收入差距是否影响环境质量?——国内外研究综述

近年来,收入差距扩大与环境质量恶化成为许多国家同时面临的问题,也让一些经济学家开始思考,这两者之间是否存在关联。继20世纪90年代环境库兹涅茨曲线提出以来,一些研究发现不仅收入的绝对水平会对环境质量产生影响,收入差距对环境质量也有影响。本文对这一课题的理论研究进行了梳理,发现现有理论中收入差距对环境质量的影响途径主要有三条。第一条途径是消费者途径,即收入差距影响着以消费为主的个人经济行为,进一步影响着社会消费总量和消费结构,及其过程中产生的污染总量。第二条途径是企业途径,即认为收入差距的扩大会削弱环保型产品的正外部性,不利于环保技术的创新活动,对未来环境质量的改善产生动态影响。第三条途径是政府途径,即认为收入差距会影响相关的环境政策方式与强度选择;而且在不同的社会政策决策机制下,收入差距对环境政策的影响也是不同的,现有的社会决策机制分析框架主要有两种——权利权重型社会决策规则和简单多数规则。此外,本文还对现存的主要实证研究进行了总结,发现大多数研究结论都支持收入差距对环境质量存在着影响,但这种影响并不是线性的。一方面,收入差距对环境的影响与研究的污染物种类有关,大多数研究都显示,收入不平等对CO 2排放和土壤污染存在着负向影响,但有关收入差距对空气污染和水污染影响的研究结论并不统一或并不显著。另一方面,这种影响还与经济发展水平相关,在高收入国家与低收入国家是不同的,存在着阈值效应。最后本文总结了针对中国的研究现状,讨论了其在我国的适用性。     

中国城乡贫困变动:2004—2012

本文基于2004—2012年中国综合社会调查数据,根据家庭人均年收入2 300元的国家贫困标准线和"1天1.5美元"的亚洲贫困标准线,使用FGT指数和脱贫时间两种贫困指数评估了我国城乡贫困整体变动趋势,并从城乡和地区、个体和家庭特征层面分解贫困人口构成;也考察了贫困变动的增长效应和收入分配效应;最后定量地分析收入增长的影响因素。结果表明,根据两种贫困标准线,两种贫困指数测度结果一致反映我国贫困人口规模显著减少;按国家贫困标准线,我国城乡贫困发生率下降了8.8%,但到2012年的依然高达8.6%,农村贫困人口平均脱贫时间为5.4年,而相对贫困发生率有所上升。不同地区的贫困变动差异较大,西部地区和中部地区贫困发生率依然高于全国平均水平3.41个百分点和0.22个百分点,贫困强度和贫困深度现象都还较为严重;东部地区的减贫效应十分明显,但贫困人口内部收入差距拉大问题较为突出。经济增长的脱贫效应较为显著,但增长的亲贫性有待提高;城乡、地区和贫困人口内部居民收入差距逐渐拉大,并成为反贫困的严重障碍。外出非农工作经历、性别差异和教育程度是影响收入增长的关键因素。基于此,本文建议反贫政策应瞄准西部地区的教育程度和健康水平较低、家庭规模较大的农村居民,尤其是女性户主家庭,也应加强养老保险、社会帮扶和人力资本投资,形成改善收入分配为重点的社会保障性扶贫政策体系;中部地区可以借助邻近东部地区的地理优势,通过承接产业转移持续实施"开发式扶贫"政策体系;同时,也可将扶贫标准线提高为每人"1天1.5美元"的亚洲贫困线。     

西部特色农业发展的思考

西部大开发的实施虽然成效显著,但是东西部差距仍在扩大。如何促进西部农业增效和农民增收,特色农业是一个新的发展思路。在简要分析当前西部特色农业发展的必要性和制约因素的基础上,从区域规划、资金扶持、科技支撑、资源环境与粮食安全协调4个方面,提出破解制约因素以及促进西部特色农业发展的对策建议与措施。     

