Gini Coefficient Of Inequality Research Articles

Decent living standards, prosperity, and excessive consumption in the Lorenz curve

Sustainable production and consumption allows every individual to meet their basic needs and societies to flourish, all with limited overall throughput constrained by ecological ceilings. The question is how exactly basic needs satisfaction, flourishing societies, and limited throughput can come together. Based on the insight that decent living standards constrain the slope of the Lorenz curve for the lowest decile, a simple model can be derived that determines total consumption from only three factors: per capita decent living standards, the Gini coefficient of inequality, and population. With a constraint on maximum living standards, overall consumption splits into three components: basic needs satisfaction, prosperous consumption, and excessive consumption. The model calculates sustainable consumption corridors based on decent living standards and the acceptable maximum under ecological ceilings, while still allowing for reasonable levels of inequality and ample prosperous consumption. The model can be applied to economic and physical stock and flow indicators, and examples for all four combinations are provided. The work concludes with calling upon the research community to assess the inequality of physical stock and flow indicators related to human wellbeing, identify suitable physical wellbeing measures, and extend the debate on desirable levels of inequality to physical socio-metabolic indicators.

An Index Approach to Measuring Product Differentiation: A Hedonic Analysis of Airfares

AbstractThe main objective of this paper is to introduce an Allen‐type index of differentiation based on cost functions. With this index, we create an economic measure of product differentiation that quantifies differences between products. Applied research has some generally accepted economic measures, for example, the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index for market concentration, or the Gini coefficient for inequality. Product differentiation, however, does not yet have an established measure. Our objective is to fill that gap and introduce a measure that can be used in market‐related applied research such as market power, antitrust, price indexes, or market strategy. To operationalize the index, we introduce the concept of a core product and use cost functions to measure the degree of differentiation from the core product. To demonstrate the use of the index, we study the effect of product differentiation on price formation in the airline industry using an enhanced hedonic model. The model is empirically tested on 103,980 observations of quarterly US domestic airfare data between 2002 and 2016 and shows that product differentiation has a significant effect on both price and mark‐up.

Site quality and intensive early stand management practices affect growth dominance, structural complexity, and tree growth in ponderosa pine plantations

During stand initiation, the influences of silvicultural practices such as competing vegetation control and fertilization have been primarily examined in terms of stand-level growth rather than structural complexity. Understanding how intensive silvicultural treatments alter the long-term trajectory of stand development may be critical to meeting management objectives, such as habitat restoration, minimizing ladder fuels, or carbon sequestration. Previous studies have found mixed evidence for an effect of vegetation control and fertilization on structural complexity. Investigating how early pulse treatments drive tree size differentiation in young stands, as indicated by growth dominance (GD), could potentially allow managers to anticipate or design treatments to alter the development of structural complexity later in stand development. We reanalyzed data from the Garden of Eden experiment, a full-factorial study investigating how competing vegetation and nutrients impact ponderosa pine growth and yield over a gradient of site quality in northern California, USA. Our goals were to determine whether these silvicultural practices alter GD and structural complexity, and whether GD and structural complexity created potential feedbacks to alter stand productivity. We examined data for the first 20 years of stand development across 6 study sites. For each site and observation period, we calculated the growth dominance coefficient of total cubic volume to represent GD and the Gini coefficient of inequality in basal area distribution (GC) to represent structural complexity. We created a series of competing generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) to disentangle the roles of site, stand age, and treatment on GD and GC. We created a set of competing individual-tree GAMMs at age 20 to isolate the influences of GC and GD on volume increment, controlling for the effects of competition, tree size, site, and treatment influences. In agreement with previous research, we found that GD deviated little from size-symmetry (tree growth being roughly proportional to tree size) and did not vary consistently with treatment. Competing vegetation control and higher site quality promoted lower GC, indicative of lower structural complexity. Fertilization increased structural complexity relative to other treatments on two sites in particular, which may reflect unintentional increases in drought stress from fertilization on sites with metasedimentary soils. While GD had limited influence on individual-tree growth, GC interacted with tree size such that small-medium sized trees grew more rapidly on structurally simple plots. Our results have implications for balancing objectives such as fire risk, carbon sequestration, and habitat during reforestation projects.

