Economic Inequality Research Articles

BRIDGING THE DIGITAL GAP: ANALYSING THE IMPACT OF ICT DIFFUSION ON INCOME INEQUALITY IN INDONESIA

The development of information and communication technology (ICT) has significantly transformed the socio-economic structure of society, particularly in terms of income distribution. This study aims to analyse the impact of ICT development on income inequality across 34 provinces in Indonesia from 2012 to 2020, employing econometric methods based on panel data through a fixed effects model. Empirical findings reveal that ICT readiness and ICT skills tend to exacerbate income inequality, while ICT use and its quadratic form contribute to reducing it. These results suggest that although ICT infrastructure and skills are crucial, their uneven distribution and utilisation can widen income disparities. Consequently, this study highlights the importance of ensuring equitable access to ICT across Indonesia to mitigate economic inequality. The study's recommendations stress the pivotal role of the government in expanding ICT infrastructure, fostering a research and innovation climate conducive to digital transformation, and formulating policies that enhance ICT skills nationwide. These measures would improve digital literacy, upgrade workforce capabilities, and promote inclusive digital economic growth. Ultimately, comprehensive and equitable ICT development can play a critical role in reducing income inequality across Indonesia.

I Kings 12:1-24 and The Challenge of Religion and Ethnicity in Nigeria

This paper examines the account of segregation in 1 Kings 12:1-24, where the Kingdom of Israel divides into two distinct entities due to political, religious, and ethnic tensions. By analysing this biblical narrative, the study highlights the destructive consequences of division based on cultural and religious differences. The paper draws parallels to the contemporary context of Nigeria, a nation marked by diverse ethnic and religious identities. It argues that the story serves as a cautionary tale for Nigeria, emphasizing the dangers of allowing cultural and religious differences to foster division and conflict. This is a qualitative study using the narrative method. Data was obtained from secondary sources and analysed using the content analysis method of analyzing qualitative secondary data. The impacts of the culture of religion and ethnicity reveal that it affects electoral politics, governance and representation, conflict and instability, social cohesion, education and socialisation, and economic inequality. Emerged themes include a) leadership and consultation, b) economic disparities and grievances, c) responses to grievances, d) secessionist movements, and e) the role of mediation and reconciliation. Nigerian leaders might draw a cue from Rehoboam's failures by encouraging communication, attending to the economic requirements of all areas, and using mediators to help settle disputes amicably.

Perceived economic inequality inhibits pro-environmental engagement.

We currently inhabit an era marked by increasing economic inequality. This paper delves into the repercussions of perceived economic inequality on individual-level pro-environmental engagement and puts forth an explanatory mechanism. Across three empirical studies encompassing an archival investigation employing a nationally representative data set (Study 1), an online survey (Study 2) and an in-lab experiment (Study 3), we consistently unearth the inhibiting effect of perceived economic inequality on individuals' pro-environmental involvement, whether assessed through pro-environmental intentions or behaviours. Furthermore, our findings reveal that individuals' identification with their country elucidates these results. Specifically, perceived economic inequality diminishes individuals' national identification, encompassing their concern for the country's well-being and their sense of shared destiny with fellow citizens, thereby curbing their pro-environmental engagement. Additionally, we conduct a single-paper meta-analysis (Study 4), revealing small to moderate effect sizes for our key findings. Theoretical and practical implications stemming from these novel findings are discussed.

Environmental justice of Texas recreational water quality – The disproportionate E. coli levels and trends

The presence of pathogens is one of the leading causes of stream water quality impairment in the US. Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a fecal pathogen indicator and also signals the presence of more pathogenic microbes. Although it is reported that Black, Indigenous, and communities of color suffer more from E. coli contamination, there is a lack of investigation of the potential inequality of E. coli contamination in recreational waterbodies, particularly regarding whether this inequality persists over the long term. Using E. coli monitoring data from 1,424 stations from 2001 to 2021 in Texas, we tested the research hypotheses of racial and economic inequalities in E. coli levels and trends with quantile regression and logistic regression approaches. We found that economic disparities had a more significant relationship with E. coli contamination in Texas recreational waterbodies than racial disparities after controlling for building age, land covers, imperviousness, and precipitation. The economic disparities in E. coli contamination were more prevalent after 2010 and in extreme E. coli levels. In addition, implementing watershed protection plans could mitigate the economic disparities associated with the rising trend of E. coli levels between 2001 and 2021. Findings from this research underscore clean surface water deprivation from underserved communities and call for inclusive watershed management strategies to address the water quality injustice.

