equitybeagoalofeconomicpolicy(國(guó)際經(jīng)貿(mào)高級(jí)(編輯修改稿)
2025-03-03 20:50 本頁面
【文章內(nèi)容簡(jiǎn)介】 of human capital—is particularly strong, and public investment in the human capital of the poor can be an efficient way to reduce ine inequality over the long run.Unit NineShould Equity Be a Goal of Economic Policy? The amount of resources governments can and should devote to social expenditures depends on various factors, including the taxtoGDP ratio and the resources devoted to other spending. Public expenditures should displace private expenditures only when they yield higher social benefits. Priority should be given to the most productive public expenditures, and unproductive public expenditures—for example, excessive military spending, wages for an overstaffed civil service, and budgetary transfers to inefficient public enterprises—should be curtailed. Civil service reform and the privatization of services that can be better provided by the private sector—especially if acpanied by a reallocation of expenditures to the social sectors—are likely to be both growth and equityenhancing, particularly in developing countries, where public sector employees e primarily from the middle and uppermiddleine classes.Unit NineShould Equity Be a Goal of Economic Policy? Outlays on health and education can improve the existing pattern of ine distribution, depending to a large extent on their allocation within sectors and who receives the benefits. Studies show that spending on basic health care and primary education is far more effective in reaching the poor than spending on higher education or hospitalbased curative care。 the former reduces disparities in human capital across ine groups and can decrease ine inequality in the long run (see “Public Spending on Human Development,” by Sanjeev Gupta, Benedict Clements, and Erwin Tiongson in this issue). Studies also show that, in countries without some form of health risk pooling, serious illnesses are the single most important factor driving families into poverty.Unit NineShould Equity Be a Goal of Economic Policy? Although fiscal policy is usually viewed as the principal vehicle for assisting lowine groups and those affected by reform programs, a number of countries have introduced specific labor market policies in an effort to influence ine distribution, the rationale being that relative wages exert a strong influence on overall ine inequality. Many European countries have opted for high minimum wages, generous unemployment benefits, and a wide range of jobprotection measures. Although these policies can result in rigidities, advocates maintain that they help achieve a socially desirable redistribution of ine, while opponents argue that they discourage new investment and dampen job creation and growth. The United States, which has opted for more flexible labor markets, has achieved high employment levels, but the cost may be greater ine inequality. To mitigate the potential effect of market flexibility on lowwage workers, the United States has introduced wage subsidies that Unit NineShould Equity Be a Goal of Economic Policy? simultaneously redistribute ine and promote employment. Given the potentially large impact of labor market policies on earnings, these peting visions of the labor market are central to the debate over ine inequality in many developing and newly industrialized countries. Governments can also indirectly affect ine levels and distribution through moary policy and their overall macroeconomic stance. For example, high inflation tends to curtail economic growth and increase ine inequality. Trade liberalization—especially when it occurs in developing countries that have had restrictive trade policies, such as taxation of agricultural exports and protective tariffs on imports—may boost economic growth and lead to more equitable conditions. Currency devaluations may also have implications for equity, particularly in lowine countries, where the poor are often concentrated in the agricultureintensive export sector and middle and upperine urban dwellers tend to be more dependent on imports.Unit NineShould Equity Be a Goal of Economic Policy? Another important issue is whether governments should focus on outes—such as decreasing the number of people living in poverty—or on ensuring that all members of society have equal opportunities. In extreme cases of ine inequality, outes are clearly critical. In other cases, setting up a lev
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