不平等是否弱化了企业家精神——来自转型期中国的经验证据

Does Inequality Weaken Entrepreneurship——Empirical Evidence of China during the Transition Period

创新型经济的本质要求在于有效激发全体社会成员的企业家精神。降低不平等程度及其对企业家精神的负面影响,对于转向创新驱动的增长方式,进而实现更"充分"和更"平衡"发展具有重要意义。本文构建了一个基于内生经济增长的动态模型,从企业家精神(创新供给)的角度出发,刻画了不平等影响企业家创新的机理,并利用中国综合社会调查数据及相关省际面板数据检验了不平等对企业家精神的影响。本文发现:(1)机会不平等显著降低了企业家精神,努力不平等对企业家精神有积极影响,收入不平等与企业家精神呈现倒U型关系;(2)社会保障水平提高能部分抵消机会不平等带来的不利影响,激发企业家精神,人力资本投资成本的下降能部分抵消机会不平等对人力资本积累的负向作用,提高人力资本水平;(3)机会不平等仍然是制约人力资本积累的重要因素,而努力不平等尚未起到促进人力资本积累的作用。本文具有深刻的政策含义:实现创新驱动发展的一个重要前提条件是要降低社会成员的机会不平等同时增加努力不平等,保持适当的社会保障水平、降低人力资本投资成本,从而有效激发全体社会成员的企业家精神,催生经济增长新动能。

The essential requirement of an innovation-driven economy is to stimulate the entrepreneurship of all social members.Reducing inequality and its negative impact on entrepreneurship is important for achieving innovation-driven growth and realizing “fuller” and more “balanced” development.This paper constructs a dynamic model based on endogenous economic growth,depicts how inequality affects entrepreneurial innovation from a perspective of entrepreneurship (innovation supply),and examines the influence of inequality on entrepreneurship by using Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) data and relevant interprovincial panel data.The paper finds:(1) Opportunity inequality has significantly reduced entrepreneurship,inequality of effort has positive impact on entrepreneurship,and income inequality and entrepreneurship show an inverted U-shaped relationship.(2) Better social insurance can partially offset the adverse effects of opportunity inequality and stimulate entrepreneurship,and lower investment cost of human capital can partially offset the negative effect of opportunity inequality on human capital accumulation.(3) Opportunity inequality remains a main constraint of human capital accumulation in which effort inequality hasn't played a stimulating role.This paper has profound policy implications: an important prerequisite for innovation-driven growth is to reduce opportunity inequality,increase inequality of effort,ensure proper social insurance,and reduce the investment cost of human capital,so as to stimulate mass entrepreneurship and generate new momentum of economic growth.