Increase In Personal Income Research Articles

The declining affordability of dental care in New Zealand from 1978 to 2023.

In the early 2020s, nearly half of New Zealand adults reported that cost of treatment had prevented them from accessing dental care, with higher rates among Māori, Pasifika and individuals living in the most deprived areas. Unaffordable dental care may be explained by a rise in dental service fees over time relative to personal income, as documented in New Zealand between 1978 and 1993. However, there have been no contemporary estimates in New Zealand of how the affordability of dental care has changed. The aims of this study were to analyse the change in dental treatment fees and the personal income of New Zealanders from 1978 to 2023 and to explore differences in affordability of dental care by ethnicity. Average fees for dental treatments were sourced from surveys completed by practising New Zealand dentists. Earnings (from 1978) and personal income data (full population from 2000 and by ethnicity from 2008) were sourced from Statistics NZ and NZ Official Yearbooks. Inflation-adjusted changes in average fees, weekly personal earnings and income were calculated as a percentage change from 1978 levels for fees and earnings and from 2000 for personal income. For the five dental treatments with data available from 1978 to 2023, fees increased in the range of 75%-236%, while earnings increased by 46% over the same period. Fees for other treatments (with data available from 1981 to 2009) similarly increased and mostly surpassed changes in earnings. From 2008 to 2023 the overall increase in personal income (about 21% across all ethnic groups) kept pace with the rising cost of most treatments. However, due to persistent income inequalities, in 2023, Māori and Pasifika would need to spend a higher proportion of their weekly income (approximately 16% and 23% respectively) to receive the same dental treatments as NZ Europeans. Fees for dental treatments have risen markedly in recent decades, more sharply than the price of other goods and services.

Divisions among the poor: A survey experiment of tax preferences in liberalizing Brazil

Despite globalization’s distributional impacts, we know little about (potentially differential) tax preferences of trade winners and losers, especially within social classes. We assess tax burden preferences to sustain public good provision using a vignette experiment with randomized tax instruments in the context of a liberalizing economy. More specifically, we analyze data from an original, randomized household survey of 1008 individuals in Sao Paulo State, Brazil, in 2019. We study preferences for increases in personal income, value-added, or corporate income taxes to improve funding for the universal health care system after Brazil adopts its free trade deal with the European Union. Findings reveal that the trade-losing poor support progressive taxes, whereas the trade-winning poor favor regressive instruments. By dividing the poor, globalization may create a barrier against more progressive fiscal strategies in emerging economies.

Relationship between Hair Designer's Propensity to Consume, Motivation for Purchasing Luxury Goods, and Luxury Purchase Attitude

The need for research on luxury consumption behavior is increasing as individual luxury consumption is expanding among various consumers as a symbolic factor representing their individuality and social status due to the economic development of society and the increase in personal income. Therefore, in this paper, propensity to consume, motivation for purchasing luxury goods, and luxury purchase attitude were investigated and analyzed to study the consumption behavior of the hair designer group. This study directly distributed 400 questionnaires to adults in their 20s and older in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province through a self-response survey, and collected 338 questionnaire analysis data, excluding 62 that were deemed insufficient to analyze. Through reliability analysis and factor analysis, the validity and reliability of hair designers' propensity to consume, motivation for purchasing luxury goods, and luxury purchase attitude were confirmed. In addition, through regression analysis, it was analyzed how propensity to consume, affects motivation for purchasing luxury goods and luxury purchase attitude, and how motivation for purchasing luxury goods affects luxury purchase attitude. As a result of the analysis, it was confirmed that consumers with high ostentatious and planned tendencies are more likely to have an incentive to motivation for purchasing luxury goods, and consumers with reasonable tendencies have a negative relationship with the motivation for purchasing luxury goods. It has also been confirmed that hair designers who want to purchase luxury goods for social or practical purposes have a more positive attitude toward luxury goods. This shows that there is a close relationship between motivation for purchasing luxury goods and purchase attitude, and suggests that consumers' purchase motivation should be considered through strategies that emphasize brand value.

