: Evidence from a Social Survey in Japan

Previous studies have shown that income inequality in society is negatively associated with individuals subjective well-being (SWB), such as their perceived happiness and self-rated health (SRH). However, it is not realistic to assume that individuals have precise information about actual income distribution measured by the Gini coefficient or other statistical measures. In the current study, we examined how perceived income inequality, rather than actual inequality, was associated with SWB, using cross-sectional data collected from a nationwide, Internet survey conducted in Japan (N = 10,432). We also examined how this association was confounded by individuals’ objective and subjective income status, considering the possibility that individuals with lower income status are more inclined to both perceive income inequality and feel unhappy/unhealthy. In our analysis, we focused on the perception of widening income inequality (as perceived income inequality), perceived happiness and SRH (as SWB), and household income and living standards compared with 1 year ago and compared with others (as income status). We also controlled for personality traits. We obtained three key findings: (1) perceived income inequality was negatively associated with SWB; (2) both perceived income inequality and SWB were associated with income status; and (3) the association between perceived income inequality and SWB was attenuated after controlling for income status, but not fully for perceived happiness. These findings suggest that perceived income inequality, which links actual income inequality to SWB, should be further studied.     

Relative income and fertility

The present study examines the relationship between relative income (i.e., actual income in relation to the expected income of one’s socioeconomic group) and fertility, using data collected by the 1967-1968Canadian Family Growth Study (Balakrishnan et al., 1975). We broaden the tests of relative income beyond cumulative fertility to spacing behavior and then examine some of the assumptions included in the relative income model of fertility. Results of the tests, in brief, are as follows: (a) Relative income is found to be more closely related to spacing than to cumulative fertility; and (b) the relationship between relative income and fertility is strongest among those couples who plan their life ahead and have a high level of education and occupation, and when temporal alignment is brought between the measures of relative income and fertility. For the relative income model to receive confirmation, it was specified that the following hypotheses must be confirmed: (a) that fertility behavior would vary positively with relative income but the fertility norm would show no relationship with relative income; and (b) that consumption norms and behavior would show no relationship with relative income. The outcome of these tests are in the expected direction, giving support to the relative income model. In addition, there is some evidence of predictive capability of the relative income model for correlative behavior.     

家庭收入是否影响子女教育水平——基于CHNS数据的实证研究

教育是低收入家庭子女改变自身社会地位的重要途径。基于CHNS的数据,本文分别使用OLS、2SLS计量经济方法,分析了家庭收入对子女教育水平的影响。OLS结果显示,家庭收入对子女教育水平的影响为正且显著,使用工具变量对家庭收入的内生性进行控制后（2SLS）,家庭收入对子女教育水平的影响依旧为正。分样本的估计结果表明,家庭收入对女儿的影响程度大于其对儿子的影响程度。将家庭收入从低到高依次划分为五个等级的细分样本估计结果显示,随着收入等级的提高,家庭收入对子女教育水平的影响程度呈现出“倒U形”。     

The impact of income inequality on self-rated general health: Evidence from a cross-national study

Previous studies report a strong negative association between income inequality and population health at the aggregate level. However, it is still in hot debate whether this ecological association indicates a genuine, causal effect of income inequality on health, as asserted by the Wilkinson hypothesis, or it simply reflects a nonlinear effect of individual income on health, as suggested by the absolute income hypothesis. Drawing data from the 2005 round of the World Values Survey, I analyze the relationship between individual income, income inequality, and self-rated general health in a multilevel framework. Results show no independent detrimental effect of country income inequality on individual self-rated general health. In contrast, self-rated general health is strongly associated with absolute material conditions both at the individual and at the country level. Therefore, this study gives more evidence to the absolute income hypothesis, i.e., the strong ecological association between income inequality and population health is more likely a reflection of the nonlinear effect of individual income on health rather than a genuine effect of income inequality.     

Relative Income and Happiness in Asia: Evidence from Nationwide Surveys in China, Japan, and Korea

This study attempts to examine relative income effects on perceived happiness in three major Asian countries—China, Japan, and Korea—in comparison with the United Sates, on the basis of largely comparable nationwide surveys in these countries. Consistent with the results from previous studies in Western countries, comparisons with an individual’s own income and average income of the reference group are significantly associated with the individual’s perceived happiness in Asia. The associations between relative income and happiness are stronger for individual income than family income in China, while the opposite is true in Japan and Korea. Even after controlling for the subjective assessment of family income or personal class identification within the society as a whole, income comparisons within the reference group matter for assessing happiness, especially when using family income for comparisons. Moreover, relative deprivation within the reference group, which is measured by the Yitzhaki index, is negatively related to happiness, providing more evidence for the validity of the relative income hypothesis.     

