...I watched “Inequality for All” this week. It is a documentary film directed by Jacob Kornbluth in 2013 and the author is Robert Reich. I watched the film on Thursday, July 23, 2015, I watched it on my computer and I was watching it at home. It is about the American middle class wages declining, profitability in a 90-minute documentary, through a series of lectures interpreted by Robert Reich. Being a narrator, Reich always makes jokes on himself about his height, and he also presents those difficult economics in a way that is very easy to understand. I think it is actually a good way of explaining everything in easy ways and terms. A point that Reich brings out is U.S. has the most unequal distribution of income and wealth by far. And one way for us to learn how to measure inequality is to look at the earnings of people at the top vs. the earning of the typical worker in the middle. By the year 2010, the typical male worker earned even less than he did then and the person in the top got more than twice as much as before. And today the riches 400 Americans have more wealth than the bottom 150 million of us put together. That means 400 people have more...
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...Income Inequality: A Meta-Regression Analysis Abdul Jabbar Abdullah* Hristos Doucouliagos Elizabeth Manning - FIRST DRAFT - Please do not quote without permission from the authors September 2011 Abstract This paper revisits the literature that investigates the effects of education on inequality. Specifically, the paper provides a comprehensive quantitative review of the extant econometrics literature through a meta-regression analysis of 64 empirical studies that collectively report 868 estimates of the effects of education on inequality. We find that education affects the two tails of the distribution of incomes; it reduces the income share of top earners and increases the share of the bottom earners, but has no effect on the share of the middle class. Inequality in education widens income inequality. Education has a larger negative effect on inequality in Africa. The heterogeneity in reported estimates can be largely explained by differences in the specification of the econometric model. JEL Codes: I24, C01 Keywords: Education, inequality, meta-regression analysis Number of words: 12,683 * Corresponding author. Abdullah: Universiti Teknologi Mara Sarawak Campus, Malaysia and PhD Candidate Deakin University, ajabd@deakin.edu.au Doucouliagos: School of Accounting, Economic and Finance, Deakin University, douc@deakin.edu.au Manning: School of Accounting, Economic and Finance, Deakin University, elizabem@deakin.edu.au 1 Education and Income Inequality: A Meta-Regression...
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...2. MEASURING CO-MOVEMENTS OF INCOME IN BRAZIL AND THE ROLE OF MACROECONOMICS In this paper we investigate the dynamics of income inequality among Brazilian states by applying the Bayesian Dynamic Factor Model described in (OTROK; WHITEMAN, 1998) and (KOSE; OTROK; WHITEMAN, 2003) to Gini indexes over the 1976-2014 period. Our results indicate that the common factor accounts for 48 percent of the Gini index co-movements; the richest states are more exposed. We found that macroeconomic stability is negatively correlated to the common factor, meaning that stability is inequality-decreasing. The deciles analysis suggests that inequality is related to lack of business cycles synchronization. Keywords: business cycles; bayesian analysis; income inequality...
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...ISLAM and INEQUALITY Introduction Fish (2011) in his book named “Are Muslims Distinctive: A Look at the Evidence.” discusses whether Muslims show any systematic differences on individual and country levels in various issues such as democracy, large scale violence, corruption, tolerance and social inequality. In terms of inequality, Fish compares Muslim and non- Muslim countries in relation to gender and income inequality. As a result of his data analyses he concludes: “On gender based inequality Muslims lag; on income inequality they lead” (Fish, 2011: 228). I consider the finding about income inequality as an unexpected one because in the income inequality literature, religion in general and Islam in specific are not commonly considered as potential determinants. Fish`s proposed causal mechanism makes his study even more suspicious because his references are anecdotal and his reasoning is culturalist. This is why, I decided to investigate his findings deeper and conduct a test on his claims that Muslims are culturally more egalitarian than Christians. The plan of this paper works in the following way: I will start with a literature review and continue with a brief summary of Fish`s data analysis and his major claims about the causal mechanism behind the relationship between Muslim culture and egalitarian state policies. Afterwards, I will continue with my alternative replication of Fish`s regression analysis with a different dataset which measures inequality in an alternative...
