EquityBeaGoalofEconomicPolicy(国际经贸高级

TEXTGrowingInequalityThedegreeofincomeinequalityvariesgreatlyfromregiontoregion.ItisgreatestinLatinAmericaandsub-SaharanAfrica,andlowestinEasternEurope;otherregionsfallbetweenthesetwoextremes.InLatinAmerica,theaverageGinicoefficient—themostcommonlyusedmeasureofinequality,with0representingperfectequalityand1representingtotalinequality—isalmost0.5.TheaverageGinicoefficientinsub-SaharanAfricaisslightlylower,butthereisconsiderablevariationamongcountries.IncomeinequalityhasaregionaldimensioninbothAfricaandLatinAmerica—averageincomesaresignificantlyhigherinurbanareasthaninruralareas.UnitNineShouldEquityBeaGoalofEconomicPolicy?UnitNineShouldEquityBeaGoalofEconomicPolicy?Inrecentyears,incomeinequalityhasbeenincreasinginalargenumberofcountries.Thisincreasehasbeenmoststrikinginthetransitioneconomies,wheretheaverageGinicoefficienthadbeenaround0.25untilthelate1980s;bythemid1990s,ithadrisentomorethan0.30.Whilethismaynotappeartobealargeincrease,itisquitesignificantfortheshortperiodbeingassessed.Ginicoefficientstendtoberelativelystableincountriesoverlongperiods.IncomeinequalityhasalsoincreasedinseveralmajorindustrialcountriesandisbeginningtoincreaseinsomeEastAsiancountries.UnitNineShouldEquityBeaGoalofEconomicPolicy?Muchofthedebateaboutincomedistributionhascenteredonwageearnings.Butwagestellonlypartofthestory.Thedistributionofwealth(and,byimplication,capitalincome)ismoreconcentratedthanlaborincome.InAfricaandLatinAmerica,unequalownershipoflandhasbeenidentifiedasanimportantfactorintheoveralldistributionofincome.Furthermore,inrecentyears,therehasbeenashiftfromlabortocapitalincome(includingincomefromselfemployment)inmanycountries.Intransitioncountries,thisshifthasbeendueprimarilytotheprivatizationofstate-ownedassets.Theanalysisoftrendsinnonlaborincomeincountrieswithwelldevelopedcapitalmarketsandpensionfundsismorecomplicated.Pensionfundsandotherfinancialinstitutionsreceiveasizableportionofcapitalincome,andtheshareofcapitalincomeintotalhouseholdincometypicallychangesoverthelifecycleoftheindividualsineachhousehold.UnitNineShouldEquityBeaGoalofEconomicPolicy?IsGlobalizationtheCause?Globalizationhaslinkedthelabor,product,andcapitalmarketsofeconomiesaroundtheworld.Increasedtrade,capitalandlabormovements,andtechnologicalprogresshaveledtogreaterspecializationinproductionandthedispersionofspecializedproductionprocessestogeographicallydistantlocations.Developingcountries,withtheirabundantsupplyofunskilledlabor,haveacomparativeadvantagerelativetodevelopedcountriesintheproductionofunskilled-labor-intensivegoodsandservices.Asaresult,productionoftheseproductsindevelopedcountrieshascomeunderincreasedcompetitivepressure.Economictheorytellsusthisshouldapplydownwardpressureontherelativecompensationofunskilledworkersindevelopedcountriesandupwardpressureonthecompensationoftheircounterpartsindevelopingcountries.UnitNineShouldEquityBeaGoalofEconomicPolicy?Basedonthistheory,someauthorshaveclaimedthatglobalizationistoblameforgrowingincomeinequalityindevelopedcountries.Othersarguethatthewideninggapbetweenthewagesofskilledworkersandunskilledworkersinthedevelopedcountriesisduetothedevelopmentanddispersionofskill-intensivetechnologiesratherthantoincreasedtrade.Severalempiricalstudieshavetriedtogaugetherelativeimportanceofbothtradeandtechnologicalprogressinthedeclineofrelativewagesofunskilledworkersindevelopedcountries.Estimatesofthecontributionofincreasedtradetothetotalincreaseofthewagedifferentialbetweenunskilledandskilledworkersrangefromnegligibleto50percent.Thislargevariationisafunctionofthestructureofproductionindevelopedcountriesandtheshareoftheirlabormarketthatisindirectcompetitionwithlow-skilledworkersindevelopingcountries.UnitNineShouldEquityBeaGoalofEconomicPolicy?Thedebateregardingtheeffectofglobalizationonincomedistributionindevelopingcountriesmirrorsthedebateondevelopedcountries.Although,allotherthingsbeingequal,increasedopennesswouldbeexpectedtoincreasetherelativewagesofunskilledworkersindevelopingcountries,experiencehasbeenmixed.EvidencesuggeststhattherelativewagesofunskilledworkersincreasedinEastAsiancountriesinthe1960sand1970sbutdecreasedinLatinAmericainthe1980sandearly1990s.TherearetwopossibleexplanationsforwhywagesfellinLatinAmerica:first,theopeningupofdevelopingAsiancountries—Bangladesh,China,India,Indonesia,andPakistan—whereunskilledlaborisevenmoreabundant;second,theavailabilityofnewproductiontechnologiesthatarebiasedtowardskilledlabor.UnitNineShouldEquityBeaGoalofEconomicPolicy?Theeffectglobalizationhasonincomedistributionseemstobedeterminedtosomeextentbyacountry’slevelofdevelopmentandthetechnologiesavailabletoit.Similarly,exposuretointernationalcompetitionmaychangeinstitutions(forexample,tradeunions)andtherebyaffectincomedistribution.Someobserverscontendthat,becauseofthemobilityofcapital,globalizationlimitstheabilityofunionworkerstoachievea“unionwagepremium,”thusdecreasingthebargainingpowerofworkersvis-à-viscapital.Inaddition,globalizationmayleadtosharpshort-runchangesinthedistributionofincome,asbarrierstotradearereducedandthedis