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96Неравенство в распределении доходов
Цхададзе Нелли Викторовна,
доктор экономических наук, профессор Финансовый университет при Правительстве Российской Федерации, Москва, Россия E-mail: nelly-vic@mail.ru
В статье рассмотрены актуальные вопросы сущности и причины современного социально-экономического неравенства в распределении доходов. Проблема социально-экономического неравенства может пониматься довольно широко: от рассредоточения результатов общественного труда между слоями населения до вполне осязаемого в реальной жизни неравенства возможностей. Первопричиной названного широкого явления автор считает неравенством в распределении доходов населения.
В России высокое неравенство в распределении дохода изначально связано с периодом становления капитализма и первоначального накопления капитала на фоне отсутствия реальных профсоюзов и слабости бюджетной политики в социальной сфере. Поэтому, такой уровень закрепился и стал вполне естественным для российской экономической системы.
Ключевые слова: социально-экономическое неравенство, распределение доходов населения, Пикетти, Маркс, социальная политика государства, профсоюзы.
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In the past few decades, the issue of socioeconomic inequality in the existing and modern economic system has taken an increasing place in the world practice of scientific research. The latest decision of the Alfred Nobel Memorial Prize Committee in 2019 may become a fact confirming this. However, in Russian economic science, this issue, which is the most acute for our country, is hardly considered in any extensive way. You can find a few specific and meaningful works.
The problem of socio-economic inequality can be understood quite broadly: from the dispersal of the results of social labor between strata of the population to the inequality of opportunities that is quite tangible in real life. However, here I would like to limit the study to the root cause of the named broad phenomenon: inequality in the distribution of incomes of the population. It should be noted that this problem has always been considered by scientists, since it has always accompanied capitalism, manifesting itself more or less sharply. This can be judged by referring to the example of England in the XIX century and the unequal position of the class of workers and representatives of the bourgeois, recorded in the writings of Engels ... Partly, this is what partly influenced the formation of Marxism as an economic school. On the other hand, the issue of income distribution was initially central to the paradigm of classical thought: as Keynes said, Ricardo, who gave birth to the actual classical school, initially focused on the distribution of national income, and that this issue, in the latter's opinion, "is the true subject of science ".
In the post-war period, which was accompanied by economic growth and the development of social programs, the problem of inequality in the distribution of income in mainstream economics gradually faded from general attention, because ceased to hurt in real life. However, since the last world economic crisis, it has become relevant again, since inequality itself has increased too much since the 1970s. last century and became tangible again.
So what are the reasons behind the rise in income inequality around the world? Here you can refer to the most fundamental work on the problem of inequality in distribution of income, the author of which is T. Piketty.
Piketty, examining the historical example of the United States and France, says that the fall and the subsequent increase in inequality is caused, respectively, by the fall and increase in the share of capital income in the national income [2]. Note that the statistical material that Piketty cites is in full agreement with the theory of surplus value and the conclusions made by K. Marx. Indeed, analyzing capitalism in the 19th century, Marx correctly concluded that the inequality he saw was due to the excessive amount of
surplus value appropriated by the bourgeoisie, which ultimately takes the form of interest on capital. The process, due to which the share of capital income in the national income decreased, and the share of wages increased, is associated with the era of strong pressure from trade unions in the countries of Western capitalism on entrepreneurs and rapid growth in labor productivity. However, since the 80s. XX century. the role of trade unions and social policy in the field of government programs and taxation has diminished and the situation has begun to develop in the opposite direction. Thus, we can conclude that the state of high inequality in the distribution of national income between strata of the population in the capitalist system is natural, provided that there is no active state or social influence on the distribution of income.
In Russia, high inequality in the distribution of income is initially associated with the period of the formation of capitalism and initial accumulation of capital, when the privatization of state property began, against the background of the absence of real trade unions and their practice in the USSR and the weakness of budgetary policy in the social sphere. Therefore, this level was fixed and also became quite natural for our economic system (pic. 1).
The share of the fifth 20% of the group in the national income of Russia by years
Pic. 1.
Source: Compiled by the author based on data from the Federal State Statistics Service. Population. Inequality and Poverty: Access: [Electronic resource]: URL: https://www.gks.ru/folder/13723
In general, it is necessary to give a quantitative assessment of the state of income of the population in the Russian Federation. Data on the distribution of money income among the population are presented in the table below. As we can see, the third and fourth groups of the population, which, in fact, should have formed the Russian middle class, account for only 37.3% of income, which is quite a bit, while the first two groups account for only 15.4% (table 1).