Heterogeneous impact of agricultural support policies: evidence from Turkey

Agricultural support policies, which increase production to excessive levels, have been heavily criticized for their distortional effects on farmers’ decisions. High input consumption, which harms the environment, and the distribution of supports, which causes income inequality among farmers, are also the other factors that economists criticize these support policies. However, in recent years, the use and dependence on production and land have been increasing globally due to fears of food insecurity in several countries. In this article, the impact of a support policy on cotton farmers’ land in Turkey is evaluated using a detailed farm-level micro dataset. We use the dynamic panel model to consider the production dynamics, unobservable individual heterogeneity, and the endogeneity of the support variable. Our results show that considering the support variable as endogenous significantly increased its impact on farmers’ land. A farmer’s past land allocation decisions also affected their current lands holdings. However, the results varied considerably between regions and between different land sizes. Therefore, the findings show the importance of heterogeneity in the impact of support policies. We conclude that due to the heterogeneous impact of support policies, it might not be possible to discuss the effect of support policies using an average estimate applicable for all farmers. Therefore, a different support policy considering regional characteristics or farm size is necessary to obtain the desired policy outcomes.

     

What has caused regional income inequality in China? Effects of 10 socioeconomic factors on per capita income

This study analyzes the driving factors behind regional income inequality to provide an important reference for China and other developing countries and to support the formulation of more effective regional development policies. The study used data from 625 county-level administrative units in China in 2017 and conducted a total factor analysis of China's regional income based on 10 economic dimensions using spatially explicit regression methods. The results show that commerce, population footprint, industrialization, and investment are the main factors that affected a Chinese region’s income, but different factors have different degrees of influence in different regions. The impact of economic institutions (developing an institutionally diverse market economy) on income cannot be ignored. Based on our findings, China should give local governments more autonomy, so they can formulate strategies that account for local constraints and opportunities, thereby increasing their chances of decreasing regional income inequality.

     

基于夏普里值过程的农村居民收入差距分解

认识农村居民收入差距现状并研究引致收入差距的因素,对缩小收入差距的政策制定有重要意义.本文利用内蒙古和甘肃2个省1500户农户的截面数据,采用夏普里值过程对Gini系数、Theil指数、Atkinson指数这三个不平等指标进行回归分解.分解结果稳健地发现,以县域为代理变量的外部环境因素对收入差距具有重要影响,非农劳动力、培训比和家庭男劳动力比对收入差距的相对贡献度较大,而平均年龄、家庭人口和平均教育对收入差距的相对贡献较小.作为社会网络的人情收支和作为物质资本的人均土地面积对收入差距的贡献极小.从缓解中国西部农村地区间的不平等的角度看,长期而言,支持和促进地区经济发展,增加非农就业机会,提供平等的教育和培训机会,有利于缓解收入不平等.而在城市化进程中,处理好土地问题,避免作为物质资本的土地成为引致不平等的因素,对于未来控制不平等状况有重要意义.     

耕地对农民的效用考察及耕地功能分析

对湖南省长沙市所辖三县一市农民的问卷调查及其统计分析结果显示，耕地对于农民的效用主要表现在三个方面：社会保障，就业与直接经济收益。现行的家庭联产承包责任制体现了“成员权”而强化了耕地的社会承载功能，考虑到我国农村社会保障基本空白的现实及提高耕地生产效率的需要，现阶段我国的农地制度选择应该是：在稳定家庭承包经营制度的基础上建立规范的农地经营权流转制度，并同时辅之以农村社会保障机制和社会公平机制的建立，耕地功能分析，农地经营制度。     

城市化进程中失地农民的贫困问题及其治理

运用文献研究法和定性分析方法,借鉴社会学与人类学相关理论,探讨失地农民的贫困问题,总结失地农民贫困的类型,分析失地农民的贫困原因,并提出治理对策。结果发现:部分失地农民在城市中面临着贫困问题,经济贫困、文化贫困、能力贫困和权利贫困是主要贫困类型。导致失地农民贫困的因素主要有体制与制度设置不合理、城市社会的剥夺与排斥、城乡文化的冲突与非物质文化变迁滞后以及失地农民个人能力缺失等。治理失地农民贫困问题必须从宏观层面强化制度与政策的保障作用,从微观层面加强失地农民的自身能力建设。     