Diagnosis of mucosal changes and hospitalized oral cancer patients in Brazil: influence of socioeconomic factors.

This study aimed to analyze the influence of socioeconomic factors on the frequency of diagnoses of oral mucosal changes and the number of hospitalized patients with oral and oropharyngeal cancer in Brazil. This cross-sectional study analyzed data from all Brazilian cities in the period 2011-2017. The frequency of diagnoses of oral mucosal changes and the number of hospitalized patients of oral and oropharyngeal cancer in Brazil were extracted from the Primary Care Information System (SIAB) and Brazilian National Cancer Institute (INCA) databases. The socioeconomic factors evaluated were the Gini coefficient of inequality, municipal Human Development Index (MHDI), inadequate basic sanitation rate, employment rate, illiteracy rate and expected years of schooling. Associated factors were examined using bivariate Spearman's correlations and multivariate Poisson regressions, and statistically significant (p < 0.05) correlations between study variables and regression coefficients were obtained. A higher frequency of diagnoses of mucosal changes was observed in cities with a higher Gini coefficient (B = 11.614; p < 0.001), higher MHDI (B = 11.298; p < 0.001), and higher number of hospitalized patients with oral and oropharyngeal cancer (B = 0.001, p < 0.002). Cities with higher Gini coefficients (B = 8.159, p < 0.001), higher inadequate basic sanitation rates (B = 0.09, p = 0.001), lower expected years of schooling (B = -0.718, p < 0.001), and higher illiteracy rates (B = 0.191, p < 0.001) had a higher frequency of hospitalized patients with oral and oropharyngeal cancer. In conclusion, more developed cities showed a higher frequency of diagnoses of mucosal changes. Greater inequality and worse socioeconomic conditions are associated with a higher frequency of hospitalized patients with oral and oropharyngeal cancer in Brazil.

The complexity of TB/HIV coinfection: an analysis of the social and health services context in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.

Brazil is in the 19th position of priority countries for the control of TB/HIV coinfection, so we aimed to analyze the social and health services contexts that are associated with TB/HIV coinfection in São Paulo state. Ecological study conducted in 645 cities of the state. The study population consisted of 10,389 new cases of TB/HIV coinfection in state residents between 2010 and 2015. The variables and indicators used in the study were collected from secondary sources. To identify the factors associated with the occurrence of TB/HIV coinfection cases, generalized additive models for location, scale and shape were used. The best distribution model was defined from the lowest Akaike information criterion value. There was an association between the occurrence of coinfection and the diagnosis of TB after death and greater treatment default. There was also an association with greater coverage of nurses and Family Health Strategy, which comprises Primary Care settings focused on families. Regarding the social context, the Gini Coefficient of inequality was identified as a determinant of coinfection. The study presents the complexity of TB/HIV coinfection, proposing critical points in the health services and social context. Despite the high coverage of nurses and Family Health Strategy in some cities, this did not affect the reduction of the incidence of coinfection. These findings may be attributed to a fragmented care and focused on acute conditions. Furthermore, this model of care holds few prospects for care integration or prioritization of prevention and health promotion actions.

Trends, Regional Variations, and Socioeconomic Disparities in Cesarean Births in India, 2010-2016

