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This paper explores the complex relationship between energy poverty and the maintenance of democratic values within the European Union (EU), suggesting that energy poverty not only impacts economic stability and health outcomes but also poses significant challenges to democratic engagement and equity. To measure energy poverty, a composite index is developed using the entropy method, which surpasses traditional measures focused solely on access to energy or its developmental implications. To assess the level of democratic governance in EU countries, the voice and accountability index (VEA), which is part of the World Governance Indicators compiled by the World Bank, is utilized. By analyzing EU data from 2006 to 2022, the findings suggest that a 1% improvement in VEA quality, represented by a coefficient of 0.122, is correlated with a notable improvement in the energy poverty index. This suggests that the EU should focus on enhancing transparency and public participation in energy decision-making, along with ensuring accountability in policy implementation. The research also differentiates between full and flawed democracies, noting that tailored approaches are needed. In full democracies, leveraging economic prosperity and trade is crucial due to their significant positive impacts on the energy poverty index. In contrast, in flawed democracies, enhancing governance and accountability is more impactful, as evidenced by a higher coefficient of 0.193. Strengthening legal and regulatory frameworks, improving regulatory quality, and ensuring public engagement in governance could substantially mitigate energy poverty in these contexts. In addition, this paper demonstrates that this relationship is influenced by factors such as income inequality, energy intensity, and trade openness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eliminating energy poverty is not only a prerequisite for escaping the "energy poverty trap" but also crucial to enhancing the welfare of residents and realising ecological civilization. Income inequality has become an essential challenge affecting China's economic growth and social stability. By integrating Chinese household data for 2016, 2018, and 2020, a mixed-method approach of energy income response modeling, income inequality measurement modeling, and fixed panel modeling is used in this paper to explore the relationship between income inequality and household energy poverty. Further, the mechanism of income inequality on energy poverty and the poverty reduction effect of household income on energy poverty are explored. The results show that income inequality is significantly and positively correlated with household energy poverty, implying that widening income inequality leads to energy "poverty enhancement." In terms of mechanisms, income inequality increases energy poverty by increasing households' willingness to save and reducing energy consumption. The moderating effect analysis shows that the breadth of digital financial inclusion reduces the contribution of income inequality to household energy poverty. The increase in household income will increase the affordability of households, especially the increase in wage income and property income, which can help households lift themselves out of "energy poverty." Therefore, creating sustainable digital ecosystems, incorporating sound government interventions, and providing diversified income channels are key to helping households escape energy poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing wave of protectionism in various corners of the world with the use of seemingly attractive but economically misleading slogans (shortening supply chains, onshoring, reshoring, nearshoring, friend-shoring, reindustrialization, and ending/correcting 'hyperglobalization', etc.) creates a serious challenge to the global trading system and global economic development. Trade and financial transactions have also become victims of the increasing number of geopolitical conflicts and tensions, both 'hot' and 'cold'. Before it becomes too late, i.e., before the current trade tensions go too far and create the hardly reversible spiral of trade and financial wars, retaliations, etc., it is desirable to reflect on what can be lost due to protectionism. This essay analyzes four areas that have benefited from global economic integration since the 1980s (economic growth, poverty eradication, reduction in global economic inequalities, and disinflation) and may suffer from its reversal. It also discusses potential remedies that may help stop a protectionist drift. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a theory-based equivalence scale for public in-kind transfers, which justifies comparison of distributions of extended income (cash income plus the value of public services) between European countries. We demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed equivalence scale in an empirical analysis of the effects of public health care, long-term care, education and childcare expenditure on estimates of income inequality and poverty for 24 European countries. The empirical results show significant effects of public in-kind transfers on the level of income inequality and poverty for all countries. Over the period 2006–2018, inequality and poverty estimates display rather different trends across European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Poverty is a well-known risk factor for poor health. This scoping review (ScR) mapped research linking early childhood caries (ECC) and poverty using the targets and indicators