社会资本与不平等的再生产 以农民工与城市职工的收入差距为例

Social Capital and the Reproduction of Inequality:The Case of Income Differential between Rural Migrants and Urban Workers

本文以农民工与城市职工收入差距研究为切入点,探讨社会资本对收入不平等的影响路径及其程度。通过分析中国8城市的调查数据,运用收入分解方法,考察社会资本影响农民工与城市职工收入差异的两条路径,即进入职业的机会差异和职业内的收入差异。研究结果表明,户籍制度和交往同质性原则导致农民工(相比城市职工)在社会资本存量方面更加欠缺,难以进入收入高的职业,且职业内的讨价还价能力也很有限。两种路径差异的综合,是导致农民工收入较低的重要社会原因,因此,社会资本是维持和固化社会不平等的微观机制。

In an attempt to see how and to what extent social capital affects income inequality, this paper explores the income differential between rural migrants and urban workers in contemporary China. The decomposition method is used to identify two ways through which social capital generate income gap between these two groups, including their differences in occupational attainment and those within occupational categories. Data from Jsnet 2009 reveal that the household registration system （hukou） and individual＇s interaction with homogeneous group lead to migrants＇ lack of accumulation of social capital relative to their urban counterparts, and their subsequent difficulties in getting jobs with higher pay, as well as their limited bargaining power at work. It is clear that it is the combined effects of two ways that make migrants earn less than urban workers. Therefore, social capital works as a micro mechanism which sustains and reinforces social inequality. The effects of social capital discussed above differ from those of human capital. The difference in human capital between migrants and urban workers lies in the urban-rural difference in the distribution of educational resources, which can be regarded as a result of state control. The case is different when we attempt to explain the social capital difference between migrants and urban workers, as it is an autonomous process, in which both groups of people form their own social networks initiatively. The household registration system, as a type of state control, not only causes the social inequality, but also reproduces social inequality due to its power to shape people＇s interaction with others. Migrants, thus, are living in both formal and informal social exclusions. Accordingly, future policy should focus on stabilizing migrants＇ jobs in cities, and making them embedded in urban social networks.