Low-income Sectors Research Articles

Residential transformations and real estate market trends associated with tourism activity in urban popular sectors: Ciudad Bolívar in Bogotá

Purpose This study aims to identify the transformations of the residential landscape and trends in the popular real estate market associated with tourist activity in a low-income neighborhood in Bogotá. Design/methodology/approach The methodology was mainly qualitative, although the author analyzed some quantitative data. The author conducted three guided tourist tours in the area and systematically compared photographs taken in 2022 with satellite images in 2019 before starting the tourist activity. To analyze the real estate market, the author uses data on housing offers for sale and rent. Finally, the author conducted semi-structured interviews with tour guides, residents and other key actors in the sector. Findings This study identified some dynamics of change in the real estate market, particularly associated with an increase in housing sales and rental prices, as well as a possible effect on the increase of new informal growth processes. The author found a growing transformation of the urban and residential landscape associated with the painting of facades by the local administration and mural painting processes by community organizations. There are evident housing investment processes, some associated with verticalization and other use changes for tourism activities. It is necessary to reflect on these processes’ effects on the city’s sociospatial dynamics. Originality/value This study makes an empirical contribution to the relationship between residential real estate markets in low-income sectors and tourism activity. Although analyses of community-based tourism in popular areas have been conducted, less is known about the effects on the real estate market and the associated sociospatial transformations.

EFFECT OF JOB SATISFACTION ON MOONLIGHTING INTENTION

Relevant factors that support the creation of moonlighting intention among the young working professionals has been related to the impact of job satisfaction. Background information related to moonlighting and its definition was explained. The individuals who work for multiple jobs developed interest towards moonlighting due to different logical reasons that had been listed. Literature review section had covered the relation of job satisfaction with moonlighting by exploring the different issues and implications of moonlighting. The needs of the individual professionals belonging to the lower income sectors could be linked to the wishes of the individual professionals who fall under the higher income sector. The gap in research was addressed. The concept based framework could link up the core theme with the subsidiary ideas of the topical elements. Primary data was collected and analyzed by conducting quantitative survey analysis for developing the standardized outcomes related to the topic of research study. Graphical representations were designed and the discussion of the topic based elements was explained logically for examining and understanding the effect of job satisfaction on moonlighting intention. Key words: Moonlighting, job satisfaction, employees, effect, intention.

Structural transformation, the knowledge economy, and the geography of low-income work

Abstract The structural transformation toward the knowledge economy is often credited with increasing polarization and precarization of the low end of the labor market. Little is known, however, about the geography of low-income work since the literature has largely ignored sub-national variation. This article explores how the knowledge economy as the main driver of the transformation has affected the concentration of low-income work throughout the Swedish regional system for the last 30+ years. We propose a model where the knowledge economy affects the prevalence of low-income work through three mechanisms: polarization, upgrading, and labor market tightening. We find that the prevalence of low-income work in Sweden has decreased, and regions have converged under this metric over time. The penetration of the knowledge economy is, moreover, associated with lower levels of low-income work, and even though the knowledge economy is related to increasing polarization and, through it, an expansion of the low-income sector, the opposite effects of upgrading and tightening outweigh it. We discuss these findings in relation to studies conducted in different contexts and argue that institutional embeddedness, in particular (but not exclusively) labor market institutions, matters greatly in shaping these outcomes.

Challenges of Dementia care in times of COVID. Change and survive or Perish

AbstractBackgroundThe COVID era forced dementia centers to reshaped their strategies in order to keep providing care to patients and to their familiesMethodAdaptation of simple social media tools as a telemedicine systemResultVery usefulConclusionOur Institute faced the same challenges that all other institutions, having to deal with isolation, fear, decreased income and uncertainty. Patients and caregivers suffered enormously these facts.We developed a complex system of telemedicine in order to keep being responsible for the continuing care. Our country was not adapted in technology by that time and most the families belonged to low income sector. Most of them (65% approximately) did not have even a personal computer at home.We adapted neuropsychiatric consultations, neuropsychological evaluations and cognitive training using simple tools such as Instagram, Zoom, Meet and mainly Whatsapp.We were able not only to provide the very same standard of care to patients but also the hold the needs of the caregivers.This rudimentary structure created during the sanitary emergency was the basis for a larger, more complex and sophisticated web platform that we developed and today we are using as a virtual Alzheimer Institute, being able to reach patients and caregivers worldwide.

