High-income Individuals Research Articles

The effects of raising the long‐term care insurance co‐payment rate on the utilization of long‐term care services

The effect of raising insurance co-payment rates on healthcare service utilization in Japan remains unclear. In this study, we utilized patient-level long-term care (LTC) insurance claims data to analyze these effects. Claims data were obtained on individuals certified as requiring LTC in City A and City B, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan during August 2014-July 2016. Individuals whose LTC insurance co-payment rate increased from 10% to 20% in August 2015 were regarded as high-income individuals; individuals whose co-payment rate remained at 10% were regarded as non-high-income individuals. We examined the changes in LTC service utilization between high-income individuals and non-high-income individuals during the study period. Monthly LTC insurance charges were analyzed to evaluate service utilization. We created monthly panel data for the study participants, and quantified the differences in LTC service utilization before and after August 2015 between the high-income and non-high-income groups. Care needs levels and age were included as covariates in a fixed-effects model. The sample comprised 7711 individuals (1000 high-income individuals and 6711 non-high-income individuals) in City A and 647 individuals (84 high-income individuals and 563 non-high-income individuals) in City B. After adjusting for care needs levels and age, the co-payment rate increase was associated with reductions in monthly LTC insurance charges of $34.3 (P < 0.001) in City A and $91.0 (P = 0.022) in City B. The increase in co-payment rate for high-income individuals in August 2015 negatively affected their utilization of LTC services. Geriatr Gerontol Int ••; ••: ••-•• Geriatr Gerontol Int 2020; ••: ••-••.

Social Class Competence Stereotypes Are Amplified by Socially Signaled Economic Inequality.

A number of psychological theories suggest that increased economic inequality may lead to greater social class stereotyping. However, all existing evidence for this claim is correlational. Across three experiments (one exploratory and two confirmatory, N = 2,286), we observed that exposure to socially signaled inequality-operationalized in terms of variation in perceived incomes among groups of target individuals-amplified the endorsement of one key social class stereotype: the perception that higher income individuals are more competent. When judged amid greater inequality, the same high-income targets were perceived as more competent and the same low-income targets were perceived as less competent, compared with when judged amid greater equality. By contrast, we found no consistent effect of exposure to inequality on stereotypes regarding warmth and relatively weak class-based stereotyping on the warmth dimension in general. We discuss implications of these findings for theories regarding the effects of economic inequality.

Financial barriers for sports consumption: the dynamics of the income–expenditure relation

PurposeFirst, the income elasticities are calculated for different levels of income, for both the decision to spend money on sports and the amount of money that is spent. Second, the study researches whether different operationalisations of income (i.e. family versus personal) result in different elasticity values. Third, the effect of sports-specific and non-sports leisure variables on sports participation is investigated.Design/methodology/approachA representative dataset of 3,775 adults is used containing a wide variety of leisure characteristics, gathered by means of a face-to-face survey. By means of a Tobit regression model both the determining factors of sports expenditure and the income elasticities are analysed.FindingsFor lower income individuals, a rise in income has a relatively bigger influence on the probability to spend money on sports participation, than is the case for higher income individuals. A positive relationship is found with sex (male), education, number of minutes and disciplines of sports and membership of a socio-cultural organisation, while age, watching TV and attending cultural events have a negative effect.Social implicationsThe study provides evidence that income-based segmentation of sports participants could turn out to be an efficient policy tool. By lowering the monetary-burden for lower incomes, it can be expected that participation rates can be raised efficiently.Originality/valueFor the first time the relationship between income and expenditure is explored for different levels of income and for two operationalisations of income. Moreover, the inclusion of non-sports leisure variables allows investigating relationships between sports consumption and other leisure activities.

