Inequality Literature Research Articles

Socio-economic inequalities in health-related quality of life and the contribution of cognitive impairment in Australia: A decomposition analysis

BackgroundThe distributional effects of cognitive impairment on inequalities in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are not well studied. This relationship has not been studied in any Australian health inequality literature. Therefore, this study aims to examine how cognitive impairment affects the distribution of HRQoL across various socio-economic classes amongst older Australians. MethodsData for this study was collected from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. The final analysis consisted of 5,247 and 5,614 unique individuals from wave 2012 and wave 2016, respectively. An ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model was used to investigate the relationship between cognitive impairment and HRQoL. Additionally, the Wagstaff-Doorslaer-Watanabe standard concentration index was used to examine socioeconomic inequality in HRQoL. ResultsThe findings revealed pro-rich inequalities in HRQoL, as indicated by the concentration indices of 0.029 and 0.025 for wave 12 and wave 16, respectively. Additionally, the results showed that mild cognitive impairment accounted for 7.60% and 9.03%, respectively, of pro-rich socioeconomic inequality in HRQoL in 2012 and 2016. ConclusionPeople from lower socioeconomic status (SES) groups tend to have lower HRQoL compared to those from higher SES. This leads to a greater disparity in HRQoL based on SES. Cognitive impairment positively contributed to this inequality in HRQoL. Therefore, it is critical to incorporate cognitive impairment into the design of interventions to reduce socioeconomic inequality in HRQoL.

Education, Electricity Access, and Income Inequality in Nigeria

Education and electricity access are argued to be important determinants in the income inequality literature, especially with regard to developing countries. This present study explores in Nigeria the roles of both education and electricity access, as well as the interaction of the aforementioned variables for income inequality over the period of 1990 to 2019. Utilizing Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) estimation preceded by the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) unit root test and ARDL bounds test for cointegration, the study found that while there was no long-run relationship between income inequality and it's determining variables, including education and electricity access, in the short run, electricity access was significant for reducing income inequality, while education was not significant for income inequality in Nigeria. On the other hand, education in the presence of greater electricity access was found to play a significant role in raising income inequality in Nigeria. The policy implications derived from the study findings emphasized the need for greater creation of employment opportunities by the Nigerian government, while electricity is made affordable for greater access by the Nigerian populace and is adequate in supply. Recommendations were also proffered based on the findings of the study.

A Systematic Literature Review of Income Inequality in Central–Eastern European Countries

AbstractThis review offers a comprehensive perspective on income inequality literature in Central–Eastern European (CEE) nations, with a specific focus on six countries: Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Czechia, and Slovakia. By thoroughly examining existing research, this review uncovers the underlying factors and root causes contributing to varying income inequality levels and trends across CEE countries. The investigation is conducted through a systematic literature review and network analysis, focusing on the literature published since 1990, mainly on recent studies. The review is structured around three thematic frameworks (concept and measures, evidence, and causes). These three strands of the literature review not only offer a comprehensive picture of income inequality in CEE countries but also identify critical research gaps for further studies. The review underscores several critical areas for improvement within CEE studies. These include addressing gaps in geographical and temporal coverage, utilizing alternative measurements of income inequality, and investigating the causes of diverging trends in income inequality among CEE countries. Moreover, there is a pressing need to expand the understanding of the determinants influencing income inequality in these nations, which presents a significant opportunity for future research.

Organizational demography and gender authority gaps in Dutch workplaces

Social stratification research increasingly draws attention to the role of workplaces for the (re)production of categorical inequalities. This article studies the relationship between differences between men’s and women’s chances of having a position of workplace authority – the gender authority gap – and the demographic characteristics of the organization they work in. Using unique linked employer-employee data representative of large workplaces in the Netherlands and individuals working in these organizations, I document larger gender authority gaps in organizations with larger shares of men and organizations where men have higher status than women in terms of other categorical distinctions, for example where their percentage of non-migrants is higher relative to women’s. Crucially, these findings are net of women’s and men’s individual status characteristics and human capital and related organizational characteristics. This article contributes to the literature on the gender authority gap by showing that women may be unable to reach desired jobs partially because of working in an organization with a particular demographic composition or intersection of status distinctions even when they have the qualifications to do so. In addition, the study contributes to the emerging relational inequalities literature that has thus far focused on earnings inequality by showing that predictions from this literature are consistent with the unequal distribution of desirable jobs.

