地方官员任职经历、公共转移支付与居民消费不平等

Career Background, Public Transfer and Consumption Inequality

本文使用中国家庭追踪调查的微观面板数据,以及相匹配的城市层级的地方官员和宏观数据,探讨了地方官员本地任职经历对各地消费不平等程度的影响。结论表明,市委书记如果具有本地任职经历,则该城市居民的消费基尼系数低2.5个百分点,这一效果主要来源于中下部消费差距的显著性降低。对影响机制的进一步探讨发现,地方官员主要通过提高当地居民的公共转移支付收入,尤其是低收入水平家庭的公共转移支付收入,来缓解消费差距的扩大。

In this paper,we utilize the unique feature in China’s political governance of many city leaders being switched from elsewhere and its impact on expenditure inequality.Using the CFPS dataset in 81 cities,we find that cities with a"local"leader enjoy an almost 6%reduction in expenditure inequality,and the gap is especially narrowed in the lower percentiles.We then explore the mechanism of inequality reduction in terms of targeted direct transfers to low-income households.This research contributes to our understanding of the effect of social welfare programs on inequality reduction and the welfare losses from political governance.