Poverty Inequality Research Articles

Does Migration Outflow Reduce Income Inequality in the Sending Province?

Previous studies on the association between migration outflow and income inequality have shown mixed findings. Some find that migration outflow reduces income inequality, but others find that migration outflow increases income inequality. This study aims to analyze the effect of migration outflow on income inequality in Central Java Province with two control variables: mean years of schooling and minimum wage. Central Java was chosen as the research location because it is the province with the highest migration outflow. This study uses secondary, time series data for the period 2000-2018 consisting of income inequality as measured by the Gini ratio (percent), migration outflow (people), meanyears of schooling (years), and minimum wage (rupiah). Data were obtained from BPS Central Java and analyzed with multiple linear regression. The results show that migration outflow and mean years of schooling have a negative significant effect and minimum wage has a positive significant effect on income inequality. This findings imply that migration outflow and improvement of the quality of human resources through education can be solutions to reduce poverty and income inequality, while minimum wage actually increases inequality, which may be due to the large portion of population engaging in agriculture and the informal sector.

The effect of cash transfers from the PROSPERA programme (formerly Oportunidades) on poverty in urban households in Northeast Mexico

ABSTRACTThe paper presents the effects of Mexico’s conditioned cash-transfers programme (PROSPERA programme, formerly Oportunidades) on household poverty in the Northeast urban areas. The estimate was calculated using the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke Index. We use three poverty lines (i.e. food, capability, and patrimonial poverty) which costs were established by the National Assessment Council of the Social Development Policy. The results show that, in the three lines, the intensity and inequality of poverty diminished. Regarding incidence, only in extreme poverty was found a significant effect, so, there is no evidence to support that cash transfers help households to escape poverty.

Dynamic linkages between poverty, inequality, crime, and social expenditures in a panel of 16 countries: two-step GMM estimates

The study examines the relationship between growth–inequality–poverty (GIP) triangle and crime rate under the premises of inverted U-shaped Kuznets curve and pro-poor growth scenario in a panel of 16 diversified countries, over a period of 1990–2014. The study employed panel Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator for robust inferences. The results show that there is (i) no/flat relationship between per capita income and crime rate; (ii) U-shaped relationship between poverty headcount and per capita income and (iii) inverted U-shaped relationship between income inequality and economic growth in a panel of selected countries. Income inequality and unemployment rate increases crime rate while trade openness supports to decrease crime rate. Crime rate substantially increases income inequality while health expenditures decrease poverty headcount ratio. Per capita income is influenced by high poverty incidence, whereas health expenditures and trade factor both amplify per capita income across countries. The results of pro-poor growth analysis show that though the crime rate decreases in the years 2000–2004 and 2010–2014, while the growth phase was anti-poor due to unequal distribution of income. Pro-poor education and health trickle down to the lower income strata group for the years 2010–2014, as education and health reforms considerably reduce crime rate during the time period.

Educational Poverty and Social Inequality. Comparative Approach: Italy and Serbia

The purpose of this text is to present phenomenon of educational poverty and social inequali-ty, through review of situation in Italy and Serbia. The text seeks to investigate elements of convergence and differentiation in the policies of the two countries examined. Also, it presents challenges and recommendations on how to tackle educational poverty and social inequality, focusing on successful education action (new teaching methods and cross-disciplinary ap-proaches) and transferring best practices, innovative approaches and participatory action learning methodology. Authors highlighted a comparison between educational poverty and early school leaving from education and training. The aim is to define the best practices in use in both countries and which could be the most useful and interesting themes to research for future progresses in the field of educational poverty protection. Through the analysis of the legal framework, strategic documents, international project, national initiatives and re-ports it's obvious that great efforts are being made in Italy and Serbia, but the process of tackling educational poverty needs to continue and constantly improve.

On Government, Agency, and the Violence of Inaction

In this piece, Eppard and Chomsky argue that government is crucial to the realization of true agency for millions of Americans. They also explore the manner in which political and cultural factors work to curtail the U.S. government’s ability to address social problems like poverty and economic inequality, thus limiting opportunity and freedom for many.

Population–Poverty–Inequality Nexus and Social Protection in Africa

This study examines how social protection policies and programmes can help in poverty and inequality reduction in Africa. The study covers 38 African countries and engages the fixed and random effects models utilising data sourced from the World Development Indicators, Gini Index and Country Policy Institutional Assessment for the period 2000–2017. A remarkable finding, among other things, from the study is that a 1% increase in the provision of social protection will decrease poverty and inequality by 58% and 26%, respectively. The results imply that the provision of social protection contributes to poverty and inequality reduction in Africa. Therefore, the study recommends that the efficient provision of social protection should be implemented through in-kind and in-cash supports, among others, in order to reduce the level of poverty and inequality in Africa. Although, social protection appears to be an essential strategy for reducing, to a more considerable extent, poverty and, to a relatively lesser extent, inequality in Africa, there are also regional variations. Thus, the study submits that the type (s) of social protection policies may need to differ from one region to the other.