The Effect of Terrorism on Income Inequality

Abstract Conflict research has recently found that increased inequality weakens institutional conditions, opening the door for terrorism. While this research often accounts for endogeneity, or the possibility of a reverse causal relationship, there has yet to be an empirical investigation of the impact of terrorism on income inequality. Using a sample of 139 countries between 1994 and 2018, we show that both domestic and transnational terrorism result in higher levels of income inequality. Our results are consistent for both pre- and post-tax and transfer inequality as well as multiple model specifications. Additionally, we explore multiple potential causal mechanisms that link terrorism and income inequality finding that the effect is, in part, due to terrorism’s negative effects on institutional stability, increased military expenditure, possibly to fund counterterrorism operations, and reduced foreign capital, especially for greenfield investment. Our analysis indicates a positive relationship between terrorism and inequality and the mechanisms that produce the effect, contributing to the terrorism and inequality literatures.

Inferring inequality: Testing for median-preserving spreads in ordinal data

. The median-preserving spread (MPS) ordering for ordinal variables has become ubiquitous in the inequality literature. We devise statistical tests of the hypothesis that a distribution G is not an MPS of a distribution F. Rejecting this hypothesis enables the conclusion that G is more unequal than F according to the MPS criterion. Monte Carlo simulations and novel graphical techniques show that a simple, asymptotic Z test is sufficient for most applications. We illustrate our tests with two applications: happiness inequality in the US and self-assessed health in Europe.

Immigrants and Inequality: Evidence from a Minor-Emerging Gateway Metropolitan Area in NC

abstract: Socioeconomic inequalities among foreign-born populations in the United States in minor-emerging gateways are rarely discussed in existing inequality literature. This study helps to fill that gap by examining inequality and spatial integration among immigrant, US–born White, and Black populations in a minor gateway metropolitan area of Greensboro–High Point, NC. The 2020 Census five-year (2016–2020) estimate of American Community Survey (ACS) housing and demographic data, the location quotient (LQ), Lorenz curve, and Gini Index are utilized. The LQ values suggest immigrant groups are more concentrated with Black populations than White populations, but US–born Black and White populations are far more segregated than immigrant groups. Lorenz curve and Gini coefficients confirm that White populations experience the least inequality while the greatest income inequality exists among US–born Black populations, followed by immigrant populations. Further, disparities in income are greater for immigrants living in their underrepresented communities than those who live in overrepresented neighborhoods. The study concludes that immigrant populations living in segregated neighborhoods with a higher proportion of racial and ethnic minorities have lower education and English language competency than those living in neighborhoods with a higher percentage of US–born residents, and hence have lower income inequality among populations.

Has the pandemic resulted in a renewed and improved focus on heath inequalities in England? A discourse analysis of the framing of health inequalities in national policy

ObjectivesThe COVID-19 pandemic rapidly exacerbated health inequalities in England. Policy makers sought to ameliorate its impact. This paper aims to identify how health inequalities were framed in national policy documents published in England during the pandemic and how this impacts the framing of policy solutions. Study designDiscourse analysis of selected national policy documents. MethodsFirst, we identified relevant national policy documents through a broad search and eligibility criteria to identify illustrative policy documents. Second, we undertook a discourse analysis to understand the framing and constitution of health inequalities and consequent solutions within them. Third, we used existing health inequalities literature to critique the findings. ResultsBased on analysis of six documents, we found evidence of the idea of lifestyle drift with a marked disjunction between the acknowledgement of the wider determinants of heath and the policy solutions advocated. The target population for interventions is predominantly the worst off, rather than the whole social gradient. Repeated appeals to behaviour change indicate an inherent individualist epistemology. Responsibility and accountability for health inequalities appears delegated locally without the power and resource required to deliver. ConclusionPolicy solutions are unlikely to address health inequalities. This could be done though through (i) shifting interventions towards structural factors and wider determinants of health, (ii) a positive vision of a health equitable society, (iii) a proportional universalism in approach and (iv) a delegation of power and resource alongside responsibility for delivering on health inequalities. These possibilities currently remain outside of the policy language of health inequalities.