“Golden Weeks”: New concepts of leisure in China at the beginning of the 21st Century

In recent decades, China has demonstrated steady economic growth, which has affected the increase in personal income and the level of material well-being of the population. In 2021, the year of the centenary of the Chinese Communist Party, Chairman of the People’s Republic of China, CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping announced the overcoming of absolute poverty and the creation of the moderately prosperous society in China. It seems relevant against this background to consider changes in the attitude of the state and the population to the quality of life, in particular, to spending free time, leisure and recreation, and their content. As an object of research carried out on the basis of publications in Chinese scientific publications and periodicals, the author chose the so–called “golden weeks” – holidays of seven days in the Chinese New Year, May and October holidays. The changes that have occurred with respect to the people and their holidays during almost a quarter of a century were subject of the analysis. The author comes to the conclusion that state bodies of various levels systematically monitor the impact of the “golden weeks” on all aspects of the society, in their decisions comprehensively take into account economic, political, cultural and educational factors. The above fits into the overall strategy of the state development aimed at advancing to higher standards of the people’s lives. The “golden weeks” have revealed the overall trend for the Chinese to move from satisfying the basic needs of life to striving for the enrichment of spiritual life.

Economic Impact Analysis of Farmers’ Markets in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area: Evidence of a Circular Economy

Consumer interest in farmers’ markets (FMs) has dramatically increased during the past decade. The number of FMs in the United States has grown from 1755 in 1994 to 8140 in 2019 (USDA, 2019). To evaluate the economic impacts (EIs) of FMs in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, we collected FMs’ consumer data and used IMPLAN-based social accounting matrices to evaluate the direct, indirect, and induced economic impacts of FMs. The empirical results from IMPLAN provide the direct gross sales, income figures, and an estimate of the number of jobs in the study region. The results show the average total output of USD 36,181,059, total employment of 663 people, total value-added creation of USD 19,019,226, and total labor income created of USD 8,653,350 in the region. The FM average income multiplier is 1.51, which indicates that a USD 1 increase in personal income (PI) for an FM translates into USD 1.51 in PI across the economy of the region. We also highlight the impact of FMs as an important component of the circular economy (CE). To this end, we present a qualitative approach examining the potential of a CE as applied to the farmers’ markets in the Washington, DC metropolitan area using qualitative data from focus groups. The goal of the circular economy is to provide more sustainability in the local economy.

Work-trip mode choice in Germany – Affected by individual constraints or by partner interaction?

Individuals with young children have additional responsibilities and tend to have different patterns of work-trip mode choice. In this regard, the purpose of the study is to determine if individuals’ commuting mode decisions vary with gender and the presence of young children. In doing so, we develop four separate models for women and men with and without children, respectively. We explore the associations between work-trip mode choice and five key elements: i) personal socio-economic status; ii) household attributes, iii) spatio-temporal fixity, iv) partner interaction and v) working hours preferences. We use the German National Time Use Survey 2012/13 and adopt multinomial logit analysis. In general, our results suggest that the direction of coefficients is more similar than different for both men and women. For respondents without young children, the spatial and temporal fixity attributes strongly predict men’s (also women's) driving, whereas for working in market/non-market sectors, partner attributes significantly decrease men’s driving. For respondents with young children, increase in personal income positively and significantly predicts women's (also men's) driving, whereas high levels of education, increase in household income and partners’ time spent on unpaid work strongly decrease women’s driving. For both the groups, men or women with more egalitarian or reverse working hours preferences are more likely to use sustainable modes.

Environmental challenges from the increasing medical waste since SARS outbreak.