The case for a universal basic income in South Africa: A conceptual approach

This conceptual study investigates a model for addressing both poverty and income inequality, which is theoretically distinct from the traditional tax and transfer systems adopted by most jurisdictions. It does so against a backdrop of global uncertainty and ongoing challenges to the current economic landscape. The model investigated is known as universal basic income (UBI) which provides a minimum payment to all citizens of a jurisdiction. In doing so it decouples income from labour and removes any means or employment tests from the receipt of assistance. To adequately address this model, a theoretical rationale for such an approach is first discussed followed by an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages. Current and previous experiments of UBI in Alaska, Switzerland, Canada, Finland, Kenya and Namibia are outlined and analysed. This is followed by a case study for the introduction of UBI in South Africa, with the conclusion that such a model is not outside the realm of political will or practicality.

Rural Livelihood Diversification in Bangladesh: Effect on Household Poverty and Inequality

The pervasiveness of poverty continues to be a daunting challenge for Bangladesh. This study attempts to examine the effect of different livelihood diversification on rural household poverty and income inequality. A panel dataset, which is used in this study, was collected in the three different years (1988, 2000 and 2008) from 62 villages across 57 districts of Bangladesh. Besides, 153 households from three districts of Bangladesh were also randomly selected as primary data. Multidimensional poverty index (MPI) was used to measure poverty whereas Gini coefficients and decomposition of Gini coefficients were used to measure inequality and to identify marginal effects of certain livelihood income source on total inequality. The results reveal that diversifying livelihood through income source changes has an impact on the poverty level and inequality among rural households. Following these changes, the overall poverty situation has been improving and income distribution has been worsening over the years. Households drastically reduce their poverty by diversifying their livelihood from only agriculture to part-time farming. Among different non-farm income sources, only self-employment has a positive contribution in decreasing income inequality since 2000. Incomes from migration and wage-employment widen income inequality in rural Bangladesh. Therefore, policy options should strive to expand rural industry and scope of self-employment in the rural areas along with agricultural sector development.

Income elasticities and inequality of poverty in urban and rural areas of the Brazilian states: A spatial approach

This study sets out to obtain values for the income elasticities and inequality of poverty in urban and rural areas of the Brazilian states. A panel data methodology capable of capturing spatial effects via a spatial lag model is used to identify whether there are spatial spillovers of poverty in the census situations studied. Changes in growth and inequality lead to spatial spillovers in the proportion of poor people in Brazil’s urban areas, but this does not happen at all in rural areas. By demonstrating the existence of spatial spillovers in urban areas, the study shows that anti-poverty measures for these areas should be applied at the national level. In rural areas, the absence of spatial spillovers in the proportion of poor people means that public policies to combat rural poverty can be implemented at both state and national levels.

Life-Course Exposure to Neighborhood Poverty and Migration Between Poor and Non-poor Neighborhoods

Drawing on the life-course perspective, this study examines the effect of residential histories spent living in poor neighborhoods on the contemporaneous likelihood of moving between poor and non-poor neighborhoods. We use individual-level data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics from 1970 to 2013 in conjunction with neighborhood-level data derived from four U.S. censuses. Results from logistic regression analyses show that a longer residential history spent in poor neighborhoods both reduces the likelihood of moving from a poor to a non-poor neighborhood and increases the likelihood of moving from a non-poor to a poor neighborhood. A decomposition analysis reveals that a sizeable portion of the racial differences in the likelihood of moving between poor and non-poor neighborhoods is attributable to differences between blacks and whites in the duration of time they have spent living in a poor neighborhood. Our study highlights the salient role of residential histories in perpetuating racial inequality in neighborhood poverty over the life course and across generations.

Socio-Spatial Concerns in Urban Mobility Planning: Insights from Competing Policies in Quito

Socio-spatial concerns are gaining increasing attention in the design of interventions for urban mobility. This is especially true in contexts traditionally characterized by structural inequality and high levels of poverty, in which transport can be a decisive contributor to development thanks to its contribution to a higher social inclusion. Amongst them, Latin America has emerged as a significant laboratory for urban and transport policy due not only to its socioeconomic conditions but also to the implementation of different mobility strategies based on the construction of traditional and innovative infrastructures such as subways and bus rapid transit (BRT) systems. These two transport systems can be complementary or alternative to each other: this depends not only on their transport capacity, their economic sustainability, and to their levels of public acceptability but also on social, political, and spatial features of the setting they serve. This paper intends to discuss the socio-spatial consequences that interventions based on different transport systems can generate, examining them in the city of Quito, Ecuador. The discussion is based on the implementation of the existing BRT network and of a subway line under construction. Reconstructing two contrasting transport policies developed in the city in the last 25 years, this paper proposes an overview of the socio-spatial concerns that influenced and were influenced by urban mobility planning in Quito. To do so, this paper reviews and compares the socio-spatial concerns related to BRT and subway corridors, considering their accessibility, the wider urban transformations they promote, their economic sustainability, and the overall public acceptability, estimating to what extent these have influenced the decision to implement a certain transport policy.

