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In the United States, the rise in income inequality and downward intergenerational social mobility since the 1970s represent twin problems facing community and economic development today. This paper proposes a Structure of Labor theory to apply at the local and regional level to address these development challenges. The objective is to provide a simple local approach to development that maximizes upward economic mobility and enables individuals and communities to achieve their development goals in the 21st century development landscape of the United States. The proposed theory fuses free-enterprise principles with state-planned dirigiste efforts to maximize the best of both theoretical perspectives. After reviewing pertinent literature and articulating the Structure of Labor theory, the latter sections of the paper explicate its implications for community and economic development practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neoliberalism is a political-economic philosophy that consists of two claims: one economic and the other political. The economic claim is: that free market laissez faire economies are the best way to organize economic activity as they generate efficient outcomes that maximize well-being. The political claim is: that free market economic arrangements promote individual liberty. This paper argues both claims are problematic. The evidence from the forty-year experiment that began in 1980 shows neo liberalism has undercut shared prosperity and unleashed illiberal forces that threaten liberty. The paper distinguishes between the first political turn which saw the establishment of neoliberal political hegemony, and the second one toward proto-fascism that we are now experiencing. The second turn is being driven by a collection of factors that have created a demand for proto-fascism and weakened the defenses against alt-right ideas. Those factors include socio-economic disembedding, institutional destruction and political disembedding, increased economic inequality that tilts political power, an alteration in attitudes to government and governance, transformation of economic identity, and a cultural transformation that celebrates sociopathic egotism. The Third Way's capture of center-left politics means liberal elites occupy the political place that should be held by true opponents of neoliberalism. Those liberal elites obstruct the politics needed to reverse the deep causes of the drift to proto-fascism. Ironically, that makes those elites a real danger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the economic policies adopted by the Indian government under different policy regimes, provides a political economy perspective of economic growth in the country during 1950–2020 and examines the inclusiveness of the rapid economic growth in recent decades. The growth performance of the economy improved as the economy moved from inward-looking policy regime to the regimes of pro-business and pro-market policies. India's political economy was supportive of the changes in policy regime. After growing at a sluggish rate during the first three decades after 1950–1951, the gross domestic product (GDP) growth accelerated significantly after the pro-business reforms in the 1980s, and there was further acceleration after the pro-market reforms since 1991–1992. It has, however, slowed down in recent years. Nevertheless, it has not been inclusive, as the benefits of growth have not reached all sections of the population and all regions of the country equally. On the contrary, disparities in income across regions and inequalities in income, wealth and consumption among individuals have exacerbated, and the problems of unemployment and poverty have been persisting in the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) on domestic terrorism. Using a cross-national, time-series analysis of 114 countries from 1991–2017, and employing structural equation modeling to test a number of mediating factors, we find that the impact of FDI on domestic terrorism depends on the host state's level of economic development. For host countries at higher-income levels, FDI boosts economic development and global integration promoting prosperity, increasing counterterrorism resources, and reducing the economic grievances that foster terrorism. Conversely, for lower-income host countries, increased FDI fuels higher domestic terrorism, as it intensifies clashes between traditional and modern elements within society, raises economic discrimination, heightens perceptions of economic insecurity, and subsequently leads to grievances directed against the state. Our results indicate a curvilinear relationship between FDI inflows and domestic terrorism, suggesting that FDI produces a double-edged sword between promoting economic development and increasing domestic terrorism in host states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper develops a model in which the relation between the real exchange rate and the real wage, in the context of conflictive income distribution, is made explicit. It is noted that the central bank tries to regulate the distributive relation exchange rate and real wages through the changes in the interest rate. The theoretical point is that, under certain circumstances, a relatively depreciated or high level of the real exchange rate might reduce real wages and have a negative impact on economic growth. The paper also provides some evidence for the Argentine case, and suggests that the Classical Developmentalist elasticity pessimism seems, in the case of Argentina, to be validated. Also, the use of the exchange rate as an instrument to bolster redistribution away from the working class, and to promote investment and growth is also not born in the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the statistical data of 280 prefectural-level cities in China from 2011 to 2020, this paper empirically tests the relationship between digital finance and residents' income in a linear and nonlinear model based on the G-J model theory, respectively. The study aims to discuss and analyze the impact of digital finance development on income distribution in the context of the current situation of digital finance development in China and further explore how to make digital finance better regulate the income distribution of residents. The innovation of this paper is to use two nonlinear methods to verify the Kuznets effect and threshold characteristics of digital financial development affecting the income distribution of residents based on linear analysis and explore the relationship between n digital economic development the current income gap more comprehensively. The study shows a Kuznets effect of digital finance development on the income distribution of Chinese residents. Thus, most regions in China have not yet crossed the inflection point of the bell-shaped curve, and the income gap within areas will continue to increase with the development of digital finance. By constructing a threshold model, it is found that the positive effect of digital finance on income disparity may initially increase with the increase of regional economic level. Still, when the regional economic development reaches a higher stage, the effect will tend to fall back. As a result, the