Quality of service and customer satisfaction in Peruvian food markets

Final consumers still go to food markets to purchase basic family products; this purchase attitude is more frequent in low-income sectors because prices are relatively low, and in many cases service quality and customer satisfaction are sacrificed. In this context, the objective of this study was to determine to what extent service quality and customer satisfaction are related in Peruvian food markets. Through a quantitative approach at a descriptive and correlational level, the sample consisted of 183 buyers, and the instrument was a questionnaire with 16 items, whose reliability index was a Cronbach's Alpha of 0,996. As a result, a coefficient (r=0,990) and a significance value of 0,000 were obtained. It was concluded that there is a strong relationship between the proposed variables; it is inferred that if the service quality variable increases, so will the customer satisfaction variable, in the same magnitude and vice versa. It is recommended to propose strategies and policies to standardize the quality of the service provided, and thus leverage the satisfaction that the customer perceives for the provision of such services and the consequent increase in the sale of the products sold there.

Thermal, light, and thermographic evaluation of a wooden housing solution in a warm temperate climate for low-income housing

Access to housing in low-income sectors brings up the need for a relevant reflection on Latin America. In this context, a wood-based Modular Housing Solution (MHS) has been developed in a neighborhood on the outskirts of CABA called La Plata, oriented to a housing improvement for working-class sectors, and managed by a labor cooperative, the university, and the scientific-technical sector. The objective is to evaluate the thermal and light behavior and the airtightness conditions of the building envelope of a wooden MHS in the La Plata district in a warm-temperate climate. For this purpose, first, indoor and outdoor monitoring (temperature, relative humidity, and natural lighting) was carried out, then the solar air heaters were evaluated, and finally, digital thermography was performed at night. The results show favorable daytime lighting performance and good daytime thermal response in cold weather. However, there was also room for improvement, such as the need for thermal conditioning at night, improvement of the airtightness of the envelope, night ventilation in warm seasons, reinforcement of shading, and thermal insulation.

USER’S ADOPTION OF E-PAYMENT SYSTEM IN HARYANA

In todays global financial transactions, electronic payment systems have emerged as the most preferred method of payment. This is because it is timely, convenient, and effective. The goal of the study is to determine the most popular e-payment mode and what drives people to use the system. 250 participants in the study filled out the questionnaire. The respondents were chosen using a combination of stratified random and judgmental sampling techniques. According to the studys findings, banking cards and mobile wallets are the two most popular modes of e-payment. There was a paucity of infrastructure, so few people voiced their displeasure. Certain areas of Haryana are reluctant to adopt a cashless system because of a lack of digital literacy, which prevents people from using coupons and earning cashback incentives, security concerns, poor internet connectivity, and other unfavourable attitudes. According to the studys findings, educational institutions and other organizations routinely offer digital literacy programs in order to inform individuals about cashless transactions, particularly those in the low-income sector who are totally dependent on cash. KEYWORDS: cashless payment; online payment; digital payment; mobile payment; electronic payment

Tucumán’s first “Garden Neighborhood”. The setting for the evolution of twentieth-century architecture and urbanism

This article addresses the study of the first neighborhood designed and financed by the Caja Popular de Ahorros, called Barrio Jardín and located in the city of San Miguel de Tucumán. Its recipients were the province's salespeople and industrial workers, who were given access to mortgages. This was the first response from the provincial entity for a low-income sector, to face the lack of housing. The housing development, inspired by the English garden city structure, transformed and applied to the garden suburb concept, had its architectural expression in the Californian chalet. The three extensions it underwent in subsequent decades followed the trends of the Modern Movement, both in terms of urban layout and its architecture. The research adopted a qualitative methodology, viewing the problem from a historical perspective. Although work began in the context of Juan Domingo Perón's first government (1946-1952), the extensions were made between 1962 and 1973, in other political and economic circumstances. The unit of analysis is limited to the first garden neighborhood of San Miguel de Tucumán, with its different stages of expansion, but the timeline covers the 1940s, 1960s, and 1970s. The goal of this article was to look through the urban–architectural lines applied in the different stages of the Garden Neighborhood's design, where urban land occupation and architecture were the product of the prevailing principles at their times.