Medical waste is a special class of hazardous pollutants. Improper treatment would cause secondary environmental pollution, especially when responding to public health emergencies. However, there are relatively few researches on the generation of medical waste, and there is a lack of basic understanding of its spatial-temporal heterogeneity. The outbreak of SARS in 2002 is a turning point in China’s medical system reform. We estimated the production of medical waste and pollutants on a provincial scale in China from 2002 to 2018, using the data of medical statistics. Moreover, we forecasted the trend of medical waste in China until 2030, using a combination of environmental pressure model (STIRPAT) and time series model (ARIMA). We found that with the development of China’s medical system and economy (such as the increase in personal income and popularization of universal health care), the number of seeking medical treatment rapidly increase led to explosive growth in medical waste (∼240%) and pollutants (∼260%), and large hospitals are the major sources. By 2030, the production of medical waste would still increase by more than 50% compared with 2018 even there is no the pandemic due to the huge population. The production of medical waste in the eastern region was higher than that in the west under the influence of higher population and GDP, while the per capita medical waste was only affected by household consumption level which had no regional characteristic. Additionally, Hg loads from medical waste are more than twice as high as that from discharged wastewater in some regions, which are facing great control pressures. In the future, when planning for medical waste disposal, policymakers shall increase the disposal facilities based on population and promote mobile treatment equipment to improve efficiency, increase the number of beds in medical institutions rather than building more hospitals, and strengthen basic research on the environmental impact.

Factors affecting the willingness to join community‐based health insurance (CBHI) scheme: A case study survey from Savannakhet Province, Lao P.D.R.

Community-based health insurance (CBHI) targets independent worker (self-employed) is currently struggling with inadequate size of risk pooling, low enrollment, and high dropout rate as well as financial sustainability. The objective of this study is to find out the factors that significantly affect the CBHI enrollment incentive. The study applied cross-sectional study design to perform situation analysis, in which the Andersen behavioral model was used as a guideline to identify preliminary characteristics that involved with enrolling incentive. The model found that existence of both outpatient department (OPD) and inpatient department (IPD) health service utilization had significant impact on the CBHI enrollment, this statement is strongly related to adverse selection issues. Households resides in Kaysone Phomvihane district had higher probability of joining the scheme in comparison with relatively less-developed Champhone district. Households with no CBHI knowledge were also more likely to enroll the scheme. Occupation was also found to be a significant factors; of which farmers and laborers had lower possibility enrollment. Economic condition of the district has a significant impact on enrolment. However, the increase in personal income does not directly enhance the desire for enrolment. Most of the high-income households prefer to use a local, private clinic, and foreign hospitals in Thailand or Vietnam. Households with unemployed heads had the highest possibility of enrolling. The reason is the unemployed respondents include the elderly who stay at home without performing major tasks in exchange for their living. That group of people has the highest probability of either OPD or IPD.

Health-Risk Factors and 8-Year Incidence of Kidney Disease in Transitional Thailand: Prospective Findings From a Large National Cohort Study

OBJECTIVE: Kidney disease (KD) is increasing its burden in Thailand but prospective observational KD studies are few. So we analysed 8-year nationwide Thai Cohort Study (TCS) data on KD incidence, distribution and risk association among Thais.DESIGN & METHOD: TCS is a longitudinal study of the Thai health-risk transition among Open University student residing nationwide. At baseline (2005) the cohort members analysed here were aged 15-88 years and did not have KD. At the follow up in 2013 (n=41638) incident KD was reported based on doctor diagnosis. We analysed the 8-year cumulative incidence of KD and its association with risk factors by using multivariable logistic regression.RESULTS: The incidence of KD (2005 to 2013) was 4.0%; the rate in men (5.9) was significantly higher than in women (2.5). KD increased significantly for both increasing age and body mass index (BMI) (p trend <0.001 for both). Its incidence was strongly associated with concurrent diseases including hypertension, diabetes and high blood lipids and moderately associated with increased frequency of cigarette smoking, instant food, roast or smoked food and soft drink consumption. KD decreased with increases in personal income, household assets, walking and physical activity.CONCLUSION: Physical activity, high income and household assets prevented KD. Lifestyle changes such as smoking and high consumption of instant, roast or smoked food and soft drink increased risk of KD. Government should encourage more physical activity and less smoking, salt and sugar.

