Public interest or individual benefit: biased perception toward Chinese redistributive policies

IF 2.5 4区 计算机科学 Q2 COMPUTER SCIENCE, CYBERNETICS
Kybernetes Pub Date : 2024-09-10 DOI:10.1108/k-05-2024-1303
Tian Liu, Meng Shen
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Purpose

Redistributive policies aim to reduce income disparities and improve social equity. This study investigates whether redistributive effects that successfully diminish objective income inequality also effectively alter people’s perceptions of inequality.

Design/methodology/approach

Utilizing data from the 2018 China Household Income Survey (CHIP), comprising 56,167 individuals, this study applies ordered probability regression (Oprobit) and ordinary least squares (OLS) for analysis. To address potential biases in estimates, we employed the generalized propensity score matching (GPSM) method to estimate the treatment effect of transfer income on perceptions of inequality.

Findings

The results indicate that while China’s redistribution policies effectively reduce income disparities, they do not improve perceptions of inequality. Individuals exhibit biased attitudes toward redistributive policies. Specifically, perceptions of inequality are insensitive to the overall redistributive effect; the relationship is negative among the poor but positive among the rich. This contradictory pattern may be attributed to perceived income losses among the rich and gains among the poor.

Social implications

The findings have important implications for policy development. Redistribution policies should not only aim to mitigate income disparities but also address and improve people’s perceptions of inequality.

Originality/value

Existing literature has largely overlooked the impact of redistribution on perceived income inequality. This study represents an early effort to explore whether redistributive policies that reduce income inequality also influence people’s perceptions of inequality.

公共利益还是个人利益:对中国再分配政策的认识偏差
目的再分配政策旨在缩小收入差距,改善社会公平。本研究探讨了成功缩小客观收入不平等的再分配效应是否也能有效改变人们对不平等的认知。设计/方法/途径本研究利用 2018 年中国居民收入调查(CHIP)的数据(共 56167 人),采用有序概率回归(Oprobit)和普通最小二乘法(OLS)进行分析。为了解决估计中可能存在的偏差,我们采用了广义倾向得分匹配法(GPSM)来估计转移性收入对不平等感的处理效果。研究结果表明,虽然中国的再分配政策有效地缩小了收入差距,但并没有改善人们对不平等的看法。个人对再分配政策的态度存在偏差。具体而言,对不平等的看法对总体再分配效果并不敏感;在穷人中这种关系是负的,而在富人中则是正的。这一矛盾模式可能是由于富人认为收入减少,而穷人认为收入增加。现有文献在很大程度上忽视了再分配对收入不平等感的影响。本研究是探索减少收入不平等的再分配政策是否也会影响人们对不平等的看法的早期尝试。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Kybernetes
Kybernetes 工程技术-计算机:控制论
CiteScore
4.90
自引率
16.00%
发文量
237
审稿时长
4.3 months
期刊介绍: Kybernetes is the official journal of the UNESCO recognized World Organisation of Systems and Cybernetics (WOSC), and The Cybernetics Society. The journal is an important forum for the exchange of knowledge and information among all those who are interested in cybernetics and systems thinking. It is devoted to improvement in the understanding of human, social, organizational, technological and sustainable aspects of society and their interdependencies. It encourages consideration of a range of theories, methodologies and approaches, and their transdisciplinary links. The spirit of the journal comes from Norbert Wiener''s understanding of cybernetics as "The Human Use of Human Beings." Hence, Kybernetes strives for examination and analysis, based on a systemic frame of reference, of burning issues of ecosystems, society, organizations, businesses and human behavior.
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