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...Should Income Inequality be Considered as a Serious Problem that Affects the Health of Most Individuals? Peng Peng AEIS111 Instructor: Roger Frost August 5,2015 With the rapid development of society, people did not have to worry about rising of income and income’s effects. Poor communities tend to suffer different diseases compared to rich people. The rich people will be associated with obesity while the poor are associated with wide range of diseases such as malnutrition, cholera, waterborne diseases and others (Rowlingson, 2011). In the recent years, all this seems different, and the apprehension has majorly shifted. Considering all this truly income inequality does affect the health of most individuals. Income inequality affects life expectancy, disease prevalence and social problems. On contrary, it is argued out that income inequality the main causative agent for health problems (Richard, 2015). This paper is an argumentative essay on how income inequality affects individual health and also identifies if it is the main causative agent or health problems. Firstly, there have been various studies that determine if indeed inequality affects the health of individuals. Those studies such as Whitehall studies have been able to demonstrate a link that is clear between the economic background and the health of individuals.It found out that people living in areas that are poor will die seven years earlier than the people that are living in areas that are...
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...Globalisation has intensified inequality Globalisation has built a set of prospects for mainly large firms around the world with declines in tariffs or creation of free trade areas (Celik 2010). Although globalisation has increase economic growth substantially it does however also increase the economic and social gap within and between countries. Income inequality in particular is the effect of globalisation through foreign direct investment. According to the World Development Indicators 2005 (World Bank, 2005), the richest country Norway has a per capita income of $43, 400 whereas the poorest countries Burundi and Ethiopia have a per capita income of $90. These show the huge gap between the poorest and richest countries per capita income. These numbers raised the question “Has globalisation led to a greater income inequality or less?” In the article ‘Is globalisation reducing poverty and inequality’, Wade (2004) questions the empirical basis of the neoliberal argument. The neoliberal argument says that the distribution of income between the entire world’s people has become more equal over the past two decades and the number of people living in extreme poverty has fallen. It states that these progressive trends are due in large part to the rising density of economic integration between countries, which has made for rising efficiency of resource use worldwide as countries and regions specialize in line with their comparative advantage. This is partially true as...
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...A New View of Income Inequality and Business Ethic Introduction It is believed that almost all employees care about business ethical issues, particularly in the area of equality in the workplace. For instance, people will be more motivated to their positions if they are offered the equal opportunity in terms of individual development in the corporation; however, employees may feel dissatisfied about the unequal pay. The pay gap among different position levels have been noticed which could result in the concern of income maldistribution. By discussing the maldistribution of income in the business, the focus of this article will be the analysis of historical reasons, which may contribute to addressing this ethical issue. Maldistribution of Income during the Great Depression When discovering the reason of the great depression since 1929 in USA, income inequality was seen as one of the main factors that make the system vulnerable to economic shocks (Heilbroner 95). Although American economy created enough potential buying power to purchase what it had produced, the conditions of income maldistribution can be very serious. Those lower-income groups such as farmers and workers, with a limitless desire to consume, did not get sufficient capability to buy because of the failure to distribute the profits of productivity at that time. As Heilbroner stated (96), such extraordinarily intensive incomes among diverse income pyramid displayed a prosperity of unequaled extent with little care...
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...This week’s reading, article “Income Inequality: Too Big to Ignore” Robert H. Frank provides several explanations for the rising income inequality in the United States by looking at the 100 most populous counties in the country. He begins by analyzing the three decades that followed WWII and points out that they were decades in which incomes across the board rose both equally and rapidly. He then follows this discussion by looking at the last three decades (1980-present) and points out that in this period the income share of the top 1% rose from 8.9% to 23.5%. Frank uses the results obtained from his working paper “Expenditure Cascades” to stress the importance of income equality. His studies show a strong positive correlation between income inequality and financial distress in terms of divorce rates and the commute times. As the gap between the upper and lower tail incomes in the economy widens, divorce rates increase and commute times get longer as a result of urbanization and booms in the housing markets. Even though the data collected offers a stable ground for argument, the extent to which increases in the divorce rates were primarily fueled by financial distress depend on the country’s sociopolitical and economic stance at that time. Thus, a cross-sectional study between divorce rates and income inequality should look at year-specific cohorts to correct for any lurking variables such as the impact of war, political unrest, or age at marriage. The financial distress...