negative impact of digital finance development on residents' income distribution will be significantly reduced at that time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main path of development credit funds in rural poverty alleviation in Y province is crucial. This paper studies the rural poverty alleviation work in extreme poverty areas in Yunnan and puts forward targeted and instructive policy suggestions for specific difficult areas. Research the relationship between credit resource allocation and rural poverty alleviation. The existing research is mainly based on the relationship between financial development and economic growth, income growth, income distribution, and, on the surface, the relationship between the scale of financial development and the efficiency of financial development and other indicators. The purpose is to put forward targeted measures and suggestions on the basis of theoretical research and model analysis to help the Yunnan banking industry support poverty alleviation. The results of the study show that there is a causal relationship between agriculture-related loans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The negative linkage between income inequality and social trust is widely acknowledged. Despite this consensus, it remains unclear at what level of aggregation income inequality matters most to the cultivation of social trust. In a comprehensive review, Wilkinson and Pickett (Annu Rev Sociol 35:493–511, 2009) speculate that income inequality is most important when measured at the societal level, whereas for lower units of aggregation economic development becomes a stronger predictor. Merging regional inequality data for 216 regions in 22 European countries (2010–2014) to the European Social Survey, this paper is the first to examine this claim for social trust. The results demonstrate that in non-Eastern European countries most of the variation in social trust is accounted for by differences in inequality between countries rather than differences in inequality within countries. For economic development, the opposite is true. Within-country differences in economic development relate significantly to social trust, while between-country differences do not. I conclude that social trust is more strongly affected by the stratification of society as a whole than by income inequalities within smaller units of aggregation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically tests the relationship between digital finance and income distribution of residents in 280 cities in China from 2011 to 2020 using linear and nonlinear models, respectively. Based on the Greenwood-Jovanovic (G-J) theory of output grow, the empirical study shows that there is a Kuznets effect of digital finance development on the income distribution of Chinese residents, and most regions have not yet crossed the inflection point of the bell-shaped curve, and the income gap within regions will continue to increase with the development of digital finance. Furthermore, the threshold model test shows that the positive effect of digital finance on the income disparity of residents may initially increase with the increase of regional economic level. However, when the regional economic development reaches a higher stage, the negative effect of digital finance development on the income distribution of residents will be significantly reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a new service system of finance, inclusive finance emphasizes on better meeting the needs of people's livelihood at a reasonable and affordable cost. Inclusive finance can effectively solve the problems existing in the process of high-quality economic development by promoting regional coordinated development and narrowing the income gap between urban and rural areas. Firstly, this paper constructs the inclusive financial development level measurement index system and high-quality economic development measurement index system, uses these two index systems to measure the development of inclusive finance and high-quality economy of the Yangtze River Delta in China from 2010 to 2019, and then empirically analyzes the impact of Inclusive Finance on high-quality economic development in the Yangtze River Delta by using the panel threshold model. The results show that the inclusive financial development level and high-quality economic development level of cities under the jurisdiction of the Yangtze River Delta have increased steadily year by year, but the development level differentiation among different cities is obvious. Inclusive finance has a threshold effect on high-quality economic development. When the inclusive finance index is lower than 0.358, inclusive finance is not conducive to high-quality economic development. When the inclusive financial development index is between 0.358 and 0.522, inclusive finance promotes high-quality economic development, but the effect is weak. When the inclusive financial development index is greater than 0.522, inclusive finance can significantly promote high-quality economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the behavior of the Economic Fitness indicator as a measure of the international competitiveness of Latin American economies, as well as an indicator of their relationship with per capita income gaps and the Human Development Index (HDI). Positive correlations were found between per capita income gaps and the stagnation of the international competitiveness of Latin American economies, as well as between human development levels and the productive structure, suggesting a causal relationship between human development and competitiveness. This paper also finds that the Economic Fitness indicator fluctuates significantly when estimated using exports in domestic value-added, suggesting that the original estimate may over- or underestimate competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is aimed at investigating the impact of population, human development index, and economic growth in determining the income inequality in West Java of Indonesia. This paper used a panel regression to gain insight into comprehensively understanding the relationship between the variables. This study engaged eight years of time series data from 2011 to 2018 and cross-section data of 27 regencies/municipalities in West Java Province from Statistics Indonesia (BPS). The findings indicate that population, human development index and economic growth affect income inequality. In partial, total population and human development index can explain the income inequality. Meanwhile, economic growth failed in influencing income disparity of West Java Province. This finding suggests that the Kuznets hypothesis of the "U-Reverse" curve in West Java Province was not proven for the period 2011 to 2018. This study emphasizes the significant impact of having strategies in suppressing the population in West Java Province both through programs and binding regulations relating to births and immigration. Also, there should be synergy between stakeholders in providing jobs opportunities that potentially reduce inequality in the West Java province of Indonesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1980s, inequality has been rising in Europe, North America and parts of Asia. How does our understanding of global