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.     

Contre-exemple au théorème de P.C. Consul sur la factorisation des distributions de Poisson généralisées

This note exhibits two independent random variables on integers, X₁ and X₂, such that neither X₁ nor X₂ has a generalized Poisson distribution, but X₁ + X₂ has. This contradicts statements made by Professor Consul in his recent book.     

网络社会各阶层的分析

网络社会是一种新的社会形态,其内部结构是不同接点组成的亚网络。具有相同信息编码的接点就是网络社会的一个阶层。由互联网重构的网络社会,结构上可分为三个大类,在每个大类下面又可以分成若干阶层。网络社会的每一个阶层之间也存在着不平等,如果这种不平等演变出巨大的数字鸿沟,将给现实世界带来新的社会问题。     

中国城镇新增住房需求规模的测算与分析

本文围绕城镇家庭户自然增长、城镇家庭户机械增长和城镇存量住房拆除三项需求来源,设计了基于人口普查等公开统计数据定量测算城镇新增住房需求规模的系统性方法,对2001—2010年和2011—2015年间全国和各省份城镇新增住房需求规模进行测算与分析。在此期间新增住房供需关系经历了从基本均衡向供过于求的变化,同时存量住房拆除引致的被动需求取代城镇家庭户自然增长和机械增长引致的主动需求,成为新增住房需求的最主要来源。东、中、西部省份在新增需求规模、新增供需比、需求结构等方面表现出明显差异。本文还进一步对2021—2030年的发展趋 势进行了定量预测。由于三项需求来源均趋于下降,2021—2025年和2026—2030年间全国年均城镇新增住房需求规模预计将较2011—2015年间分别下降33%和53%。本文设计的城镇新增住房需求规模测算方法和预测思路能够为各级政府“十四五”住房发展规划编制、房地产企业战略制定等提供参考。     

Working and disability expectancies at older ages: The role of childhood circumstances and education

The ability to work at older ages depends on health and education. Both accumulate starting very early in life. We assess how childhood disadvantages combine with education to affect working and health trajectories. Applying multistate period life tables to data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) for the period 2008–2014, we estimate how the residual life expectancy at age 50 is distributed in number of years of work and disability, by number of childhood disadvantages, gender, and race/ethnicity. Our findings indicate that number of childhood disadvantages is negatively associated with work and positively with disability, irrespective of gender and race/ethnicity. Childhood disadvantages intersect with low education resulting in shorter lives, and redistributing life years from work to disability. Among the highly educated, health and work differences between groups of childhood disadvantage are small. Combining multistate models and inverse probability weighting, we show that the return of high education is greater among the most disadvantaged.     

Public housing into private assets: Wealth creation in urban China

State socialist economies provided public housing to urban citizens at nominal cost, while allocating larger and better quality apartments to individuals in elite occupations. In transitions to a market economy, ownership is typically transferred to existing occupants at deeply discounted prices, making home equity the largest component of household wealth. Housing privatization is therefore a potentially important avenue for the conversion of bureaucratic privilege into private wealth. We estimate the resulting inequalities with data from successive waves of a Chinese national income survey that details household assets and participation in housing programs. Access to privatization programs was relatively equal across urban residents in state sector occupations. Elite occupations had substantially greater wealth in the form of home equity shortly after privatization, due primarily to their prior allocations of newer and higher quality apartments. The resulting gaps in private wealth were nonetheless small by the standards of established market economies, and despite the inherent biases in the process, housing privatization distributed home equity widely across those who were resident in public housing immediately prior to privatization.     

Exploring Neglected Dimensions of Social Policy: The SDW, Fiscal Welfare and the Exemplar of Local Taxation in England

Titmuss's Social Division of Welfare (SDW) thesis is a vitally important but much neglected element of social policy analysis. This article seeks to explore the SDW, with a particular focus on fiscal welfare. Fiscal welfare has been described as forming a hidden welfare state, and while taxation is one of the main ways in which governments affect the lives of citizens, studies of welfare pay remarkably little attention to its impact. Fiscal welfare is examined by using, as an exemplar, local taxation in England, a subject that itself is neglected within social policy. Local taxation in England is of interest because it illustrates the impact of a system of taxation on different groups of citizens, and how this can operate to the benefit of rich over poor citizens. This is because the current system is highly regressive, meaning that those on low and middle incomes spend proportionately more of their income paying the tax than do those on high incomes. What is of further interest is how within the debate about reform of local taxation, concern with regressivity becomes obscured and ceases to be the focus of attention. We are thus provided with an example of how fiscal welfare remains a hidden issue. The article concludes by arguing that social policy analysis needs to move beyond the narrow confines of social welfare and develop a broader understanding of welfare, based on the SDW.     

异质性视角下中国农村居民减贫效应研究——基于FGT贫困指数的分解新方法

在我国即将完成脱贫攻坚背景下,异质性在居民减贫并防返贫进程中逐渐起到关键作用。本文通过反事实分析法将收入分布变迁分解为均值、方差以及残差三种变化,进而将其引入贫困分解中,对我国农村及区域贫困进行分解。研究表明,引入收入分布变迁贫困分解结果具有稳健性,且农村居民收入增长效应与离散效应存在非对称性,提高收入已不足以弥补收入差距扩大带来的贫困加深效应,而异质效应和离散效应间存在对称性,居民异质性在减贫进程中逐渐起到关键作用。同时从区域视角看,东部区域异质效应减贫效果明显高于增长效应;中部区域增长效应和异质效应均具有显著减贫效果;而西南区域增长效应的减贫效果最显著。     

全球价值链嵌入与技术创新——基于生产分解模型的分析

基于增加值和最终产品的生产分解模型,本文对我国制造业前向与后向产业关联下的全球价值链嵌入进行测度,实证分析全球价值链嵌入对技术创新的作用机理,并在此基础上重点探讨了吸收能力与技术差距两个重要情境因素的调节作用,同时,运用双重差分、工具变量法以及GMM动态面板模型进行稳健性检验,以控制潜在的内生性问题。研究发现:①我国制造业通过嵌入全球价值链的国际间知识溢出效应促进技术创新能力的提升;②吸收能力能够强化这一正向影响关系;③技术差距在后向全球价值链嵌入对技术创新的影响关系中呈倒U 型调节作用,而在前向全球价值链嵌入对技术创新的影响关系中呈正向调节作用。本文推动了网络嵌入理论和知识溢出理论从组织网络向全球价值链领域的繁衍,丰富了全球价值链嵌入领域的研究成果,同时为我国制造业企业在参与国际分工过程中利用全球价值链嵌入实现技术创新能力提升提供重要的理论参考。     

样本选择参数分位回归模型及其在工资分布分解中的应用

在工资差距分解问题中,研究者经常会遇到样本选择偏差问题,直接忽略会导致最终估计结果产生严重偏差,同时在众多工资差距分解方法中,相比于均值分解,分布分解方法更受研究者青睐。针对参数分位回归,本文首次提出可加形式与非可加形式的样本选择参数分位回归（SSPQR）模型,并基于这两类样本选择参数分位回归模型给出修正样本选择偏差后的参数分位回归工资差距分布分解方法。运用上述方法及已有的工资分布分解方法,借助CHNS2015年度城镇数据,本文研究了我国城镇男女工资差距及差距分解问题,得出以下结论：①男女工资差距主要来源是性别歧视问题;②经过样本选择偏差修正后,实际的工资差距更大,歧视问题更严重;③男女工资差距程度在不同分位点上结果不同,换句话说,我们不能简单地仅从平均水平来判断工资差距程度;④与其他已有方法计算结果比较发现,SSPQR计算的工资差距程度更大。