Journal of East China Normal University(Educational Sciences) ›› 2023, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (10): 1-11.doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2023.10.001

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Education and Income Distribution: Theoretic Logics and Actual Evidence

Yuhong Du1,2, Yanbin Guo3   

  1. 1. Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
    2. Educational Economics Laboratory, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
    3. China National Academy of Educational Sciences, Beijing 100088, China
  • Accepted:2023-04-28 Online:2023-10-01 Published:2023-09-27

Abstract:

There is an inconsistence between theory and fact in education and income distribution. Human capital theory including the marginal productivity, and the opinion of increasing income and further narrowing income gap by improving human capital level, and Kuznets Curve that market automatically solves income distribution problem constitute the theoretic logic of education and income distribution. The mass process of education democratization and popularization hasn’t narrowed the income gap in the past few hundred years history of western developed countries. The coexistence of education popularization level and income gap expansion, the coexistence of higher return of schooling and lower labor income share, and the coexistence of competitive education race and the lower share of education determining individual income since reform and opening-up disclose factual evidence inconsistent with theory expectations. Which type of education should be developed and how to provide environment with education is an explanation above inconsistency, and is also the future direction of solving income distribution via education: build compensative public education system based on life cycle to narrow education inequality; implement labor market reform and actual change of education opinion synchronizedly; complete and improve high level market and create the institution environment good for human capital.

Key words: common prosperity, income distribution, the process of education democratization and popularization, human capital