Table 1. Distribution of the Total Volume of Money Income and the Characteristic of Differentiation of Money Income of the Population
Cash income1) - Including for 20 percent population groups, in%: Gini coefficient
total first (with the lowest incomes) second third fourth fifth (with the highest income)
1995-1999 100 6,02 10,62 15,1 21,6 46,66 0,3916
2000-2004 100 5,64 10,32 15,26 22,56 46,22 0,4002
2005-2009 100 5,22 9,88 14,9 22,56 47,44 0,4176
2010-2014 100 5,2 9,84 14,88 22,54 47,54 0,4186
2015-2018 100 5,325 10,075 15,05 22,6 46,95 0,41125
Source: Compiled by the author based on data from the Federal [Electronic resource]: URL: https://www.gks.ru/folder/13723?print=1
Next, we should consider the dynamics of real disposable income of the population. In general, according to the data presented below, we can say that in total in 2013-2019. real disposable incomes of the population decreased by 20%. At the same time, in a strange way, the accrued wages continue to grow. Most likely, it would be correct to think that real disposable incomes are falling for the population for two reasons: first, it is necessary to take into account the accumulated inflation and changes in the consumer price index, and secondly, an increase in mandatory payments, as well as payments on loans (pic. 2).
Also, it is necessary to consider the financial situation of households, the data on which are given below. A description of this situation will be given below. In addition, there is a noticeable increase in the percentage of the population living below the poverty line: from 2013 to 2017. the proportion of the population living below the poverty line increased from 10.8% to 13.2%.
State Statistics Service. Population. Inequality and poverty: Access:
Dynamics of the real disposable income of the population of the Russia as a percentage of the previous years
102 100
98 96
92 90
Pic. 2.
Source: Compiled by the author based on data from the Federal State Statistics Service. Population. Living standard: Access: [Electronic resource]: URL: https://www.gks.ru/folder/13397?print=1
Despite the naturalness, this state of affairs significantly affects the development of the economy, and carries a number of specific problems, which we will further analyze on the example of Russia, as
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a country with a semi-peripheral status in the world economy.
First, the high state of inequality significantly affects the rate of economic growth, which can be explained by arguments of logic and common sense. First, let's note the impact on consumer demand. In view of the fact that the first four 20 percent groups account for only about 53% of national income, a significant part of the population cannot present significant demand for goods and services, which becomes an obstacle to the growth of consumer demand, which is in many ways the main factor in the size of the country's GDP. According to the assessment of the financial situation conducted by Rosstat, only 31.7% of households can afford to buy essential goods and durable goods, with the exception of cars, housing and real estate. At the same time, a significant part, namely 72.6%, have difficulties in implementing certain costs. It is also noteworthy that 60.8%, 56.2%, 48.4% of the second, third and fourth twenty percent groups of the population, respectively, have funds only for food and clothing. Therefore, a situation is emerging in which current current consumption largely depends on frequently used consumer lending, which accounts for half of the loans issued, which characterizes a rather strong weakness of current consumer demand.
On the other hand, there is a problem of the formation of savings in the hands of the population. Based on the above statistical data, we can conclude that only a small share of the Russian population is able to generate a sufficient amount of savings to invest in their own economy. Then, a paradoxical situation arises for macroeconomic analysis. Deriving his theory, Keynes drew attention to the fact that in industrialized countries the desire to save will always overtake the desire to invest, which periodically leads to an excess of savings over investment [1, 5]. The Russian example becomes somewhat "unique" in the sense that the population, as a result of the entrenched distribution of income, on the contrary, does not have enough funds for investment, which is why there is a lack of appropriate demand, which the state is trying to fill by attracting foreign capital. Thus, we can say here that the current too uneven distribution of income in Russia entails certain restrictions on economic growth.
This high level of inequality affects the sustainability of the development of society, because under conditions of exogenous economic shocks, it leads to social cataclysms and destabilization of the internal situation. Basically, this phenomenon will be reflected in the non-economic plane, namely in the social and political spheres, however, the deterioration in them will directly affect the investment attractiveness of the country downward, which is an economic factor. Similar judgments, but for all countries, are given incl. and the UN in the program on the Sustainable Development Goals, which can confirm the right to the validity of this conclusion.
What measures can society take to equalize income distribution and reduce inequality? Here it is necessary to turn again to the experience of the welfare state, which could find the optimal ratio between the amount
of deductions in its favor for the use of funds for the development of the public sector and the effective growth of the market economy.
First of all, the basis of the welfare state is the progressive scale of taxation, with the effect of which the changes in inequality, which were mentioned above, are connected. It is it that allows the redistribution of funds from the too rich to the less well-off strata through the formation of specialized funds. In addition, the welfare state ensures the implementation of certain programs aimed at equalizing the level of incomes of the population, fighting poverty and supporting the poor.