Practical Applications of Medicare and Tax Planning for Higher-Income Households

Practical Applications Summary In Medicare and Tax Planning for Higher-Income Households, from the Winter 2019 issue of The Journal of Wealth Management, authors William Reichenstein and William Meyer (both of Social Security Solutions, Inc. and Retiree, Inc. in Overland Park, KS) warn high-income retirees that they may owe more taxes than expected if their income exceeds certain levels. Most people know that income tax rates go up as income rises. However, many do not know that higher-income individuals pay higher Medicare premiums; each time their income exceeds one of several threshold levels set by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), their Medicare premium jumps. Since Medicare is a government program, these premium spikes are effectively tax rate increases. The authors offer strategies that take advantage of the current tax laws to help people avoid Medicare premium spikes and generally lower their lifetime income taxes. The authors’ key recommendations are to report life-changing events that reduce income, make Roth IRA conversions before tax rates are scheduled to increase in 2026, and satisfy charitable giving plans by making qualified charitable distributions from IRAs after age 70½. The authors say these measures can reduce retirees’ taxable income and thus reduce their lifetime income taxes and Medicare premiums. TOPICS:Wealth management, retirement

Evaluating the impacts of shared automated mobility on-demand services: an activity-based accessibility approach

Autonomous vehicle (AV) technologies are under constant improvement with pilot programs now underway in several urban areas worldwide. Modeling and field-testing efforts are demonstrating that shared mobility coupled with AV technology for automated mobility on-demand (AMoD) service may significantly impact levels of service and environmental outcomes in future cities. Given these rapidly emerging developments, there is an urgent need for methods to adequately quantify the economic impacts of new vehicle technologies and future urban mobility policy. In this paper, we show how broader user-centric impacts can be captured by the activity-based accessibility (ABA) measure, which takes advantage of the rich data and outcomes of utility-maximization activity-based models and its interaction with mesoscale agent-based traffic simulation frameworks. Using the SimMobility simulator, we evaluate shared AMoD strategies applied to a Singapore micromodel city testbed. A near-future strategy of exclusive availability of AMoD service in the central business district (CBD), and a further-horizon strategy of the full operation of AMoD city-wide in the absence of other on-demand services, were tested and evaluated. Our results provide insights into the income and accessibility effects on the population under the implementation of shared and automated mobility policies. The outcomes indicate that the city-wide deployment of AMoD results in greater accessibility and network performance. Moreover, the accessibility of low-income individuals is improved relative to that of mid- and high-income individuals. The restriction of AMoD to the CBD along with the operation of other on-demand services, however, provides a certain level of disbenefit to segments of the population in two exceptional cases. The first is to high-income individuals who live in a suburban zone and rely heavily on on-demand services; the second is to mid-income residents that have excellent public transportation coverage with close proximity to the CBD. We further establish the efficacy of the ABA measure, as these findings motivate the need for measuring socioeconomic impacts at the individual level. The work presented here serves as a foundation for policy evaluation in real-world urban models for future mobility paradigms.

Income and obesity in an urban poor community: a cross-sectional study

Background: Recent studies have shown that higher income is associated with a higher risk for subsequent obesity in low- and middle-income countries, while in high-income countries there is a reversal of the association – higher-income individuals have a lower risk of obesity. The concept of being able to afford to overeat is no longer a predictor of obesity in developed countries. In Malaysia, a trend has been observed that the prevalence of obesity increases with an increase in income among the low-income (B40) group. This trend, however, was not further investigated. Therefore, this study was performed to investigate the association of income and other sociodemographic factors with obesity among residents within the B40 income group in an urban community. Methods: This cross-sectional study used a systematic sampling technique to recruit participants residing in a Program Perumahan Rakyat (PPR), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The sociodemographic characteristics were investigated through face-to-face interviews. Weight and height were measured, and body mass index (BMI) was calculated and coded as underweight, normal, overweight and obese according to the cut-off points for the Asian population. A chi-squared test was used to compare the prevalence of obesity in this study with the national prevalence. A generalized linear model was introduced to identify BMI predictors. Results: Among the 341 participants, 25 (7.3%) were underweight, 94 (27.6%) had normal weight, 87 (25.5%) were overweight, and 135 (39.6%) were obese. The proportion of obese adults (45.8%) was significantly higher than the national prevalence of 30.6% (p<0.001). Among all the tested variables, only income was significantly associated with BMI (p=0.046). Conclusion: The proportion of obesity in this urban poor community was higher compared with the national average. BMI increased as the average monthly household income decreased.