The World Health Organization recommends that rates of cesarean delivery range from 10% to 15%. India has the largest annual number of births in the world and needs updates of existing estimates. To provide a new set of estimates of the rates of cesarean delivery and to map regional and socioeconomic disparities within these rates in India. Cross-sectional study primarily based on cross-sectional figures drawn from the fourth round of the National Family and Health Survey conducted from January 20, 2015, through December 4, 2016, by the Indian Institute for Population Sciences in Mumbai. The survey interviewed 699 686 girls and women aged 15 to 49 years and collected information on their last 3 pregnancies since January 2010 (259 627 births). The study population was statistically representative of India's 36 states and Union territories and its 640 districts. The survey also included information on the socioeconomic status of households. The research is based on data tabulations and mapping and on spatial and regression analyses of microdata. Socioeconomic inequalities in access to cesarean deliveries were assessed using the Gini coefficient. Data were analyzed from August to October 2018. Rate of cesarean deliveries by regional and socioeconomic characteristics. The cesarean birth rate computed for 699 686 Indian girls and women aged 15 to 49 years (mean [SD] age, 26.8 [5.0] years) was 17.2% (95% CI, 17.1%-17.3%) in 2010 to 2016, which corresponds to an estimated 4.38 million cesarean deliveries per year during the period (95% CI, 4.34-4.41 million) in India. Cesarean birth rates vary widely within the country, with a range of 5.8% (95% CI, 5.1%-6.5%) to 40.1% (95% CI, 38.4%-41.8%) across states and 4.4% (95% CI, 4.3%-4.6%) to 35.9% (35.4%-36.4%) across socioeconomic quintiles. The rate significantly increased from 9.2% (95% CI, 9.1%-9.3%) in 2004 to 2008. According to the recommended 10% to 15% benchmark of cesarean birth rates by the WHO, the estimated deficit of cesarean births in India is 0.5 million per year, whereas the estimated excess of cesarean births is 1.8 million. The overall Gini coefficient of inequality in access to cesarean deliveries is 46.4. The rate of cesarean births is increasing in India and has already crossed the World Health Organization threshold of 15%. More research is needed to understand the factors behind the rapid rise of cesarean deliveries among affluent groups and in more developed regions.

Migraciones en países de América Latina. Características de la población pediátrica

IntroductionMigration is a growing phenomenon among Latin American countries (LAC) as well as others; however, scarce information is available studying its impact on paediatric groups and its association with socioeconomic variables. ObjectiveTo study the association among socioeconomic variables and the immigration rate of paediatric population in LAC. Material and methodsOfficial rates of migration of LAC were obtained from: International Organization for Migration, Pan American Health Organization, and United Nations Development Programme. Demographic and socioeconomic information was also obtained for: gross domestic product (GDP), human development index (HDI), Gini coefficient of inequality (GC), alphabetization rate for adults (AA), net migration rate (NMR), and immigration of children<15 years (IM15). Description, linear correlations and analysis of differences between groups of countries were assessed. ResultsThe NMR was positive for Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, Chile and Argentina. No association among NMR and GDP, HDI, GC, AA was found. A correlation of IM15 was found with: GC (r=0.668, P=.01), with GDP (r=−0.720; P=.01), AA (r=−0.755; P=.01) and with HDI (r=−0.799; P=.01). Rate of IM15 was lower in LA countries with advanced/medium development (GDP>median) vs those with low development (Fisher, P<.0001). ConclusionsThere is a direct inverse association between GDP per capita, HDI, AA and GC and the proportion of each country IN15. We did not observe an association between NMR and HDI, AA, and GC. The health impact of these migrations should be analysed.

Inequality Aversion and the Extended Gini in the Light of a Two-person Cake-sharing Problem

This brief note aims to communicate, in simple terms, the “meaning” of the family of “Extended” Gini coefficients of inequality, in terms of the shares accruing to the agents in an elementary two-person cake-sharing problem. In the process, a natural notion of the “potential fairness” of a distribution, as well as the notion of “distribution sensitivity”, are sought to be explicated in easily accessible terms.

Impact of Common Property Forest Incomes on Rural Income Inequality: A Gini Decomposition Analysis

More than 300 million people the world over, especially the poor and marginalized, depend substantially on forest resources for their daily subsistence and survival. Several studies have confirmed that common property forest resources serve as an important life support system to the rural poor, a source of income for the marginalized and low income households and considerably impact household income distribution. With this background, the current piece of work has been conducted in the forest rich state of Odisha in India; where the forest covers 37.34 per cent of the state's geographical area and more than 57 per cent of the villages are located in forest fringe areas. The study has a threefold objective; firstly, it attempts to estimate the extent and nature of dependency of the rural households on common property forest resources. Secondly, it assesses the impact of forest income on household level income inequality, and thirdly, it examines the impact of different forest income sources on the overall income inequality. The research work is based on primary data collected through a micro-level sample survey conducted in 210 households in six villages of three blocks in the three districts of Odisha. The study has used the Gini-coefficient of inequality and its source-wise decomposition technique (Stuart [1954], Pyatt, Chen and Fei [1980], and Lerman and Yitzhaki [1985]) for investigation. The field survey results reveal that forest income sources contribute 30.97 per cent to the total household income. Further inclusion of forest income, in the total household income, brings down the Ginicoefficient of inequality by 26.638 per cent and hence, contributes substantially towards inequality reduction. The Gini decomposition analysis suggests that forest incomes, irrespective of their sources, serve as income equalizers (help reducing income inequality). Therefore, inequality in household level income distribution could be reduced considerably through appropriate policy interventions that would enhance household incomes from forest sources, while balancing the forest ecology.

