The Function Of Social Security System In Shortening The Income Distribution Gap

Social security is an important mechanism in regulating the structure of national income distribution. Reasonably structured social security has effective capability in equating income distribution; on the contrary, unreasonably structured or deficient social security may regulate income distribution in reverse direction. Different social security patterns have various efficiencies in their regulatory effects on income distribution. During the past thirty-year rapid modernization, China has maintained vigorous economic growth, but the income distribution gap also widens increasingly. This situation is partly attributable to the lag and deficiency of China’s social security construction which has enlarged the unequal income and service distributions between cities and countries, east and west regions as well as different occupations, rather than reducing them.For such reasons, it is necessary to study the social security institutional history of modernized countries, to analyze the mechanism of social security in regulating income distribution of these countries in their rapid modernization periods, and to summarize the common features and beneficial enlightenments of social security’s regulatory function, for the improvement and completeness of China’s social security institution. This dissertation chooses Japan as research object for two reasons:first, Japan is appreciated as the paragon country of modernized latecomer; second, Japan rapidly constructed its social security system and narrowed its income distribution gap in its rapid modernizing periods. Based on the theoretical analysis of social security’s regulatory mechanism of income distribution, and the inference of empirical studies of western welfare states’effects of income redistribution, this dissertation establishes several indexes to research the institutional history, regulatory function and effects of Japan’s social security in its rapid modernizing periods. The main content includes:First, elaborates relevant theories of social security’s regulatory effects on income distribution. This part elaborates the targets, principles and function mechanism of social security in regulating income distribution; classifies empirical studies of western welfare states’effects of income redistribution into three categories:the effects of welfare expenditures on income redistribution, the efficiency of different welfare models and different financing patterns in regulating income redistribution, and the comparison of income distribution regulatory effects of social security and tax.Second, introduces Japan’s economic development, national income distribution and social security construction in its rapid modernizing periods. Japan’s rapid modernization between the middle of 1950s to the middle of 1980s not only embodies in its continuous high-speed economic growth and the universal and significant improvement of national life level and quality, but also incarnates in its decrease of the GINI coefficient, poverty rate and the income gap between stratums, as well as the enhancement of social members’sense of equality with the middle belonging consciousness. In this period, Japan constructed comprehensive social security system with a wide coverage and unceasing enhancement of each treatment, which established a solid system foundation for the improvement of income distribution.Third, researches Japan’s institutional features of social security and its income redistribution mechanism. This part includes the effect of social security expenditure proportion and its change on reducing poverty and income inequality; the coverage and priority coverage of social insurance system, as well as the institutional design for the flexible employees; the expenditure proportion and treatment level of pension, health care and welfare, which indicates the characteristics and preference of Japan’s social security system; the institutional model, financing pattern and institutional integration of endowment insurance and health insurance, and their function of income redistribution; the benefits provided by enterprises and their potential effects on income distribution.Forth, analyzes the relationship between Japan’s social security system and tax system, supports the above speculation about the regulating effects of social security system on income distribution by empirical data, and compares the income redistribution regulating effects of social security system and tax system. Empirical data indicate that Japan’s social security system has obvious effect on regulating intergenerational income redistribution, tax system plays an important role in equate intragenerational income redistribution, different social security projects produce different income distribution regulatory effects, the overall contribution of social security in equating income distribution is bigger than that of tax system, both of which constitute the important mechanism of reducing income distribution gap of Japan.Fifth, summarizes the function and effect of Japan’s social security on regulating income distribution according to the established index system which includes expenditure scale, institutional comprehensiveness and coverage, features of social security system, welfare model, institutional integration, financing model, the relationship between social security system and tax system, income flow direction, the roles of government, family and enterprise. This part also suggests that Japan’s social security construction could provide beneficial enlightenment and reference to China’s construction of social security system and its improvement of equating income distribution in the aspects of the efficiency and timeliness of institutional construction, system design combined with basic fairness and work incentive, institutional integration under the propulsion of government responsibility and the cooperation of social security system and tax system, etc.