inequality dynamics change if coverage is extended to the rest of the developing world? To rebalance the perspective on global inequality trends, this paper surveys data and literature on recent inequality trends in Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It finds that in these regions there are more countries with falling than rising inequality over the past 20 years, as measured by Ginis of income or consumption inequality. At the global level, therefore, there are signs of inequality convergence, as inequality has been falling in countries with high inequality in the 1990s (particularly Latin America), and rising in historically low-inequality countries. We discuss the political and economic drivers of inequality decline in countries with a steady fall in the Gini. This suggests some common trends across the globe, including the role of democratisation, the rise of new social movements, and the expansion of education and social safety nets and favourable commodity prices, in reducing income disparities. This paper calls for more country-level comparisons of inequality trends, to highlight the multiplicity of paths in this latest phase of globalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper integrates low-carbon development into the context of economic resilience, thus proposing "Low-carbon Economic Resilience" (LER). We establish an analysis framework to analyze LER based on regional interactions. The framework indicates that regions achieve LER by transferring the development burden to others, which will result in inter-regional trade inequality. An empirical analysis focused on inter-regional trade in cities of China is carried out to illustrate this framework. We calculate the degree of economic resilience and low-carbon development in cities of China. Then we trace the environmental-economic benefits embodied in virtual built-up land flow in regions. The characteristics of virtual built-up land flow exert an impact on the spatial distribution of regional economic resilience to a certain extent. The results show that, in China, many cities achieved only economic resilience or low-carbon development, while a few cities were able to achieve LER. The latter imported built-up land with high carbon emissions or low economic benefits from others, while developing "high-quality" built-up land themselves, which was reflected in the benefits per hectare of built-up land. The differences in environmental-economic benefits from inter-regional trade cause trade inequality, and major cities are the main beneficiaries, which contributes to their achievement of LER. • Low-carbon economic resilience is proposed. • Quantifying the environmental-economic benefits of inter-regional trade of cities in China. • Dividing built-up land into 4 categories to match MRIO model. • Analyzing low-carbon economic resilience based on regional interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intergenerational transmission of wealth is a long-standing component of society. With the current accelerated economic development, the forms of wealth transmission and the ways in which it affects individuals' lives have gradually become more complicated. In this article, we explore the economic performance and basic flow patterns of intergenerational transmission. We first discuss the key factors of personal and family wealth accumulation. We then consider how social performance affects the phenomenon of intergenerational transmission and the macro-channels of the current transmission mode. Finally, while intergenerational transmission is widespread in society, its importance has not attracted widespread attention from socio- economic researchers and this paper makes suggestions for further study of the phenomena. Our main conclusion is that in current society, intergenerational transmission both directly and indirectly influences the lives of members of society in multiple ways, such as through income, employment and education. If a basic understanding of the phenomenon of intergenerational transmission can be established, it will assist people in making relevant decisions more scientifically and allow them to have a fairer life experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of FDI along with domestic physical investment and human capital on the regional income, and their role in the regional income convergence within the Czech economy over the periods from 1998-99 to 2013-14. The paper considers 14 regions of the Czech Republic and uses panel fixed effect regression and dynamic panel growth framework for the empirical analysis. The result finds that the role of physical capital formation and FDI along with the human capital are crucial for the regional disparity in income in the Czech Republic. There is also evidence of the convergence of per capita income at the speed of 7.8 per cent among the regions by conditioning physical investment and human capital along with FDI. This paper suggests that regional disparity in income can be reduced by the equitable allocation of investment and FDI, and equal development of human capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research background: Intensive economic growth in Russian regions during recent decades has been associated with numerous environmental issues, particularly increasing CO2 emissions, as well as income inequality. To achieve sustainable development, it is necessary to resolve these issues. Purpose of the article: To shed light on the impact of income inequality on CO2 emissions based on Russian regional data covering the years 2004-2018. Methods: Gini index and decile dispersion ratio are used to measure income inequality. To study the impact of income inequality on CO2 emissions in the Russian regions, we estimate econometric models with fixed and random effects and apply GMM method. We test the hypothesis of the environmental Kuznets curve to determine the impact of economic growth on CO2 emissions. Findings & value added: The results show that CO2 emissions increase in tandem with growth in income inequality between 10% of people with the lowest income and 10% of people with the highest income. Simultaneously, CO2 emissions decrease with growth of Gini coefficient. The hypothesis of the Environmental Kuznets Curve was confirmed based on GMM method. Our findings underscore that the activities of the extraction and manufacturing sectors, as well as energy consumption, increase CO2 emissions. The chief significance of this paper is the finding that large income gap between extremely rich and extremely poor population cohorts increases CO2 emissions. This implies that economic policy aimed at reducing income inequality in Russian regions will also reduce CO2 emissions, especially if accompanied by increased use of environmentally friendly technologies. From the international perspective, our research can be extended to study other countries and regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a model in which greater inequality reduces growth in economies with low levels of financial development but that this effect is attenuated in economies with more developed systems. The model also predicts that individuals in economies with developed financial markets have a higher tolerance to inequality. Using a panel dataset that covers a large number of