Design and assessment of pro-poor financial soft policies for expanding cities

Recent major earthquake disasters have highlighted the effectiveness of financial soft policies (e.g., earthquake insurance) in transferring seismic risk away from those directly impacted and complementing ‘hard’ disaster risk mitigation measures (e.g., structural retrofit). However, the benefits of existing financial soft policies are often not guaranteed. This may be attributed to: (1) their low penetration rate (e.g., in the case of earthquake insurance); (2) the fact that they typically neglect the explicit needs of low-income sectors in (developed and developing) modern societies, who are often disproportionately impacted by natural-hazard driven disasters; and/or (3) their failure to consider the time-dependent nature of urban exposure. We contribute towards addressing these shortcomings by proposing a flexible framework for designing and assessing bespoke, people-centred, household-level, compulsory financial soft policies (including conventional earthquake insurance, disaster relief fund schemes, income-based tax relief schemes, or a combination of these) across cities under rapid urban expansion. The proposed framework leverages the Tomorrow’s Cities Decision Support Environment, which aims to facilitate pro-poor disaster-risk-informed urban planning and design in developing country contexts. The framework specifically enables decision makers to strategically design and then assess the pro-poorness of mandatory soft policies, using financial impact metrics that discriminate losses on the basis of income. We showcase the framework using the hypothetical expanding city, “Tomorrowville”, successfully identifying pro-poor seismic-risk-related financial soft policies for different instances in the lifetime of the urban system.

Preisschübe beim Grundbedarf — Umverteilung erforderlich

AbstractSince the beginning of 2022, prices for food and energy have been rising sharply. In the low-income sector, this leads to financial emergencies, since the standard of living here is far below the standards of society anyway. On the other hand, the consequences of inflation can certainly be absorbed in the upper income brackets. Against this background, government measures should be concentrated on lower income brackets. Appropriate measures would be the payment of inflation compensation for those receiving basic security, a reform of the updating of basic security benefits and an income-related transfer payment for households without basic security. A solidarity surcharge on the income tax is proposed for financing.

Evaluation of the Push-pull Model on the Effect of COVID-19 on the Employment Stability in the Private and Informal Sector in parts of Lagos State, Nigeria

This study tends to examine the push-pull model on the effect of covid-19 on the employment stability in the private and informal sector in parts of Lagos state, Nigeria. Survey method was adopted and population was drawn from employees across the low income private and informal sector in some of the LGA of Lagos state, Nigeria. Questionnaire was sent through the Google form via e-mails and WhatsApp to about 245 target respondents and 229 was returned completed. A Push-Pull model was developed using stochastic statistical model to obtain the transition probabilities and the stationary distribution. The results revealed that 132, with transitional probability of 0.5788, of low-income private sector employees remain on the job and are willing to pull back to work while 92 individuals with transitional probability of 0.4057 wish to explore other industries and only 5 employees with transitional probability of 0.0165 were ready to defect to other industry.

Analysis of Job Transitions in Mexico with Markov Chains in Discrete Time

In this paper, we suggest a holistic explanation for the role currently played by self-employment in less developed countries and, consequently, a reason for its persistence and growth in recent years. At the same time, we link this explanation with current discussions on the role of very small economic units and informality and their relation to unemployment rates. In general, countries where the combined share of self-employment and very small units is high exhibit lower unemployment rates than countries of similar levels of development, but where the small units’ share is less significant. Using a rich set of labor data for Mexico, we examined flows between seven different labor statuses. Equilibrium vectors estimated through Markov matrices show that flows are linked to the economic cycle and that there exists a gender difference in behavior in these flows. We found that a dichotomic explanation of self-employment persistence (entrepreneurial reservoir/survival strategy) is not supported by evidence. We also found that strong links exist between the size of the self-employed sector and unemployment rates. With the help of a set of surveys on very small economic units, we identified a three-tier structure for very small economic units in Mexico. Thus, self-employment and small-sized economic units are both a source of income and a source of cheap goods for lower-income sectors. They serve as a buffer against unemployment and help to provide subsistence conditions for the poorest segment of the population. Finally, we discuss some questions that were raised along the text that help to guide future research.

Fiscal adjustment and gender inequalities in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic: what is the “new normal” about?