of the Sustainable Development Goal 1 (SDG1). Methods: We searched PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus in December 2023 using search terms derived from SDG1. Studies were included if they addressed clinically assessed or reported ECC, used indicators of monetary or multidimensional poverty or both, and were published in English with no date restriction. We excluded books and studies where data of children under 6 years of age could not be extracted. We charted the publication year, study location (categorized into income levels and continents), children age, sample size, study design, measures of ECC, types and levels of poverty indicators and adjusted analysis. The publications were also classified based on how the relation between poverty and ECC was conceptualized. Results: In total, 193 publications were included with 3.4 million children. The studies were published from 1989 to 2023. Europe and North America produced the highest number of publications, predominantly from the UK and the US, respectively. Age-wise, 3–5-year-olds were the most studied (62.2%). Primary studies (83.9%) were the majority, primarily of cross-sectional design (69.8%). Non-primary studies (16.1%) included reviews and systematic reviews. ECC was mainly measured using the dmf indices (79.3%), while poverty indicators varied, with the most common used indicator being income (46.1%). Most studies measured poverty at family (48.7%) and individual (30.1%) levels. The greatest percentage of publications addressed poverty as an exposure or confounder (53.4%), with some studies using poverty to describe groups (11.9%) or report policies or programs addressing ECC in disadvantaged communities (11.4%). In addition, 24.1% of studies requiring adjusted analysis lacked it. Only 13% of publications aligned with SDG1 indicators and targets. Conclusion: The ScR highlight the need for studies to use indicators that provide a comprehensive understanding of poverty and thoroughly examine the social, political, and economic determinants and impact of ECC. More studies in low and middle-income countries and country-level studies may help design interventions that are setting- and economic context-relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the relationships between extreme poverty, economic growth, and inequality, assesses if changes in inequality dampen the impact of income on extreme poverty, and determines the magnitude of the inequality growth trade-off index in Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and Honduras. A country-specific ARDL bound regression was conducted. The findings indicate the presence of direct and indirect dampening impacts of changes in inequality on income growth and extreme poverty reduction. The magnitude of the inequality growth trade-off- index indicates whether to prioritize growth and/or inequality reducing policies. This means that the higher the inequality, as in Honduras, the higher the economic or average income growth rate required to compensate for the increase in inequality to achieve a given level of extreme poverty reduction. Accordingly, there is no one-size-fits-all policy approach to tackling extreme poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effect of sanctions on causal relationship between corruption, income inequality and poverty in Iran during 1984 to 2020. For this purpose, a number of embezzlement concluded cases in the courts of general jurisdiction and Control of Corruption indicator (COC) as the representative of corruption indicator, Atkinson index and Gini index as the representative of income distribution and the indicators of per capita income and poverty line (calculated based on Linear Expenditure System (LES)) as the representative of poverty status were firstly gathered and calculated. According to the obtained results, income distribution is not an effective variable on poverty and vice versa, but it is a significant variable for the cause of corruption. However, poverty line under sanctions is a good representative of income distribution causality. Corruption and poverty cannot properly explain the distribution of income. However, the control of corruption has been the cause of income distribution. Also, corruption (poverty) is an effective variable for poverty causality (corruption) and the significance level of this relationship is higher under sanctions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fifty years after Feagin's pioneering 1972 study, we present a systematic review of the measurement of attributions for poverty and economic inequality. We conducted a search for articles published from 1972 to 2023 in APA PsycArticles, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, APA PsycInfo, PSYNDEX Literature with PSYNDEX Tests, and Google Scholar. We used the following English keywords: "poor", "poverty", "inequality", "attribution", and "attributions" and their equivalents in Spanish. Applying our inclusion and exclusion criteria led to a final sample of 74 articles. We report three main findings. First, the majority of studies classify attributions on the dimensions of individualistic vs. structural. Second, there is a clear tendency to measure attributions for domestic poverty without considering supranational factors or poverty as a global challenge. Third, studies focus almost exclusively on poverty rather than (economic) inequality. We identify potential for future development within the literature, namely, from a domestic to a global perspective, from locus to controllability, and from poverty to inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]