Chapter 15
Income Distribution
and Poverty
(所得分配和貧窮)
(一)The Utility Possibilities Frontier
(效用可能疆界)
 效用可能疆界是以一個圖形，表
達在一個兩個人的世界，所有的
生產可能點，在這些點上，如果
A的效用要增加，必須B的效用
被減少的現象。
(一)The Utility Possibilities Frontier
(效用可能疆界)
•任何在效用可能疆界以下的
一點，表示無效率。例如在A
點上，I和J皆可經由資源的重
新配置而變得更好。
•B點是優於A點的選擇。
•B點和C點皆表示效率，但是
並不表示二點皆是分配公平的。
(二)The Sources of Household Income
(家計單位所得的來源)

Households derive their incomes from three
basic sources:
(家計單位的所得主要來自於以下三種)
–
–
–
from wages or salaries received in exchange for
labor(薪資)
from property—that is, capital, land, and so
forth(財產); and
from government.(政府的補助)
Wages and Salaries


于２０００年時，美國的６０%的個人所得是由薪資而來。
于１９９９年時，在中華民國約７６%的個人所得是由薪資而來。
中華民國所得收入者平均每人所得分配按區域別，１９９９
總平均
所得收入人數
10.739475人
1.受僱人的報酬
(本業薪資,兼業薪資和其他收入)
台北市
高雄市
1.454.268人 782.108人
台灣省
8.503.099人
N.T$374.277
(76%)
N.T$543.442
(78%)
N.T$410.611
(75%)
N.T$342.004
(75%)
2.產業主所得
N.T$107.635
(含農業淨收入,營業淨收入和執行業務淨收入)
N.T$102.136
N.T$118.110
N.T$107.612
3.財產所得收入
N.T$37.569
(含利息收入,投資收入,和其他如租金等)
N.T$74.197
N.T$51.773
N.T$29.998
4.利息支出
(含房屋貸款利息和其他等)
N.T$26.994
N.T$27.040
N.T$35.457
N.T$23.882
已分配要素所得(1+2+3-4)
N.T$492.487
N.T$692.735
N.T$545.036
N.T$453.406
資寮來源：行政院主計處第三局(2001)88年家庭收支調查報告,http://www.dgbas.gov.tw/
Wages and Salaries


為什麼人們會有薪資可領?
為什麼有些人的薪資較高?
有些人的薪資較低?
解釋1：市場的角度分析



如果我們所存在的市場是完全競爭的市場(perfectly
competition market)，則在長期的均衡狀況時，所有的生
產要素(factors of production)應是被支付其所生產的邊際
收入(marginal revenue product)，此時所有的公司賺得的
經濟利潤等於零(economic profit = 0)。
若以數學模型說明，如果生產要素只涉及資本(K)和勞動
力(L)，且m表示資本的價格，w表示工資和薪資(即勞動力
的價格)，Q表示產出，p表示產出的價格，當economic
profit = 0時:
TR-TC=0
=> pQ-mK-wL=0
=> pQ=mK+wL

Taking partial derivatives, we get
Q m Q w
 ;

K p L p

表示額外投入資本所造成額外產出的部分，
就等於資本的價格佔總產出價格的部份；而額
外投入勞動力所造成額外產出的部份就等於工
資佔價格的部分。
解釋２﹔由the rewards of a skill 分析

Human capital(人力資本)
指人們所擁有的知識、技巧、和才幹；有些是天生的，有些則是由受
教育、和訓練而獲得。
例如﹔Men’s professional basketball is extremely popular,thus,the
top NBA players make millions of dollars per year,而Women’s
professional basketball is less popular,thus,these women’s skill go
comparatively unrewarded,但是在tennis上，則Men’s and women’s
皆有眾多的人喜歡看，所以男、女網球賽的獎金很相近。

Rare skills can make enormous salaries
例如：Luciano Pavarotti 擁有百萬人所喜愛的voice,因此人們願為聽
到他的歌聲支付許多Tapes and CDs的錢。
解釋３：Differences in working conditions
因此給予不同的報酬(compensating differentials)。較危險的
工作，經常被支付較高的工資，較輕鬆，較被喜歡的工作，
經常被支付較低的工資。
例如﹔publishing and television 方面的工作，tend to be lowpaying，許多人在初入演藝圈時，被支付一個較其他工作低
的薪資，也許他們認為此工作有其他非薪資方面的報酬（如
個人的名聲），也許他們認為雖然一開始薪資低，但可藉由
工作經驗不斷學習，增進這方面的Human capital,本來可賺更
多錢。相反的，坐在雲梯上清洗摩天大樓的工人，其工資就
較一般工資高。


