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Like in the U.S., off-farm income represents a high and generally increasing percentage of average farm operator household income in Taiwan. Off-farm income accounted for about 80 percent of total farm household income in 2014. The contribution of off-farm income for farm household and rural development are too important to be ignored. The impacts of trade liberalization (e.g., WTO, FTA, or TPP) on Taiwan’s agriculture sector has been an important issue in policy debates. Most of the debates focus on decreases in major indicators, e.g., total output value in production agriculture sector, food security, food self-sufficiency rate and on-farm income of farm household. Almost all of them neglect or ignore those potential increases in off-farm employment and income from local economic growth with trade liberalization. In this study, we built the SAM-based GEMTEE (General Equilibrium Model for Taiwanese Economy and Environment) model—a recursive dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model that depicts the economy of Taiwan and its demographic structure through time. The GEMTEE model is a CGE model derived from the Monash-type CGE model (Dixon and Rimmer 2002) and is calibrated to the 2011 Social Accounting Matrix of Taiwan as the benchmark. Simulation results demonstrate that Taiwan’s GDP will increase by 1.78%, but total agriculture output will decrease by 0.9%. For per farm household income, although on-farm income decreases by NT$1,648, off-farm income will increase by NT$10,580. In total, per farm household income increases by NT$8,932 with cross-strait trade liberalization. With trade liberalization as the engine of growth and trade adjustment assistance (TAA) mechanism in work, economic growth in Taiwan’s agriculture may be maintained and in the long run off-farm income and employment will increase to provide a “safety net” for rural households.

Since Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century in 2014, scientific interest into theimpact of income inequality on society has been on the rise. However, little is known about the mediating role of income inequality in the relationship between market institutions and subjective well-being. Using panel analysis on a sample of 21 OECD countries to test the effects of five different types of economic freedom on income inequality, we find that fiscal freedom, free trade and freedom from government regulation increase income inequality, whereas sound money decreases income inequality. Income inequality is found to have anegative effect on life satisfaction. Mediation tests show that income inequality mediates the influence of fiscal freedom, free trade and freedom from government regulation on life satisfaction.

This study investigates the relationship between financial structure and income inequality in China and explores a channel for changes of financial structure to influence income inequality. Our res...

This paper presents a simple post-Kaleckian model of distribution and growth that incorporates personal income inequality and interdependent social norms. The model shows in an easily accessible manner that macroeconomic effects of changes in personal and functional income distribution can potentially reinforce or dampen each other. The resulting variety of demand and growth regimes is due to different distributional effects on consumption demand. Therefore, the second part of the paper investigates the empirical relevance of the additional demand regimes by estimating aggregate consumption functions with variables for personal and functional income distribution for the United States and Germany. We find similar effects of functional income distribution for both countries. However, for the US, we find positive long-run effects of personal income inequality on consumption. The effect is strongest for the top 10% income share and the Gini index and less strong for the top 5% and 1% income shares. While this is evidence for relative consumption patterns, it also supports the view that the ?super rich? are a relatively distant class for most people - questioning the notion of expenditure cascades from the very top to the very bottom. In contrast, for Germany we fail to find compelling evidence for effects of personal income distribution.

National income is generated through national production in the form of ‘value added’; it is expended on goods and services in the form of ‘disposable’ or ‘net’ income. In this paper, I investigate what happens in between. The circuit of income flows generated in this way is comparable to the circuit of product flows, in its complexity. It can be analysed, so the tenet of the paper, in a similar way, by means of well-known tools of input–output (IO) analysis; this on the pre-condition, however, that you draw out the institutional framework of an economy in similar detail as is now customarily done for production units in IO analysis. Existing data do not suffice for the purpose, at present; this paper shows, by way of some exemplary calculations, what insight into the mechanism of national income distribution is gained if the necessary data, normally in the form of a large social accounting matrix, are provided.

