Increasing Income Disparities Research Articles

Sharing the Wealth: The Effects of Announced TCJA Bonuses on Employee Pay Satisfaction

ABSTRACT Many corporations publicly announced plans to share windfalls from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) with rank-and-file employees. We examine the association between these bonus announcements and workers’ pay satisfaction. Although employees are better off upon receiving the bonuses, prior literature suggests employees can be dissatisfied with awards they perceive as small or inequitable. By linking the bonuses to a corporate tax windfall, firms provided a reference point for employees to assess fairness. Using a difference-in-differences design, we find a greater decline in pay satisfaction at firms announcing a TCJA bonus relative to firms that do not. We also provide evidence of greater dissatisfaction among employees who perceive their share of the windfall as unfairly small. Considering increasing income disparity in the U.S. and a heightened focus on corporate taxes, we provide new and timely insights into how workers respond to changes in compensation linked to corporate tax savings. Data Availability: Data are available from the sources cited in the text. JEL Classifications: H25; M52.

Do Not Worry That Generative AI May Compromise Human Creativity or Intelligence in the Future: It Already Has.

Technology alters both perceptions of human intelligence and creativity and the actual processes of intelligence and creativity. Skills that were once important for human intelligence, for example, computational ones, no longer hold anywhere near the same importance they did before the age of computers. The advantage of computers is that they may lead us to focus on what we believe to be more important things than what they have replaced. In the case of penmanship, spelling, or arithmetic computation, such an argument could bear fruit. But in the case of human creativity, the loss of creative skills and attitudes may be a long-term loss to humanity. Generative AI is replicative. It can recombine and re-sort ideas, but it is not clear that it will generate the kinds of paradigm-breaking ideas the world needs right now to solve the serious problems that confront it, such as global climate change, pollution, violence, increasing income disparities, and creeping autocracy.

Understanding the salary gap between academic faculty and top administrators: a New Public Management perspective

ABSTRACT Do university administrators receive significantly higher remuneration than faculty members? Can the adoption of New Public Management (NPM) principles in higher education governance contribute to a more equitable allocation of resources? This study aims to address these questions by examining a sample of Russian public universities from 2018–2021. The analysis focuses on the salary gap between university administrators, specifically rectors and vice-rectors, and faculty members. The study explores both institutional and leader-related factors that contribute to this salary gap. While NPM proposes the implementation of incentive contracts and control mechanisms to enhance organisational performance, the findings indicate that the salary gap is more pronounced in research-oriented universities. These results suggest that top-level managers are rewarded for the exceptional performance of faculty members, which contributes to an increasing income disparity that may adversely affect perceptions of fairness within higher education organisations.

Income inequality and carbon emissions in Asia: Does financial inclusion matter?

AbstractThe upsurge in the amount of carbon emissions in Asia has been potentially due to the increasing income disparities in the region. Meanwhile, with the increasing level of digital financial services, the digital approach to financial inclusion could complement the traditional approach. Therefore, we investigate the impact of income inequality on carbon emissions across 17 Asian countries for the period 2011 to 2022. We also investigate the effects of traditional and digital financial inclusions on the relationship between income inequality and CO2 emissions. This study employs the panel fixed‐effect estimator, Quantile regressions, and 2SLS to estimate the model specifications of the study. Findings reveal that income inequality has a positive and significant impact on CO2 emissions in both linear and non‐linear models. Findings also show that both traditional and digital financial inclusion significantly moderate the relationship between income inequality and CO2 emissions, with digital financial inclusion having a lesser impact. The study further finds that economic freedom is the transmission channel through which income inequality impacts CO2 emissions, suggesting that higher income disparities lower economic freedom, which further contributes to the amounts of CO2 emissions. Our findings theoretically support the marginal propensity to emit theory and the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis. Our findings are robust to alternative measures of income inequality, CO2 emissions, and endogeneity concerns.

Analysis Of The Influence Of Minimum Wages, Central-Regional Transfer Cost Allocation And Fiscal Decentralization On Regional Income Inequality

In any nation, income disparity is a crucial issue for development. The disparity in income distribution is the primary cause of income inequality. The increasing income disparity is a sign of the growing inequality in the allocation of income in society. The authors of this study aim to investigate how income inequality is affected in the regencies and cities of one of provinces minimum wage in Indonesia, central-local transfer cost allocation, and fiscal decentralization. The Fixed Effect Model (FEM) approach is used in this study's panel data analysis. The author's analysis indicates that while there is no significant association between income inequality and fiscal decentralization, there is a substantial relationship between income inequality and the allocation of central-regional transfer costs and the minimum wage. Income inequality is significantly impacted by fiscal decentralization, minimum wage, and central-regional transfer cost allocation.