解釋４﹔multiple Household income亦是家庭所得高低
的原因之一。有些家庭有二人以上在工作，所以所得較高。
有些家庭只有一個人在工作，甚至有些家庭，所有的成員
都無工作，所以所得較低。
解釋５﹔minimum wage(最低工資)指政府對工資設定的
最低下限，要求公司支付工資高於此下限。百年來，政府
們為了減少工資收入不均的一個重要政策方法是設定
minimum wage。但是就如前章節中對勞動市場的分析，
最低工資的設定，往往高於市場的均衡工資，因此增加失
業人口，對失業人口而言，最低工資的設定並無法使其增
加收入。
解釋６﹔Unemployment(失業)
People earn wages only when they have jobs.
unemployment in U.S.A
Rate
Rate
unemployment in R.O.C
5.3%
11%
2.7%
2.6%
9%
1.8%
1.5%
1.5%
3.9%
1975
1982
2000
year
1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2001
year
參考來源：行政院主計處資料庫,2002
Income from Property
(由財產來的所得)


Property income is income derived from ownership
of real property and financial holdings. It takes the
form of profits, interest, dividends, and rents.
(財產包含實質的資產和有價證券等，當人們擁有實質
的資產，如房屋、土地等，出租後可賺取租金；當擁有
有價證券，如股票和債券等，可賺取股利，或利息收入，
銀行的存款亦可帶來利息收入。)
The amount of property income that a household
earns depends on:
– how much property it owns, and
– what kinds of assets it owns.
Income from Government
(由政府轉移來的所得)


Transfer payments are payments by the
government to people who do not supply goods
or services in exchange. (移轉性支付：指政府
給付人民的無償性支出。例如：政府給貧窮及弱
勢團體的補助和對健康保險的補助等等。)
Transfer programs are part of the
government’s attempts to offset some of the
problems of inequality and poverty.(政府藉由移
轉性的方案，企圖想減低社會中所得分配不平等
及貧窮的問題。)
Income from the government




舉美國2000年為例，個人所得中有16%來自於其政府的移轉
支出。
舉中華民國1999年為例，最低20％的所得戶，收到政府的移
轉性支付佔其所得的16.7%；而最高20%的所得戶，收到政
府的移轉性支付佔其所得的1.9%。
Not all transfer income goes to the poor
在U.S.A,其聯邦政府的最大移轉性支出方案是Social
Security方案 (社會保障方案)。在R.O.C，政府最大的移轉性
支付是社會保險 (目前以對農民其他弱勢團體的健保補助為
主要內涵。而國民年金的健立亦在1996年被行政院提出討論，
但至目前仍未實施。)
The Distribution of Income
(所得的分配)


Economic income is the amount of money a
household can spend during a given period without
increasing or decreasing its net assets. (經濟所
得﹔指一個家計單位在一段給定的時間內，在資產
不變的狀況下，可支出的金額。)
Wages, salaries, dividends, interest income,
transfer payments, rents, and so forth are sources
of economic income.(例如﹔工資、薪資、股利、利
息所得，收到政府給予的移轉性支付，租金收入等
等，皆是經濟所得的來源。)
Economic Income Inequality in the United
States (美國經濟所得分配不平等的狀況)
Distribution of Total Income and Components in the United States, 1997
(Percentages)(經濟所得的分配及其組成要素的分配)
HOUSEHOLDS
TOTAL
INCOME
WAGES AND
SALARIES
PROPERTY
INCOME
TRANSFER
INCOME
Bottom fifth
6.0
5.7
1.0
27.6
Second fifth
9.1
11.9
4.0
26.1
Third fifth
14.7
19.9
8.4
18.7
Fourth fifth
23.6
27.3
16.4
13.9
Top fifth
46.6
35.2
70.2
13.7
Top 1 percent
10.0
3.2
29.7
1.5
Source: Brookings Merge File and authors’ estimates.
中華民國可支配所得(disposable
personal income)的分配，１９９９
家計單位(五等分位組)
１
(最低所得組)
可支配所得分配比(%)
7.1
２
12.9
３
17.5
４
23.2
５
(最高所得組)
39.2
註：個人可支配所得
(Disposable personal
income)指個人所得減
去賦稅及一些非賦稅
的開支(例如支付交通
罰單等)。
資料來源：行政院主計處第
四科國民所得統計(2001)，國
民所得統計及國內情勢展望
(新聞稿)。
Money Income
(貨幣所得)