This paper discusses findings of a study that investigated income, savings and consumption patterns of low income people, and critical factors that influence the use of microcredit- a form of small instant loans targeted for low income people- for household income and consumption smoothing. The sample of the study consisted of households from low income communities living in a lower-middle income country- Sri Lanka. It was found that microcredit borrowers were using the loans for purposes that can be identified as income and consumption smoothing, which is beyond the ideas and intended practice of microcredit. The findings suggests that the consequences of using microcredit for income and consumption smoothing could be costly for households and the society at large. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

This study analyzes income distribution types, both individual and functional, in terms of the first and the last quintiles in Turkey from 2006 to 2015. In this respect, the study first reveals how income types represented by functional income distribution are distributed for the first and last quintiles. Secondly, the inequalities arising within different income types obtained by the respective income quintiles are involved to the analysis. TURKSTAT Income and Living Conditions Survey dataset has been used in the study. With regards to methodology, first the variations that occurred in the shares obtained by households in different income categories for the first and last income quintiles have been used from 2006 to 2015. The improving or deteriorating effects of the relevant income quintiles on income inequality have been put forth for these variations. Then, the Lorenz curves and the Gini coefficients have been used to assess the distribution within each income category. According to the findings of the study, items that increase income equality for the first quintile are salaries and wages, pensions and survivors’ benefits, property income and other social transfers. On the other hand, casual incomes, entrepreneurial incomes, household transfers and rental incomes are the income categories that deteriorate income equality against the first income quintile. While wages and salaries have a positive effect on establishing income equality within this category, rental and property income are the types of income that reveal the most unequal distribution within themselves.

Few studies have attempted to identify a causal link between family income and child health, especially in developing countries. This article takes advantage of an exogenous income shock created by China’s rural tax reform between 2000 and 2003 to study the causal impact of household income on child health. The analysis finds that an increase in family income significantly raises children’s height-for-age z-scores. These effects are robust to alternative specifications and a comprehensive set of controls. The article also investigates possible mechanisms generating this result. We find that with a higher income level, better nutritional intake partially accounts for the improvement in child health.

The paper analyzes the distributional effects of social transfers in Bulgaria in the period 2000-2014, using income inequality decomposition by factor components. The results suggest that social transfers mitigate income inequality, but this effect varies depending on the type of transfer. Pensions exert the strongest influence due to their significant share in total income, which also rises over time. Family allowances are pro-poor in nature, but because of their small share in beneficiaries’ total income, their impact on overall inequality is much weaker. “Other social benefits” have the weakest inequality-reducing effect, which is due to their higher concentration towards the richest decile and increasing share in total income. Despite the inequality-decreasing impact of social transfers, we argue that they should not be regarded as the sole remedy for the sharp income disparities in the country, but need to be accompanied by relevant active labor market policies.

The paper discusses financial reporting of comprehensive income of companies in the food and beverage sector in the Republic of Serbia. The aim of the research is to examine whether the introduction of the concept of net comprehensive income has brought significant information for users of financial statements. The analysis has been conducted on a sample of 132 companies from the mentioned sector on the basis of financial statements for 2014. We find that there is very high positive correlation between net income and net comprehensive income; that there is no statistically significant difference between net income and net comprehensive income; that there is no statistically significant difference between the return on equity calculated by using net income and the return on equity calculated by using net comprehensive income; and that net comprehensive income is more volatile in time than net income.

This paper investigates the influence of country risks, including economic, financial, and political risks, on income inequality for a broad sample of 110 countries. Our empirical results reveal that higher economic and political risks generally lead to higher inequality. Lower income country appears to have higher income inequality. Furthermore, with the consideration of the non-monotonic effect of country risk, the improvement of income distribution is only sustainable dynamically after a certain threshold level of country risk has been brought down. Policymakers should improve the level of country stability by exploring the benefits of country risk reduction in order to improve income distribution.

In this paper I investigate the intergenerational income association and its transmission channels amid China's economic transition period using urban data from the Chinese Household Income Projects in 1995 and 2002. The estimated intergenerational income elasticity is 0.43 and 0.51 for cohorts educated prior to and after the market reform respectively, and reaches 0.71 among households with above average income in the post-reform era. Besides the conventional channel of education, this paper estimates the contribution from social capital and ownership of work unit across cohorts and income groups. There is weak evidence that prior to market reform, ownership of work unit contributes most to the intergenerational income persistence for households with below average income, while social capital leads the three contributors in households with above average income. However, in the post-reform era, parents with below average income invest statistically significantly in children's education which contributes most to the intergenerational income persistence. The leading contributor in families with above average income shifts to social capital. Possible explanations for such a shift lie in the ability and incentive of parents from different income categories to invest in their children. The results are tested through a series of robustness checks, and provide empirical support for promoting policies on the equality of opportunity.