Can mixed land use promote social integration? Multiple mediator analysis based on spatiotemporal big data in Beijing

Social isolation has caused several problems, such as increasing income disparities, aggravated mental problems, and rising crime rate; therefore, various methods have been explored to overcome social isolation. Among them, mixed land use is a significant concern of many researchers. Many previous studies have focused on the impact of isolated land use on social isolation; however, few studies profoundly explore the connection between mixed land use and social integration. Therefore, this study constructed a three-dimensional impact path framework of "attraction mobility tolerance" based on the succession theory and explored the impact of mixed land use on social integration within the Sixth Ring Road area of Beijing based on the Location-based Service Data (LBS) from 2017 to 2020. We determined that mixed land use will influence social integration through the simultaneous mediation of functional attraction, spatial mobility, and species tolerance. The impact of mixed land use on social integration is not always positive, and there are deviations in the paths between the two systems. Therefore, the mixed land use policy should pay more attention to those paths with inconsistent objectives, reverse the contradictory path, and enhance the path-transmit impact to promote social integration.

Heterogeneity Perspective on the Dynamic Identification of Low-Income Groups and Quantitative Decomposition of Income Increase: Evidence from China

Common prosperity is an essential requirement of socialism. To achieve common prosperity, unbalanced urban–rural development, insufficient regional development, and progressively increasing income disparity between groups must be solved. The measure of raising the low and expanding the middle is receiving more and more attention in gradually achieving common prosperity. In order to formulate long-term income increase strategies for low-income groups with regional characteristics, this article, based on income group data, uses the weak relative poverty criterion to dynamically identify low-income groups and decomposes the changes in the income increase in low-income groups from urban–rural, regional and provincial perspectives to explore the causes and the extent of their influence on the income increase in low-income groups. This paper concludes that the size of low-income groups is generally on a declining trend, while the size of urban low-income groups has increased. Inequality in income distribution reduces the income increase in low-income groups; individual heterogeneity is a key factor that promotes the income increase in low-income groups. It is more difficult to increase the income of low-income groups in central and western rural areas than in eastern rural areas. In the future, on the basis of classifying the paths of income increase for low-income groups in provincial districts and implementing the corresponding income increase policies by combining the characteristics of different categories, it helps to formulate a long-term income increase mechanism for low-income groups that combines the characteristics of regional development and meets the actual regional development. It will promote the long-term income increase in low-income groups and gradually realize common prosperity.

Effects of COVID-19 on Mathematical Learning Among Multilingual Students

Mathematics is a big driver in addressing the world’s complex problems, such as feeding a growing population, ethical use of artificial intelligence, and environmental sustainability. Previous research has established that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many students suffered learning loss, particularly in math. The learning gap in math education due to the pandemic and socioeconomic inequalities will have long-lasting implications for many students, contributing to the lack of career opportunities and increasing income disparities. This study aims to understand the role of language in the mathematical performance of students who attended school virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Housing subsidy projects in Amdo: modernity, governmentality, and income disparity in Tibetan areas of China

ABSTRACTThis paper explores the ways in which housing projects in the northeastern Tibetan region of Amdo (Qinghai) produce governable citizens through rural reconstruction projects. Since the beginning of the “Construction of the New Socialist Countryside” project in 2005, the Chinese state has made great efforts to improve the living standards of rural populations, with a particular focus on the construction of “comfortable” and modern housing. This paper examines the housing subsidy projects that were launched in Amdo in 2009. Drawing on qualitative data, including participant observation and interviews, the paper examines the ways in which Tibetan villagers seek to achieve their versions of modernity through these projects. It analyzes how housing projects have encouraged villagers to become more avid market consumers by cultivating and increasing their desires for material improvement. In doing so, these projects have increased income disparities among households in the same village.

Ungleichheit, Sozialstaat und demokratische Repräsentation: Marktkorrigierende Politik durch den Medianwähler?