Decentralising atrial fibrillation screening to overcome socio-demographic inequalities in uptake in STROKESTOP II.

ObjectiveIn the first STROKESTOP atrial fibrillation screening study, participation was influenced by socio-demographic and geographic factors. To improve uptake in the second study, two screening sites were added, closer to low-income neighbourhoods which had very low participation in the first study. This paper aims to analyse the geographic and socio-demographic disparities in uptake in the second trial and compare the results with the first trial.MethodsInhabitants of the Stockholm region born in 1940 and 1941 were randomised 1:1 to be invited to screening or serve as controls. Medical history, blood samples and single-lead-ECG were collected. Invitee’s residential parish was used for geo-mapping analysis of the geographical disparities in participation, using hierarchical Bayes methods. Individual data for participants and non-participants were obtained for the socioeconomic variables: educational level, disposable income, immigrant and marital status.ResultsHigher participation was observed in those with higher education, high income, among non-immigrants and married individuals. Participation between the first and second studies improved significantly, where additional screening sites were introduced. These improvements were generally significant, in each population group according to socio-demographic characteristics.ConclusionDecentralisation of screening sites in an atrial fibrillation screening program yielded a significantly positive impact on screening uptake. Adding local screening sites in areas with low uptake had beneficial impact on participation across a wide spectrum of socio-demographic groups. Decentralised screening substantially increased the screening uptake in deprived areas.

Income and obesity in an urban poor community: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Recent studies have shown that higher income is associated with a higher risk for subsequent obesity in low- and middle-income countries, while in high-income countries there is a reversal of the association - higher-income individuals have a lower risk of obesity. The concept of being able to afford to overeat is no longer a predictor of obesity in developed countries. In Malaysia, a trend has been observed that the prevalence of obesity increases with an increase in income among the low-income (B40) group.This trend, however, was not further investigated. Therefore, this study was performed to investigate the association of income and other sociodemographic factors with obesity among residents within the B40 income group in an urban community. Methods: This cross-sectional study used a systematic sampling technique to recruit participants residing in a Program Perumahan Rakyat (PPR), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The sociodemographic characteristics were investigated through face-to-face interviews. Weight and height were measured, and body mass index (BMI) was calculated and coded as underweight, normal, overweight and obese according to the cut-off points for the Asian population. A chi-squared test was used to compare the prevalence of obesity in this study with the national prevalence. A generalized linear model was introduced to identify BMI predictors. Results: Among the 341 participants, 25 (7.3%) were underweight, 94 (27.6%) had normal weight, 87 (25.5%) were overweight, and 135 (39.6%) were obese. The proportion of obese adults (45.8%) was significantly higher than the national prevalence of 30.6% (p<0.001). Among all the tested variables, only income was significantly associated with BMI (p=0.046). Conclusion: The proportion of obesity in this urban poor community was higher compared with the national average. BMI increased as the average monthly household income decreased.

Large inequality in international and intranational energy footprints between income groups and across consumption categories

Inequality in energy consumption, both direct and indirect, affects the distribution of benefits that result from energy use. Detailed measures of this inequality are required to ensure an equitable and just energy transition. Here we calculate final energy footprints; that is, the energy embodied in goods and services across income classes in 86 countries, both highly industrialized and developing. We analyse the energy intensity of goods and services used by different income groups, as well as their income elasticity of demand. We find that inequality in the distribution of energy footprints varies across different goods and services. Energy-intensive goods tend to be more elastic, leading to higher energy footprints of high-income individuals. Our results consequently expose large inequality in international energy footprints: the consumption share of the bottom half of the population is less than 20% of final energy footprints, which in turn is less than what the top 5% consume. Detailed measures of energy use inequality globally and within countries are essential to ensure a just energy transition. Estimating embedded energy in goods and services used by different income groups, Oswald et al. measure the large inequality in energy use in 86 countries, and internationally.