The literature on income concentration largely focuses on pre-tax income; the current study provides new data concerning both pre- and post-tax top income shares in Switzerland, from the 1945–2012 period. Redistribution due to progressive income taxes increased until the 1970s, and since then, the highest-income households have avoided increased cantonal income taxes by taking residence in low-tax cantons. Lower-level top income groups are less mobile than the highest-level groups, but have benefited from tax policy reforms since the 1980s. Nonetheless, despite fiscal federalism, redistribution and post-tax income concentration have been exceptionally stable in Switzerland.

Stimulated by the switch away from price support in the early 1990s (the Mac Sharry reform), direct income payments have now become the central policy tool in EU agriculture. More than 70 per cent of the common agricultural practices (CAP) budget is now accounted for by these ‘single’ payments, which are largely decoupled from production. To receive these payments, farmers are required to comply with minimal ‘cross-compliance’ standards related to food safety, hygiene, the environment, animal welfare, and land management. On the basis of a review of both the payment scheme and the cross-compliance conditions, it is argued that further reform could make the system more targeted. This not only concerns the income support objective but also agriculture’s contribution to the provisioning of public goods and green services.

Drawing on the author's work, this lecture presents evidence on U.S. income and wealth inequality. It presents series for top income and wealth shares, and the distribution of economic growth by income groups. It discusses the mechanisms behind the evolution of U.S. income and wealth inequality from historical and comparative perspectives. It analyzes the role of public policy and in particular taxation in the evolution of inequality. (JEL D31, F66, J24)

A basic income is typically defined as an individual’s entitlement to receive a regular payment as a right, independent of other sources of income, employment or willingness to work, or living situation. In this article, we examine what it means for the state to institute a right to basic income. The normative literature on basic income has developed numerous arguments in support of basic income as an inextricable component of a just social order, but there exists little analysis about basic income within a jurisprudential or philosophical rights perspective. In our view, strong reasons of either a principled or a pragmatic nature in support of instituting a basic income scheme nevertheless often fall short of ascribing to basic income a distinctive Hohfeldian rights status. This article aims to partially redress this gap by examining two sets of questions. First, what are the implications – ethical and practical – of adopting basic income as a legal right as opposed to a mere policy? Second, we also enquire whether there should be such a right: what, if anything, is the ethical foundation that warrants granting basic income a distinctive legal rights status? This article suggests that any such foundation must be grounded in comparative evaluation and discusses several comparative strategies available to basic income advocates. The aim of this article is not to offer a definite argument in favor of a legal right to basic income, but to chart several lines of argument that a rights perspective might add to the contemporary discussion.

The phenomenal economic growth in China has been accompanied by a rapid increase in income inequality. This paper reviews the historical trends and patterns of income inequality in China, discusses the potential causes underlying rising income inequality, and applies the functional distribution of income approach in understanding China’s income inequality. This analytical approach highlights how rising return to capital relative to wage incomes can be an important source for increasing income inequality in China. The paper provides the evidence which shows that the rapid economic growth in China has been relying on a model that pays high returns to various kinds of capital including financial capital and real estate, while the ownership of capital is very unequal. This finding prompts us to rethink about the causes of China’s income inequality and to formulate appropriate policies based on the new way of understanding this pressing issue of income distribution in China.

This study uses the Propensity Score Matching to examine the income impact of different credit sources on accessed households in the Northern Mountains of Vietnam. Results show that overall rural credit serves an important role in improving household income with respect to total income, per capita income and nonfarm income. However, different credit affects recipients heterogeneously. Whereas a significant increase in household income can be achieved through accessing commercial and informal loans, there is no significant increase of all income components associated recipients of preferential credit. These results imply that a successful credit scheme needs to consider variations in transaction costs, disbursement scheme, loan characteristics and typical socio-economic conditions of credit recipients.