AbstractPolitical economy of redistribution and comparative social policy research view the median voter as the political force, which demands marketregulating social policy in periods of increased income disparities and to which governments – to be re-elected – must respond. However, government responsiveness has been questioned, especially the responsiveness for political demands of low-income households. Are even the preferences of the median voter only selectively addressed through politics? If the median voter is actually influential, its redistributive preferences should explain the outcome of government action, e.g. size of redistribution. Is this true? Based on a pooled dataset with observations between 1980 and 2012 for 13 OECD-countries it is shown that the political position of the median voter alone has no impact. Rather mediating political factors like a proportional electoral system and left parties with wider welfare programs provide for broader representation and more redistribution.

PROBLEMS OF INSTABILITY OF THE WORLD ECONOMY UNDER GLOBALIZATION

We examine the main trends of world economic development. The characteristic feature of the modern world is the acceleration of globalization development, caused by the achievements of scientific and technological progress. The increase in possibilities of global problem solving is accompanied by their exacerbation and degree of openness of public systems in conditions of modern globalization. We consider the interaction of international economic agents, the formation of interconnections, the inevitability of transition to a new and more progressive model of economic development – metaeconomy and the problems which are potentially able to cause negative consequences of the financial sector redistribution. There is a growth of social inequality in the world, resulting in increasing income disparities, which intensifies the migration process and thereby creates new problems as a result of the coexistence of people belonging to different civilizations, cultures and value systems.

Should co-payments for financially deprived patients be lowered? Primary care physicians\u2019 perspectives using a mixed-methods approach in a survey study in Tokyo

BackgroundJapan’s stagnant economy has produced increasing income disparities, and the effect of poverty on health and health-care utilization is a significant issue. Co-payments could be a trade-off for patients when seeking medical care and limit health-care utilization. We sought primary care physicians’ experiences in dealing with financially deprived patients and their perspectives about reducing co-payments by low-income patients.MethodsWe used a convergent mixed-methods approach in a mail survey; it was distributed to 1989 primary care physicians practicing in areas with the highest proportions of socially disadvantaged individuals in Tokyo. The survey items included an open-ended question, seeking the participants’ perspectives about reducing co-payments by low-income patients from the current 30%, and closed questions, asking their experience of patient behavior related to financial burdens during the previous 6 months.ResultsWe analyzed the responses of 365 physicians. Sixty-two percent of the primary care physicians agreed with lowering co-payments for financially deprived patients; however, the remainder disagreed or were uncertain. Those who disagreed were less likely to have experienced patient behavior related to financial burdens. The participants suggested challenges and potential measures for reducing co-payments by low-income patients in light of tight governmental financial resources and rapidly increasing health-care expenditures in Japan. The physicians were also concerned about the moral hazard in health-care utilization among patients receiving social welfare who obtain care at no cost.ConclusionsFrom their experience in having dealt with low-income patients, the majority of physicians were positive about lowering co-payments by such patients; the remainder were negative or uncertain. It may be necessary to raise awareness of patients’ socioeconomic status among primary care physicians as a possible deterrent for seeking care. To maintain health-care equity, policy makers should consider balancing co-payments among individuals with differing financial levels and health-care needs.

Évolution des inégalités sociales de suivi du diabète en région Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur entre 2008 et 2011

BackgroundSocial inequities in healthcare are known to exist for the management of many chronic diseases in France, including diabetes. The recession that began in 2008 has led to increased income disparities but has it also exacerbated health inequities. The aim of this study was to describe trends in inequities in diabetes-related healthcare between 2008 and 2011 in the PACA region (Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur). MethodsThis analysis used two sources of data: the regional national health insurance fund (PACA region) reimbursement database and the socio-demographic databases of the national statistics office (INSEE) for four full years (2008 to 2011). It included individuals who had been reimbursed for three purchases of oral diabetes drugs during the previous year and assessed the association between the median household income (weighted by number and age of household members) of each patient's municipality of residence and seven indicators of diabetes monitoring and care. Using adjusted mixed logistic models, including an interaction term between time (number of years) and the median household income of the municipality, we examined the performance of the indicators for each year. ResultsThe total number of patients with diabetes in the 941 municipalities of the PACA region varied by year from 142,055 to 164,929. Models showed that living in a town with a high or intermediate household income was significantly associated with better performance of the seven indicators and that the interaction term was significant for six of them. The effect of the municipal median income decreased significantly between 2008 and 2011 for five indicators: HbA1c, LDL-cholesterol, microalbuminuria, ophthalmoscopy and diabetes specialist visit. ConclusionSocial inequities in diabetes-related healthcare persisted between 2008 and 2011 but appeared to be decreasing, despite the recession.