Assessing the economic and social impacts of fiscal policies

PurposeThis study is the first attempt to analyze the effectiveness of recent two major tax policies, the reductions in personal and corporate income taxes and a rise in indirect tax and their combine, under both balanced and unbalanced budget conditions, on the economy and social aspects of Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a computable general equilibrium model to investigate the impacts of all simulation scenarios on the key macro and micro indicators. Further, based on the 2012 Malaysia Household Income and Expenditure Survey, it uses a micro-data with a significant number of households (over 56,000 individuals) to analyze the impacts of tax policies on poverty and income inequality of Malaysian.FindingsSimulation results show that, under the balanced budget condition, personal and corporate income tax reductions increase economic growth, household consumption, and investment, while the rise in indirect tax has adverse impacts on these variables. However, in the unbalanced budget condition, all tax policies, except indirect tax policy, reduce real GDP and investment in the economy and the indirect tax policy has insignificant impacts on all indicators. All policy reforms reallocate resources, especially labor, in the economy. In both budget conditions, the reductions in corporate and personal income taxes, particularly the corporate income tax, decrease poverty level of Malaysian households. Results also indicate that both tax policies are unable to influence income inequality in Malaysia.Social implicationsThis study recommends that the government can increase its revenue by increasing indirect taxes as it does not have any impact on household welfare. In order to increase government revenues, initial increases in personal and corporate income taxes are suggested as they may have small negative impacts on the economy and welfare of households.Originality/valueOne of the significant features of this paper is that it examines both expansionary and contractionary fiscal policies in a country that government budget depends on oil exports. Since the literature on this subject is limited, particularly in the Malaysian context, the authors used Malaysia as a case to show how tax reform policies affect the economy and poverty level of such countries. Distinguishing the Malaysian households into 10 deciles and analyzing the distributional impacts of tax policies on these categories are the most significant contributions of this study.

Analisis Kausalitas Antara Ketimpangan Pendidikan, Ketimpangan Pendapatan dan Kemiskinan di Indonesia

This study aims to find out the causal relationship between educational inequality, income inequality, and poverty in Indonesia. The data used are secondary data in the form of panel data from 2011 to 2018. Data analysis used is descriptive analysis and inductive analysis. In inductive analysis there are several tests, namely (1) Root Root Test (Unit Root Test), (2) Cointegration Test, (3) Optimum Lag Test, (4) Granger Causality Test, (5) Stability Test (Stability Test), (6) Variable Response Test (Impulse Response Finction), (7) Variance Decomposition Test. The results of this study indicate that: (1) There is a causal relationship between educational inequality and income inequality. (2) There is no causal relationship between inequality in education and poverty. (3) there is no causal relationship between income inequality and poverty. But there is a one-way relationship between income inequality and poverty.

Population change and the legacy of slavery

Despite increasing evidence of a contemporary legacy of slavery in the US South, scholars do not have a clear empirical understanding of the ways in which demographic forces can alter local connections to racial histories. In this study, we examine the influence of long-run trends in population change on the relationship between historical slave concentration and contemporary black-white poverty inequality in the American South. We combine one century and a half of county-level population data, including estimates of the slave and total populations in 1860, estimates of black and white population change starting in 1880, and black-white poverty disparities from the 2011–2015 American Community Survey. Our results offer new empirical evidence regarding the enduring influence of racial histories over time, and suggest that white population increase between 1880 and 1910 was particularly influential in understanding the local connection between slave concentration and black-white inequality. Moreover, rather than disrupting the transmission of the legacy of slavery, results indicate that white population increase may have helped spread this legacy of racial inequality to other counties through diffusion processes. We find that while local historical legacies are persistent, they are not permanent, and population trends are a critical force shaping local racial inequality.