Globally income inequality is on the rise. With growing income inequality, market outcomes are no longer Pareto efficient as it is benefiting only a small group of individuals. Working with the World Values Survey data, this paper aims to provide an additional perspective on income inequality in Malaysia. We find evidence that individuals' underlying beliefs, ideologies and education level are important determinants of their attitudes toward income distribution. In addition, the paper concludes that individuals' preference for income distribution is significantly shaped by the experiences and economic condition in their local communities. States that are poorer and more ethnically diverse prefer more equal income.

Unilateral transfers, and notably remittances, are a growing source of income for developing countries. However, Gross National Income (GNI), which is widely used as an indicator for living standards, does not record them. Gross National Disposable Income (GNDI), by contrast, includes both income and unilateral transfers, thus providing a more exhaustive account of people's available income in an open economy. Yet, GNDI is rarely available in major reports and is sometimes confused with the GNI. This article calculates the GNDI for 27 countries amongst the world's top remittance receivers and demonstrates the usefulness of this measure for analysis and policy making in developing countries. The article also provides some critical insights into the role of income and unilateral transfers in the balance of payments.

Structural transformation in the economy and institutional innovations bring changes in the socio--economic dynamics in the society. This leads to changes in the pattern of income distribution, poverty and income inequality. Environmental resources such as forest still make significant contribution in rural household economy. The leasehold forestry program for the poor introduced in the last decade of 2000 with the purpose of forest regeneration and raising household income in Nepal has completed more than two decades. Using micro data collected at household level from two districts in Nepal in 2008, this paper examined the contribution of leasehold forest and other sources in household economy. The study finding revealed that all biomass income sources including agriculture and wage work had income inequality reducing effects measured in terms of Gini-coefficient. In contrast, remittance and salary and business income had inequality raising effects. As leasehold forest contributed less than 5 percent of the household income even after 10 years of investment, there is a strong need to improve its performance by integrating it with income generating activities such as livestock and agroforestry. The inequality raising effect ranging from 3 to 6 percent from various biomass sources needs to be better utilized.Economic Journal of Development Issues Vol. 17 & 18 No. 1-2 (2014) Combined Issue, Page: 29-28

Is there a reciprocal relationship between household income and net worth and does that relationship depend on initial income? Using cross-lagged panel models of household income and net worth data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the authors compare the income-wealth relationships of high- and low-income households from 1989 to 2011. Adjusting for demographic differences, the authors find a reciprocal relationship between income and wealth for high-, but not low-, income households. Results suggest intragenerational mobility works differently by initial income, which could partially explain the difficulty of escaping poverty and low U.S. support for liberal social welfare policy.

The reform of the income distribution system is an important part of the economic system reform, is an important reflection of economic development and social progress, and is an important guarantee for building a harmonious socialist society. The income...

Purpose. Objective of this study is to determine differences in population income within the European Union and a correlation of the personal income with the social and economic situation in the country. Methodology. Firstly, research papers on an income inequality were reviewed – methods of generalization and synthesis of scientific literature were used in the study. Secondly, the method of comparison was used to analyze the situation of population income in Latvia and the EU during the years 2005-2013. Finally, the method of correlation was used to verify the population income coherence to other dimensions of a person’s life quality within the EU countries. Results. There are different dimensions of inequality, but income inequality is one of the most important indicators. Amount and level of income sufficiently affects prosperity and opportunities. There are remarkable differences in terms of the population income in the EU countries, and the income in Latvia is one of the lowest in the EU. Countries have diverse reactions to economic shocks – there is a different dynamic of the income after the economic crisis. Income is a sufficient factor for the quality of person’s life – there is a sufficient correlation between the level of income (measured by the income index) and the life expectancy at birth (measured by the health index), as well as between the amount of income and the risk of poverty and social exclusion. The population income can also be seen as the effect of economic activity in the country. With such approach, the results of research show a very varied competitiveness of nations that can sufficiently determine the social and economic development of the EU member states, including Latvia. The theoretical contribution. This study gives a compact summary on the income inequality issue. At individual’s level, the income is an essential factor influencing different dimensions of the life. The population income inequality can be included in the models of competitiveness of nations as indicator, but in the models describing sustainable development – as factor. Practical implications . Regions are formed in an interaction of political, social, cultural and spatial dimensions. If there are differences in these factors, the level of social and economic development among the regions may differ. This may result in the inequality of population income and other aspects of life. The EU is region that consists of 28 member states. To be sustainable, it is vital to avoid a substantial difference in the development within the Union. The results of research can be used to evaluate regional development performance, implemented in the EU and Latvia, as well as to consider future priorities and activities. Keywords: European Union, income inequality, poverty, sustainable development. Paper type : Research paper.

