民生支出与收入差距是否呈倒U型关系——省级面板数据的实证检验

The Inverted U-Shape Relationship between People's Livelihood Expenditure and Income Gap:An Empirical Test Based on the Provincial Panel Data

民生支出对居民收入差距的影响是学术界讨论的热点问题之一。长久以来,相关研究大都认为两者线性相关,而忽视了可能存在的非线性关系。通过构建数理模型,本文得出了民生支出与收入差距呈倒U型关系的推论。利用1995-2012年的省级面板数据进行回归,结果表明,随着地方民生支出的不断增加,民生支出先是扩大了居民的收入差距,达到一定规模后才开始缩小收入差距。进一步,分别从东、西部地区进行考察,发现这一倒U型关系是稳健的,并不存在地区异质性。

The effect of the people＇s livelihood expenditure on income gap is an important topic in academia.In this paper,by constructing the mathematical model,we obtain the inference that there is an inverted U-shape relationship between people＇s livelihood expenditure and income disparity.Then we use the provincial panel data from 1995 to 2012to empirically examine this relationship.The regression results show that with the increasing of local livelihood expenditure,expenditure on people＇s livelihood will widen the income gap among residents.Having reached a certain scale,the gap begins to be narrowed.Meanwhile,we divide the country into two parts and find that the regression results remain unchanged.