Using connectivity for measuring equity in transit provision

This study proposes the assessment of equity in transit provision by using transit connectivity as a comprehensive impedance measure. Transit connectivity considers in-vehicle time, access/egress times, waiting time, service reliability, frequency, and ‘seamless’ transfers along multi-modal paths. In addition, transit connectivity weighs the impedance components according to their relative importance to travelers. The assessment of equity was performed for the multi-modal transit system in the Greater Copenhagen Area, renowned for its transit-oriented finger-plan. The assessment method used a GIS representation of the network (i.e., service lines, timetables, metro stations, train stations, and bus stops), and transit assignment results (i.e., level-of-service times, passenger flows). The assessment method proved effective in calculating location-based and potential-accessibility measures and Gini coefficients of inequality in the Greater Copenhagen Area. Results show that the transit-oriented development contributes to spatial equity with high connectivity in densely populated zones, vertical equity with comparable connectivity in high income and low income zones, inter-generational equity with good connectivity provision for students to higher-education and job opportunities. Also, results show that the north-west ‘finger’ is less equitable with lower connectivity for low population density and lower connectivity to higher-education opportunities regardless of the high number of students.

The Gini coefficient of inequality: a new interpretation

The Gini coefficient is a well-known measure of income inequality. It corresponds to the percentage of area below the 45 $$^\circ $$ line that is between the 45 $$^\circ $$ line and the Lorenz curve on a graph of cumulative income versus cumulative population. In this paper, new interpretations of the Gini coefficient are provided by disaggregating the Lorenz curve into a hierarchy of curves. These are based on hierarchical redistributions of income, where the population is first divided into “high-income” and “low-income” groups for purposes of the initial reallocation from the former group to the latter. Subsequent rounds further subdivide these groups and additional redistribution is carried out within them to remove remaining inequality. The Gini coefficient may be thought of as the expected percentage of total income that individuals will be involved with through this hierarchical redistribution process. A second, graphical interpretation showing the Gini coefficient as a weighted sum of the scaled Hoover indexes associated with a hierarchy of Lorenz curves is also provided. This latter interpretation allows for analyses that view inequality as an aggregate of inequalities that exist along different segments of the income distribution.

Exploring Health and Social Well-Being in Late Roman Britain: An Intercemetery Approach

This article outlines a new method for comparing proxy data for the health and well-being of Late Roman populations through the statistical analysis of skeletal remains and material culture. A multistage statistical approach is applied to a sample of published Late Romano-British cemeteries. A battery of health indicators are compared using multidimensional scaling, and patterns in the provision of grave inclusions are analyzed using the Gini coefficient of inequality. The results of these analyses yield two principal findings. First, patterns are often strongly conditioned by settlement type, with individuals in cemeteries from urban locations exhibiting better health than their nonurban counterparts, contrary to historical models stressing the disadvantages of urban environments. Second, urban cemeteries feature both higher levels of grave furnishings and greater equality in their intracemetery distributions than nonurban cemeteries. Such findings suggest entrenched differences in the quality of living conditions and social relations between urban and rural communities in Late Roman Britain, potentially mirroring the observed modern relationship between high levels of social inequality and poor health.