Misspecified Moment Inequality Models: Inference and Diagnostics

Abstract This paper is concerned with possible model misspecification in moment inequality models. Two issues are addressed. First, standard tests and confidence sets for the true parameter in the moment inequality literature are not robust to model misspecification in the sense that they exhibit spurious precision when the identified set is empty. This paper introduces tests and confidence sets that provide correct asymptotic inference for a pseudo-true parameter in such scenarios, and hence, do not suffer from spurious precision. Second, specification tests have relatively low power against a range of misspecified models. Thus, failure to reject the null of correct specification does not necessarily provide evidence of correct specification. That is, model specification tests are subject to the problem that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. This paper develops new diagnostics for model misspecification in moment inequality models that do not suffer from this problem.

Inequality Regimes in Africa From Pre-Colonial Times to the Present

ABSTRACT While current levels of economic inequality in Africa receive ample attention from academics and policymakers, we know little about the long-run evolution of inequality in the region. Even the new and influential ‘global inequality literature’ that is associated with scholars like Thomas Piketty, Branko Milanovic, and Walter Scheidel has had little to say about Africa so far. This paper is a first effort to fill that void. Building on recent research in African economic history and utilizing the new theoretical frameworks of the global inequality literature, we chart the long-run patterns and drivers of inequality in Africa from the slave trades to the present. Our analysis dismantles mainstream narratives about the colonial roots of persistent high inequality in post-colonial Africa and shows that existing inequality concepts and theories need further calibration to account, among others, for the role of African slavery in the long-run emergence and vanishing of inequality regimes.

Parks, People, and Pollution: A Relational Study of Socioenvironmental Succession

The urban environmental inequality literature holds that marginalized communities are generally concentrated in neighborhoods with greater levels of industrial pollution and lesser access to parks and playfields. Yet, “green” and “brown” land uses are also linked historically and through contemporary practices of green redevelopment. This article thus begins from the understanding that it is important to analyze both forms of urban land use at once, to avoid mistaking one historical process for another. Focusing on Providence, Rhode Island (1970–2010), we leverage original historical data on the location and operating years of public parks alongside comprehensive industrial site data to analyze the joint transformation of residential populations, parks, and industry over time. We find that park access generally increases for Latinx residents; however, after accounting for increases in park access associated with past industrial land use, we find that census tracts with growing proportions of African American residents are associated with relatively less access to parks than other census tracts. Results reveal additional dimensions to the role of industrial history in shaping the socioenvironmental trajectory of local neighborhoods and additionally emphasize the importance of a historical and relational view of urban land use in urban environmental research.

Variational inequalities, maximal elements and economic equilibria

Our main goal in this paper is to provide conditions under which the solution sets to a maximal problem and to a generalized variational inequality problem coincide and are nonempty. We use the obtained results to get a proof of existence of equilibria in an exchange economy model. Finally we compare the results obtained in our analysis with those which are available in the variational inequality and economic literature.

How Illegitimate Pay Inequality leads to worse performance via aggression and coworker devaluing

This set of studies examines whether and how pay illegitimate pay inequality might motivate workers to perform worse. In a field sample of leaders, we found that illegitimate pay inequality predicted workplace aggression (peer-rated), which then predicted worse job performance ratings (boss-rated). We then conducted a second study of actual work teams in a highly controlled laboratory context to gain greater insight into why illegitimate pay inequality might motivate workplace aggression and worse performance. In this second study, we found that the linkage between manipulated illegitimate pay inequality and workplace aggression (peer-rated) was the degree to which individuals valued the contributions of their coworkers. Specifically, individuals in the illegitimately unequal pay condition tended to devalue the contributions of their coworkers. This, in turn, led both the advantaged and disadvantaged workers to express more workplace aggression toward their teammates. Ultimately, this aggression reduced these individuals’ job performance (objectively measured). We discuss how our findings contribute to the pay inequality and workplace aggression literatures, and also consider how our findings help provide insight into solving the most pressing management “grand challenge” – reducing the harmful effects of workplace pay inequality.

