代际经济支持的邻近效应——基于CHARLS的经验证据

The Proximity Effect of Intergenerational Economic Support:Based on Empirical Evidence from CHARLS

家庭内的私人转移可以促进家庭成员福利,作为代际转移的典型形式,成年孩子给予父母的经济支持往往构成父母消费及养老的资金来源。然而对于居住安排与代际经济支持相互关系的研究依然有限,既有文献仍存在探讨空间。基于此,应用中国健康与养老追踪调查(CHARLS)数据,研究了居住安排对孩子给父母货币支持的影响及其内在作用机制,发现子女的货币支持无论在广度还是集约边际上,均存在邻近效应。基于混合logit及混合OLS估计结果表明,与同父母合住孩子相比,分开居住于同一社区的孩子给予父母货币支持概率降低0.04,货币支持数量减少587元。孩子与父母分开居住于不同社区或更远处不影响货币支持概率,但影响货币支持数量,家庭固定效应模型估计结果显示,其货币支持数量相对于合住孩子减少373元。对样本按年龄分组,并考虑了可能的内生性问题后进行估计,邻近效应依然总体存在且稳健。进一步的因果机制考察揭示出这种货币支持差异的部分原因在于居住较近的父母更可能为孩子提供较多照料和服务,进而孩子给父母货币支持以补偿父母的服务,这一作用机制支持代际转移的交换动机。因而,政策需要关注父母独居的空巢家庭,完善收入再分配制度,明确及协调政府、市场与家庭三方在构建社会经济安全网方面的作用,形成多层次、多支柱社会保障体系。

Private transfers within the family can promote the welfare of family members.As a typical form of intergenerational transfers,the monetary support of adult children to parents often constitutes the source of funds for parents’consumption and pension.However,research on the relationship between living arrangements and intergenerational financial support is still limited,and there is still room for discussion in existing literature.Based on this,using China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study(CHARLS)data,this paper studies the influence of living arrangement on the children’s monetary support to parents and its internal mechanism and finds that intergenerational monetary support has a proximity effect whether in extensive or intensive margin.Estimation results based on mixed logit and mixed OLS show that,compared with children living with their parents,the probability of monetary support given to parents by children who live separately in the same community decreases by 0.04 and the amount of monetary support decreases by 587 yuan.Children living apart from their parents in different communities or farther away does not affect the probability of money transfer,but affects the amount of money transfer.The estimated result of family fixed-effect model shows that the amount of money transfer is reduced by 373 yuan compared with that of children living with their parents.When the samples were grouped by age and estimated considering possible endogeneity issues,the proximity effect still robust.Further investigation of the causal mechanism reveals that part of the reason for this difference in intergenerational money transfer is that parents who live near to their children provide more services or time transfer for their children,and then children give their parents with monetary support to compensate for the services.This mechanism supports exchange motive for intergenerational transfer.Therefore,policies need to pay attention to empty-nest families whose parents live alone,improve the income redistribution system,clarify and coordinate the roles of government,market,and family in building a social and economic safety net,and form a multi-level,multi-pillar social security system.