中国大学生价格反应行为的基本特征

On Price Response Features of Chinese Undergraduate Students

本文应用对中国13511名大学生的调查数据分析了学生价格反应行为的基本特征。结果表明,虽然接受高等教育需要承担较高的私人成本,学生的付费意愿却非常强烈,在学费上涨30％-300％五种不同幅度时,学生的高等教育需求对学费的弹性介于-0.045-0.288之间。大学生的价格反应行为具有如下几个方面的特点:首先,学生的高等教育需求对学费及有些学生资助(如奖学金)具有灵敏的反应;其次,学生对学费及不同类型学生资助的反应不仅在性质上存在差异,而且在程度上也有所不同;第三,不同收入水平家庭学生对学费的反应是不同的;第四,学生对学费及学生资助的反应随着学生资助政策及学费的变化而变化。本文也讨论了上述结果对制订高等教育规划与财政政策的意义。

This study uses data collected from a survey of 13,511 Mainland Chinese undergraduate students to analyze the effects of tuition cost on students' demand for higher education. The results indicate that even though the cost for undergraduate education is relatively high, students are remarkably willing to pay for higher education: as tuition increases in five different levels in the 30% to 300% range, the tuition elasticity of students' demand for higher education is found to range between -0.045 to -0.288. The response and behavior of undergraduate students on the cost of higher education is found to have the following characteristics: (1) a high sensitivity to the amount of tuition charged as well as to certain types of financial aid offered, such as scholarships; (2) students' responses to tuition and different types of financial aids vary both in degree and in patterns; (3) students from different income groups respond to tuition costs differently; (4) students' responses to tuition and financial aid change as policy in tuition and financial aid changes. This paper also presents the implication and significance of the results of this study on higher education planning and financial policies.