Income distribution, the structure of consumer expenditure and development policy
研究了发展政策中为何必须考虑不平等对消费结构的影响，利用代表性消费者概念建模，并通过希腊投入产出模型实证发现，平等化再分配有利于就业和国际收支。
This paper examines how and why the effects of inequality on the structure of consumption must be taken into account in development policy. It shows that, by utilising the concept of the ‘representative’ consumer, the role of income distribution as a determinant of the structure of consumption can be modelled in a theoretically consistent and empirically constructive way. The importance and methods of introducing consumer preferences and needs into the model are also analysed. Then using a simple Greek input‐output model several hypotheses about income redistribution are empirically investigated. The results indicate that egalitarian redistributions induce favourable employment and balance of payments effects, especially when the planner takes into account other sources of variation in consumer demand arising from differences in preferences across households. Rises in inequality are likely to cause comparatively more serious opposite effects and therefore must be avoided.