Money income is a measure of the income
used by the Census Bureau. Because it
excludes noncash transfer payments and
capital gains income, it is less inclusive than
“economic income.”(貨幣所得：是統計部門用以
衡量所得的另一種方法，其計算所得內涵不包括
非現金的移轉性支付，也不包括非現今的資本獲
得。相較於Economic income,Money income所
包含的所得項目較少。)
Changes in the Distribution of Income
(美國貨幣所得分配的狀況)
Distribution of Money Income of U.S. Families by Quintiles, 1947 – 1997
(Percentages)
1947
1960
1972
1980
1984
1994
1997
Bottom fifth
5.0
4.8
5.4
5.2
4.7
4.2
4.2
Second fifth
11.8
12.2
11.9
11.5
11.0
10.0
9.9
Third fifth
17.0
17.8
17.5
17.5
17.0
15.7
15.7
Fourth fifth
23.1
24.0
23.9
24.3
24.4
23.3
23.0
Top fifth
43.0
41.3
41.4
41.5
42.9
46.9
47.2
Top 5 percent
17.2
15.9
15.9
15.3
16.0
20.1
20.7
Source: Statistical Abstract of the United States, various editions; Department of Commerce, HHES Division.
The Lorenz Curve
(羅倫茲曲線)

The Lorenz curve is a widely
used graph of the distribution of
income, with cumulative
percentage of families plotted
along the horizontal axis and
cumulative percentage of income
plotted along the vertical axis.
The Lorenz Curve for U.S.A,1997
(羅倫茲曲線)
Figure 15.2
此圖是依美國1997之貨幣所得畫出
If income is equally
distributed, there is no
shaded area.
• More unequal
distributions of income
produce Lorenz Curves
that are farther from
the 45-degree line.

The Gini Coefficient
(吉尼係數)
The shaded area
B
由吉尼係數，我們可以觀
察出所得的分配公平與否，
當吉尼係數等於1時，全國
的所得是集中於一個家庭，
表示所得的分配極不平等，
而當吉尼係數等於0時，表
示全國各家庭擁有同樣所得，
所得分配達到最平等。
比較非洲來的美國人家計單位、白人家計單位、西班牙
語系家計單位和單身的家計單位的貨幣所得分配狀況
Distribution of Money Income of Households, 1997 (Percentages)
ALL
HOUSEHOLDS
AFRICANAMERICAN
HOUSEHOLDS
WHITE
HOUSEHOLDS
HISPANIC
HOUSEHOLDS
ONE-PERSON
HOUSEHOLDS
0-10,000
11.0
21.4
9.5
16.8
25.4
10-15,000
8.1
10.5
7.8
10.7
15.8
15-25,000
14.9
17.9
14.6
19.7
20.7
25-35,000
13.3
14.2
13.2
15.0
14.0
35-50,000
16.3
14.9
16.5
16.6
11.6
50-75,000
18.1
13.1
18.8
12.2
7.7
75,000 +
18.4
7.9
19.7
9.1
4.7
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
Total
Note: Totals may not add to 100 due to rounding.
Source: Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1999, Tables 742 and 744.
Poverty(貧窮)




In simplest terms,poverty is the condition of people who
have very low income.
The official poverty line(法定貧窮臨界線)指政府所定的貧
窮所得程度。一個家計單位的所得若低於此所得程度被稱為
貧窮戶。
U.S 的official poverty line
= the cost of minimum food budget *3
原由：在1960年代初期，美國政府估計一般的poor
families 約將其1/3的所得用來買食物。因此，當時設計
poverty line 的原則即以基本食物乘以3。
Poverty in the United States
Since 1960
Table 15.4
Percentage of Persons in Poverty by Demographic Group, 1964 - 1997
OFFICIAL
MEASURE
1964
OFFICIAL
MEASURE
1997
ADJUSTED FOR
IN-KIND TRANSFERS
AT MARKET VALUE, 1997a
All
19.0
13.3
10.0
White
14.9
11.0
8.4
African-American
49.6
26.5
19.3
NA
27.1
19.6
Female householder –
no husband present
45.9
35.1
NA
Elderly (65+)
28.5
10.5
NA
Children under 18
20.7
19.9
NA
Hispanic
aIncludes
food, housing, and medical benefits.
Source: Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1999, Tables 760, 763, 766, and 770.
註：in-kind transfer(實物的移轉性支付)：政府以實物, 包括食物、房子或醫療照顧的方式，補助家計單位。
The Distribution of Wealth
(財富的分配)

The distribution of wealth is much more
unequal than the distribution of income.
Wealth is passed from generation to
generation and accumulates.