新型农村社会养老保险收入再分配效应研究

通过政策分析发现,新农保制度的收入再分配效应主要体现在政府补贴方面,在本质上是财政的再分配,其中个人账户部分体现为代内再分配,基础养老金部分体现为代际再分配。新农保制度几乎对所有制度内人群都具有正的收入再分配效应。以净转移额来度量新农保收入再分配效应的程度,通过建立模型进行测算发现:在现行财政补贴政策下,新农保的收入再分配偏向于选择较高档次缴费的人群、缴费困难群体、寿命长的人群、女性农民、长期缴费的人群以及农村计划生育家庭;政府缴费补贴越多,个人账户投资收益率越高,基础养老金调整系数越大,参保人养老金的净转入额就越多;"捆绑式缴费"政策产生了逆向的收入再分配效应。     

Community attitudes toward forest conservation programs through collaborative protected area management in Bangladesh

The formulation of conservation policies with options for creating protected areas is significantly influenced by the social factors of the surrounding communities. Therefore, indigenous knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of the local communities need to be explored during the planning and implementation stages of conservation projects. A government-initiated experiment in co-management was conducted in the Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary, Bangladesh. This paper analyzes the attitudes toward conservation by members of local communities living in and around the wildlife sanctuary. Training incentives on alternative income-generating (AIG) activities and allotment of agricultural lands were distributed among the Forest User Groups. It is of interest to policy makers and resource managers whether this technique leads to improved attitudes on the part of local people. Although there were different attitudes toward protected areas and conservation, overall, a favorable attitude of the respondents was observed. The opinions of respondents also varied based on factors such as village position, village dependency level on forest resources, ethnicity and gender. Increase in annual income resulting from the augmented skills by trainings on AIG activities and getting agricultural lands leased from the Forest Department contributed significantly to the variation in respondents’ conservation attitudes. It is suggested that eliminating inequity and inequality in incentive distribution, discovering and launching training on more need-based livelihood activities, and liberalizing the restriction of resource extraction from the protected area by fixing the harvesting limit would encourage the community to be more cordially and actively involved in the conservation efforts of the sanctuary.     

Influence of social capital on farmer household income gap: total effect and structural effect

Based on the survey data of typical villages in Shaanxi Province, China, the effect of social capital on the income gap of farmers’ households was analyzed using the Shapley value of the total amount of social capital and the social capital structure. The results show the following: first, social capital can expand the household income gap, and the effect of this index on the household income gap is 7.54%. Second, the indexes of the social capital dimension can expand the household income gap, and the structural effects of the household income gap on social networks, social trust, and social participation are 3.17%, 3.64%, and 0.65%, respectively. Third, no dimension of the path is the same as the effect on the household income gap.     

中国省际间农村居民收入结构和收入差距分析

在计算基尼系数的基础上,文章得出了改革开放以来中国省际间农村居民收入差距不断扩大的趋势,收入基尼系数从1981年的0.095一直上升到了2003年的0.181,直到近年来,收入差距才开始略有缩小。文章从收入结构的视角研究了省际间农村居民收入差距产生的原因。首先利用1983-2008年较长时期的数据分析了农村居民收入结构的变化,发现从总体上而言,中国各地区农村居民的收入结构均表现出了农业收入比重减少,非农收入比重增加的明显趋势;然后运用基尼系数的分解方法实证分析了不同收入来源对于收入差距的影响,研究发现,工资性收入是差距促增的,是目前中国省际间农村居民收入差距扩大最重要的原因,而家庭经营性收入者起着差距促减的作用,转移性收入和财产性收入的不平等程度较高,但是由于其在总收入中的比例不高,对总的收入差距影响较小。最后,文章提出了缩小省际间农村居民收入差距的政策建议。     