Cultural Value Orientation and Stock Trading Behavior: A Study of Individual Investors from India

Cross-cultural studies in finance have often used country-wise data for cultural values. Our objective was to understand how individual differences in cultural values affect an investor's stock trading behavior in an emerging market. Based on the theory of planned behavior, we conceptualized a model for intention to participate in the stock market. A structured questionnaire was designed and used to collect primary data for 259 respondents from India. Partial least square structural equation modeling was used to estimate path coefficients. Perceived financial efficacy and risk tolerance are the key factors that positively affected the intention to participate. Among cultural variables, uncertainty avoidance positively affected long term orientation, which in turn positively affected financial efficacy. Thus their effect on participation was indirect but positive. Power distance and social influence had direct positive effects. Males, younger adults, high-income individuals, and those living outside India were more likely to participate in the stock market. We estimated a second model to see how cultural values affect stock market engagement. Unlike the participation model, uncertainty avoidance and long term orientation negatively affected engagement. Collectivism had a positive effect when mediated through perceived financial efficacy and a negative effect when mediated through risk tolerance. Our final research question was to understand how cultural values affect the motives for investing. Individuals with long term orientation invested for high returns, while those high on uncertainty avoidance looked for portfolio diversification. Individuals who scored high on power distance or masculinity invested for thrill-seeking and social motives. Our results provide interesting and new insights into how intra-cultural variations affect participation and engagement in the stock market of an emerging economy.

Household sector innovation in China: Impacts of income and motivation

This research note reports upon the first survey of household sector innovation in China. Compared to previous survey studies we add two first-of-kind variables and related findings.First, we include data on individual income, a resource-related antecedent of household sector innovation. We find that higher individual incomes are strongly associated with increased frequency of both household sector innovation and innovation diffusion. When we combine personal income effects with the positive impact of educational levels and technical training (both competence-related antecedents), it appears that increases in national development are associated with increases in household sector innovation - a very useful public policy finding.Second, in this survey we included household sector innovations motivated by personal need and additional motivations related to learning, fun, helping others and selling/commercialization. This has a major impact on estimated household sector innovation frequencies - raising them by a factor of approximately 1.4. Reanalysis of data obtained in two earlier national surveys suggests that similar adjustment factors hold in those nations too. This finding shows that prior surveys have significantly underestimated household innovation. For many research purposes, such as national accounting, the total amount and value of household sector innovation is what is of interest, independent of motivations that may drive the activity.

Class-based differences in the use of (aggressive) humor: The mediating role of empathic concern

Recent research indicates that individuals’ social class (SC) is connected to a wide range of psychological outcomes. Nonetheless, the question of how SC is related to people's uses of humor during social interactions remains unexplored. Consequently, in this research, we tested whether a person's SC, as measured by both objective indices of material wealth (i.e., income and educational attainment) and subjective perceptions of one’ SC standing, is differentially related to affiliative and aggressive forms of humor. Study 1 (N = 156; 52.6% females) showed that there were no class-based differences in the use of affiliative humor, but provided preliminary support for a positive association between income and aggressive humor – even after controlling for age and gender. Study 2 (N = 201; 54.2% females) widely replicated these findings and revealed that the income-aggressive humor relationship was mediated by empathic concern. Overall, our results suggest that higher-income individuals, relative to their lower-income counterparts, tend to use aggressive humor more often because of their reduced others-oriented feelings of sympathy and compassion. To our knowledge, this research contains the first empirical evidence on the association of SC and the way in which individuals habitually use humor in their day-to-day lives.