Some argue that unequal distribution of
wealth is a natural consequence of risk
taking (承擔風險) in a market economy.
The Distribution of Wealth
(財富的分配)
Percentage of Different Assets Owned by Households, 1998 Survey
of Consumer Finances(家計單位擁有各種資產的百分比)
PERCENTAGE
OF OWNERS
COMMON
STOCK
EXCLUDING
PENSIONS
ALL
COMMON
STOCK
NONEQUITY
FINANCIAL
ASSETS
HOUSIN
G
EQUITY
NET
WORT
H
Top .5 percent
41.4
37.0
24.2
10.2
25.6
Top 1 percent
53.2
47.7
32.0
14.8
34.0
Top 10 percent
91.2
86.2
72.2
50.7
68.9
1.7
4.1
14.0
29.3
18.5
Bottom 80
percent
Source: James Poterba, “Stock Market Wealth and Consumption,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14(2), 99 – 118 , Spring 2000.
The Redistribution Debate
(所得重新分配的爭議)

Philosophical arguments against redistribution(反對所得
重新分配的哲理):
– The market, when left to operate on its own, is fair. “One
is entitled to the fruits of one’s efforts.”(讓市場自由去運作，
讓買者、賣者自己去決定，自己去承擔其決定的風險與其
努力付出的成果，這就是公平的。)
– Taxation of income for redistribution purposes is against
“freedom of contract” and the protection of property
rights.(政府由個人的所得中課稅，再將所課的稅收分配給
其他人，此種行為是如同強制剝奪個人的財產以分配他人，
違反了「契約自由」和「個人的財產權應被保護」的原
The Redistribution Debate
(所得重新分配的爭議)

Practical arguments against redistribution
(反對所得重新分配的實務論點):
• Taxation and transfer programs interfere with
the incentives to work, save, and invest(干預).
• Bureaucratic waste and inefficiency is inevitable
in the administration of social programs(社會方
案的運作，在行政過程中，官僚的浪費和無效率
是不可避免的。). For example, Professors Edgar K. Browning and
William R. John (1984) estimated the cost of redistribution. They concluded that
about 71% of income is lost in redistributing it.
The Redistribution Debate

Arguments in favor of redistribution (贊成政
府進行所得重新分配的理論):
1.A wealthy country has the moral obligation to
provide all its members with the necessities of
life. The Constitution does carry a guarantee of
the “right to life.”
一個富有的國家，應有道德上的義務，提供其全
民生活中的必須品；美國憲法明言政府要保護全
民的“生活權”。
Arguments in favor of redistribution:
–
–
2.Utilitarian justice is the idea that “a dollar in the
hand of a rich person is worth less than a dollar in
the hand of a poor person.” If the marginal utility of
income declines with income, transferring income
from the rich to the poor will increase total utility.
( 效用主義者的論點：效用學說認為，如果人們擁有
所得的邊際效用是遞減的，則給富人額外$1，帶給此
富人的滿足感是小於給窮人額外$1所帶給窮人的滿足
感。因此，若將富人的$1移轉給窮人，則可增加整體
社會的效用(滿足感)。)
解釋Diminishing Marginal Utility of
Income
Utility
U poor
U
U rich
0
1
2
Q poor
3
Income
Q rich
Arguments in favor of redistribution:
3. Rawlsian justice is a theory of distributional justice that concludes
that the social contract emerging from the “original position” would
call for an income distribution that would maximize the well-being of
the worst-off member of society.(Rawls的論點：John Rawls(1997)
強調，身為社會中的一份子，我們與他人之間有了一個契約，此契約
即所謂的「社會契約」(social contract)；而此種人生下來就被給予
的契約狀況稱之“original position”或“state of nature”,如果人們不
善加保護此社會，則可能使此社會走向一個次佳的選擇。Rawls強調，
在此社會裡，每個人都有機會成為一個富有的人，也有機會成為無殼
流浪漢。因此，如果人們皆為“risk averse(避險的行為)”，則皆將對
社會中的不幸者給予重視，因為自己也有機會有不幸的遭遇，因此讚
同所得分配給社會中的弱勢者，以極大化他們的社會福利，如此，萬
一有一天自己也落到不幸的狀況，亦可經由社會的所得重新分配，使
自己的基本生活無憂。)
The Works of Karl Marx
(卡爾馬克司的著作)