Income and inequality as determinants of mortality: An international cross-section analysis

This paper analyses the effects of income and income distribution on mortality. The likely relation between income and mortality for individuals is discussed, and implications for the determinants of mortality at the community level inferred. Measures of income inequality are likely to be related to mortality on aggregate data because of the non-linearity of income effects. An international cross-section analysis is then undertaken in which different measures of income and income distribution are investigated as determinants of mortality, with life expectancy at birth and age five, and infant mortality taken as measures of the dependent variable. It is found that income distribution is consistently and strongly related to mortality; in a relatively inegalitarian country life expectancy may be between five and ten years lower than in a more egalitarian country.     

贫困地区劳动力迁移、农户收入与贫困的缓解——基于新疆农户面板数据的实证分析

本文基于新疆30个贫困县、3000个农户、2008-2010年的微观面板数据,在控制了家庭规模、劳动力数量等家庭特征变量和粮食播种面积等村庄特征变量的前提下．运用固定效应法与工具变量法分别考察了劳动力迁移规模、迁移方式与迁移区位对家庭收入的影响．并进一步分析了劳动力迁移对贫困的缓解效应。回归结果表明：劳动力迁移规模虽然对农户农业收入有负向影响．但显著提高了农户人均收入与利他性收入：自发性迁移与政府组织性迁移方式均能显著提高农户收入,且自发性迁移的作用更强;省内县外迁移对农户收入的提高最为显著,其次为县内乡外迁移．省外迁移不影响农户收入：劳动力迁移规模提高了中等收入农户的收入水平。但对贫困户的贫困无缓解效应．也不影响富裕户的收入水平。     

Money value of consumption and income of rural families: Two measures of economic status

In this study a measure of economic status, money value of consumption, is defined and its relationship to income is examined using data collected from 628 U.S. rural families and 1170 North Carolina rural families. Findings suggest that for rural families money value of consumption is linearly related to income, that the variance of money value of consumption is proportional to income and that money value of consumption is more equally distributed than income. Money value of consumption is more closely related to income for one-and four-or-more-person families than for two-or-three-person families. A comparison of how the two measures (money value of comsumption and income) rank rural families by consumption status indicates that income is most likely to rank families inaccurately at very low and very high levels of income. Findings should assist in the appropriate interpretation of income when it is used as a proxy for consumption.     

收入水平、收入结构与中国农村妇女生育意愿——基于CHNS数据的实证分析

利用中国健康与营养调查（CHNS）2006年的数据,本文采用负二项回归方法考察了农村经济发展带来的收入水平和收入结构的变化对妇女生育意愿的影响。结果表明,当加入收入结构变量后,家庭持久总收入对妇女期望孩子数的负向影响显著地降低,而且相比于收入水平,收入结构在妇女的生育意愿中扮演着更为重要的角色。因而在未来人口政策的制定过程中,除了不断强调提高农民收入外,也要进一步采取各种措施促进我国农村劳动力的转移,提高农民的非农收入比重,这对于农村生育意愿的转变至关重要。     

农村内部收入不平等变动的成因——基于回归分解的研究途径

近年来中国农村居民收入持续增长,但是农村收入差距却持续扩大。采用回归分解的方法,利用吉林省农户抽样调查数据,对农村内部收入不平等及其变动趋势的成因进行分析。研究结果表明,劳动力投入、工资性收入和人力资本对农户收入的增加起到明显的作用;影响农村收入不平等水平的要素有劳动力投入、耕地、工资性收入、人力资本要素以及地区差异;耕地、工资性收入和劳动力投入对农村内部收入不平等的增加有显著影响,其中耕地的作用占51.60%,超过一半的解释能力,而教育对降低收入不平等水平有一定的作用。     

Testing the relationship between income inequality and life expectancy: a simple correction for the aggregation effect when using aggregated data

In this paper, we show a simple correction for the aggregation effect when testing the relationship between income inequality and life expectancy using aggregated data. While there is evidence for a negative correlation between income inequality and a population’s average life expectancy, it is not clear whether this is due to an aggregation effect based on a non-linear relationship between income and life expectancy or to income inequality being a health hazard in itself. The proposed correction method is general and independent of measures of income inequality, functional form assumptions of the health production function, and assumptions on the income distribution. We apply it to data from the Human Development Report and find that the relationship between income inequality and life expectancy can be explained entirely by the aggregation effect. Hence, there is no evidence that income inequality itself is a health hazard.     