countries, this paper shows empirical evidence that is consistent with the main predictions of the model. Overall, this paper's major findings highlight that some of the pernicious effects of inequality can be attenuated by improving access to credit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reviews the history of the concepts used to depict poverty in Africa. "Pauperism" is a legal concept, deriving from early modern law in Britain, which frames individual situations, places the paupers under specific rights and duties, and was applied in early colonial situations. Percentile is a economic-demographic concept, implying class difference, indexed to measurable or imputed monetary income, which became an instrument of government in the colonial world mainly after 1945, moving into the international comparative world after the era of independence. In the neoliberal era after 1989, the concept of precarity, and a focus on realizable assets rather than income, has taken higher profile than an emergent replacement for the comparative-percentile approach, sometimes now depicted as "living on $2 a day". The paper indicates the conceptual and political implications and challenges of each of these depictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), countries should prioritize reducing income inequality while ensuring people have access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy. This study clearly illustrates the nexus between three aspects of energy poverty and income inequality, focusing on 77 countries from 2000 to 2019. The empirical results indicate that access to electricity contributes to reduce income inequality, while access to clean fuels and renewable energy development can increase income inequality. The results of heterogeneity analysis further reveal that at the early stage of economic development, access to clean fuels and electricity can significantly reduce income. In contrast, the development of renewable energy worsens income inequality. However, renewable energy development becomes the primary factor in reducing income inequality as economic development progresses. Furthermore, the mechanism analysis shows that energy poverty can reduce income inequality by improving public health and educational attainment. Finally, this study provides valuable policy recommendations and scientific arguments for reducing income inequality, accelerating energy access, and achieving the SDGs. • This paper uses renewable energy development as an indicator for measuring energy poverty • The direct impact and potential impact mechanisms of energy poverty on income inequality is explored. • The heterogeneous impact of energy poverty on income inequality is studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses cross country data to test empirically whether investment increases with corruption. The estimates show that Public sector corruption is low among developed countries and high among developing countries. Based on inter-regional tax model we develop a model of inter-regional competition to estimate the external shocks on Public sector corruption. The estimate show stability or growth in the economic indicator variables decreases the impact of public sector corruption. In addition, increases in total factor productivity with governance effective measures decrease the level of public sector corruption. And the consumers’ ability to switch between regional acquisitions of public sector services enhances regional competition in the provision of Public sector services and reduces “kick back tax” charged on the procurement of these services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to unavailability of consistent income data at the sub-state or district level in developing countries, it is difficult to generate consistent and reliable economic inequality estimates at the disaggregated level. To address this issue, this paper employs the association between night time lights and economic activities for India at the sub-state or district-level, and calculates regional income inequality using Gini coefficients. Additionally, we estimate the relationship between night time lights and socio-economic development for regions in India. We employ a newly available data on regional socio-economic development (Social Progress Index), as well as an index that represents institutional quality or governance. Robust to the choice of socio-economic development indicators, our findings indicate that regional inequality measured by night time lights follow the Kuznets curve pattern. This implies that starting from low levels of socio-economic development or quality of institutions, inequality rises as regional socio-economic factors or quality of institutions improve, and with subsequent progress in socio-economic factors or quality of institutions, regional inequality declines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper combines an empirical analysis of national and international attempts to deal with the problem of poverty in China with a normative analysis of capability theory, as developed by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum. In this way, it attempts to highlight the centrality of normative approaches to poverty and its elimination. The paper is in five parts. Section I analyses the history, development and effectiveness of social assistance under the Minimum Living Standards Scheme (MLSS) in China; Section II provides an outline of capability theory; Section III analyses the history, development and effectiveness of the United Nations Development Program's (UNDP) Millennium Development Goals, with a focus on the elimination of poverty in China; Section IV emphasises the importance of a capability approach to the measurement of poverty and outlines what needs to be done to reduce poverty in China; while Section V discusses what still needs to be done to promote an effective anti-poverty strategy in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows that in Tanzania, economic growth contributes to job creation and employment opportunities, however, it does very little to curb income inequality. Using official data from various local sources compiled by the National Bureau of Statistics and international the paper provides an explanation for why the creation of wealth and employment opportunities in Tanzania fails to bring the level of poverty to a level roughly comparable to what is found in the region to reduce inequality between the richer and the poorer segments of society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between the rising use of economic development incentives (EDI) and rising income inequality within U.S. states. It extends the few papers which investigate state and local income inequality outcomes in the U.S. (Goetz et al., 2011; Shuai, 2015) in three important ways. First, it provides a normative argument for reducing inequality as a policy goal, an issue commonly ignored in empirical applications of inequality. Second, it discusses the channels through which EDI policy can influence equality outcomes in a regional context. Finally, it estimates panel data models for 41 states from 2000 to 2009 using direct measures of EDI and three common measures of income inequality: Gini, top 1 percent income share and top 10 percent income share. The