中国消费不平等演变趋势及其原因

The Evolution Trend and Causes of Consumption Inequality in China

探究消费不平等对于理解中国居民经济福利不平等具有重要意义。利用1992-2010年城镇居民调查数据,本文考察了居民消费不平等的演变趋势和原因。结果发现:1992年以来,中国居民总体消费支出不平等呈上升趋势;分类看,教育、娱乐和交通通讯消费支出不平等程度上涨幅度更大,而家庭设备用品和医疗保健消费不平等则呈下降趋势。通过分解收入不平等,我们发现临时收入不平等对消费不平等具有重要影响。这表明政策制定者应进一步完善消费信贷市场和社会保障,减少临时收入波动对居民消费不平等的冲击。

Consumption inequality is an important indicator to measure people＇s living standard. It is interesting to explore the unequal status and causes for understanding the economic welfare inequality. Based on the survey data, this paper examines the historical evolution trend and causes of consumption inequality in China. The results show that： China＇s household consumption inequality increased year by year since 1992; the average degree of inequality in education, recreation, transportation and communication consumption is rising~ household equipment and services, and health care consumption inequality arise downward trend. By the decomposition of income gap, this paper finds that temporary income gap has important influence on consumption inequality, suggesting that we should further improve the credit markets and social insurance to smooth the impact of temporary fluctuations on consumption inequality.