Value of Travel Time for Public Transport Passenger in Urban and Intercity Trip

Travel time value of public transport passengers is one of important variables in decision making about transport policy. Giving subsidy for public transport and allocate it to the right passenger will result in more benefits for the passenger of public transport. And as an effect it will increase the number of passengers then increase the public transport usage. As a result, it will reduce the number of private car usage which will reduce the air pollution and oil consumption and finally support sustainability transport. In this study, Travel time value based on questionnaire data, which is designed with stated preference with route choice approach. The multiple linear regression model is used to analyzed factors that influence public transport values of travel time, and traveler's income and trip purpose are introduced as categories. The study results indicate, in general, travel time value of regional trips is higher than urban travel. In Urban trip, travel time values for school is higher than values for work and other travels, while, for intercity travel, time value for work are higher than school and other travels. It can be comprehended since in this study the passenger of the urban trip who the travel purpose is work has low income. In common, when the personal income increase the travel time value also increase. But within this study, the public transport passengers who have no income consist of students, and their school regulations give hard punishment when their students come late. Based on that, the passenger with no income their travel time value is higher than the passengers have the lowest income.

The Role of Credit as a Financial Tool on Financing Touristic Consumption and Application in Turkey

Turkish tourism has managed to be able to enter the top 10 countries in the world tourism with the fastest growth rate in recent years. One of the main factors of this rapid growth in tourism industry is quantitative and qualitative increase in the tourism demand. Turkish tourism has grown depending on international tourism until the 2000s, but in recent years, the effect of increase in domestic tourism demand has helped more stable and balanced structure to Turkish tourism. With the increase in personal income and economic stability in recent years, banking and finance system has a big impact on the increase in domestic tourism demand. Revision of the financial system in Turkey, the measures taken for the protection of consumers, contribution of financial institutions to funding touristic consumers, are playing an important role in these developments. In our study, the effect of the Turkey’s financial system on touristic consumption is investigated in the light of these developments. The study was performed by descriptive method for determining existing situation in Turkey.

Do changes in income, deprivation, labour force status and family status influence smoking behaviour over the short run? Panel study of 15 000 adults

BackgroundImproving social circumstances (eg, an increase in income, finding a job or moving into a good neighbourhood) may reduce tobacco use, but robust evidence on the effects of such improvements...

The Coming Golden Age of Disruptive Innovation in Health Care

The Coming Golden Age of Disruptive Innovation in Health Care

The Effect of the Early Entrance to Job Market on the Health Status of Brazilians in 2008: A Robustness Econometric Test

The early entrance to the job market has, among other consequences, a negative effect on the health status of the individual. In 2008, nearly a sixth of the Brazilian population claimed to have started working before the age of 10 and over a third reported to have started working between 10 and 15 years old. This paper aims to investigate the effect of early entrance to the job market on the current health status of the individual. The database provided by the National Survey by Household Sampling (PNAD) for 2008 was used to reach the objective of this paper. The analysis was conducted at national extent using Ordered Logit method and IV Probit. It was evident that delaying entrance to the job market impacts positively on the current state of health. Moreover, it was found that the educational level and personal income increase the likelihood of the individual presenting a better state of health.

Wellbeing and Dependency Among the European Elderly: The Role of Social Integration

This study aims at highlighting the importance of social integration for the wellbeing of dependent elderly persons living at home. This question is important because, as we can observe, social activities are not a priority for social policies regarding the dependent elderly in Europe. Here it is shown that social activities and contacts improve the wellbeing of the dependent elderly. Therefore, as depression is one of the factors leading to a dependency situation, attaching greater importance to social measures that encourage greater social integration of the dependent elderly should stimulate a decrease in their rates of depression, and consequently, allow a reduction in their demand for care too. The data used in this study stem from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP). The major results of this analysis are: health perception is strongly and positively correlated with satisfaction with the main activity. The importance of the correlation decreases somewhat, however, when social integration variables are included in the model. Except for ‘owning a telephone’, these latter variables have equally significant effects on satisfaction with the main activity. Dependent elderly persons who are members of a club, those who often meet their friends and relatives and those who often talk with their neighbors declare a higher satisfaction level than the rest. Satisfaction is largely correlated with the country of residence. Dependent elderly persons from southern countries and from Ireland declare to be less satisfied with their main activity than those from northern or Central Europe. In terms of housing, having a comfortable dwelling leads to higher satisfaction while living in a household consisting of several persons leads to a lower satisfaction. The standard of living is linked with satisfaction: both household and personal income increase satisfaction. Lastly, dependency-related social benefit transfers have no effect on satisfaction with the main activity.