results reveal positive and statistically significant relationships between the one-year lag of EDI values and the three inequality measures. Taken as a whole, the results are consistent with a reverse-Robin-Hood effect where more generous EDI use is associated with redistribution of income from the bottom 90 percent to the top 10 percent of the income distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changing racial/ethnic diversity along with economic growth have also drawn renewed public attention to growing income inequality and lack of economic well-being in the American society. This paper investigates one element of contemporary inequality – the income divide between the richest and the poorest population groups in the metropolises of the U.S. Southeast. This paper examines income divide across southern U.S. metropolises in 2000 and 2014, their change during 2000–2014, their variation across major races/ethnicities, and their relationships with important metropolitan characteristics such as diversity, intermixing, socio-economic status and built-environment attributes. Cartographic, ranking/matrix, and correlations analyses suggest that the largest, most diverse, most segregated, and those with a greater presence of better educated are the most income divided metropolises, whereas the small-to-mid-sized metropolises, with lesser educated population are less divided. The income divide has increased during 2000–2014 in a majority of these metropolises, and for all races/ethnicities, even though Whites and Asians are relatively better-off compared to overall population whereas Blacks and Hispanics lag behind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intends to evaluate if the Latin American structuralist approach is still relevant to understand capital accumulation dynamics of peripheral countries and their insertion in the global value chains. It's a theoretical paper that strives to improve the building blocks of structuralism with the incorporation of elements from different approaches to establish a nexus to understand capital accumulation dynamics in the periphery. Considering the relevance of technological accumulation, its impacts over the productive structure and over the international insertion, we strive to analyze factors that perpetuate income diversion in relation to the center. Under this perspective, we conclude that the particularities of peripheral economies changed their form of manifestation without effectively overcome the dependence relation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the effect of FDI and its interaction with trade openness on income inequality in Nigeria. In doing this, the DOLS estimator is employed to analyse annual time series data covering the period from 1981 to 2015. The study finds that FDI inflows positively affect income inequality. However, the interaction between FDI and trade openness negatively affects income inequality suggesting that greater openness of the economy to international trade would engender reduction of income inequality caused by FDI in the country. Further evidence from the study are that financial system development and economic development are crucial for reduction of income inequality in the country. Based on these, it is recommended that barrier to flow of trade should be cautiously relaxed, the financial system should be developed and effort should be made by the government to set the economy on the path of sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the relationship between the following indicators: income inequality, gross domestic product, risk of poverty threshold and median equivalized net income for a panel of 28 countries of European Union (EU) over the period 2005-2016. Two theoretical regression models, a linear and a quadratic one, are used to estimate the influence on income inequality of the other three indicators. Empirical estimations, using panel data techniques on three different data panels, confirm the Kuznets hypothesis that income inequality tends to increase with early economic development and tends to decrease when a country reaches a certain level of development. We found that for emerging EU countries, income inequality has a growing tendency with a positive economic growth and maybe reduced by increasing risk of poverty threshold or median equivalized net income. For highly developed EU countries the situation is completely opposite. At EU level, the influence of gross domestic product on income inequality is strongly determined by its trend in the highly developed EU countries, while the influence of risk of poverty threshold and median equivalized net income on income inequality is strongly determined by their trend in the emerging EU countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Satisfaction with democracy is driven by the two mechanisms that affect citizens' income: the market and the state. When people consider that the levels of economic growth and redistribution are sufficient, they are more satisfied with the performance of democratic institutions. This relationship is moderated by personal income: since low-income citizens are more sensitive to changes in personal economic circumstances than high-income citizens, they give more weight to economic perceptions and opinions about redistribution. In this paper evidence is found of this conditional relationship in survey data from 16 established democracies. The results offer a rich characterisation of the state and market-based mechanisms that affect satisfaction with democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent history and the institutional evolution of economies leads to criticisms of some aspects of Modern Monetary Theory about the origin of money, as well as the role of the public deficit, and taxes. This paper proposes a precise definition of the financialization process. based on the mobility of business management. It also discusses its impact on income distribution and its consequences for innovation and economic growth, and raises the need for taxes to redistribute income. A concept of private deficit is also proposed based on the creation of means of payment by the banking system, which leads to defend credit orientation policies. It concludes with several macroeconomic policy proposals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of the role of entrepreneurs in the process of economic development, this paper builds an overlapping generation model to examine the impact of income inequality on economic development from the viewpoint of entrepreneur formation. The results show that in the presence of credit constraints, the impact of income inequality on economic development depends on the stages of development. In the early stages of development, income inequality is beneficial for the formation of entrepreneurs through alleviating the credit constraints. In the later stages of development, however, it is income equality which stimulates the formation of entrepreneurs through alleviating the credit constraints. By the data of China's provinces over the period 2003–2012, this paper estimates the impact of income inequality on the formation of entrepreneurs using the system Generalized Method of Moments approach. The results show that income inequality has a significantly negative impact on the