Efficiency and fairness are two related and different principles in personal income distribution, namely, efficiency principle and fairness principle.

Efficiency refers to the efficiency of resource allocation. Microeconomics interprets it as a state in which economic organizations get the most products and services that meet people's needs with the lowest materialized labor and living labor input under an orderly market environment and unified rules; Macroeconomics interprets it as the rational allocation and optimal combination of scarce resources among social departments. The principle of distribution efficiency means that social distribution systems and policies should aim at promoting the development of productive forces and improving the efficiency of enterprises and national economy.

Compared with efficiency, fairness is the rationalization of the distribution of interests and rights among members of society, or the equalization of interests and rights. Broadly speaking, this equality includes economic, political and legal equality. In a narrow sense, it refers to the equality of economic interests and rights, including equality of opportunity and income distribution. Equal opportunity means that members of society have equal opportunities to participate in competition and employment opportunities. Equality in income distribution is the principle of fairness. On the one hand, it refers to the equality of distribution system and policy. Specifically, it is necessary to adhere to the distribution system that combines distribution according to work and distribution according to factors, so that the labor input of social members and other factors can benefit equally. On the other hand, the principle of equal income distribution also requires that the income gap between members of society be limited to a relatively reasonable range, so as to guarantee the basic needs of each member of society, especially to protect the interests of the socially disadvantaged groups and solve the needs of the people in need. This is a kind of equality in a relative sense, not absolute equality, or even average.

Second, the unity of opposites between efficiency and fairness.

Efficiency and fairness are the unity of opposites, which is manifested in their interdependence and mutual promotion. On the one hand, efficiency is the material basis and fundamental way to achieve fairness. The level of production efficiency determines the value content, scale and specific way of income distribution. Adjusting the distribution relationship according to the principle of efficiency will promote the development of productive forces, create more social wealth, lay a material foundation for fair distribution, realize the goal of * * * increasing with wealth, and is also the fundamental way to solve unfair distribution. On the other hand, fairness is a necessary condition and source of strength for efficiency. The implementation of fair distribution can mobilize the enthusiasm of all social strata and groups in production and operation, promote people to increase investment and improve efficiency.

Efficiency and fairness are contradictory. The principle of efficiency will not automatically achieve fairness; The principle of fairness does not necessarily promote the improvement of efficiency. The realization of the principle of efficiency is mainly based on the market mechanism, while the realization of the principle of fairness depends on the regulation of the government. One-sided efficiency principle may lead to the widening of people's income gap, thus threatening social equity and ultimately hindering the improvement of efficiency; One-sided public plains will lead to egalitarianism, inhibit the improvement of efficiency and economic and social development. Therefore, we must adhere to the unity of efficiency and fairness.

Third, how to correctly handle the relationship between efficiency and fairness in the practice of socialist construction in China.

How to deal with the relationship between fairness and efficiency is an important theoretical and practical problem, and it is also a difficult problem. 1993 The Third Plenary Session of the 14th CPC Central Committee put forward "giving priority to efficiency and giving consideration to fairness". Later, the 15th and 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China repeatedly emphasized and clearly put forward that efficiency should be given priority and fairness should be given consideration. The 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China further put forward: "The initial distribution should pay attention to efficiency, give full play to the role of the market, and encourage some people to get rich first through honest labor and legal operation. Redistribution pays attention to fairness, strengthens the government's regulation function of income distribution, and regulates income with excessive gap. " For more than ten years, giving priority to efficiency and giving consideration to fairness has been the basic basis for us to deal with the relationship between efficiency and fairness in practice. In 2005, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee proposed to pay more attention to social equity, pointing out that "the distribution system with distribution according to work as the main body and multiple modes of distribution coexisting should be improved, and various factors of production should participate in distribution according to their contributions, pay more attention to social equity, increase the adjustment of income distribution, and strive to alleviate the trend of widening income distribution gap between regions and some members of society." In 2006, the Sixth Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee put forward that "focusing on developing social undertakings and promoting social fairness and justice" should be an important task at present. The suggestions of "paying more attention to social fairness" and "focusing on developing social undertakings and promoting social fairness and justice" have aroused widespread concern in society and new discussions in theoretical circles, and the relationship between fairness and efficiency has become a hot issue in society.

How to understand the relationship between efficiency and fairness? How to understand the different formulations of "giving priority to efficiency and giving consideration to fairness" and "paying more attention to social fairness"? This is the key and difficult problem that we must face in teaching. In this part of the content, the textbook adopts two statements, one is "giving priority to efficiency and giving consideration to fairness" and the other is "giving consideration to efficiency and fairness". Although the teaching staff also made some explanations and explanations, they did not actually clarify the relationship between them. Below we combine the latest spirit of the Central Plenary Session, and make some elaboration and analysis from the theoretical and practical aspects.

(A) the basic idea of understanding and handling the relationship between efficiency and fairness

First of all, the dialectical unity principle of efficiency and fairness is the theoretical basis to guide us to correctly handle the relationship between them in practice. Therefore, whether it is "giving priority to efficiency and giving consideration to fairness", "paying more attention to social fairness" or "focusing on developing social undertakings and promoting social fairness and justice", the basic basis of its theory is the dialectical relationship between efficiency and fairness. According to this principle, we must adhere to the unity of the two in practice, and neither efficiency nor fairness can be emphasized unilaterally.

Second, the main contradiction and fundamental task of our society at this stage is to deal with the realistic basis of the relationship between efficiency and fairness. China is in and will be in the primary stage of socialism for a long time. The main contradiction is the contradiction between people's growing material and cultural needs and backward social production, which determines that our fundamental task is to liberate and develop productive forces. Dealing with the relationship between efficiency and fairness must proceed from this concrete reality and must be conducive to solving the main contradictions and completing the fundamental tasks.