Socio-economic status and self-reported tuberculosis: a multilevel analysis in a low-income township in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Few studies have investigated the interplay of multiple factors affecting the prevalence of tuberculosis in developing countries. The compositional and contextual factors that affect health and disease patterns must be fully understood to successfully control tuberculosis. Experience with tuberculosis in South Africa was examined at the household level (overcrowding, a leaky roof, social capital, unemployment, income) and at the neighbourhood level (Gini coefficient of inequality, unemployment rate, headcount poverty rate). A hierarchical random-effects model was used to assess household-level and neighbourhood-level effects on self-reported tuberculosis experience. Every tenth household in each of the 20 Rhini neighbourhoods was selected for inclusion in the sample. Eligible respondents were at least 18 years of age and had been residents of Rhini for at least six months of the previous year. A Kish grid was used to select one respondent from each targeted household, to ensure that all eligible persons in the household stood an equal chance of being included in the survey. We included 1,020 households within 20 neighbourhoods of Rhini, a suburb of Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. About one-third of respondents (n=329; 32%) reported that there had been a tuberculosis case within the household. Analyses revealed that overcrowding (P≤0.05) and roof leakage (P≤0.05) contributed significantly to the probability of a household tuberculosis experience experience, whereas higher social capital (P≤0.01) significantly reduced this probability. Overcrowding, roof leakage and the social environment affected tuberculosis prevalence in this economically disadvantaged community. Policy makers should consider the possible benefits of programs that deal with housing and social environments when addressing the spread of tuberculosis in economically poor districts.

Financial Crisis and Migrant Remittances: Effects on Growth and Poverty in Selected South Asian Countries

The study proposes to evaluate the impact of the current financial crisis on remittances received by three South Asian countries, namely Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The objective is twofold: to forecast the impact of change in remittances on the growth of these countries (macro level analysis) and to foresee the translation of this effect on the poverty and inequality in these countries (micro level analysis). At the macro level a forecast of the impact of financial crisis on remittances will be used in a Keynesian framework to assess the impact of remittances on the growth of these countries while at the micro level the consequent impact on poverty and inequality will be looked at. On the micro side, approach used in previous literature is to study the impact through various poverty measures. For this analysis the study aims to examine the changes on the poverty of these countries by looking at the FGT measures namely headcount, poverty gap and squared poverty gap and the GINI coefficient for inequality.

Concentration in the Greek private hospital sector: A descriptive analysis

Over the last 20 years, governments all around the world have attempted to boost the role of market and competition in health care industries in order to increase efficiency and reduce costs. The increased competition and the significant implications on costs and prices of health care services resulted in health care industries being transformed. Large firms are merging and acquiring other firms. If this trend continues, few firms will dominate the health care markets. In this study, I use the simple concentration ratio (CR) for the largest 4, 8 and 20 companies to measure the concentration of Greek private hospitals during the period 1997–2004. Also, the Gini coefficient for inequality is used. For the two different categories of hospitals used (a) general and neuropsychiatric and (b) obstetric/gynaecological it is evident that the top four firms of the first category accounted for 43% of sales in 1997, and 52% in 2004, while the four largest firms of the second category accounted for almost 83% in 1997, and 81% in 2004. Also, the Gini coefficient increases over the 8-year period examined from 0.69 in 1997 to 0.82 in 2004. It explains that the market of the private health care services becomes less equal in the sense that fewer private hospitals and clinics hold more and more of the share of the total sales. From a cross-industry analysis it is clear that the private hospital sector has the highest concentration rate. Finally, it appears that the market structure of the private hospitals in Greece resembles more closely to an oligopoly rather than a monopolistic competition, since very few firms dominate the market.

Relative inequality in energy resource consumption: a case of Kanvashram village, Pauri Garhwal district, Uttranchall (India)

Energy planning exercises for rural areas make use of a mix of locally available renewable resources with some commercial resources to cater to the energy needs of the population. Such exercises are economically attractive in developing countries, whereby, the foreign exchange reserves for the purchase of commercial energy is curtailed. The first step in the implementation of an energy planning exercise is to understand the energy consumption and utilization habits of the population being served. Frequently, an assessment of the levels of inequality in the consumption of various resources is necessary as, this provides the rural planner with an understanding of the future trends and thus forearms him with strategic alternatives to combat any future energy resource crisis that the trends seem to imply. In the present paper, an attempt is made to assess the level of energy resource consumption inequality in a typical hilly rural Indian village. The Gini Coefficient of Inequality, a measure of inequality in the field of Econometrics has been applied for this assessment. The population is segregated into different categories based on their income levels and certain socio-economic criteria, which are also felt to exercise an influence on consumption levels of energy. The results of the analysis are then discussed in the light of the findings.

An Elementary Interpretation of the Gini Inequality Index

This note presents a very simple way of interpreting the Gini coefficient of inequality, in `equivalent' welfare terms, as the proportion of a cake of given size going to the poorer of two individuals in a two-person cake-sharing problem.