During the last decade, Latin America has been coping with a new scenario characterized by a reborn of fiscal adjustment discourses. By 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has deepened this policy orientation that seems to stand as central to the response to the economic crisis.This paper argued that fiscal adjustments catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted gender gaps, making women poorer in terms of incomes and time. Expenditure cuts triggered by constraints in fiscal revenues have a disproportionate effect on women and children. Women are more dependent on social policies because they are over-represented in poverty rates, informal work, and lower-income sectors. Likewise, women are employed in sectors that have been severely affected by the health and economic crisis.

A Sociological Approach to the Adolescent Pregnancy in the Low-Income Population of the Gran Mendoza, Argentina

Our purpose is to contribute to the knowledge of the incidence of teenage pregnancy in the low-income sector of the Gran Mendoza by understanding them as part of their life strategies within the framework of their conditions of existence strongly impacted for low job opportunities and a reactive educational system. Pregnancy and motherhood in these adolescents are problematized considering that their incidence remains high compared to that for women of other social classes. We had chosen to know their opinions regarding their sexual and reproductive practices that drive them, or not, to the pregnancy and maternity. We think it is possible to argue that, in extreme conditions of social exclusion, with a lack of familiar support and limited cultural capital, teenagers tend to have sexual practices that drive them not to avoid pregnancies strongly influenced by traditional ideas regarding the role of women in society. On the contrary, when teenage women have bigger levels of cultural capital, dispute the reiterate tendencies of the traditional “class habitus” and report educational and professional life projects.

MICROPROPAGATION OF FOUR VARIETIES OF CASSAVA (MANIHOT SCULENTA CRANTZ) WITH EXPORT AND INDUSTRIAL POTENTIAL IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Cassava (Manihot sculenta Crantz) has been a source of carbohydrates for low-income sectors of the population worldwide. Cassava is implicit in food security and sovereignty. The limitations of this crop to produce it are the lack of healthy material for planting and low yield levels. Cuttings from conventional cassava plantings are infested with pathogens and these are difficult to eliminate with existing procedures. This affects growth and yield. The massive in vitro multiplication of cassava contributes to the food security of Dominicans and the recovery of export markets. In vitro cassava plants were obtained to supply producers with high quality and yield varieties. In addition to being used in agro-industry, strengthening exports and satisfying the demand for material, it is important that the extraction of healthy material exceeds the traditional supply. For this reason, in vitro culture techniques are playing an important role in the maintenance of collections, sanitation and rejuvenation of the material whose yields are tripled when using in vitro cassava plants.

Cost of credit and interest rate caps in a covid-19 pandemic situation

For some years now, the government, mainly from the legislature, and a large part of the population have questioned the application of high interest rates to credits granted to lower-income sectors; considering measures such as the cap on interest rates to curb these high rates called usury and charged by financial institutions. The application of measures like this is not a new economic recipe, since many developed and developing countries - such as Peru - carried it out with mostly disastrous results and to the detriment of the sectors that were precisely intended. to attend. In this sense, the theory of the credit market is exposed, the same that in conditions of perfect competition determines the market interest rate. In other words, applying limits to these rates only lead to credit contraction, harming and excluding from the financial system the lower-income sectors, considered those with the highest credit risk. Finally, alternative measures are presented that can lead to the objective of providing the most vulnerable sectors with better interest rates and contributing to their growth. Finally, a good example of interest rate reduction is presented, particularly in a situation of financial and economic crisis with the measure applied by the government and the Central Reserve Bank of Peru -Reactiva Perú-, which allowed the lower income sectors income to enjoy low interest rates at levels never seen before.

Chile’s perfect storm: social upheaval, COVID-19 and the constitutional referendum

ABSTRACT Why did one of Latin America’s most stable democracies experience a social upheaval that forced the political class to organise a referendum to rewrite the current constitution? To what degree did the COVID-19 pandemic influence the development of the constitutional referendum of October 2020? What institutional paths will open for Chile when the new constitution comes into force? In this article, it is suggested, first, that Chile successfully reduced poverty levels but inequality was reduced more slowly, which contributed to generating discontent with democracy. Second, that Chile has had a long-term crisis of representation, with a rigid party system which partially changed in 2017 due to the implementation of a new electoral system. Third, that in the 2020 constitutional referendum the lower-income sectors – whose COVID 19 infection rates were higher than the rest of the population – surprisingly turned out to vote in greater numbers than in previous elections. Fourth, that Chile is beginning a constitutional process blighted by uncertainty, polarisation and political instability, which will culminate only with the referendum in mid-2022 to approve or reject the new constitution.