Vietnam 30 years after Doi Moi: achievements and challenges

Thirty years ago, the Vietnamese government was forced to change its economic policy. The inefficiencies of the economic system led to deteriorating living conditions in the 1980s. During the 6th party congress in December 1986, the communist party decided to reform the economic system, called Doi Moi (renovation). The political elite opted for a gradual change of the economy, without changing the political system. The economic development induced by the reforms was remarkable. The living conditions of the Vietnamese have improved drastically as a consequence of high growth rates. Despite economic and social success since the introduction of reforms, Vietnam has reached now a distinctive moment. The country has to tackle five challenges in order to enhance the future welfare of its citizens. Firstly, macroeconomic stability and especially a functioning financial market is a precondition for future economic growth. Secondly, the successful catch-up model based on cheap labour as well as mineral and agricultural resources is reaching its limitations. Thirdly, a stronger spatial perspective has to be taken into account as the economic development is unevenly distributed and leaving the rural areas behind. Fourthly, environmental issues need to be considered more seriously, especially pollution from intensified agricultural production, mining, and industrialization. Fifthly, due to increasing income disparities, more attention has to be paid to social justice and participation.

Social practices of knowledge mobilization for sustainable food production: nutrition gardening and fish farming in the kolli hills of India

Concerns about food security are growing around the world, precipitated by climate change, resource degradation, a growing population and increasing income disparity. In India, food insecurity is high in many rural farming communities, especially among isolated tribal populations. In this study we examine how knowledge about sustainable food production is acquired and mobilized among small-scale farmers belonging to the Malayalis Tribe, who reside in the Kolli Hills region of Tamil Nadu, India. We focus on nutrition gardening and fish farming, two production practices recently introduced to alleviate poverty and malnutrition in the region. Using qualitative participatory research methods, we explored ways in which farmers are accessing, using and sharing knowledge about these practices, and barriers to equitable access. We also asked farmers what information is still lacking about these practices and what mechanisms could be put in place to improve access. This research revealed that participants in both nutrition gardening and fish farming rely primarily on external experts (non-governmental agricultural research and extension) for formal training (e.g. workshops) and advice, despite a long history and traditional knowledge of gardening and river fishing. Agricultural knowledge is also mobilized within the region less formally between individuals and households through face-to-face contact or verbal communication via mobile phones. The use of additional communication technologies (e.g. computers) to enhance access and mobilization of knowledge was perceived to be most relevant and beneficial for young, educated people.

G491 Trends in health at the beginning of adolescence in the uk: evidence from two birth cohorts 30 years apart

Aims To compare the health of contemporary young adolescents with their historical peers. We sought to understand changes in patterns of injuries, non-communicable conditions, infectious diseases and health service use; and to examine the effects of increasing income disparities in Britain over the past 30 years on changes in the social patterning of health between the two cohorts. Methods Secondary analysis of the 10–11 year surveys of the British Cohort Study (in 1980–81) and the Millennium Cohort Study (in 2012). The prevalence of, and socioeconomic gradients in, the following were compared; general health problems, body mass index, height and weight z scores, allergic conditions, infectious diseases, health service use, smoking and parental smoking behaviour, and maternal adiposity. Results As shown in Table 1, there were decreases in hospital admissions, smoking, parental smoking, infectious diseases, hearing problems and bed wetting. There were no changes in limiting long standing illness, or the proportion of children having 2 or more accidents requiring medical attention. There were increases in overweight and obesity, height for age, weight for age, chicken pox, allergic conditions and wearing glasses. There were notable socioeconomic gradients in many health outcomes in the BCS cohort (1980) and the MCS cohort (2012), as shown in Table 2. There was a stronger socioeconomic gradient for most health outcomes in 2012 compared to 1980, with significant increases in social gradients observed for many outcomes. Conclusions There have been reductions in infectious diseases and tobacco exposure amongst British children at the cusp of adolescence, but overweight and atopic conditions have risen dramatically. Social gradients in health increased across most conditions. Children from deprived families have benefitted least from improvements in health status, and have experienced the largest increases in health risks.

