论孩子效用和人口控制──来自厦门近千户家庭问卷调查的启示

Utilities of Children and Population Control: Findings from a Survey of One Thousand Households in Xiamen City, Fujian Province

综述前人研究成果，提出孩子效用的测量指标体系和理论解释框架，利用１９９７年对中国厦门近千个家庭的入户问卷调查资料，系统地描述中国孩子对父母的各种效用，分析孩子效用的主要影响因素。研究结果表明，在当代中国，孩子的经济、保障等传统效用在下降，非物化的心理效用在上升；妇女文化水平的提高是孩子效用结构变化的最重要影响变量。提高单位孩子和女孩子的效用，以及提高孩子效用的替代性是进一步落实人口政策的重要措施。

Using data from a survey of one thousand households in Xiamen City this paper examines various utilities of the Chinese children for their parents and the factors influencing the utilities following a theoretical framework and a system of indicators measuring the utilities of children that the author has proposed after reviewing the related literature. In contemporary China, the traditional utilities, such as the economic and security one, are declining while the non-material psychological one rising, improvement of women's educational level becomes the most important influencing variable in children's utility structure changes. Increasing the utilities of each unit child, expanding the utilities of girls and enhancing the substitution of children's utilities have important policy implications.