Quantitative measures of class, by percentile position and income share, are constructed using U.S. personal income distribution tax-unit data from 1918 to 2012. Three classes are identified: ‘capitalists’ with sufficient non-labour income that they do not need an employment contract (although typically they are in employment); ‘managers’, with insufficient non-labour income to meet that threshold; and ‘workers’ with no supervisory responsibilities in employment. Class measures of inequality show that inequality was very much greater by 2010-11 than at any time since 1918. The paper concludes with how causal explanations might be constructed and how the data might be used.

During the last three decades, most developed countries have experienced increasing income inequality. Using Danish register data from 1992 to 2007 for all private-sector employees, we confirm that income inequality has increased in Denmark. We also observe an increase in the relative employment of highly-educated individuals, as well as differential income growth rates across employee subgroups where, in particular, managers experienced significant real income progression. We use an equilibrium search framework with on-the-job search to derive the income distribution. In this model we can determine the management and education premia. We can also show that when our model is exposed to skill-upgrading it is capable of producing income dynamics similar to those observed in the Danish income distribution. (JEL J3, J6, M5)

The paper exploits Social Security legislation changes to identify the causal effect of Social Security income on out-of-pocket medical expenditures of the elderly. Using the 1986–1994 Consumer Expenditure Survey and an instrumental variables strategy, the empirical results show that health care expenditures are responsive to changes in Social Security income for elderly individuals with less than a high school education. The estimated income elasticities are between 1.41 and 3.47 depending on the outcome measures and are statistically significant at conventional levels. The findings are in contrast to existing studies that find a small income elasticity at the individual/household level. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

This article shows how the cost of Universal Basic Income (UBI) is often misunderstood and greatly exaggerated. It then presents simple, “back-of-the-envelope” estimates of the net cost of a UBI set at about the official poverty line: $12,000 per adult and $6,000 per child with a 50 % “marginal tax rate.” These back-of-the-envelope calculations present a greatly simplified UBI scheme meant not as a practical proposal but as a method to obtain a ballpark estimate of the cost of UBI in isolation. Even with simplifying assumptions, these figures are several times more accurate than many common but exaggerated estimates. Key findings of this study include the following. The net cost — the real cost — of this UBI scheme is $539 billion per year: about one-sixth its often-mentioned but not-very-meaningful gross cost of about $3.415 trillion. The net cost of this UBI scheme is less than 25 % of the cost of current U.S. entitlement spending, less than 15 % of overall federal spending, and about 2.95 % of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The average net beneficiary is a family of about two people making about $27,000 per year in market income. The family’s net benefit from the UBI would be nearly $9,000, raising their income to almost $36,000.

Turkey is one of the new centers of attraction for healthcare tourism with increasing efforts for improvement at policy making level. In link with the specific targets for healthcare tourism income set by the government, this study aims to analyze historical data of healthcare tourism income of Turkey over 2002-2015 and provide future forecasts. Both annual and quarterly healthcare tourism income data are analyzed to investigate the share of healthcare tourism income in aggregate tourism income and to search for seasonal effects. Results indicate that relying on the high correlation between aggregate tourism and healthcare tourism income, healthcare tourism income can be presented and forecasted as a percentage of annual tourism income. Seasonality is observed for the aggregate tourism income, where it is also present for healthcare tourism income between 2002 and 2009. It is also found that Turkey has an upward trend in health and aggregate tourism income.

Executive SummaryRecent federal legislation has linked the price paid for health insurance benefits to current income. Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, individuals and ...

We apply a twin design to examine the relationship between health and education andincome. The estimated associations between health and education and income, controlling forunobserved endowments, ...

