相对收入与个人效用——来自中国的证据

RELATIVE INCOME AND INDIVIDUAL UTILITY——Evidence from China

本文考察相对收入和相对消费对人们的影响程度,并比较社会中不同收入的不平等程度是否对这种影响起作用。笔者在中国城镇居民中进行了调查实验,用特定指标衡量人们对收入和消费的相对性关注程度。实证分析发现:(1)相对收入和绝对收入对个人效用的影响始终存在,但在炫耀性消费品(如汽车和住房)和非炫耀性消费品(如假期和保险)上的影响程度不同;(2)人们对相对收入和相对消费的关注程度较为集中在同一个区间里;(3)教育程度和职业显著地影响相对收入对人们的效用,男性比女性显著地更加在意汽车和住房的相对消费;(4)社会收入不平等没有显著影响对相对收入的关注度,但对住房消费的相对性有影响。这些发现为我们了解消费行为决策和认识宏观经济中收入不平等的消费效应有一定的启示。

This paper examined the degree to which individuals are concerned with relative income and relative consumption, and tested whether such concerns were affected by the inequality level in the society. Based on a survey conducted among Chinese residents, this paper measured the degree of relative concern for income and consumption goods. This paper concluded that individuals always cared about both relative position and absolute position, but the degree of relative concern was different for positional goods （such as car and housing） and non-positional goods （such as insurance and vacation） . The range of most individuals＇ relative concern was not very wide. Education and occupation affected the relative income and absolute income. The degree of relative concern was mostly not affected by income inequality level in the society except for housing. The findings had important implications for the micro and macro studies on consumptions.