Inequality, Poverty, and the Intra-Household Allocation of Consumption in Senegal

AbstractIntra-household inequalities have long been a source of concern for policy design, but there is very little evidence about their effects. The current practice of ignoring inequality within households could lead to an underestimation of both overall inequality and poverty levels, as well as to the misclassification of some individuals with regard to their poverty status. Using a novel survey for Senegal in which consumption data were collected at a disaggregated level, this paper quantifies these various effects. In total, two opposing effects, one on mean and one on inequality, compensate each other in terms of the overall poverty rate, but individual poverty statuses are affected. Intra-household consumption inequalities account for 14 percent of inequality in Senegal. This study has also uncovered the fact that household structure and organization are key correlates of intra-household inequality and individual risk of poverty.

Desigualdades, pobreza e reconhecimento social: perspectivas analíticas em contextos periféricos

Este artigo versa sobre a teoria do reconhecimento social a partir da ótica do sociólogo Axel Honneth, pertencente à terceira geração da Escola de Frankfurt. Busca-se relacionar tal teoria, de matriz europeia, com teorias explicativas sobre pobreza e desigualdades sociais no Brasil, a fim de testar sua validade teórica, com destaque para as interpretações de José de Souza Martins e Jessé Souza. É possível perceber pontos de contato sugestivos através das abordagens acerca da modernidade anômala, termo cunhado por Martins e da modernidade periférica, expressão utilizada por Jessé Souza, principalmente quando se pensam os fenômenos da pobreza e das desigualdades para além da materialidade da vida, isto é, na sua dimensão de reprodução simbólica.

Comparative Analysis of Poverty and Social Inequality Indicators in the Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation as a Criterion of National Economic Security

Comparative Analysis of Poverty and Social Inequality Indicators in the Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation as a Criterion of National Economic Security

Multidimensional Poverty and Inequality: Insights from the Upper Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia

As stated in the 2018 global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report, Ethiopia has the second largest multidimensionally poor population in Africa (after Nigeria). The global MPI was created to measure household’s multiple deprivations, but little systematic study has been carried out on the application of MPI measures on a smaller scale and vis-a-vis other measures of poverty. In addition, most of the few existing studies ignore any measure of inequality amongst the multidimensionally poor. This study explored multidimensional poverty in three different drought-prone agro-ecological settings of the Upper Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia. A preliminary participatory exercise was carried out at the study sites to select important indicators and then a structured survey was administered to 390 systematically and randomly selected households. The Alkire–Foster method was used to analyse multidimensional poverty and verified it with Correlation Sensitive Poverty Index (CSPI). Multidimensional poverty incidence, adjusted head count ratio and inequality were significantly different between study sites (p < 0.001). Results indicated a high incidence (88%, 82% and 80%), intensity (52%, 55% and 56%), MPI (46%, 45% and 45%) and inequality (53%, 60% and 63%) of poverty in Aba Gerima, Guder and Dibatie study sites, respectively. A high level of divergence was revealed between the MPI and CSPI in terms of identifying the poor. The living standard and land and livestock ownership dimensions contributed the most to MPI. The case study signifies the importance of inclusion of land and livestock indicators for the national MPI. Besides, it implies that researchers and policymakers need to account for smaller scale contextualised indicators and location differences when studying and designing anti-poverty interventions.

Poverty aversion or inequality aversion? The influencing factors of crime in China

ABSTRACT This paper aims to understand whether and how poverty aversion and inequality aversion affect the criminal behaviors. We analyze the relationship between the three variables through a theoretical model and an empirical model. The panel data of 27 provincial-level regions in China were collected for testing the hypothesis. The investigation revealed: 1. Inequality significantly increases crime, while the poverty reduction does not reduce crime. 2. The widening consumption gap between urban and rural residents may be the cause of crime, the effect is more significant for visible consumer goods. 3. The excessive consumption difference between the rich and ordinary people may lead to crime. 4. The increasing inequality of distribution between the state and the people has a positive impact on crime too. The research shows that the Chinese residents are not affected by poverty but by inequality in the choice of crime.

Critical analysis of the achievements of the global millennium development goals and new approaches to sustainable development management

This article provides a critical analysis of the achievements of human development towards sustainable development in the 17th Global Goals and reveals new approaches to the management of this process. Because these goals are related, the success in achieving one of them affects the success of the entire set of goals. This made it possible to distinguish the most acute globalization problems that have require urgent collective attention and special consolidated mechanisms to solve them. It is necessary to establish a unified global system of data collection on indicators of sustainable development from all countries of the world in order to achieve the fundamental social and economic transformations in 2030. The authors identify a new paradigm for the management of sustainable development in the form of governance in the process of achieving the 17 Global Millennium Goals, which aims to provide making such strategic decisions that would serve global interests, and national efforts are supported by effective interstate cooperation through diplomacy and crisis prevention. The researchers generalized the main challenges and suggested to identify the relationships between existing problems of human activity more effectively, adopting an integrated approach and increasing significantly investments in poverty alleviation, inequality and climate change.