粮食补贴政策与农户非农就业行为研究

粮食补贴政策旨在提高农民种粮积极性,促进粮食增产和农民增收,随着国家粮食补贴资金投入力度的逐年加大,农民种粮积极性不断提高,家庭劳动时间分配很可能因此而产生调整。本文首先通过构建嵌入粮食补贴政策的农户劳动分配决策行为模型,理论分析粮食补贴政策对农户非农就业行为的影响,然后基于粮食主产区安徽省农户的实地调查数据,采用Tobit模型分析方法,实证分析粮食补贴政策对农户非农劳动时间供给的影响。研究结果显示:粮食补贴政策对农户非农劳动时间供给具有显著的负面影响,一定程度上有助于调动农民从事农业和粮食生产的积极性;然而,在农业内部工资率低于非农均衡工资率的情况下,这种由粮食补贴政策诱发的农户劳动就业行为变化对家庭经济收入的负面影响将超过当前的转移支付水平;若粮食补贴政策旨在稳定或增加农民收入,那么当前的补贴政策需要进行根本性调整。     

Impacts of Social and Demographic Factors on Residents’ Subjective Well-being in Rural China

Abstract

The objective of social development is to construct a harmonious society. In China, the key to a harmonious society is the happiness of more than 900 million farmers living in the rural areas. This study aimed to measure rural residents’ subjective well-being (SWB) through the day reconstruction method, as well as to analyze SWB’s influencing factors through a variety of statistical methods. The results showed that the average U index was 12.79%, indicating that respondents were unhappy 12.79% of the time. Twenty-seven percent of the population had a U index greater than 0, with the average value being 47%, indicating that these people were unhappy 47% of the time. The study also found that SWB varied according to the characteristics of the respondents. Logistic regression analysis showed that social and demographic factors, including age, education, county, household size, generation number, per capita income, migration status and social networking, which significantly affected rural residents’ SWB. The size of the impact varied with the different factors.     

稻农低碳生产行为影响因素与引导策略——基于人际行为改进理论的多组比较分析

水稻种植是我国农业温室气体的主要排放源,有效引导农户进行水稻低碳化生产对减少农业温室气体排放,实现我国农业绿色可持续发展具有重要意义。基于改进的人际行为理论,建立稻农低碳生产行为影响机制理论框架,继而运用结构方程模型,实证检验了影响稻农低碳生产行为的主要因素及其影响路径。研究表明,低碳行为意愿与能力是激发稻农低碳生产行为的直接动因。行为态度、社会规范、环境情感通过影响低碳行为意愿作用于低碳生产行为。其中,行为态度的影响最大（0555）,其次是社会规范（0232）,环境情感作用最小（0153）。促进条件在意愿-行为、能力-行为的转化过程中具有显著的调节作用。进一步的多群组分析发现,受教育程度、家庭年收入、种植规模等变量在不同群组间的调节效应存在显著差异。由此表明,鼓励稻农适度扩大水稻种植规模,完善农业绿色生产补贴,加强水稻低碳生产教育与专业技术培训等是提高农户低碳认知与行为意愿,引导稻农从事低碳生产的有效手段     

土地流转与农民收入变化研究

土地流转作为我国农村土地制度改革的重点受到了广泛的关注,但土地流转能否显著增加农民收入,达到改善农村内部收入差距的目的,现有研究并未得到一致结论。本文在文献回顾和总结的基础上,依据中国家庭追踪调查(CFPS)数据,运用倾向值匹配(PSM)方法和基于回归的夏普里值分解(Shapley Value)方法,从收入水平和收入差距两个维度实证分析土地流转对农民收入的影响。研究结果表明:(1)参与土地流转能够显著提高农户家庭收入水平。土地流转使转入户家庭人均总收入和农业收入显著提高18.18%和72.46%,并且大规模转入的农户人均总收入的增加程度显著高于小规模转入农户,说明土地流转存在规模效应。土地流转对转出户的收入水平没有显著影响,可能的原因一方面由于土地流转市场发育不完善,没有显化租金;另一方面劳动力转移先于土地流转,使土地流转对农户家庭劳动力的释放作用不显著。(2)土地流转对农村内部收入差距的贡献度为4.19%,排名第五,表明土地流转不是造成农村内部收入差距拉大的主要原因。人力资本和村庄特征对农村内部收入差距影响较大。根据研究结论提出三点政策建议:第一,通过完善农地流转市场,稳定土地租金水平,使转出户获得合理的租金收入;第二,促进农地适度规模经营,提高转入户农业经营收入,缩小农户与非农经营户之间的收入差距;第三,提高农户就业竞争力,促进劳动力转移,增加转出户非农务工收入。     