The Russian Federation is a social state in accordance with the basic law. In Russia, the state position on overcoming the fight against poverty was reflected in the Order of the Government of the Russian Federation of November 17, 2008 N1662-r (as amended on September 28, 2018) "On the Concept of long-term socio-economic development of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2020" [3]. The Russian state sees high rates of economic growth as the main measure to combat, and above all, in the creation of effective jobs and an increase in wages, as well as in a decrease in the value of informal co-payments. At the same time, the state pays attention to increasing the minimum wage and increasing the orientation of the tax system to the problems of leveling incomes by expanding the use of tax deductions, introducing a tax on real estate, depending on its market value, which would make it possible to more equitably distribute the burden between population groups with different levels. income. It was assumed that by 2020 the number of poor people will be 6.2%. However, as you can see now, such measures did not have a significant effect, since did not reduce the number of the poor or the gap between the 20 percent population groups. Therefore, most likely, for the implementation of such goals for the future period, progressive taxation is indispensable.
Also, in order to equalize the distribution of income, in particular, social receipts, it would be possible to revise the system of deductions from a regressive system to a progressive one.
The second way can be the direct development of markets that provide the formation of the bulk of income, in particular, the labor market deserves great attention. Here, we note that it is necessary to develop a professional association of workers in order to improve working conditions and increase its pay. It is the weak trade union activity that is one of the main reasons for the lack of a more even distribution of income in Russia. In order to warn certain prejudices of some part of the economic community about the "harmfulness" of the trade union movement, we recall that at one time Smith hinted about the necessity and naturalness of uniting hired workers to protect their interests. Note, however, that the process of increasing wages under the pressure of such associations, in the conditions of a competitive state of the common market for goods, must certainly be associated with an increase in labor productivity, since otherwise, this
situation will lead to an imbalance in the economy and the opposite consequences.
From a different angle, such associations in the present period can be quite relevant due to one of the most significant characteristics of the current state of the market: a very significant contribution to social production is made directly by oligopolies, both in the national market and in regional markets. As a result, we can assume that over time, in order to maximize profits, these firms will begin to coordinate their activities, which ultimately will mean underproduction in the product market, and a decrease in employment in the labor market. In this situation, the activity of the trade union will allow, while maintaining a certain level of employment, to increase wages to workers, which will require the oligopolies to expand output in an attempt to adjust profits, and will lead to additional hiring. Such actions will help redistribute profits towards workers, and hence towards households. Taken together, these measures will be able to ensure the most fruitful state policy in the social sphere and overcome acute economic problems.
INEQUALITY IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME
Tskhadadze N.V.
Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation
The article discusses topical issues of the essence and causes of modern socio-economic inequality in income distribution. The problem of socio-economic inequality can be understood quite broadly:
from the dispersal of the results of social labor between strata of the population to the inequality of opportunities that is quite tangible in real life. The author believes that the root cause of this broad phenomenon is inequality in the distribution of income of the population. In Russia, high inequality in the distribution of income is initially associated with the period of the formation of capitalism and the initial accumulation of capital against the background of the absence of real trade unions and the weakness of budgetary policy in the social sphere. Therefore, this level has taken hold and has become quite natural for the Russian economic system.
Keywords: socio-economic inequality, distribution of income of the population, Piketty, Marx, state social policy, trade unions.
References
1. Keynes JM General theory of employment, interest and money. - M.: Helios ARV, 2011.- 352 p.
2. Piketty T. Capital in the XXI century. Access: [Electronic resource] URL: https://proxy.coollib.net/b7331388/read (date of access: 04.06.2020)//
3. Order of the Government of the Russian Federation of November 17, 2008 N1662-r (revised on September 28, 2018) "On the Concept of long-term socio-economic development of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2020". Access: [Electronic resource]: URL: http://www.consultant.ru/document/cons_doc_ LAW_82134/.
4. Federal State Statistics Service. Population. Inequality and poverty: Access: [Electronic resource]: URL: https://www.gks.ru/ folder/13723?print=1 (date of access: 02.06.2020).
5. Federal State Statistics Service. Population. Living standard: Access: [Electronic resource]: URL: https://www.gks.ru/fold-er/13397?print=1 (date of access: 02.06.2020).
6. Federal State Statistics Service. Russian Statistical Yearbook 2019: Access: [Electronic resource]: URL: https://gks.ru/bgd/re-gl/b18_13/Main.htm (date of access: 04.06.2020).