Nowadays, improvement in income distribution and poverty eradication and hence low inequality are served as the main objectives of economic and social development strategy even prior than primary tasks of governments. to manifest importance of income distribution, some economists adopt income inequality and income distribution in society as criteria for economic system of the community, although these criteria and measures are theoretical for the economic system and this varies from the perspective of different people, however, it denotes on importance of income distribution among individuals. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of economic growth on income inequality in the selection of low-income developing countries.To this end, using panel data and data for 28 developing countries over the period 1990-2010 the relationship between GDP and the Gini coefficient was examined. The results indicate that as per hypothesis Kuznets in the early stages of growth, income inequality increases and then it declines in later stage.

Using a factor decomposition of the Gini coefficient, we measure the contribution to inequality of direct monetary income flows to and from the Brazilian State. The income flows from the State include public sector workers' earnings, Social Security pensions, unemployment benefits, and Social Assistance transfers. The income flows to the State comprise direct taxes and employees' social security contributions. Data come from the Brazilian POF 2008–09. We do not measure indirect contributions to inequality of subsidies granted to and taxation of companies, nor the in-kind provision of goods and services. The results indicate that the State contributes to a large share of family per capita income inequality. Incomes associated with work in the public sector—wages and pensions—are concentrated and regressive. Components related to the private sector are also concentrated, but progressive. Contrary to what has been found in European countries, public spending associated with work and social policies is concentrated in an elite group of workers and, taken as a whole, tends to increase income inequality. Redistributive mechanisms that could reverse this inequality, such as taxes and social assistance, are very progressive but proportionally small. Consequently, their effect is completely offset by the regressive income flows from the State.

Most countries are grappling with the rising income inequality problem and many governments believe that it is important to reduce income inequality. This is because income inequality is associated with a variety of ‘negative’ outcomes (e.g., protest and low citizen well-being). This seemingly common-sense argument hinges on an untested assumption: Changes in a country’s level of income inequality affect how its citizens perceive and evaluate income inequality. This article argues that this is not theoretically plausible and shows with evidence from China and Japan from 1995 to 2007, that the income inequality of the context a person is embedded in does not systematically affect his or her perception and evaluation of income inequality. Instead, it is the individual socio-psychological factors that affect individual subjective evaluation of income inequality. Thus, while government officials in China and Japan are quick to implement policies that lower the objective dimensions of income inequality, more efforts should focus on subjective income inequality. Simply using the metric of objective income inequality indices (e.g., Gini ratio) as a measure of policy impact may blindside policy makers to the more important subjective income inequality, that is, how people perceive and evaluate everyday income inequality.

Some economic analysis concludes that capitalist institutions tend to produce growing income inequality. Piketty (2014Capital in the Twenty-First Century., Cambridge: Harvard University Press) is a recent example. This paper uses two different datasets on income shares of the top 10% to analyze the effect of market institutions on income inequality. The same empirical specifications give different results for the two datasets. This empirical investigation suggests that whether market institutions generate income inequality is an open question.

This paper studies the composition of income sources of the elderly and the difference of sources of income by the elderly characteristics. First, the results of analysis on the structure of sources of income show the average income of the elderly appears 7.7million won the consists of 3.0million won from market, 2.5million won from nation, 2.2million won from family. Income sources of the elderly are dependent on business income, property income, earned income in the market. Second, the results of differences analysis in demographic characteristics, men get a lot of income through the market and nation, while women get through families. Market income is high younger and family income is the more older. Depending on where you live, family income and national income is higher relatively urbanized. Third, the results of analysis by depending on the income, level of national income and market income is higher, while family income is high-income the case less income. Fourth, differences in health status by analysis of the sources of income have higher levels of health status and market high and lower income families rely heavily on the private sector, such as can be seen. Therefore, market and family income is higher than another countries. and the complement of public income support system is required for vulnerable people.

Income inequality is very topical—in both political and economic circles—but although income and socioeconomic status are known determinants of health status, income inequality has garnered scant attention with respect to the health of US workers. By several measures, income inequality in the United States has risen since 1960. In addition to pressures from an increasingly competitive labor market, with cash wages losing out to benefits, workers face pressures from changes in work organization. We explored these factors and the mounting evidence of income inequality as a contributing factor to poorer health for the workforce. Although political differences may divide the policy approaches undertaken, addressing income inequality is likely to improve the overall social and health conditions for those affected.