Income inequality in Pakistan

PurposeIn most developing countries like Pakistan, the gap between rich and poor has widened over time. This polarization in the society hinders economic growth and acts as a barrier for development and well-being. The proportion of income distribution varies across the population sub-groups in Pakistan. Therefore, it is important to study the income distribution effects across the four provinces of Pakistan.Design/methodology/approachThis study attempts to explore the root causes of income inequality and its changes in a dynamic context across the four provinces of Pakistan over a decade (2005–2006 to 2015–2016) by using a regression-based inequality decomposition method.FindingsAge, gender and higher education are the most prominent factors explaining the level of inequality across the four provinces of Pakistan. Higher education enhances the level of inequality in all provinces but contributes negatively to its changes except for Balochistan. Skilled agricultural and fishery workers in Balochistan have contributed significantly to reducing the level of inequality over the decade but not to its changes. Healthy contribution of the unpaid family workers in economic activities has reduced the level of inequality in Punjab and Balochistan and contributed positively to the change in income inequality. Employer or self-employed workers enhance the level of income inequality but contribute negatively to its changes for Punjab and Balochistan.Originality/valueTo date, inequality literature on Pakistan focuses on economic growth and poverty. A handful studies focus on the determinants of income inequality in a static context. This study goes beyond the static decomposition tools and attempts to explore the determinants of inequality in a dynamic context.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-09-2021-0573.

Whom Is It Fair to Subsidise? Evidence from Argentina

The inequality literature has shown a broad interest in examining how a subsidy or tax credit towards a certain point in the income distribution affects inequality. In this article, we answer the question: whom is it fair to subsidize? We adopt the benchmark income as the criterion of fairness: a subsidy or tax credit will be fair if it contributes to reducing income inequality. This benchmark income allows us to identify the richest (poorest) person who, by receiving a subsidy, leads to a reduction (increase) in inequality. The estimates are based on the Gini coefficient as a measure of inequality. We provide an application for the case of Argentina and its regions (2016–2020). The primary source of information is microdata from the Permanent Household Survey (EPH). The results show that the benchmark income has remained relatively stable between the 71th and 73th percentiles of the per capita income distribution—for the latest period examined (Q3-2020), this implies an income of AR$23,100. This result implies that subsidizing people with incomes above the 73th percentile is unfair since it would increase inequality. Therefore, the benchmark income can be considered an objective and intuitive criterion to determine the convenience of a subsidy or tax credit by policymakers globally.

The Role of Regulatory Focus, Self-Esteem, and Mood in Social Comparisons with Mediated Extreme Targets — Selective Exposure to News about the Rich and the Poor

In a quasi-experiment, high-school students’ (N=252) chronic regulatory focus, self-esteem, and mood were taken into account to predict patterns of selective exposure to headlines about the rich and poor. Partly consistent with Gerber et al. (2017) meta-analysis, there is a strong preference for upward choices in a negative mood. We nuanced this result by referring to the role of news valence in selective exposure demonstrating that the selection of negative news about the rich is typical in negative mood. Results regarding the selective exposure to headlines about the poor corroborate only with Wheeler and Miyakes’ (1992) finding that respondents selected down-ward comparison targets in a positive mood. The selective exposure self- and affect-management model (SESAM, Knobloch-Westerwick, 2015) may serve as a theoretical framework for explaining the result. Besides income inequality literature, the discussion is based on the Wu et al. (2018) finding, and it suggests that the selection of headlines about the rich could be linked to a positive stereotyping process. We would call this process of accepting one’s own culture as it is by social comparisons to make the unequal word supportable as soothing social comparison. The same logic was applied to the poor.

