Intergenerational Differences , Aging and Inequality

Zhang Juwei & Xiang Jing

Abstract：Theoretically, the income or consumption inequality will increase with age by a fixed cohort; but in China, the younger faces higher inequality than the older. This article analysis the impact of demographic dynamics and cohort effect on the inequality, on the perspective of personal income or wealth linked with the social development. Using urban household income and expenditure survey data, the results show: the income and consumption inequality is increasing with age by a fixed cohort in the fact; however, cohort effect contributes more on the rising inequality. During 2003-2009, there are 59.23% caused by cohort effects. When the intra-generational income gap is caused by the market, individual efforts, endowments dispersion, what implies the adjustment of intra-generational income gap will be more efficient than the adjustment of income inequality intra-cohort, for the policy and economic environment as exogenous factors. In order to narrow the income gap, the government should be more concerned about the future impact of intergenerational disparity, and using property tax and other direct taxes policy to narrow the income gap among cohorts.

Keywords：intergenerational disparity; aging; inequality

JEL Classification：D63  I30  J19 

Fairness and Happiness

Lu Ming, Jiang Shiqing & Sato Hiroshi

Abstract: Based on a national representative data set from urban China, this paper finds that people feel unhappy in a new dualist structure if inequality is related to their hukou identity, no matter whether they are urban residents with or without local hukou. Compared with local residents, migrants suffer more from hukou-related inequality. Averagely speaking, the happiness score increased through reducing resident-migrant per capita income ratio by 1, about half of its mean, is equivalent to the effects of raising per capita income by 53.2% or per capita housing area by 29.9 M2. We also find that among urban residents with hukou, it is mainly those born in rural area who are unhappy with hukou-related inequality. This study implies that identity-related inequality means unfairness that reduces happiness.

Keywords: happiness, inequality, hukou identity, urban development

JEL Classification: I31, O15, R23

Occupational Choice, Gender Discrimination and Wage Differentials: An Investigation on China’s Urban Labor Market

Chen YongWei & Zhou Yi

Abstract: In this paper, we use Chinese Family Panel Studies data 2010 to investigate the occupational choices of employees of different genders, and also analyze the determinants of their wages and promotional probability. Based on a structural estimation, we find that different schemes within occupation may have great impact on the occupational choices of employees of different genders, and may build a barrier to high salary jobs for the female. By using an extension of Brown et al.’s (1980) decomposition, we find this impact can explain about 1/5 of male-female wage differentials. It shows that the different occupational preferences between genders work as automatic stabilizers, and may help to reduce the wage differentials.

Keywords: occupational choice; gender discrimination; wage differentials 

JEL Classification: J2  J3  J7   

Transformation Bonus and Pressure-fed Growth of China’s Economy

Liu Ruixiang & Yu Yiwen

Abstract: Sustainability of China’s economic growth has become the focus of scholars after 30 years of rapid growth. After integrating population factors into analytical framework, this paper decomposed the growth source behind China economic miracle based on both balanced and unbalanced perspectives. On balanced perspectives, it is found that the contribution of demographic transition to China’s economic growth is about 11.71%, and the contribution of capital deepening and human capital are 56.75% and 11.47% respectively. Most importantly, the average contribution of TFP to China’s economics during the analysis period is 20.07% and manifests a clear downward trend. On unbalanced perspectives, mobility of labor among areas and industries increase the per capita GDP about 212 RMB and 1612 RMB respectively. Further research found that although each region in China has different development pattern and different industry structure, but the composition effects show almost the same trend. In the end, some suggestions for transforming Chinese economic growth pattern are given in this paper.

Keywords: transform bonus, economics growth source, productivity, pressure-fed growth  

JEL Classification: O11, O47

The Hypothesis and Proof of the Inverse-U Shape of Labor Disputes: A Research Based on the Provincial Panel Data of China

Guo JinXing & Wang QinFang

Abstract：The inverse-U shape of labor disputes in the economic development was researched. The game model of labor and capitalist about labor disputes was built to analysis the impact of economic development, the supply and demand for labor and the institution arrangement to provide the micro-mechanism for the inverse-U shape. The panel data of the provinces of China proved the hypothesis of the inverse-U shape of labor disputes.

Keyword: Labor Disputes, Economic Development, Inverse-U Shape

JEL：O18, P31, J53

Employment Effect of Renewable Energy Industry Development

Lin Bao

Abstract: Rapid growth of renewable energy industry has brought lots of new jobs globally. This paper reviews existing studies on employment effects of renewable energy development. The employment in renewable energy industry can generally be divided to direct, indirect and induced one, and it is expressed by person-year based on unit investment, capacity or generation. Two approaches are usually used in the employment effect researches: Rule-of-thumb Factors and I-O model. These researches show that employment in renewable energy industry grows rapid too and has huge potential. Several technologies such as wind power, solar PV and biomass power are concerned rather more than other technologies, but the results are different because of their different periods, scales and areas. The employment effects of renewable energy technologies are higher than those of traditional energy technologies such as coal power and nature gas power. Generally, several problems still exist in these studies such as limited in data, too simple in approaches, narrow in study area and bad reliability in results. It is needed to improve in data collection, research depth and scope.

Keywords: Renewable energy, employment effect, wind power, solar energy, biomass energy

JEL Classification: J21, J44, N70

The Effects of Increased Supply of Graduates on College Wage Premium

Wang Guanghui

Abstract: China has begun expanding higher education since 1999. The policy of expansion caused the number of younger educated labor rapidly increased, and affected college wage premium. Following Card and Lemieux’s two-step model with the data set from 1989 to 2009, this paper examines the effect of changes in relative supply of our college graduate workers on their relative wages and further investigates the elasticity of substitution between college and high school cohorts.

Keywords: expansion of higher education, labor supply, college wage premium, elasticity of substitution

JEL Classification: J230，J240，J310

A Research on the Women’s Fertility Willingness in China: In Perspective of Wage Earning

Zhou Jingxiang

Abstracts: Under normal conditions, we can predict the dynamic development of population in the future in terms of the fertility level and willingness. To study the women’s fertility, it is necessary to take into account of the tight planning and controlling constraint on the number of births.Investigated subject of women that have already labored their first child, this paper aims at finding out the determining variables for their birth willingness according to the micro data acquired from our typical survey. The results show that: around 30% of the women that we have investigated wish to have one more child according to the calculation of each group; the years in which they were born explains the inter-temporal difference of fertility willingness; education and other variables significantly impact on their willingness. When controlling the difference between urban and rural Hukou, the dummy of ethnic minority and the gender of first-born child, the results are still robust. Using the wage of women as a proxy variable of work participation, this paper finds that the education return for the women at child-bearing age stabilizes between 8% and 9.2% when we control the age and the difference between rural and urban Hukou. The policy signification is that: the adjustment of child-bearing policy needs to dynamically measure the change of women’s birth willingness of different age group; the women at bearing age will naturally trade off between work and reproduction; it is necessary to pay close attention to the change of the gap between the policy-directed birth rate and the real birth rate of higher educated women in urban areas.

Keywords: reproduction, fertility willingness, typical survey, population transmission

JEL Classification: J13, J21, C81, C92