Preferences Over Taxation of High-Income Individuals: Evidence from a Survey Experiment

Mobility of high-income individuals across borders puts pressure on governments to lower taxes. A central tenet of the corresponding textbook argument is that mobile individuals react to tax differentials through migration, and in turn immobile individuals vote for lower taxes. We investigate to which extent this argument is complete. In particular, political ideology may influence voting on taxes. We vary mobility and foreign taxes in a survey experiment within the German Internet Panel (GIP), with more than 3,000 individuals participating. We find that while the treatment effects qualitatively confirm model predictions how voters take mobility of high-income earners into account when choosing domestic taxes, ideology matters: left-leaning high-income individuals choose higher taxes and emigrate less frequently than right-leaning ones. These findings are in line with the comparative-static predictions of a simple model of inequality aversion when the aversion parameters vary with ideology.

On Socio-Economic Predictors of Religious Intolerance: Evidence from a Large-Scale Longitudinal Survey in the Largest Muslim Democracy

Motivated by increasing religious intolerance, we study the socio-economic covariates of individual-level religious intolerance in Indonesia, the largest Muslim democracy in the world. We use panel data from 2007 and 2014 of more than 20,000 adult individuals (representing 83% of the population) and apply fixed-effect regression analysis to identify relevant socio-economic characteristics that are highly associated with religious intolerance at the individual level. We utilize survey questions on willingness to accept someone with different faith living in the same village, living in the same neighborhood, renting a house, marrying relatives or children, and building a place of worship in the neighborhood as our measures of religious intolerance. We find that higher individual income and educational attainment are positively correlated with the tolerance level. At the same time, a higher level of self-declared religiosity is negatively correlated with a tolerant attitude. For location-specific characteristics, higher income inequality and extent of poverty in the location where an individual resides are associated with a higher level of religious intolerance. These patterns are generally robust across different measures of religious intolerance, although there is heterogeneity in the magnitudes of the correlations, where these covariates have the smallest correlations with the willingness to accept interfaith marriage in the family.

Effect of income on length of stay in a hospital or long-term care facility among older adults with dementia in Japan.

We aimed to ascertain the degree of influence of income disparity among older people with newly developed dementia on the probability and duration of stay in a hospital or long-term care facility and the degree of influence on medical expenses for hospitalization and care costs. This was a retrospective cohort study. Study participants included 12 829 individuals aged 75 years or older not diagnosed with dementia between April 2012 and March 2013 but newly diagnosed with dementia between April 2013 and March 2014. Participants were categorized according to income. We evaluated the associations of income with the probability and duration of stay in a hospital or long-term care facility and the costs for hospitalization and care. In the adjusted analyses, high-income individuals had a lower probability of admission to a hospital or long-term care facility than middle- and high-income individuals. In all hospitals, low-income individuals had the longest duration of stay, but in long-term care facilities, income categories varied by facility type. Medical expenses for hospitalization and care costs were highest in the low-income group. Income category affects the probability and duration of stay in the hospital or a long-term care facility, as well as expenses for hospitalization and care. It is necessary to consider a policy to enable low-income older patients with dementia to continue living at home.

The Effect of Income-Based Mandates on the Demand for Private Hospital Insurance and its Dynamics

We examine the effect of an income-based mandate on the demand for private hospital insurance and its dynamics in Australia. The mandate, known as the Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS), is a levy on taxable income that applies to high income individuals who choose not to buy private hospital insurance. Our identification strategy exploits changes in MLS liability arising from both year-to-year income fluctuations, and a reform where income thresholds were increased significantly. Using data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia longitudinal survey, we estimate dynamic panel data models that account for persistence in the decision to purchase insurance stemming from unobserved heterogeneity and state dependence. Our results indicate that being subject to the MLS penalty in a given year increases the probability of purchasing private hospital insurance by between 2 to 3 percent in that year. If subject to the penalty permanently, this probability grows further over the following years, reaching 13 percent after a decade. We also find evidence of a marked asymmetric effect of the MLS, where the effect of the penalty is about twice as large for individuals becoming liable compared with those going from being liable to not being liable. Our results further show that the mandate has a larger effect on individuals who are younger.