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...STATE AND DISCUSS FIVE FACTORS OF INEQUALITY IN OUR SOCIETY. Gender refers to socially constructed roles and responsibilities of women and men. The difference in roles and responsibilities among women and men stems from our families, societies and culture. The concept of gender includes our expectations about the characteristics, attitudes and behaviours of women and men, and is vital in facilitating gender analysis. The different roles, rights and resources that both the genders have in society are important determinants of the nature and scope of their inequality and poverty. Inequality in access to resources between women and men is most common in Poor and developing countries. Gender inequality refers to inequality in conditions among women and men for realizing their full human rights. It refers to unequal treatment or perceptions of individuals based on their gender. It arises from differences in socially constructed gender roles as well as biologically through chromosomes, brain structure, and hormonal differences. Gender systems are often dichotomous and hierarchical; gender binary systems may reflect the inequalities that manifest in numerous dimensions of daily life. Gender inequality stems from distinctions, whether empirically grounded or socially constructed. There are factors that influence gender inequality in our society. Some of these...
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...Income inequality Name Date Abstract In any given population, there is a difference between what people within the population earn. The uneven distribution of income in any given population is income inequality. In order for there to be income, there has to be several sources of income. These sources of income may be combinational or independent per person receiving the income. Income may result from wages, rent, bank account interests, salaries or even profits made in business transactions ( Stiglitz, 2012). In his hypothesis, Karl Marx foresaw income inequality in a capitalistic as a major problem that would lead to an economic evolution. The main reason he foresaw an evolution was due to the recurrent nature of income inequality. In an income inequality situation, the richer keep getting richer due to a better income, while the poor keep getting poorer. The gap between the top earners and the low-income earners keeps widening in an income inequality situation. In America, almost 95% of the national wealth is under 5% ownership; this situation leaves 95% of the population to scrounge for the limited 5% wealth (DeNavas et. Al, 2005). Introduction In order to understand the complexities of economic inequality, the best specimen to use for the study is a family. In the study, the family’s income is under analysis, and then the family members ranked from the lowest income earner to the highest income earner. After the ranking, the incomes aid in establishing a Lorenz...
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...Running head: ANALYSIS OF FAMILY GUY INEQUALITIES Analysis of Family Guy Sexism Nash, Josh SOC/100 Analysis of Family Guy Sexism This paper discusses the display of sexism of Family Guy and how it is portraying a sexist view, even if it is considered comical socially. Family Guy has become a popular cartoon even with the humor in the show not being so humorous to many. “Family Guy”, as many other shows have done in the past, obtained the role in portraying sexism through TV. Many would agree that the cartoon is derogatory and promotes many issues such as racism, sexism, and inequalities including other factors as well. People also agree that the comedy that the show presents is acceptable because it is shown in a way that is for laughter only. There have been a number of episodes that the show has done like “Chick Cancer,” and probably one of the most controversial, “I am Peter, hear me roar”. The behavior shown is that of “slap stick” comedy but could be attained in other ways than of what is shown on television. In “I am Peter, hear me roar,” the episode is sexist towards women and does not show much of an issue towards the problem. Each scene has a number of jokes to make sexism seem acceptable by the jokes being told by a character that does not have the intelligible mindset of a small child. It begins with Peter telling jokes to some of his male co-workers and the jokes that Peter shares are explicitly sexist against women. He begins with saying, “How many women...