Third, production determines distribution, and the rationality of distribution is restricted by the needs of production development. Resources are limited, and the resource problem is an urgent problem facing the whole world today, and it is also a major problem that restricts the development of a developing country with a population of 654.38+0.3 billion. The scarcity of resources requires the rationality of resource allocation and the effectiveness of its use. The investment of limited economic resources in production is based on the high efficiency of resource use. The standard of distribution rationality does not depend on people's subjective will, but on objective conditions and realistic possibilities. Moreover, the rationality of distribution not only refers to the distribution of personal income, but also includes the rationality of resource allocation, which means the high efficiency of resource use.

(B) "Efficiency first, giving consideration to fairness" is the basic criterion for dealing with the relationship between efficiency and fairness in the primary stage of our country.

First, China is still a developing country with low efficiency, efficiency and quality. The mode of economic growth has not changed, and development remains the primary task. China is a country with a serious shortage of resources. In the process of accelerating development, resources have always been an important constraint. It is of special strategic significance to improve the utilization efficiency of resources through the optimal allocation of resources. Under the condition of market economy, the optimal allocation of resources is realized by promoting the flow of production factors to high efficiency through the role of market mechanism. The reform has not yet been put in place, and egalitarianism and pot rice still seriously hinder economic development and efficiency improvement; At present, China is in a critical period of strategic opportunities, and various social problems and contradictions are prominent. In addition, the changes in the international situation and fierce international competition require us to speed up the pace of reform, improve efficiency and speed up development so as to solve problems in development. Lack of development or slow development is not conducive to the solution of major contradictions and outstanding problems, nor to the completion of fundamental tasks. Therefore, in the primary stage of socialism in China, we should always put development in a prominent and important position, and efficiency is the proper meaning of development.

Secondly, it is also of great significance to put fairness in its proper position and properly handle social fairness, which is related to the concept of development, civil rights, social stability, development and efficiency, as well as a series of major and fundamental issues such as the socialist nature of our country and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people. At present, with the deepening of reform and economic development, some social problems and contradictions have begun to emerge. Correctly handling contradictions among the people under the new situation, seriously solving the most concerned, direct and realistic interests of the people, especially paying attention to the employment, life and future development of the socially disadvantaged groups and people in difficulty, have become outstanding practical problems and contradictions before us. It is against this background that the Fourth Plenary Session put forward the task of building a harmonious socialist society, and the Fifth Plenary Session further pointed out the problem of "paying more attention to social equity". This shows that our party has a correct understanding of the unity of efficiency and fairness, and attaches great importance to social fairness while giving priority to developing efficiency. In the process of further deepening reform and speeding up modernization in China, we must correctly handle the relationship between efficiency and fairness, solve all the problems that affect the vital interests of the overwhelming majority of the people, and pay special attention to the interests of socially disadvantaged groups and people in need.

Thirdly, "giving priority to efficiency and giving consideration to fairness", as the basic principle of dealing with the relationship between efficiency and fairness in China, does not rule out that solving social fairness problems can be placed in a more prominent and important position in a certain period and under certain conditions. "Efficiency first, giving consideration to fairness" is based on the unity of efficiency and fairness, and efficiency priority cannot be absolute and one-sided. Methodologically speaking, this is not only a question of dialectics and relativity, but also a question of understanding the relationship between efficiency and fairness from different angles or levels, such as whole and part, macro and micro. Specifically, from the primary stage of socialism in China, the main contradiction and fundamental task determine that our general policy, basic principle and general policy tendency in dealing with the relationship between efficiency and fairness are efficiency first and fairness under the premise of efficiency. However, we should not put efficiency first at any time and under any conditions, but deal with the relationship between efficiency and fairness flexibly according to the specific problems and prominent contradictions in each period, and adopt specific distribution policies and countermeasures accordingly. We should not give priority to efficiency absolutely and unilaterally, and adhere to the unity of efficiency and fairness, so as to solve problems, alleviate contradictions, better promote efficiency and better meet people's needs.

(C) "The initial distribution pays attention to efficiency, and the redistribution pays attention to fairness", and at present, we should pay more attention to social fairness.

"The primary distribution pays attention to efficiency, and the redistribution pays attention to fairness" is the embodiment of the principle of "giving priority to efficiency and giving consideration to fairness", and "paying more attention to social fairness" is the foothold of dealing with the relationship between efficiency and fairness in the new period. The above three are not antagonistic, but unified. "Paying more attention to social equity" is not a denial of the principle of efficiency. "Paying more attention to social equity" is mainly from the perspective of redistribution, which is relative to other aspects of redistribution.

Under the condition of China's socialist market economy, the realization of efficiency mainly depends on the role of market mechanism, and distribution according to work is essentially the principle of efficiency. Therefore, as long as we adhere to the distribution system combining distribution according to work and distribution according to factors, we will encourage people to invest in production factors such as labor, capital, technology, knowledge and information, that is, we will adhere to the principle of giving priority to efficiency. The realization of social equity is mainly achieved through government regulation, that is, redistribution, such as increasing the proportion of government social security fund investment in fiscal expenditure, giving more financial support and policy inclination to backward areas and people, and so on. Therefore, "paying more attention to social equity" is based on the premise of recognizing and adhering to efficiency priority, which coexists with "paying attention to efficiency in primary distribution" rather than contradicting it.

In short, "giving priority to efficiency and giving consideration to fairness" and "paying attention to efficiency in primary distribution and fairness in redistribution" are still the basic principles for us to understand and deal with the relationship between efficiency and fairness in the whole primary stage of socialism.