Who Becomes a Business Owner in High-inequality Regimes? The Conditioning Effect of Economic Inequality on the Impact of Individual Educational and Financial Endowment on Entrepreneurship

Research has shown that individual educational and financial endowments are key indicators of their potential for entrepreneurial entry and success. At the same time, scholars have shown that economic inequality undermines educational development while increasing financial precarity. Yet, we know little about the extent to which economic inequality may condition how education and income affect an individual’s entrepreneurial experience. In this article, we present a mixed-effect analysis using data from 50 countries that shows that economic inequality diminishes the importance of an individual’s education and income on entrepreneurial entry. This effect is larger for higher education and income individuals than those in the bottom of the educational and income strata. In addition, inequality increases the likelihood that an individual would undertake entrepreneurial activities as a last resort, particularly individuals in low-education strata. These results suggest that under high-inequality regimes, entrepreneurship may be a sign of economic insecurity and inefficiency, and highlight the need for scholars to pay greater attention to understanding the structural forces that facilitate entrepreneurship development.

A Comparison of Low‐Income Versus Higher‐Income Individuals Seeking an Online Relationship Intervention

Compared to higher-income couples, low-income couples experience higher rates of relationship disruption, including divorce and breakup of cohabiting relationships. In recognition of this disparity in relationship outcomes, relationship interventions have increasingly been targeted at this population. However, these interventions have had limited impacts on the relationships of low-income couples. Developing interventions that are effective and responsive to the needs of low-income couples requires descriptive data on the challenges those couples perceive in their own relationships and an assessment of how their needs compare to the more affluent couples typically served by relationship interventions. The current study sampled over 5,000 individuals at the time they were seeking an online relationship intervention and compared the relationship functioning and life circumstances reported by low-income individuals to that of higher-income individuals. Results indicate that low-income individuals seeking a relationship intervention had higher levels of relationship distress (lower relationship satisfaction, more intense primary relationship problems, and less relationship stability), and had greater levels of contextual stress (more children living at home, less likely to be employed full-time, and lower levels of perceived health). Results suggest that future interventions designed to target low-income couples, as well as practitioners working with low-income couples, should be prepared to handle higher levels of relationship distress and contextual stressors than they may typically see in more affluent couples.

The role of brand prominence and extravagance of product design in luxury brand building: What drives consumers’ preferences for loud versus quiet luxury?

This paper provides a comprehensive perspective on loud luxury product design, which so far has been limited to the concept of brand prominence. Drawing on insights from a qualitative study and conceptual considerations, the current research introduces a new luxury product design element—design extravagance. Furthermore, a field study and a large-scale survey of high-income individuals are conducted to explore the role consumers’ personality traits extraversion and openness to experience and personal motives (need for status and need for uniqueness) play in shaping consumer responses to two important luxury product design elements (brand prominence and design extravagance). The results suggest that the personality trait extraversion promotes consumers’ desire for status, which then leads consumers to favor extravagantly designed and logo-laden brands. Openness to experience, on the other hand, correlates with a desire for uniqueness and lies behind a penchant for design extravagance. Finally, the theoretical implications of this idea for future luxury research are discussed, along with its practical implications for luxury marketing.

How Much Cohort Inequality Can be Explained by Socio-economic Status-based Mortality Differences?

Several studies have found mortality differences by income level — higher income individuals tend to live longer — and these differences have been growing over time. This differential mortality could affect measured cohort income inequality because the bottom of the income distribution will become relatively sparse as a cohort ages. This study examines the role played by differential mortality in the course of cohort income inequality as a cohort ages from the late preretirement years to old-age. The results show that differential mortality explains little of cohort income inequality and little of the changes in income inequality. Mortality bias does not appear to effect cohort inequality trends.