收入差距、社会分化与社会信任

Income Inequality,Social Stratification and Social Trust

近年来,随着收入分配水平持续拉大,社会信任水平也不断降低,研究收入分配对社会信任的影响及传导机制有助于理解收入分配不均的后果,提供重塑社会信任、积累社会资本的政策建议。文章使用中国家庭追踪调查(CFPS)数据,从经验上分析了收入差距与社会信任的关系,发现收入不平等显著地降低了城乡居民的社会信任水平。进一步的分析显示,收入差距造成社会分化,表现为低(高)收入群体在收入差距较大的社区更容易认为自己社会地位较低(高);同时,社会地位较高和社会地位较低的群体的社会信任水平显著更低,这意味着收入差距通过加剧社会分化降低了社会信任水平。

Social trust has declined with deteriorating income distribution during recent years. By employing data from the Chinese Family Panel Study（ CFPS）,this paper explores the relationship between income inequality and social trust and finds significantly negative correlation between them. We also identify social stratification as the mechanism behind the negative correlation： on the one hand,income inequality results in social stratification since low- income individuals in communities with larger income inequality most likely tend to report low social status; on the other hand,individuals of high- and low- status have lower social trust. To sum up,income inequality undermines social trust through social status polarization,and regulating income distribution properly is beneficial to enhancing social cohesion and improving social trust.