The Rise of Populism and Its Impact on Democratic Institutions: A Comparative Analysis of Global Trends

This article explores the rise of populism and its impact on democratic institutions through a comparative analysis of global trends, using a qualitative methodology based on literature review and library research. Populism, characterized by its anti-elite rhetoric and appeal to "the people," has gained significant traction across diverse political landscapes in recent years, affecting both mature and emerging democracies. The study examines the ways in which populist leaders and movements challenge key democratic principles, such as the separation of powers, judicial independence, and the integrity of the media. Drawing on case studies from various regions, including Europe, Latin America, and the United States, the research identifies common patterns in the populist approach to governance, particularly in the undermining of checks and balances and the erosion of institutional trust. Furthermore, this paper discusses how populism capitalizes on economic inequality, political disenfranchisement, and cultural tensions to gain popular support. The findings suggest that while populism poses significant risks to democratic institutions, its long-term impact varies depending on the strength and resilience of a country's legal and institutional framework. This study concludes with recommendations for safeguarding democratic governance in the face of rising populist movements, emphasizing the importance of reinforcing democratic norms, enhancing civic education, and ensuring institutional transparency.

Directing innovation through confrontation and democratisation: the case of platform cooperativism

ABSTRACT Technological innovation can serve a multitude of conflicting and diverse interests, often reflecting prevailing worldviews and ideologies. This article focuses on the shaping of innovation directionality in the context of digital platform capitalism, which has emerged as a powerful innovation paradigm. Simultaneously, digital platforms have sparked significant concerns regarding labour rights, economic inequalities, and injustices. We investigate the strategies of resistance, appropriation, and re-direction of digital platform technology in the case of CoopCycle, a food delivery riders’ platform cooperative. The case consists of a digital platform co-owned and governed by a federation of 70 rider cooperatives worldwide. The case study reveals that, under certain conditions, existing and well-established innovation pathways might be steered in different and more responsible directions through contestation and experimentation driven by social demands for equality, democracy and participation.

Estimating the economic vulnerability of 2020–2099 storm flooding with sea level rise on Coastal Virginia

Estimating the economic impact of flooding is an essential element of flood risk management. Policy interventions to mitigate the impact of flooding must be balanced against the financial and economic costs of flooding. Using projections of sea level rise for 2040, 2060, and 2080 and estimates of flooding damage that are equaled or exceeded 10-, 50-, 100-, and 500-year period, we investigate the financial costs of flooding across eight planning districts in Coastal Virginia. We briefly discuss the methodology to estimate the average annualized loss (AAL) given discrete events and likelihoods and how these AALs flow into the estimation of the net present value of flooding in Coastal Virginia. The Hampton Roads metropolitan area accounts for approximately 80.7% of estimated nominal losses currently, rising to 88.1% by 2080 due to sea level rise. This vulnerability is linked to poorly planned development, population growth, ground subsidence, and economic inequities. The present value of unmitigated flooding ranges from $20.0 billion to $58.7 billion in 2021 dollars, depending on the discount rate. Discounted economic impacts for unmitigated sea level rise could reach $82.9 billion for Coastal Virginia this century. The concentration of costs in Hampton Roads, which produces 20% of Virginia's GDP, underscores the need for targeted economic and security policies.

Perceiving Low Social Mobility Induces Zero-Sum Beliefs About Social Hierarchies.

Individuals may consider socioeconomic status (SES) change from an absolute or relative standpoint. Across five studies and supplementary analyses of secondary data, we found that individuals who perceive SES as being unlikely to change (i.e., low perceived social mobility) tend to consider SES change from a relative standpoint-i.e., one person's gain in SES occurs at the expense of another's loss in SES-reflecting that they harbor zero-sum beliefs regarding social hierarchies. In other words, the extent to which individuals believe that society is mobile predicts how they consider the nature of social mobility. This relationship is mediated by a scarcity mindset and further predicts the tendency for aggression. The findings held when we controlled for variables such as perceived economic inequality, income, and education.

Factors Determining the Welfare of Family Circular Mobility of Labor from Nusa Penida in the Tourism Sector in Ubud

The main motivation for people to move from their area (rural) to urban is an economic motive. This motive developed due to economic inequality between regions. The most recommended condition is a rational consideration, where individuals mobilize to the city is the expectation of getting a job and earning a higher income than what is obtained in the village (Mantra, 1992). The purpose of this study is to determine the Determinants of Family Welfare of Circular Mobility Actors of Labor from Nusa Penida in the Tourism Sector in Ubud. The research method used is associative because it aims to find the influence of independent variables on one or more dependent variables. The results of the study concluded that: Employment status directly has a positive and significant effect on circular migrant remittances in Ubud District. Then skills, employment status and education level directly have a positive and insignificant effect on circular migrant remittances in Ubud District. Remitan has no positive and insignificant effect on circular migrant remittances in Ubud District.