Marx did not write very much about socialism or
communism.
He wrote a critique of capitalism, but was not
very clear about what would replace it.(馬克司對
資本主義做了一些批評，但是卻無法具體的陳述
什麼方式可替代資本主義。)
In one essay he wrote, “from each according to
his ability, to each according to his needs.”(不過
他倒有指出，這個社會較理想的運作方式應是由
各盡所能，到各取所需。)
The Works of Karl Marx



The labor theory of value, stated most simply, is the theory that the
value of a commodity depends only on the amount of labor required
to produce it.(勞動價值論：英國經濟學家-亞當.斯密(1723-1970)和大
衛.李嘉圖(1772-1823)提出的，後經馬克斯(1818-1883)進一步發展的
一種學說，該學說認為，一種商品的價值等於生產該商品時所使用的
所有勞動力的成本，即工資。)
The owners of capital are able to extract “surplus value” out of
labor.(他認為資本的所有者支付給勞工的工資是低於勞工所創造出來的
價值，因此可以說資本家是剝取勞工所創造出來的部份價值，稱
“”surplus value”。)
因此，認同馬克司理論的人視財產所得分配為造成今日社會分配不均
的主要來源。
Effective Rates of Federal, State, and Local Taxes, 2000
(Taxes as a Percentage of Total Income)
Bottom 20%
34.0 %
Second 20
31.2
Third 20
32.3
Fourth 20
32.6
Top 20
33.9
Top 10
34.5
Top 5
34.9
Top 1
37.0
註﹕Effective tax rate(有效稅率或稱實際稅率）是
指納稅人除去免稅優惠額之後，按其總 收入支付
所得稅的平均稅率。
Source: Authors’ estimate.
Expenditure Programs to eliminate poverty

(1) The Social Security system( 社會保障系統)
is a federal system of social insurance programs. It
includes three separate programs that are financed
through separate trust funds:
–
the Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) program (支付終身現金
給62歲以上的投保退休者，或過世退休者的配偶。以1999為例，保費是薪資稅率12.4%）
–
–
the Disability Insurance (DI) program (支付終身現金利益給因殘障而無法工作者）
the Health Insurance (HI, or Medicare) program (為65歲以上的老人所做的
健康保險，以1998為例，保費是薪資稅率2.9%）.
Expenditure Programs to eliminate
poverty
(2) Public assistance or welfare
consists of government transfer programs
that provide cash benefits to:
–
–
families with dependent children whose
incomes and assets fall below a very low level,
and
the very poor, regardless of whether or not
they have children.
Expenditure Programs to eliminate poverty

(3) The Supplemental Security Income
(SSI) program (追加的社會安全所得方案）
is designed to take care of the elderly
who end up very poor.
Expenditure Programs to eliminate po
(4) Unemployment compensation (失業救濟金）
政府支付現金給非自願性的失業者，例如被裁員。
1996年主要國家失業保險指標
Japan
USA
Germany
France
UK
ROC
Unemp.
Rate
3.4
5.4
11.5
12.3
7.6
2.9
Payment/P
revious
wage
60-80 %
37 %
60 %
57.4-75
%
80 %
60%
Period of
payment
90-300
days
About 56 months
15-52
weeks
---
---
6 months
Expenditure Programs to eliminate
poverty

(5) Medicaid and Medicare are in-kind
government transfer programs that provide
health and hospitalization benefits:
–
Medicare to the aged and their survivors and to
certain of the disabled, regardless of income, and
Medicaid to people with low incomes.
Expenditure Programs to eliminate poverty



(6) Food stamps are vouchers that have a face value
greater than their cost and that can be used to purchase
food at grocery stores.
(7) Housing programs are designed to improve the
quality of life for low-income people.
(8)The Earned Income Tax Credit is an important
program that allows lower income families with children a
credit equal to a percentage of all wage and salary
income against their income taxes.