Accessibility to Reproductive Technologies by Low-Income Beef Farmers in South Africa.

This study address historical legacy of South Africa that has dual economies resembling low and high income beef sectors. Low-income herds are farmed mainly under communal village or land reform farms. The study focused on providing assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) to the low-income sector including finding challenges to its implementation and adoption. The study was conducted in Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal provinces using mixed methods that looked at cows and sectors stakeholders. Data collected and evaluated on cows included breed type, frame size, body condition, age parity, and lactation status. Cows were exposed to ART through synchronisation, oestrus detection, fixed time artificial insemination and pregnancy diagnosis. Qualitative data was collected to study perception of key stakeholders on ART implementation and adoption. Chi-Square Test was computed to determine the association among cow factors. Qualitative data was collected, coded and managed into themes using Nvivo Version 11. Themes that emerged were interpreted using critical social and systems thinking. Conception rate was not independent of provinces (P < 0.05), cow body condition score (BCS) and body frame size. KwaZulu-Natal cows had the highest conception rate at 66% (P < 0.05) than Limpopo (44%) and Mpumalanga (60%) provinces. Cows with a BCS higher than 3.5 had higher conception rate (P < 0.05) than those with BCS of <2.5 and 3. Interestingly, large framed cow size had higher conception rate than medium and small framed (P < 0.05) cows. The study achieved a 100% calf survival rate. Calving rate was influenced by body BCS, province and district (P < 0.05). Calving rate of 58% in Mpumalanga and 54% in KwaZulu-Natal was higher than that recorded in Limpopo at 36% (P < 0.05). Interestingly, cows with BCS of <2.5 had a higher calving rate than those with a higher body condition score of 3 (P < 0.05). Perception study results revealed many factors that could affect the adoption and implementation of ART in the study areas. The high success rate and above average reproductive performance led to North West and KwaZulu-Natal provinces adopting ART as part of their low-income beef sector support.

Exploring the Roles of Local Mobility Patterns, Socioeconomic Conditions, and Lockdown Policies in Shaping the Patterns of COVID-19 Spread

The COVID-19 crisis has shown that we can only prevent the risk of mass contagion through timely, large-scale, coordinated, and decisive actions. This pandemic has also highlighted the critical importance of generating rigorous evidence for decision-making, and actionable insights from data, considering further the intricate web of causes and drivers behind observed patterns of contagion diffusion. Using mobility, socioeconomic, and epidemiological data recorded throughout the pandemic development in the Santiago Metropolitan Region, we seek to understand the observed patterns of contagion. We characterize human mobility patterns during the pandemic through different mobility indices and correlate such patterns with the observed contagion diffusion, providing data-driven models for insights, analysis, and inferences. Through these models, we examine some effects of the late application of mobility restrictions in high-income urban regions that were affected by high contagion rates at the beginning of the pandemic. Using augmented synthesis control methods, we study the consequences of the early lifting of mobility restrictions in low-income sectors connected by public transport to high-risk and high-income communes. The Santiago Metropolitan Region is one of the largest Latin American metropolises with features that are common to large cities. Therefore, it can be used as a relevant case study to unravel complex patterns of the spread of COVID-19.

Urban Transit Infrastructure and Inequality: The Role of Access to Non-Tradable Goods and Services

With 68% of the world population projected to live in urban areas by 2050, mass transit networks are expanding faster than ever before. But how are the economic gains from such expansions being shared between low- and high-income workers? Existing research focuses on the role of commuting to work, however much of urban travel is related to the consumption of non-tradable goods and services (retail, F&B, personal services etc.). Since low-income workers are overwhelmingly employed in these non-tradable sectors, changes in consumption travel patterns in response to a transit expansion leads to a spatial re-organization of low-income jobs in the city which has important implications for inequality. This paper develops an urban spatial model with heterogeneous worker groups and incorporating travel to consume non-tradable goods and services. We estimate our model using detailed farecard and administrative data from Singapore to quantify the impact of the Downtown Line (DTL). We find large welfare gains for high-income workers, but near zero gains for low-income workers. All workers benefit from improved access to consumption opportunities, but low-income non-tradable sector jobs move to less attractive workplaces. Abstracting away from consumption travel results in a five-fold underestimation of the inequality effects and failure to capture the spatial re-organization of low-income jobs in the city.