Buying support and regime change: the evolution of Polish attitudes towards the EU and voting between accession and 2008

Positive assessments of what entry to the European Union (EU) meant for Poland and for Poles increased after the 2003 vote to join and dramatically so after accession. Analysis of panel data from 2003 and 2008 shows the increase in positive assessments is related to the size of EU transfers and to increases in personal income, particularly for assessments of personal benefits. The attitude changes are also related to variables associated with individuals mostly likely to benefit from greater access to the larger Europe. The positive EU attitudes on both dimensions are related to votes for the pro-EU party that came into office in the 2007 election. In this way, the benefits from entry ‘bought’ more favorable attitudes and a more favorable government for the EU.

Students and Retirement Saving Predictors

Over the past century, Americans have had significant increases in personal income yet personal savings has decreased. The researchers examine college students' habits and beliefs concerning saving for retirement. To our knowledge, no study has examined retirement savings among Americans in this age group. We try to determine whether a student's retirement savings beliefs and habits can be predicted. Using a unique survey, five indexes are constructed to assess students' risk-aversion level, financial background, general savings habits, financial literacy, and attitudes toward saving. This index is used to predict a similarly constructed index of retirement savings behavior. We find that our overall model is predictive of a student's beliefs and habits in regards to saving for retirement. In addition, the student's level of risk-aversion, savings beliefs and financial literacy were each independently predictive of retirement savings behavior. Various demographic influences on the constructed risk and savings variables as well as interactions are also investigated.

The marginal cost of public funds and the flypaper effect

A lump-sum intergovernmental transfer has a “price effect”, as well as an “income effect”, because it allows the recipient government to reduce its tax rate, which lowers its marginal cost of public funds, while still providing the same level of public service. This reduction in the effective price of providing the public service helps to explain the “flypaper effect”—the empirical observation that a lump-sum grant has a much larger effect on spending than an increase in personal income. Contrary to the assertions of Mieszkowski (Modern Public Finance, 1994) and Hines and Thaler (J. Econ. Perspect. 9:217–226, 1995), a model of a benevolent local government financing its expenditures with a distortionary tax predicts flypaper effects from lump-sum grants that are similar to those observed in many econometric studies.

Individual income and falls among the elderly in Latin America

The burden of falls amongst the elderly raises important public health concerns. Empirical evidence suggests that macroeconomic growth may not be sufficient to reduce mortality and morbidity from injuries among the elderly. This paper consolidates macro- and microeconomic evidence of the effect of income on elderly falls in Latin America. Using household databases, we estimate an empirical model to assess the relationship between income and falls. The estimations indicate that an increase in personal income reduces the probability of falling; yet, the size of the effect is negligible. A 10% increase in income reduces the probability of falling between 0.001 and 0.002% while a 20% increase reduced the probability by up to 1%. These findings are consistent with macroeconomic data where morbidity and mortality among seniors are inelastic to economic growth. Policy implications of cash transfer programs targeting the elderly are discussed.

Participação no mercado de trabalho e no trabalho doméstico: homens e mulheres têm condições iguais?

A participação das mulheres no mercado de trabalho representa um dos pontos centrais da análise econômica sob a ótica feminista. Apesar do aumento da participação das mulheres no mercado de trabalho e da diminuição da diferença salarial média entre os dois gêneros, as mulheres ainda enfrentam uma grande dificuldade de serem remuneradas e promovidas em relação aos homens. Os modelos econômicos competitivos não conseguem explicar essas diferenças sem fazer uso de hipóteses fortes sobre as preferências individuais e os objetivos da família. Uma das possibilidades estudadas é que a diferença na remuneração das mulheres tem um aspecto social através de seu trabalho não somente para o mercado, mas também para a manutenção da ordem dentro da família. Este estudo tem como objetivo principal analisar as diferentes participações dos gêneros no trabalho doméstico como potencial influenciador das diferentes condições no mercado de trabalho. Nossos resultados apontam que as mulheres têm uma dupla e pesada jornada de trabalho. Entre nossas principais conclusões, podemos citar que a participação da mulher no mercado de trabalho, principalmente com o aumento de sua remuneração frente ao total da renda familiar, impacta positivamente sua condição de barganha na família, implicando uma menor participação no trabalho doméstico.