Impact of Growing Income Inequality on Sustainable Development in China： A Provincial-level Analysis

A growing body of literature has documented the rapidly increasing income disparities that accompanied China＇s economic growth in the 1980s and 1990s, and the driving factors behind this. Growing income inequality in its turn may have important implications for the accumulation of physical capital, human capital, and natural capital and as a consequence for sustainable economic development. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential impact of income inequality on savings, human resources and the environment in China. It starts with an overview of the different causal mechanisms through which income inequality may affect the accumulation of physical capital, human capital, and natural capital, and discusses to what extent these causal relationships may be relevant in the case of China. Next, provincial data for the year 2002 are used to explore the relationship between income inequality and different elements of sustainable development in China. It is found that income inequality does not affect aggregate savings levels. Rising inequality, however, contributes to lower health and possibly also to higher fertility levels. It also lowers the use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture and therefore is likely to reduce water pollution. Other types of environmental degradation are not affected.     

Can coffee certification schemes increase incomes of smallholder farmers? Evidence from Jinotega,Nicaragua

This paper investigates the impact of Fairtrade and organic certification on household income of smallholder coffee farmers in the Jinotega Municipality of Nicaragua. Using a sample of 233 coffee farming households and employing endogenous switching regression model and propensity score matching method, the results found that Fairtrade and organic certification standards have different effects on the certified farmers; while Fairtrade farmers had experienced yield gains, organic farmers had the price advantage. However, the overall impact of these certification standards on the total household income is found to be statistically not significant. While some of the Fairtrade-certified cooperatives have used the social premium in creating community-level infrastructure, there is a need for more investment. The major constraint the organic-certified farmers face is lack of availability of adequate organic inputs such as manures and organic herbicides.     

Impact of Growing Income Inequality on Sustainable Development in China: A Provincial-level Analysis

Abstract

A growing body of literature has documented the rapidly increasing income disparities that accompanied China's economic growth in the 1980s and 1990s, and the driving factors behind this. Growing income inequality in its turn may have important implications for the accumulation of physical capital, human capital, and natural capital and as a consequence for sustainable economic development. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential impact of income inequality on savings, human resources and the environment in China. It starts with an overview of the different causal mechanisms through which income inequality may affect the accumulation of physical capital, human capital, and natural capital, and discusses to what extent these causal relationships may be relevant in the case of China. Next, provincial data for the year 2002 are used to explore the relationship between income inequality and different elements of sustainable development in China. It is found that income inequality does not affect aggregate savings levels. Rising inequality, however, contributes to lower health and possibly also to higher fertility levels. It also lowers the use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture and therefore is likely to reduce water pollution. Other types of environmental degradation are not affected.     

Spatial distribution of the environmental resource consumption in the Heihe River Basin of Northwestern China

Sustainable development needs to consider the inequality between economic development and resource consumption and keep it within a rational range. Therefore, quantitatively measuring this inequality is an important and hot issue. Using the ecological footprint as the index of environmental resource consumption, the spatial inequality of this parameter and the reasons for the inequality were analyzed using the Gini coefficient and the Theil index in the Heihe River Basin of northwestern China. The spatial inequality of resource consumption was clearly high. Decomposing the Theil index into urban and rural areas showed that spatial inequality was mainly derived from the inter-regional inequality between urban and rural areas (this accounted for 63.89% of the total inequality). When the Theil index was decomposed into different sections along the Heihe River Basin (e.g., the upper, middle, and lower reaches), the spatial inequality was mainly derived from the internal inequality within the middle reach (this accounted for 80.95%). Finally, the regression analysis of the Gini coefficients of the ecological footprint, resident income and population revealed that the ecological footprint inequality increased with rising income and population inequality, although the latter had a lower effect than the former.