formation of entrepreneurs in both one-step and two-step regressions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Political institutions are an essential component to explain income variation. Brazilian municipalities are characterized by a great contrast in the colonization process and its impacts on the current income level and distribution, and other development aspects. This study analyzes the spatial heterogeneity of the relationship between institutional quality and the municipalities' economic development. We use a spatial moving window method applied to weighted regressions—Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR). We find evidence that good institutions increase income and other variables related to economic development. In addition, the institutional quality influence on economic development measures is distinct across the Brazilian regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the dynamic relationship between ICT, income inequality and economic growth in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries is examined during the period 2004–2014. Three ICT and three income inequality indicators were used to examine this linkage. The ICT indicators used include internet penetration, mobile phone penetration and fixed broadband subscription, while the income inequality indicators include the Gini coefficient, the Atkinson index and the Palma ratio. Using the Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) estimation technique, the study found that, on the whole, an increase in ICT development unconditionally leads to an increase in economic growth in the countries under study. The study also found that the threshold level of income inequality, which should not be exceeded in order for the positive impact of ICT on economic growth to be sustained, depends on the ICT proxy used and the income inequality indicator. Specifically, the study found that for ICT to have a sustained positive impact on economic growth, i) the Gini coefficient in the mobile penetration specification should not exceed 0.520; ii) the Gini coefficient and Atkinson index in the internet penetration specification should not exceed 0.531 and 0.560, respectively; and iii) the Gini coefficient, Atkinson index and Palma ratio in the fixed broadband subscriptions should not exceed 0.551, 0.633 and 4.664, respectively. Policy implications are discussed. • The paper examines the dynamic relationship between ICT, income inequality and economic growth in sub-Saharan African (SSA). • Three ICT and three income inequality indicators were used. • The ICT indicators used include internet penetration, mobile phone penetration and fixed broadband subscription, while the income inequality indicators include the Gini coefficient, the Atkinson index and the Palma ratio. • The study used the Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) to examine this linkage. • The results show that, on the whole, an increase in ICT development unconditionally leads to an increase in economic growth in the countries under study. • The results also show threshold levels of income inequality, which should not be exceeded by the studied countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secular discourse about problem of economic inequality rests on two foundational premises that are problematic from a theological point of view. First, individuals enter into society with the aim of bettering their own condition. Second, bettering one's own condition entails accruing more wealth and power so that one can fulfill more of one's desires. In this paper I argue that insofar as these premises shape market behavior, they actively promote excessive economic inequality. Ethical responses to the problem of economic inequality that do not challenge these assumptions are unlikely to effectively promote justice. A theological response to the problem of economic inequality should work to promote cultural change by reminding us that genuine human flourishing depends on communal ties and the higher human goods that material wealth is properly meant to support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of income inequality and income mobility has been central to understanding India's recent economic development. This paper, based on the first two waves of the India Human Development survey data, addresses three questions namely; (a) examining recent trends and sources of income inequality and their sources in rural and urban India, (b) whether households belonging to different socio-occupational groups have grown together and thereby factors relating to dynamic income distribution and finally (c) provides an analytical framework within which changes in income inequality over time are related to the extent to which income growth is pro-poor and to the extent of income reranking or mobility. Our results show the equalizing effect of progressive income growth was more than offset by the disequalising effect of reranking in India during the study period resulting in income inequality both in the rural and urban area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This brief article seeks to introduce the reader to this special number on industrialization in contemporary Latin America. It does so considering three issues. First, the importance of industrialization in sustaining high rates of economic growth leading to high levels of income per capita. Second, the long-standing debate in global historiography regarding the successes and failures of industrial policy: markets vs. states. Lastly, Latin America's industrial trajectory through the lenses of four historiographical tendencies, and the ways in which each of the four original papers relate to the extant literature, and contribute to enhancing our understanding of one of the most important economic transformations in the history of the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The actual impact of economic growth on poverty reduction is of fundamental importance to the development agenda. This paper offers new empirical evidence on growth and poverty measured from a multidimensional perspective using the global Multidimensional Poverty Index. Results from a First Difference Estimator Model suggest that while economic growth reduces multidimensional poverty, this impact is well below a one-to-one relationship and lower than the impact of growth on income poverty. Results from a cross-section model additionally suggest that countries with higher levels of exports, higher share of industry and services and higher control of corruption have lower multidimensional poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, increasing numbers of scholars have given attention to the mechanism connecting income inequality and happiness. This paper uses a multilevel model to verify the effect of income inequality at the city level on happiness and its moderating effect in China. It is found that income inequality is highly correlated to individual happiness. In the context of the transition China, people are inclined to report more happiness in places where income inequality is lower, after controlling for a number of demographic variables and economic factors. Moreover, this negative effect is relatively robust and significant, regardless of estimates with different covariates. It is