UNPACKING THE PLACE OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND HERITAGE IN PANDEMIC STUDIES

Archaeology offers a 3.5 million-year-long scientific record of human and earlier hominine problem-solving and thus has the potential to research very deep into the past human solutions to pandemics and epidemics. Heritage on the other hand acts as a positive enabler for the complex, multi-vector challenges of today’s world, such as cultural and environmental sustainability, economic inequalities, conflict resolution, social cohesion and the future of cities among others. In this way, the remote past has the capacity to educate the present world on how to cope with pandemic diseases and similar challenges in the contemporary era. Therefore, this essay seeks to open a discourse on the ways in which archaeology and heritage can contribute to the prevention and control of the present COVID-19 pandemic and similar others in the present and future. Therefore, the government and other agencies funding research pertaining to the discovery of the ways through which pandemics can be treated, controlled and prevented, need also to explore the option of archaeology and heritage studies, so as to trace the root causes of pandemic diseases. This will lead to the discovery of traditional means of treating, controlling and preventing pandemic outbreaks. This underscores the argument that almost everything that exists in the present day has some historical antecedence.

Creative health in the urban Global South: barriers and facilitators in the cases of Cochabamba and Salvador.

The Global South has some of the world's largest cities, where rapid, ad hoc development of urban centres and 'megacities' has fuelled major socio-economic, environmental, and public health concerns. These urban environments can generate feelings of loneliness, with multiple barriers for access and participation in socio-cultural infrastructures. An inclusive future agenda for global creative health must, therefore, consider how urbanisation impacts social public health, what creative health approaches can do to alleviate this, and what the barriers are to access. This article explores barriers and facilitators to accessing socio-cultural urban infrastructures in two case-study cities: Salvador in Brazil and Cochabamba in Bolivia. Data were collected as part of a survey examining access to, and engagement in, arts and cultural activities undertaken between 25 January and 1 May 2023. This article focuses on two questions: What helps you to access artistic and cultural events in your city? and What barriers do you face in accessing artistic and cultural events in your city? 239 open responses from adults, in Portuguese and Spanish, were analysed using descriptive thematic analysis. Findings highlight how emergent issues around existing economic inequality, safety, and accessibility can limit residents' capacity to engage in creative health activities. While preliminary in scope, this raises wider public health implications for how creative health approaches may be leveraged within urban, Global South contexts. Findings highlight how greater dialogue is needed between the urban development, public health, and creative health sectors. Given the emerging evidence of the role of creative engagement to alleviate loneliness, integrating creative health approaches within urban public health may further strengthen connections with the most vulnerable communities, and help to build healthier cities. The article ends by outlining an approach that incorporates both local and city-wide creative encounters, highlighting how future interventions could be appropriately designed that gradually scale these types of interventions from tailored local offerings to larger, city-wide activities.

A REVIEW OF ECONOMIC PROBLEMS FACING THE UAE

This review explores the major economic challenges currently facing the UAE. Monopoly power in key sectors like telecommunications and energy restricts competition, leading to higher consumer prices and less innovation. Economic inequality is rising, driven by stark contrasts between high-earning expatriates and low-wage migrant workers. Migrant labor, essential to the UAE’s economic growth, presents social and economic challenges, including wage disparities and limited labor rights. Housing prices, especially in Dubai, remain a concern due to fluctuations and issues of affordability. Despite efforts to diversify its economy, the UAE’s heavy dependence on oil leaves it vulnerable to global market shifts. Additionally, rapid urbanization has raised significant environmental concerns, including pollution and resource depletion, prompting the need for sustainable development. Together, these interconnected issues present long-term challenges for economic stability and social development in the UAE. KEYWORDS: Vision 2021 - A national agenda to position the UAE as a top global nation by its 50th anniversary in 2021 Vision 2030 - Abu Dhabi’s plan for economic diversification and sustainable urban growth by 2030 COP28 - The UAE-hosted 2023 UN climate summit to discuss global actions for limiting climate change Etisalat (e& UAE) - The UAE’s largest telecom provider, rebranded as e& in 2022 for digital transformation ADNOC - Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, one of the world’s leading energy producers and oil exporters DEWA - Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, responsible for energy and water infrastructure in Dubai Kafala System - A labor sponsorship system that governed foreign workers’ employment and residency in the UAE

Unveiling health inequities: Exploring the role of social capital and public trust in bridging racial disparities in health‐care coverage for Hispanics