Changing Market Potentials, Regional Growth and Income Disparities in Poland

In this paper we analysed to which extent the changes in market potentials in Poland have been a cause for increasing income disparities, which were observed across Polish regions from 1995 to 2008. To do so we derived and estimated a New Economy Geography Model, which relates per capita GDP growth rates to changes in market potential. The results of the crosssection estimations of the model for the period 1995-2008 and for its different subsamples point to a positive and significant effect of changing market potentials in per capita GDP growth rates. Due to the fact that core-economic regions have mostly benefited in terms of market potential growth during 1995-2008, these results confirm the important role played by the relative changing in market potentials across Polish regions in widening the gap between poor and rich regions in the country in the period of analysis.

Challenges facing China's unbalanced urbanization strategy

China has taken a “great leap forward” in urbanization, but the resulting unbalanced development strategy seems likely to lead to unsustainable socioeconomic development, including increasing income disparities, waste of resources, environmental degradation, damage to China's natural and cultural heritages, growing social turbulence, and consequences for the rest of the world. To solve these problems, China's government must adjust its economic strategy to balance rural and urban development and to seek more sustainable socioeconomic development.

The contribution of health policy and care to income differences in life expectancy – a register based cohort study

BackgroundGrowing mortality differences between socioeconomic groups have been reported in both Finland and elsewhere. While health behaviours and other lifestyle factors are important in contributing to health differences, some researchers have suggested that some of the mortality differences attributable to lifestyle factors could be preventable by health policy measures and that health care may play a role. It has also been suggested that its role is increasing due to better results in disease prevention, improved diagnostic tools and treatment methods. This study aimed to assess the impact of mortality amenable to health policy and health care on increasing income disparities in life expectancy in 1996-2007 in Finland.MethodsThe study data were based on an 11% random sample of Finnish residents in 1988–2007 obtained from individually linked cause of death and population registries and an oversample of deaths. We examined differences in life expectancy at age 35 (e35) in Finland. We calculated e35 for periods 1996-97 and 2006-07 by income decile and gender. Differences in life expectancies and change in them between the richest and the poorest deciles were decomposed by cause of death group.ResultsOverall, the difference in e35 between the extreme income deciles was 11.6 years among men and 4.2 years among women in 2006-07. Together, mortality amenable to health policy and care and ischaemic heart disease mortality contributed up to two thirds to socioeconomic differences. Socioeconomic differences increased from 1996-97 by 3.4 years among men and 1.7 years among women. The main contributor to changes was mortality amenable through health policy measures, mainly alcohol related mortality, but also conditions amenable through health care, ischaemic heart disease among men and other diseases contributed to the increase of the differences.ConclusionsThe results underline the importance of active health policy and health care measures in tackling socioeconomic health inequalities.

Engaging sub-national governments in addressing health equities: challenges and opportunities in China’s health system reform

China's current health system reform (HSR) is striving to resolve deep inequities in health outcomes. Achieving this goal is difficult not only because of continuously increasing income disparities in China but also because of weaknesses in healthcare financing and delivery at the local level. We explore to what extent sub-national governments, which are largely responsible for health financing in China, are addressing health inequities. We describe the recent trend in health inequalities in China, and analyse government expenditure on health in the context of China's decentralization and intergovernmental model to assess whether national, provincial and sub-provincial public resource allocations and local government accountability relationships are aligned with this goal. Our analysis reveals that government expenditure on health at sub-national levels, which accounts for ∼90% of total government expenditure on health, is increasingly regressive across provinces, and across prefectures within provinces. Increasing inequity in public expenditure at sub-national levels indicates that resources and responsibilities at sub-national levels in China are not well aligned with national priorities. China's HSR would benefit from complementary measures to improve the governance and financing of public service delivery. We discuss the existing weaknesses in local governance and suggest possible approaches to better align the responsibilities and capacity of sub-national governments with national policies, standards, laws and regulations, therefore ensuring local-level implementation and enforcement. Drawing on China's institutional framework and ongoing reform pilots, we present possible approaches to: (1) consolidate key health financing responsibilities at the provincial level and strengthen the accountability of provincial governments, (2) define targets for expenditure on primary health care, outputs and outcomes for each province and (3) use independent sources to monitor and evaluate policy implementation and service delivery and to strengthen sub-national government performance management.