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...Theorizing inter-organizational inequality – Conceptual suggestions to overcome a blind spot Organizations form and are embedded in differently structured institutional fields (DiMaggio/Powell 1991, Scott 2008) which embody certain structures of relational positions (Powell et al 2005), i.e. structures of inequality sui generis. Organizational hierarchies, positions in organizational networks, or organizational status do have an impact on, say, the capacities of organizations to engage in institutional work successfully, their internal promotion system, or more generally their ability to affect their own chances as well as chances in the lives of individuals for good or worse. If it is true that individual outcomes depend on organizational structures and those structures are strongly influenced by the social context they are embedded in, that implies not only to treat certain individual outcomes as dependent on organizational factors but ultimately as a function of the relational and relative position organizations find themselves in. Social inequality must therefore be understood and analytically fashioned as a multilevel-phenomenon. Despite that, inter-organizational inequality has been neglected in the study of social inequality and stratification. Studies that reproduce this blind spot firstly may overlook to mechanisms and their underlying institutions that may seriously interfere with the predominant models of ascriptive, variable-centered analysis, secondly they lose track...
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...RESEARCH - ANALYSIS - SOLUTIONS CCPA R e v i e w E c o n o m i c & S o c i a l Tr e n d s September 2012 Income Inequality in Canada: How does Manitoba compare? Can we do better? The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has been documenting the rise in inequality in Canada since 2006. More recently, the Conference Board of Canada and the OECD have confirmed this trend. These organizations also report that inequality in Canada is now increasing faster than is the case in many other countries. In their highly acclaimed 2009 book The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better, Wilkinson and Pickett showed the impact of inequality on a variety of measures such as levels of crime, teenage pregnancies, life expectancy and educational achievement (to name a few). The study concluded that countries that are most equal do best. If Canada wants to measure up to more equal countries, the growing gap between rich and poor will need to be addressed. The federal government has the most important role to play in redressing the imbalance. CCPA and others have suggested how poverty and inequality can be tackled through improved policies and programs, and better redistribution of wealth through taxes and transfers at the federal level. But provincial governments also have a responsibility. A recent study in Ontario shows that province to be the most unequal. Our analysis looks at the trend in inequality across Canada with a focus on measuring progress in Manitoba...
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...TH E E C O N O M I C B U R D E N O F H E A LT H I N E Q U A L I T I E S IN T H E U N I T E D S TAT E S THE ECONOMIC BURDEN OF HEALTH INEQUALITIES IN THE UNITED STATES Thomas A. LaVeist, Ph.D. Darrell J. Gaskin, Ph.D. Patrick Richard, Ph.D. September 2009 foreward Not everyone in the United States enjoys the same health opportunities. Studies show that minority Americans experience poorer than average health outcomes from cradle to the grave. They are much more likely to die as infants, have higher rates of diseases and disabilities, and have shorter life spans. As the U.S. Congress and the Obama Administration work toward enactment of legislation to reform America’s health care system, a central focus of the debate has been the projected cost of ensuring accessible and affordable health care to every citizen. While some have struggled with the premise that health care reform can actually reduce health-related spending, the experience of racial and ethnic minorities under our current health care system is a strong indication that improving opportunities for good health – and minimizing inequities in health care access and outcomes – may well be good for the nation’s fiscal health, as well. This study, commissioned by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and carried out by leading researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland, provides important insight into how much of a financial burden racial disparities are putting on our health...
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...Democracy, Religion and Inequality University of Groningen Faculty of Economics and Business Bachelor Thesis International Economics and Business Name Student: Yitian Jing Student ID Number: s2012790 Student email: y.jing@student.rug.nl Date Thesis: Jun. 5th, 2012 Name Supervisor: Dr. Robbert K. J. Maseland First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to my advisor, Dr. R. K. J. Maseland, for his academic guidance and encouragement throughout the research. He has been very generous sharing his experiences on institutional and cultural determinants on economy, as well as on academic research methodology and beyond. I would not have finished such a thesis paper without his support. His effort and patience would never be forgotten. Abstract The democracy’s inequality decreasing effect has been appealing to researchers for long but lacks concentrated argumentation and empirical evidence, as well as the interaction between democracy and religion. This paper conduct an empirical analysis covering time period of 1978-2010 with 86 countries to test the hypotheses of whether democracy decreases inequality and whether an egalitarian religion decreases the influence of democracy. The result shows the direct effect of democracy is weak, however, the hypothesis of religion’s effect on the democracy’s influence is partially confirmed. Therefore, democracy itself has minor influence on inequality while a large proportion of the effect is...
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