Getting low educated and older people into work: The role of fiscal policy

Raising employment, in particular employment among older individuals and low educated individuals, stands high on the agenda of policy makers in many OECD countries. Increased sensitivity in recent years to rising inequality has made the challenge only larger. In this paper we evaluate alternative fiscal policy scenarios to face this challenge. We construct and use an overlapping generations model for an open economy where individuals differ not only by age, but also by innate ability and human capital. The model allows us to study effects on aggregate employment, per capita income and welfare, as well as effects for specific age and ability groups. We show that well-considered fiscal policy changes can significantly improve macroeconomic productive efficiency, without increasing intergenerational or intragenerational welfare inequality. Our results strongly prefer a reduction in the labor tax rate on older workers and on all low-wage earners, financed by an overall reduction in non-employment benefits. An alternative financing option is to raise the consumption tax rate. These results are to be seen as long-run effects for economies at potential output.     

Socioeconomic status and the dynamics of preferences for income inequality in the United States, 1978–2016

Although considerable evidence indicates that public preferences for income inequality and redistribution vary across socioeconomic groups (i.e., occupation and income), much less is known about the temporal dynamics of these preferences. The purpose of this study is (a) to examine whether the attitudinal distance between managerial/professional workers and unskilled manual workers has changed (converged or diverged) over time and to (b) explore the reasons for and implications of the dynamics of preferences in the past several decades. Using data from the General Social Survey 1978–2016 (23 time‐points; N = 27,211), this study finds that the influence of occupational class has lost some of its significance in shaping public preferences for income inequality and that the declining effect of occupation can be explained in part by the attitudinal convergence between better‐ and less‐educated citizens. Findings suggest that proequality coalitions across educational boundaries play a remedial role in bridging the occupational divide over government redistribution in the United States.     

中国城镇居民功能不平等计量分析——基于阿马蒂亚·森的能力方法

以阿马蒂亚.森的能力方法为基础,利用问卷调查获得的数据对我国城镇居民功能不平等进行测算的计量结果表明,我国城镇居民功能不平等程度远低于收入分配不平等程度。从城镇居民功能不平等计量结果来看,目前我国社会相对稳定,但局面不容乐观,社会不稳定因素仍然存在。当前我们要关注收入分配不平等,也要关注人们在住房、休闲、人际关系、健康、工作满意度等功能分配方面的不平等。     

教育不平等的测度及与收入分配的关系

教育是人力资本形成的重要途径,公平的教育分配对基础广泛的经济增长与贫困的减少具有显著的重要性。在教育与收入分配关系的理论与实证研究中,已有不少文献从教育存量角度对其进行探讨,然而专门从教育不平等角度进行的研究则不多。文章首先对国外有关教育不平等系数的测定方法进行总结与评述,随后从理论与实证两个层面对教育不平等与收入分配的关系研究进行评述,并在既有研究的基础上,对相关后续研究提出进一步的研究思路。     

市场化转型下的住房不平等——基于CGSS2006调查数据

基于CGSS2006调查数据,运用多层线性模型分析方法,揭示了市场化改革对住房不平等程度,以及住房资源分配机制的影响作用。研究表明,在地区层面,地区市场化的推进虽然有效提高居民的住房水平,但在一定时期内也拉大住房资源分配的贫富差距,地区市场化水平与住房不平等程度之间存在倒“U”型曲线关系;在个体层面,体制内外职工的住房差异已不显著,但政治精英在住房资源的占有上更具优势。     

关注社会公平,构建和谐社会

社会公平是围绕尊重和实现每个人的生存和发展权利而形成的一个多维的社会范畴,主要包括权利公平、机会公平、规则公平、过程公平和分配公平等内容。目前,我国社会存在的社会不公现象是引起社会不和谐的重要原因之一。实现社会公平是构建社会主义和谐社会的一项既重要又紧迫的现实任务。必须继续完善分配制度改革,逐步缩小贫富差距;继续深化教育改革,实现教育公平;完善司法制度,维护司法公正;完善社会保障制度,保障群众的基本生活。     

教育对我国城镇收入差距贡献的实证研究

为确定我国城镇居民收入差距中教育因素的贡献大小,利用2013年中国家庭收入调查（CHIP2013）中城镇居民的微观数据,采用基于收入决定函数的夏普里值分解法,得到受教育程度和教育过程对收入差距的贡献大小。研究发现,教育过程是影响城镇居民收入差距的重要因素,而受教育程度对收入差距的贡献排序近年来呈现下降趋势。     

企业规模、经济增长与收入不平等——基于我国工业部门的动态计量分析

以中国工业部门为例,对比我国工业小企业发展、当前的收入分配状况及经济增长,对这些时问序列运用向量自回归方法,并通过脉冲响应函数及方差分解分析,得出结论:在对经济增长的贡献上,小企业与大中型企业相比并无效率优势,但小企业的发展更有助于缓解收入差距的扩大.     

全球化何时帮助穷人？

全球化与贫穷之间有何联系?发展中经济体长期以来一直将国际贸易和金融作为发展的解决方案,但全球35%的人口仍生活在国际贫困线以下。经济学家和政治学家探究了这种联系,但仍未得出结论。我们回顾了相关文献,认为要理解全球化与贫穷之间的联系,我们必须根本理解针对最贫困人口政策背后的政治动机。具体来说,我们主张学者需要明确发展中国家政府的意识形态立场,这一认同超越了发达国家主流的传统左右翼分歧的观点。我们为学者在全球范围内如何开始推动意识形态起作用以及为什么必须评估全球化与贫穷的联系提供了理论指导。此外,我们还对我们的论点提供了初步的定量和定性检验。最后,两个学科的学者为了评估贸易与贫穷之间的联系,必须开始评估政府对扶贫再分配的承诺(而不是受制于既得精英利益集团的政策)。     

Informatization, voter turnout and income inequality

In recent years, voter turnout has been decreasing in most industrial countries, and about 40% of all electors abstain from voting. This may affect income inequality and the GDP growth rate through a redistribution policy determined by majority voting. In this paper, we explore the reasons for this continuing decrease in voter turnout and assess its social costs. We conclude that informatization lowers voter turnout by generating an information overload, and that a decrease in voter turnout lowers GDP growth by limiting income redistribution.