全民基本收入理论与政策评介

A Review of the Theory and Policy of Universal Basic Income

自芬兰于2017年开启全民基本收入实验,首次在国家层面将其由理念转化为政策以来,其吸引了全球广泛关注。本文基于近年来该领域的研究进展,综述适用于全民基本收入经济分析的一般性框架,并从主流经济理论的公平、效率与财政约束维度,评述全球范围内的全民基本收入实验及其经济效果,总结相关经验教训,进而讨论中国实施不同形式全民基本收入实验的可行性。结果发现,局部全民基本收入实验与我国现行低保政策基本相同,不充分全民基本收入实验缺乏对低收入群体的保障能力,经典全民基本收入实验则面临很大的财政压力,而以税收为其筹资则会进一步造成激励扭曲和效率损失。尽管如此,考虑到全民基本收入理念在社会公平上的重大含义,寻求经济上有效率且可持续的实施方案就尤为重要,虽然我国短期内实施经典全民基本收入方案的可行性有限,但长期内仍然值得社会各界的不断探索。

Finland initiated its nationwide Universal Basic Income(UBI)experiment in 2017,which is widely regarded as a critical step bringing this idea into practice and attracting considerable global attention.This paper surveys recent progress on UBI-related policies and academic studies.Under a general framework that applied to the economic analysis of the UBI,we review the impacts of several influential UBI experiments in terms of equity,efficiency,and fiscal effects,and then draw lessons from these experiments and discuss the feasibility of introducing UBI to China.Our analysis finds that,the partial UBI scheme overlaps with the existing Dibao program,the insufficient UBI scheme fails to provide a safety net for low-income groups,and the canonical UBI scheme imposes tremendous fiscal burden that must be financed by taxes,leading to incentive distortions and efficiency loss.Nevertheless,given the ethical merits of the UBI,it is worthy to seek more efficient and economically sustainable ways of implementing the UBI.