AbstractObjectiveThis study examines the racial disparity in health‐care coverage between Hispanics and whites. Racial disparities in accessing health‐care services have worsened in the United States, exacerbating social and economic inequality between whites and racial/ethnic minority groups. While existing research primarily attributes these disparities to income differences among racial groups, this study focuses on the mediating role of social capital and the moderating role of public trust in formal institutions, while controlling for income and other socioeconomic factors.MethodsDrawing on a survey data set collected in the Austin area of Texas in 2020, we test a series of regression models using mediating and moderating analyses.ResultsWe find that Hispanics, as a major ethnic minority group, have lower levels of social capital compared to whites, which contributes to the gap in health‐care coverage. The results indicate that social capital has mediating effects in positively transmitting the effect of being Hispanic on access to health‐care coverage. In addition, trust in nonprofits positively moderates the main relationship.ConclusionThe study suggests that promoting social capital for Hispanics can help bridge racial disparities in accessing healthcare. Our study provides policy recommendations for nonprofits to collaborate with government agencies.

The Presidency of Bill Clinton after Thirty Years: A Review Article

Abstract Did Bill Clinton destroy the U.S. economy? In a recent book, Nelson Lichtenstein and Judith Stein offer a scathing new critique. In this account, Clinton not only ravaged the United States in his own time but is largely to blame for America's subsequent economic inequality, monopolistic corporations, the Great Financial Crisis, the rise of China, and the advent of Trumpism. And yet, the economic data speak well of the Clinton presidency. He fares poorly on the trade deficit and economic inequality but otherwise delivered a balanced economic boom, far better than most administrations of the past fifty years. How do we square the withering criticisms of Lichtenstein and Stein with Clinton's economic achievements? It is correct that globalization and technological change tend to hurt blue-collar workers. And because Clinton embraced these forces and sought to place the United States at their headwaters, he may, indeed, be a “fabulous failure” from Lichtenstein and Stein's perspective. But the authors, each a labor historian and advocate, willfully dismiss the benefits that the nation as a whole, including workers and their children, enjoyed under Clinton. They also ignore the financial and military crises that Clinton averted. Overall, the Clinton administration created a wealthier and more competitive economy, albeit at the expense of those workers most vulnerable and least able to change. That is, Clinton helped transform the U.S. economy, just not along the lines that Lichtenstein and Stein prefer.

Decomposition of Economic Inequality in Age-Related Macular Degeneration by Using Oaxaca-Blinder Decomposition: Tehran Geriatric Eye Study

ABSTRACT Purpose To investigate economic inequality in age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and decompose it into its determinants using Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition (OBD). Methods The Tehran Geriatric Eye Study was a cross-sectional study conducted on individuals aged 60 years and older, utilizing stratified random cluster sampling. Each participant received a comprehensive optometric, and slit-lamp examination. Diagnosis and classification of AMD were conducted utilizing fundus camera images. Results The data of the 3268 participants were analyzed. According to OBD, a significant difference was found in AMD between the rich and poor groups (8.36%) disfavoring the poor (p < 0.001). The explained and unexplained portions comprised 93.37% and 6.63% of the difference (p < 0.001 and p = 0.405, respectively). Among study variables, age (coefficient = 4.70; p < 0.001), economic status (coefficient = 3.58; p = 0.004), and myopia (coefficient = 0.73; p = 0.001) were significant determinants of inequality in the explained portion. Conclusion A significant disparity in the prevalence of AMD was observed between individuals of different socioeconomic statuses, primarily attributed to the explained factors. Factors such as age, economic status, and myopia were found to have the most substantial impact in exacerbating the inequality that disadvantaged the poor group (contributing percentages: 52.17%, 39.73%, and 8.10%, respectively). The findings of this research can be valuable for health policymakers in prioritizing and addressing the determinants of inequality within the population.

Revisiting education for co-operatives: Exploring the value of signature pedagogies

Educational practices have always played an important role in developing approaches that reflect the plurality of forms of co-operative organisations. Arguably, education is fundamental to the endurance of the co-operative movement. While these practices are intended to reproduce the unique knowledge and social structures that inform co-operatives, they may not always reflect the intrinsic and distinctive values of the co-operative principles. In fact, inappropriate educational practices have had the effect of weakening the co-operative movement by perpetuating a mindset that fosters social and economic inequities. I explore key constructs from education theory and their relevance to pedagogical practices that are intended to support education for co-operatives. In this paper, I argue that education for co-operatives could benefit greatly from identifying and developing signature pedagogies.