中国农村劳动力转移与劳动收入份额变动研究

文章从农村劳动力转移的角度研究了中国劳动收入份额的变动问题,认为农村劳动力转移影响收入分配格局至少有两条途径:一是农村劳动力从劳动收入份额相对较高的农业部门转移到劳动收入份额较低的非农部门,将直接导致整个经济劳动收入份额的下降;二是农村劳动力转移会通过改变非农部门中资本和劳动的相对谈判能力来影响非农部门的收入分配格局,进而间接影响整个经济的要素收入分配格局。文章的研究结果表明,尽管农村劳动力转移与劳动收入份额下降之间有一定的必然联系,但现阶段仍可以通过调整国内的产业分布格局形成劳动力需求竞争态势、增加农村居民在第一产业的收入以提升保留工资、建立劳动力市场制度以协调谈判能力来逐步改变要素收入分配格局。     

Relative Deprivation,Satisfying Rationality,and Support for Redistribution

Why do individuals support redistribution? Many studies have investigated the factors that influence support for redistribution; however, none have confirmed the role of income satisfaction. The aim of this study is to explore the role of income satisfaction in its support of the mechanism for redistribution. In this study, I suggest relative deprivation theory and the concept of satisfying rationality , as both give income satisfaction a theoretical position. Based on this framework, I argue that income satisfaction could be an indicator of relative deprivation and is understood as the basis of rational action. Specifically, I suggest the mechanism of relative deprivation that a feeling of unfairness weakens income satisfaction, and deterioration in income satisfaction leads individuals to support redistribution. To support this argument, I conduct multilevel path analysis using World Value Survey 6 waves focusing on the OECD countries. I first examine the direct effect of income satisfaction on support for redistribution and find a statistical association between income satisfaction and support for redistribution. Then, I check the relationship between income satisfaction and feeling of unfairness to validate income satisfaction as an indicator of relative deprivation. These findings imply that scholars need to pay more attention to the substantial role of individuals’ subjective reaction to the objective economic conditions.     

Income and Financial Satisfaction among Older Adults in the United States

Using data from the General Social Surveys,this study compares the effects of differentincome variables on financial satisfactionamong people age 65 and above in the UnitedStates. Results suggest that simply usinghousehold income as a variable without anyadjustment does not capture the real effect ofincome on financial satisfaction. Incomeequivalence scales and per-capita income arebetter income predictors of financialsatisfaction than family income. Given thefact that it is not uncommon in financialsatisfaction as well as subjective well-beingresearch to use the family income variablewithout adjustment, findings regarding theeffect of income from those studies should beinterpreted with caution.     

Winding Road Toward the Chinese Dream: The U-shaped Relationship Between Income and Life Satisfaction Among Chinese Migrant Workers

This study examines the relationship between income and subjective well-being among rural-to-urban migrant workers in China. Our analysis of a recent survey uncovered a U-shaped relationship between income and overall life satisfaction for migrant workers in Shanghai. Furthermore, the positive correlation is curvilinear, showing that increasing income yields diminishing returns. Drawing upon ethnographic literature concerning migrant workers, we suggest several possible explanations. For the poorest migrant workers, small increases in income are correlated with longer working hours and increased social comparison with their urban neighbors. After migrant workers’ income reaches a certain level, however, they are able to save money, giving them hope for future social mobility. Furthermore, migrant workers with disposable income can purchase status symbols, helping them to partially overcome their stigmatized status. The positive effect of income on life satisfaction eventually reaches a plateau, however, as even the wealthiest migrant workers find that they cannot surpass the limitations presented by their outsider identity and lack of an urban residence permit. Other findings include a negative relationship between income and income satisfaction and a positive relationship between education and income satisfaction. We conclude that the unique context surrounding Chinese migrant workers alters the typical effects of certain factors upon well-being and satisfaction.     

我国就业增长缓慢与劳动收入占比下降之谜

针对我国就业增长缓慢和劳动收入占比下降同时存在的现实,本文从就业增长与工资、劳动收入上涨之间的动态关系及劳动收入占比的决定因素两个方面入手,通过分析发现:在我国,工资上涨对就业增长的抑制作用有限,劳动收入占比是影响就业增长的重要因素;就业增长与劳动收入占比只是单向影响关系。