义务教育改革如何影响多维经济不平等?OACHSSCD

The core of promoting common prosperity is to alleviate inequality.However,inequality is not only reflected in the single dimension of income,but is also pronounced in consumption and wealth.Multidimensional economic inequality across dimensions such as income,consumption,and wealth not only restricts the improvement of overall social welfare,but also may reduce resource allocation efficiency,restrict social class mobility,and be detrimental to achieving common prosperity.Education is the core driving force for the accumulation of human capital and plays a pivotal role in alleviating multidimensional economic inequality.Most existing research focuses on the impact of education on income equality and common prosperity,or the factors influencing income inequality,but there is little research on how compulsory education reform affects multidimensional economic inequality. This paper combines six waves of China Family Panel Studies(CFPS)data with city-level data and uses the cohort difference-in-differences(DID)method to systematically analyze the effects and mechanisms of compulsory education reform on multidimensional economic inequality.We find that:(1)compulsory education reform has significantly reduced multidimensional economic inequality and has a positive effect on promoting common prosperity;(2)the policy has a more significant impact on residents in western China,groups with poor health,individuals from indebted households,individuals employed outside their place of household registration(hukou),rural hukou holders,and groups without home ownership;(3)mechanism tests show that compulsory education reform has reduced income and wealth inequality among residents,which is conducive to alleviating multidimensional economic inequality.In addition,compulsory education reform has also enhanced the human capital of low-income groups,promoted their employment and intergenerational income growth,thereby reducing multidimensional economic inequality. Compared with existing literature,the marginal contribution of this paper is reflected in three aspects.Firstly,it broadens the research perspective.Previous studies have focused more on income inequality among residents and relatively less on multidimensional economic inequality.This paper enriches the dimensions of attention to income gaps,examining issues of consumption inequality and wealth inequality beyond income inequality,and studying income distribution from the perspective of multidimensional economic inequality.Secondly,this paper uses innovative methods for policy identification and evaluation.This paper identifies the implementation intensity of compulsory education reform based on the scale of fiscal education expenditure,constructs a junior secondary school graduation cohort based on individual junior secondary school graduation years to identify policy time shocks,and uses the cohort DID method to explore the effects and mechanisms of compulsory education reform on multidimensional economic inequality.Thirdly,it has policy implications.This study finds that compulsory education reform can alleviate multidimensional economic inequality,mainly by improving the human capital of low-income groups,promoting their employment and intergenerational income growth through multiple channels,and thus becoming an important force in promoting common prosperity. In summary,this study provides a theoretical basis and practical reference for optimizing the allocation of fiscal resources,promoting balanced economic development,and promoting social equity.