Search

In this research, we emphasize the importance of studying the gap in redistributive preference between political elites and the public because of the strategic roles played by the former in policy processes. We use China as a case study, wherein the fulfillment of surging demands for redistribution is largely dependent on whether or not the political elites will advocate for redistribution. Using data from the Chinese General Social Survey, we find that the political elites prefer significantly less progressive taxation and less redistributive expenditure than the public. The gap in redistributive preference is larger on the expenditure side than on the taxation side. Moreover, the causes of the gap appear to vary by the measures for redistribution. Accounting for covariate differences fully explains the gap in preference for progressive taxation, but not the gap in preference for redistributive expenditure.

This paper theoretically explores the implications of the recent developments in the study of human capital production technologies (Cunha and Heckman, 2007) in intrahousehold human capital investment in children (Becker and Tomes, 1976; Behrman et al., 1982). When credit constraints are not binding, parents adopt a reinforcing intrahousehold investment strategy. When credit constraints are binding, the trade-off between the degree of parental aversion to inequality and the degree of complementarity between pre-natal endowments and family investments determines the parental strategy. The observed investment pattern of reinforcement or compensation does not necessarily reveal the underlying preference or technological parameters. Finally, we discuss empirical methods that may separately identify the preference and technological parameters and discuss the econometric challenges associated with these methods.

This study investigates a potential mechanism to promote coordination. With theoretical guidance using a belief-based learning model, we conduct a multiperiod, binary-choice, and weakest-link laboratory coordination experiment to study the effect of gradualism—increasing the required levels (stakes) of contributions slowly over time rather than requiring a high level of contribution immediately—on group coordination performance. We randomly assign subjects to three treatments: starting and continuing at a high stake, starting at a low stake but jumping to a high stake after a few periods, and starting at a low stake while gradually increasing the stakes over time (the Gradualism treatment). We find that relative to the other two treatments, groups coordinate most successfully at high stakes in the Gradualism treatment. We also find evidence that supports the belief-based learning model. These findings point to a simple mechanism for promoting successful voluntary coordination. This paper was accepted by Axel Ockenfels, behavioral analysis.

This article explores the impact of losing a child, especially losing all children (including losing the only child), on the mental health, happiness and loneliness of parents. The Chinese government has implemented strict restrictions on the number of births for each family since the 1970s, resulting in the creation of millions of only-child families. Using the 2011 baseline data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, we find that the bereavement of a child is associated with lower levels of mental health and happiness and higher levels of loneliness for the parents, even after we adjust for demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. The effects are significantly stronger for losing all the children. Results have strong implications for the population-control, elderly-care and mental-care policies especially in China and developing countries, where the social security system is not yet sound.

We examine the effect of donation on the happiness of donors using the 2010 wave of the China Family Panel Study. We consider data from the Wenchuan earthquake, which has induced a large amount of donations from all Chinese communities. We use two measures of donation behavior, namely, donations for victims of the Wenchuan earthquake and for general purposes. We address the endogeneity problem using the percentage of donation in the community the respondent lives in as the instrumental variable, conditional on the generosity of other residents toward each other in the same community. We also employ the propensity score matching method to check for the robustness of our results. All results show that donation has a significantly positive effect on happiness. Our study provides new evidence on the relationship between donation and happiness using natural observations, which complement the experimental evidence in the recent literature.