worth noting that personal distributive justice beliefs play a momentous role in happiness. Specifically, as an effective social psychological mechanism, they can alleviate the negative effects of income inequality on happiness. A vital implication of the findings for social policy is that the model of economic development should be based on equity and justice and become a consistent source of happiness in this transitional period in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews how income inequality at the micro and regional levels influenced the inequality in educational outcomes for children and adolescents in China over the past decades. First, we find that the economic condition of the family influences children's and adolescents' education through home educational resources and parental involvement. Second, income disparity is significantly correlated with the regional differences in educational outcomes. Finally, the differences in the development of child and adolescent education between different regions are mainly due to the uneven distribution of educational resources, which is closely related to the public education financing system and local economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the construction and estimation of a deprivation index based on Principal Factors Analysis for the 2010 Argentina Population and Housing Census in a census tract level. From the application of PFA were estimated two factors, one related to material and the other to social deprivation aspects. Based on the material deprivation factor, a synthetic General Deprivation Index (GDI) has been calculated. In addition, a Deprivation Emergency General Index (DEGI) was defined and measured. The DEGI prioritize the implementation of local development policies over small rural or urban areas according to the greater number of inhabitants in relation to the urban or rural total for a Department of Argentina. The factors and the GDI indicator has been validated the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin scores were greater than 0.7 for urban, rural, and total tracts, the Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the material factor was 0.811 and the Pearson's correlation coefficient between GDI and the Unsatisfied Basic Needs index was 0.659. The index estimates were mapped on QGIS, a Geographic Information System. The intensity and composition of the deprivation were different according to the geographic areas of Argentina; the lowest values of deprivation correspond to the central zone of the country and its urban areas, which is related to inequalities in the economic growth between urban and rural spaces. Finally, it is expected that this new index will be useful for the formulation and evaluation of public development policies for urban and rural areas in Argentina. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper was to analyse distributional implications of the economic development reflected at the macro level in the Baltics. We demonstrated how the concepts of income and its measurement at macro and micro levels can be reconciled using data recorded in the EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) and National Accounts. We found that household incomes in the Baltics diverge and lag behind incomes reflected at the macro level. This was especially true for two income categories: property and mixed incomes. Average gaps in social benefits and taxes were small, and these were medium for wages and salaries. Adjusting incomes in EU-SILC to cover the observed gaps resulted in increase in income inequality indicators for all three countries, especially for Latvia and for the period of resumed economic growth following the latest economic crisis in Lithuania. Hence, divergences between macro and micro level accounts on incomes hide potentially higher levels of income inequality than shown in official distributional statistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty eradication will remain United Nations highest priority after the Millennium Development Goals-2015 deadline. Moreover, although impressive achievements in poverty cutting have been reached in the last decade, progress has been uneven, as inequality has been increasing. Hence, future poverty reduction strategies should be designed taking into account the nexus between economic development, inequality and the so-called "pro-poor factors", which represent the set of policies able to make economic growth beneficial for the poor. The aim of this paper is to provide a quantitative answer to the following questions: Does economic growth reduce poverty? If so, by how much? How economic inequality affects poverty? Does the responsiveness of poverty to growth and inequality depend on initial poverty and inequality? How do pro-poor policies influence the poverty-growth-inequality nexus? Although these questions have received a great deal of attention along the years, this paper makes use of the most complete and up-to-date comparable data on growth, poverty and inequality, as compiled by the World Bank PovcalNet. Moreover, it originally employs the System Generalised Method of Moments estimator. In particular, the present empirical exercise is built on an original unbalanced panel dataset, which comprises 109 developing countries observed between 1981 and 2008, in 8 different three-year growth spells. As for the econometric technique, System GMM has been proved to be the most efficient and best suited in the context of dynamic unbalanced panels. Our main results are in line with the existing literature. First, we find that the poverty elasticity to growth and inequality is, respectively, around -2% and 2%. Second, the poverty elasticity to growth is higher the more favorable the initial conditions (i.e. -0.89% and -2.5% for, respectively, high and low initial poverty and inequality). Third, the poverty elasticity to inequality is higher in relatively richer and more equal countries (i.e. 2.6%) than in poorer and more unequal countries (i.e. 0.39%). And, finally, we show that human capital, as measured as health and education, facilitates the effect of economic growth on poverty reduction (i.e. poverty elasticity of -0.89% and -2.5% for, respectively, high and low infant mortality). Our analysis suggests that, in designing policy reduction strategies, policy makers should carefully take into considerations initial poverty and the initial income distribution. Moreover, as for the fundamental importance of pro-poor policies, and human capital in particular, economic policies should go beyond the mere growth stimulus., economic policies should go beyond the mere growth stimulus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concomitant with globalization, neoliberal tax reforms have spread across the globe since the early 1980s. In many countries, statutory rates, the number of tax brackets, and the incidence of tax allowances have been reduced for income taxes; in the developing world, international liberalization has also been associated with reduced revenues from trade taxes and increased pressures for expansion of the value added tax and income tax revenue intake. Yet, competition for mobile assets and new opportunities for tax avoidance potentially constrains taxation of corporate and personal income. Thus, contemporary