论工资对劳动供给影响的弱化——基于家庭贫富状况的比较

The Weakening Effect of Wages on Labor Supply:Based on the Comparison between Rich and Poor Families

自2004年以来,我国多个地区出现了严重的民工荒现象,并且至今仍在延续,这与国内曾近乎拥有无限劳动力供给的情势形成了鲜明的对比。为了解决劳动力短缺的问题,本文结合宏观背景提出假设,试图考察随着居民家庭贫富状况的改善,工资对劳动供给的影响有所弱化这一命题。我国作为人口大国,就业问题是社会稳定的根基,因此这一研究具有非常重要的现实意义。通过中国健康与营养调查(CHNS)数据进行的实证分析,本文得到如下结论:相较于家庭相对贫穷的劳动者群体,工资对家庭相对富裕的劳动者的刺激作用有所减弱。其一,在总体样本中,面对工资激励,家庭相对贫穷的劳动者所付出的劳动供给约为家庭相对富裕的劳动者的20倍;其二,在中部地区,前者约为后者的7倍。其三,在东部地区,工资对家庭相对富裕的劳动群体甚至存在负向的激励作用。因此,政府与企业应该根据劳动者的贫富状况,采取有针对性的措施与政策提高劳动参与率,以缓解就业压力,优化劳动力市场结构。

There have been serious labor shortage in many areas of our country since 2004, and this trend is still continuing. In order to solve this problem, this paper put forward the hypothesis that with the improvement of living conditions, the effects of wages on labor supply is weakening. As is well-known that China is a country with large population, the employment is rather vital to the whole country＇s development, as well as national security. Therefore, this research is very practically significant. Combined data from CHNS with empirical analysis, we conclude that compared with labors from relatively poor families, the incentive effects of wage on labors from relatively rich families is weaker. Firstly, in the overall sample, under the same conditions, the labor supply of labors from poorer families is about 20 times the labors from richer families. Secondly, in the central region, the former is about 7 times the latter. Thirdly, in the eastern region, wages even have negative incentives for workers. In this case, the government and enterprises should take different, targeted measures and policies to improve labor participation rate to ease the employment pressure and optimize the labor market structure.