Neighbourhood Change, Deprivation, Peripherality, and Ageing in the Yorkshire Coalfield

Low‐income neighbourhoods in contemporary England continue to be buffeted by roiling economic inequalities and social policy absences. Long‐term residents have a unique perspective on this socio‐spatial stress. This article zooms in to examine the condition of one spatial manifestation of these broader forces: peripheral council/public housing estates in the deindustrialised North of England—in this case the ex‐coalfields of West Yorkshire. Neighbourhood conditions are seen through the eyes of residents aged between 60 and 85 years. The article explores their accounts of the local economic, social, and political changes which have interlaced their experiences of work, community, and place over six decades. It also examines how irregular regeneration projects, emergency initiatives and local organising have tried to address and ameliorate structural marginalisation in recent years, not least during the Covid pandemic. The article provides a historically contingent account of contemporary socio‐spatial stress, one that emphasises the significance of long‐term residence and feelings of not only loss and nostalgia, but hopeful and resilient attachments to place.

Building Recognition, Redistribution, and Representation in Disadvantaged Neighbourhoods: Exploring the Potential of Youth Activism in Scotland

This is a time of intersecting crises for young people in Scotland. More than a decade of austerity, the Covid‐19 pandemic, cost‐of‐living crisis, climate emergency, and ongoing global conflict all threaten youth security and create barriers to economic and civic participation. Alongside this, youth non‐participation is often framed as an individualised moral problem, diverting focus away from its structural causes. Evidence on youth activism suggests that young people are seeking new, creative spaces and modes of expression to challenge stigma, express dissent, and challenge inequalities in their communities. With support from grassroots youth and community organisations, youth activists can build trust, critical thinking skills, and solidarity. However, the extent to which youth activism can succeed in challenging structural causes of inequality, especially in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, requires further scrutiny. We draw on Nancy Fraser’s theory of participatory parity to explore how redistribution, recognition, and representation play out in the lives of young people, and how grassroots youth and community organisations support their development as activists. Based on a research study on the barriers and enablers to youth activism in Scotland, we seek to understand how neighbourhood‐based efforts to challenge stigma and economic inequality build dignity and hope, how relationship‐building between young people and the adults in their communities can support status recognition, and how these both contribute to emergent youth political representation.

Natural resources, socio-technical regimes, and the environmentally sustainable transition: Evidence from OECD countries

The availability of natural resources is critical for an environmentally sustainable transition: greater availability may lead to more exploitation and affect the underlying socio-technical regime, which determines policy strategies and decisions, with significant implications for the environment. By distinguishing countries based on their rate of natural resource depletion, we investigate the differences in supporting socio-technical factors. We use a Panel Vector Auto Regression in first differences on a panel of 36 OECD countries, divided into three sub-panels (‘low’, ‘middle’, and ‘high’) based on their depletion rate, from 1995 to 2021. Some levers, such as economic inequality and the ability to generate rents from resources, exhibit distinct characteristics, suggesting interesting policy implications. Additionally, different structural and technological shifts cause further divergence. The results reveal that in low depletion countries, environmental sustainability is path-dependent, there is no short-sighted interest in maximizing rents from natural resources, and economic inequality (via lobbying) does not hinder the transition. Meanwhile, in these countries, structural and technological changes do not seem to have the same impact on sustainability as they do in high depletion countries.

A/Void Pregnancy? Yagi Emi’s Kūshin techō and Fake Pregnancy as a Means of Exploring Women’s Struggles

Kūshin techō (Diary of a void), Yagi Emi’s brilliant debut in the Japanese literary scene, was published in 2020 and proceeded to win the 36 th Osamu Dazai Prize. With its provocative tones, the novel addresses maternal issues during a very crucial moment for literature. Indeed, contemporary women’s writing from all over the world is growing more and more engaged with issues such as illness, disease, healthcare, medical practice, and clinical institutions, as well as with the topic of “care,” usually depicted as a women’s responsibility. In this paper, I argue that, through the parody of the Maternal and Child Health Handbook, Yagi Emi advances a critique of the condition of Japanese women in contemporary Japan. More specifically, the use of the fake pregnancy and the diary as a narrative strategy serve as a means to explore contradictions and gender gaps women face during pregnancy, in the workplace and at home, such as sekuhara (sexual harassment) and matahara (maternal harassment), social pressure, prejudice and stigma, and economic inequality. At the same time, I argue that the absence of a male partner throughout the narrative reveals the prejudice and stigma surrounding unmarried pregnant women in Japan, and on the other hand, it makes it possible to read Kūshin techō as an example of Hélène Cixous’ écriture feminine.