conditions create especially severe challenges for the pursuit of greater income equality and enhanced public goods provision in developing nations. The present paper situates this special issue's contributions within the theoretical and empirical literatures that seek to explain contemporary changes in taxation. I argue that we know quite a lot about the tax effects of globalization, domestic politics, and their interaction in rich democracies; we know much less about how international forces and domestic factors influence tax reforms in the developing world. In this context, I highlight how each paper in this volume contributes to our understanding of the impacts of globalization and domestic politics on tax policy choices and, in turn, the challenges and opportunities for revenue mobilization in developing nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper considers how thinking on inequality in relation to development has evolved over the last half century, including three critical questions: why be concerned about inequality; inequality of what; and among whom. Fifty years ago, inequality was defined unidimensionally in terms of incomes, with a focus on inequality among individuals, and it was regarded purely instrumentally, as a means to achieve higher economic growth. Since then, the objectives of development have widened while the extent of inequality is increasingly regarded as important in itself, for justice, as well as instrumentally. Exploration of inequality and its effects now extends to a plurality of dimensions. Consideration of inequality among whom has also broadened, beyond inequality among individuals (vertical inequality), to concern with inequality among groups (horizontal inequality) both in relation to justice and instrumentally. Evidence suggests that greater horizontal equality tends to reduce violent conflict, and greater vertical equality to reduce criminality, while both are likely to improve social outcomes and promote sustainable growth. The paper argues that although the objective of achieving more equality is increasingly accepted, many countries are experiencing more inequality and few effective redistributive measures have been adopted. It reviews how political economy considerations explain this paradox. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses patterns in regional inequality within and between Malaysia's 14 states, drawing upon estimates of Kuznets/Williamson curves, σ- and β-convergence and spatial spillovers. The path of regional inequality contradicts Kuznets predictions. Regional inequality initially fell but has subsequently risen with further economic development. While Malaysian governments have been successful at reducing poverty, they have been unable to curtail regional inequality in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the Occupy movement that recently took place on Wall Street and in other parts of the globe, a lot of attention has recently been given to growing income inequality. The 2008 United States financial crisis, the Great Recession, and the subsequent weak recovery have brought about a more serious focus on income inequality and the widening income gap between the top 1 percent and other groups. These events have brought about some social unrest and instability in American society perhaps not seen since the Great Depression. How much has the top 1 percent of households gained in terms of income versus the other 99 percent in the United States over the last 30 years or so? Mainstream economists and other social scientists point to various causes which have been mentioned in many scholarly and popular writings. All of these mainstream factors affecting inequality have been found to be statistically significant in one scholarly study or another. This research paper explores other major concepts to explain income inequality rather than to dispute the findings of other existing research efforts. The empirical findings of this paper support radical arguments that income accumulation of those at the top is not connected to the productivity of capital investment, but rather instead is connected to the declining incomes and exploitation of the rest of the U.S. population despite the rising output per worker of the U.S. workforce over the last 30 to 40 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increases in U.S. income inequality are driven primarily by rapidly rising incomes of the top 1%. At the national scale, rising inequality is associated with negative consequences for economic growth and stability, a range of social problems and declining social mobility. To date, there is no or little work on the geography of the top 1% and their impact on the cities they inhabit. Using individual income data from the U.S. Census, the paper offers the first detailed analysis of the spatial distribution of the top 1% in the United States. The paper makes use of the range of socio-demographic variables attached to individual records to illustrate that the large majority of the top 1% lives in large cities and that women and ethnic minorities are largely excluded from membership in the top 1%. The widening gap between incomes at the top and bottom will thus lead to increasing gender and ethnic income inequalities. Exploratory analysis of the impact of the top 1% on the bottom 99% suggests that cities with large shares of the top 1% are characterized by higher levels of skill polarization, higher labour force participation rates and lower unemployment rates for those with little formal education and higher median incomes for the better educated. However, the paper shows that higher incomes are outstripped by higher housing costs indicating that any potential advantage trickling down from the top 1% to the bottom 99% is eroded by higher living costs. Preliminary analysis also suggests that cities with a higher share of the top 1% tend to be more segregated with potential implications for the supply, quality, access to and distribution of public local services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to investigate the relationship between type of welfare regimes and military expenditures. There is a sizeable empirical literature on the development of the welfare state and on the typology of the welfare regimes. There appear to be, however, no empirical studies that examine welfare regimes with special attention to military spending. This study aims at providing a comprehensive analysis on the topic by considering several different welfare regime typologies. To do so, we use dynamic panel data analysis for 37 countries for the period of 1988–2003 by considering a wide range of control variables such as inequality measures, number of terrorist events, and size of the armed forces. We also replicate the same analyses for the political regimes. Our findings, in line with the literature, show that there is a positive relationship between income inequality and share of military expenditures in the central government budget, and that the number of terrorist events is a significant factor that affects both the level of military expenditure and inequality. Also, the paper reveals a significant negative relationship between social democratic welfare regimes and military expenditures. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]