Global Multiple Migration: Class-Based Mobility Capital of Elite Chinese Gay Men

The present study examines how global multiple migration – a pattern of migration characterised by multiple changes of destination internationally in one’s lifetime – becomes a strategy employed by highly educated, Chinese self-identified gay men to navigate social stigmatisation, negotiate family pressure, circumvent state oppression and achieve desired life goals. By examining the intersection between sexuality, migration and class, the present study contributes to the sexuality and migration literature. It explores how relationships between sexuality and migration are related and mediated by class-based capital. It adds to the discussion that migration has increasingly become a multi-directional and open-ended process. For the class and social inequality literature, it seeks to understand how global multiple migration has become an element of social stratification and generates mobility capital. It also highlights how sexuality influences the value of mobility capital for the pursuit of an authentic self.

Gender, Race, and Network Advantage in Organizations

Universities and colleges often engage in initiatives aimed at enrolling students from diverse demographic groups. Although substantial research has explored the impact of such diversity initiatives, less understood is the extent to which certain application strategies may continue to favor historically privileged groups, especially white men, as they seek admission to selective programs. With this study, I begin to address this gap by investigating the gender and racial implications of application endorsements—a common, often informal, network practice of signaling support for certain applicants that is shown to significantly boost an applicant’s chances of admission. Using unique data on the applicants and matriculants to a full-time MBA program at one elite U.S. business school, I first assess whether the endorsement advantage differs across demographic groups. Building on the social networks, selection, and inequality literatures, I then identify and test three key theoretical mechanisms by which the endorsement process may potentially benefit white men more than women and racial minorities. Although I do not find evidence in the studied program that the application endorsement is valued differently by key admissions officers or that it provides a different quality signal depending on the applicant’s gender or race, I do find that white men are significantly more likely than women and minorities to receive application endorsements. I conclude by discussing the implications of this study for understanding how gender and racial differences in accessing advantageous (often informal) network processes may undermine organizational efforts to achieve demographic equality and diversity. Funding: Financial support from the James S. Hardigg (1945) Work and Employment Fund and the MIT Sloan School of Management is gratefully acknowledged.

First-Generation Students, College Majors, and Gendered Pathways

ABSTRACT Emerging literatures have highlighted the social- and resource-related inequalities among first-generation college students. Less attention has been devoted to the curricular pathways (i.e., college majors) these students follow and their potentially gendered character. We build on educational inequality and gender literatures in this article, and arguments surrounding habitus and class-based dispositions to address this gap. Our analyses draw on several waves of the Education Longitudinal Survey (ELS-2002) merged with national data on sex composition of fields of study. Our results suggest unique pathways in college for first-generation compared to continuing-generation students. Specifically, first-generation students are more likely to choose occupationally specific “applied” majors than their continuing-generation counterparts. Modeling by gender reveals little to moderate variation between first- and continuing-generation students’ representation in female-dominated majors. These patterns generally hold for 2- and 4-year college going samples. We conclude by discussing the relevance of these findings for educational inequality, eventual job returns, and occupational mobility.

Natural resources and income inequality: A meta-analytic review

The role of natural resource endowments in socio-economic development has sparked an enormous interest. One research area that could be pursued is the impact of natural resources on income inequality. Based on a meta-analytic review, this study examines 688 estimates reported by 40 primary studies to quantitatively synthesize the natural resources-income inequality literature. We find that there is no evidence of publication bias or a significant genuine average effect, but the estimates range substantially across studies. We employ the multilevel mixed-effects model and shrinkage approaches, particularly the LASSO and Elastic Net to find the driving forces of heterogeneity in the reported estimates. The meta-regression results link this heterogeneity mainly to the measurement of natural resources and income inequality, the specified regression model, the data structure, and the development level of the country (or group of countries) on which the study was conducted. Such study conclusions would serve as a good starting point for researchers and decision-makers alike before embarking upon carrying out future researches and policies, respectively.