Income Distribution,Capacity Utilization Rate and Economic Growth
For the current macroeconomic situation in China,maintaining stable aggregate demand plays a very impor-tant role.When examining the maintenance and expansion of aggregate demand,especially domestic demand,from the perspective of Marxist political economy,it becomes clear that income distribution occupies a very critical position.This paper aims to explore the relationship among China's economic growth,aggregate demand and income distribution through the theoretical frameworks established by Marx and Kalecki.To this end,the paper establishes a six-sector Marx-Kaleckian model that expands on the traditional neo-Kaleckian view of the relationship between income distribution and economic growth,developing this theory into a framework that better accommodates various types of demand.This framework can effectively illustrate the relationship between differ-ent types of income distribution and aggregate demand within the economy,as well as their mutual influences.Based on the aforementioned theoretical model,this paper constructs a computable general equilibrium model rooted in Marx-Kaleckian theory.This model can effectively simulate the dynamic process of economic growth,providing a new analytical tool for exploring macroeconomic processes and policies from a Marxist theoretical standpoint.Using the computable general equilibrium model based on Marx-Kaleckian theory,this paper utilizes the 1981-2018 RUCiod Chinese time-series input-output tables of 37 sectors to construct a six-sector input-output table to measure the growth regime of China's six sectors and the economy as a whole during the sample period.Two significant findings are revealed,which have not been identified in the existing literature:first,there exists a clear conflictive growth regime in China-while the overall economy and the growth regimes of fixed capital,intermedi-ate inputs,and household consumption sectors are profit-led in terms of growth rates,they are wage-led in terms of capac-ity utilization rates.Second,there are differences in the growth regimes of various sectors in China;the aforementioned conflictive growth regime exists in fixed capital,intermediate inputs,and household consumption sectors,while govern-ment consumption,non-productive consumption,and export sectors exhibit a profit-led growth regime in both growth rate and capacity utilization rate dimensions.These two findings theoretically provide new insights into Kaleckian growth regime research.First,due to the exis-tence of parts of the economic activities that generate demand through different forms of functional income distribution,the overall growth regime is actually the aggregate result of various parts'growth regimes.Therefore,it is necessary to adopt differentiated regulatory policies for the varying growth regimes of different parts of the economy.Second,conflic-tive growth regimes are not merely a theoretical discussion;they indeed exist.Consequently,the evaluation of growth re-gimes should not be limited to a singular dimension-capacity utilization rate or growth rate,but should consider both and the potential conflicts that may arise between them.For economic policy,the existence of a conflictive growth regime implies that adjusting income distribution to regu-late aggregate demand faces trade-offs,creating a dilemma for macroeconomic policy.The wage-led regime of capacity utilization rate indicates that low wages have become a significant constraint on aggregate demand;however,the profit-led regime of growth rate suggests that boosting wages does not exert a purely positive macroeconomic effect.To resolve this dilemma,it is essential to enhance enterprises'sensitivity of value realization and reduce their sensitivity to profit rates.This requires leveraging the dual advantages of the socialist market economy:on the one hand,emphasizing the de-cisive role of the market economy in resource allocation;on the other hand,mitigating the negative impacts arising from capital accumulation aimed at valorization.By addressing this dilemma,China is more likely to achieve a harmonized re-lationship between income distribution and economic growth at a macro level.
Income DistributionCapacity Utilization RateGrowth RegimeMarx-Kaleckian Theory
万方数据
维普