Building on evidence of increasing inequality with the 2008–2009 recession, we asked whether households experienced different financial trajectories through the recession depending on initial income and net worth. Using growth curve models of households headed by young adults in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we compared the relationship between initial income and net worth and the rate of change of income and net worth from 1989 to 2011 among households with income above and below $50,000. We found different patterns of income change and different relationships among income, net worth, and their rates of change between high- and low-income categories. Results suggest initial wealth helped to stabilize income and wealth changes among higher income households, reducing financial insecurity.

본 연구에서는 토빗모형을 이용하여 1인가구의 소비패턴이 연령별, 소득별로 얼마나 다른지 추정하였다. 분석을 위해 2006년부터 2012년까지 통계청 가계동향조사의 지출 데이터를 이용하였다. 추정결과, 음식료품, 주거 및 수도광열, 통신 지출을 제외한 모든 품목에서 1인가구의 소득탄력성은 1보다 크게 나타났으며 품목별로 다른 소비 특성을 보인다는 것을 확인했다. 또한 1인가구의 품목별 소득탄력성은 연령별, 소득별로 크게 차이를 보였다. 향후 1인가구의 관련 정책 또는 기업의 전략을 수립할 때 연령별, 소득별로 차별화된 접근이 필요할 것이다. 특히 기업은 1인가구 중 고소득 미혼자 그룹 등 구매력이 큰 소비자의 소비를 이끌어내는 전략이 필요할 것이다. 1인가구가 증가함에 따라서 음식료품이나 에너지 등과 같은 필수재구매 비중이 줄어들고 서비스에 대한 수요가 늘어날 것이다. 따라서 1인가구 증가에 따른 보건, 의료, 기사지원 등 서비스 시장 확대에 대비한 정책 대응이 필요하다. 【This study examines how single-person household expenditure patterns are different with respect to age and income groups using Tobit model. The expenditure data of the national household survey from 2006 to 2012 were used. The results show that income elasticities of all items are greater than 1 except for food & beverage, housing, water, electricity & gas, and Communication. Income elasticities are significantly different among consuming items. Additionally the income elasticities are also different between various age and income groups of single-person households. Therefore governments and businesses have to take this into account when devising their policies or strategies regarding single-person households. Especially, businesses need to adopt a strategy targeted at single-person households with high income and buying power such as unmarried professional people. As the number of single-person household increases the proportion of expenditures on necessities such as beverage, food, and energy is expected to decrease while that on services increases. Consequently policy responses are required to prepare for the expansion of service industries such as health, hospital, and housekeeping services.】

This paper proposes four criteria for the selection of a better measure of living standards: it should be comprehensive, correlation sensitive, preference based, and fairness based. These criteria are applied to the following measures: income, equivalent income, capabilities, and satisfaction. The paper then explores the relationship between the space of goods and services, the space of budgets, and the more fundamental space of the aspects of life that people really care about. The importance of the fairness principles guiding interpersonal comparisons is highlighted.

Poverty and hunger are the central issues against the sustainable development. Today, more than 800 million people are suffering from insufficient nutrition according to FAO (FAO, 2010). However, on the other hand, it is often pointed out that the per capita food production already meets the demand for the per capita food requirement. The above contradictory observation suggests that many people cannot access the food market because of the low income. The availability of electricity and other energy is also the case. Since these issues are mainly caused by the inequity of income distribution, its quantitative analysis is indispensable to evaluate the societal policy towards the sustainable future. However, since the existing indicators such as Gini coefficients do not represent the income distribution explicitly, they fail to assess the effects of social policy for the improvement of purchasing power of poor people. Population of absolute poverty who gets less than 1.25 US dollar per day is also provided by World Bank. This indicator does not show the distribution pattern of middle to high income classes. The authors would thus point out the need for an alternative method. This paper describes an application of Gamma distribution to the income distribution patterns. The parameters are statistically estimated based on the income quintile data provided by World Bank. The results show how the income distribution has changed historically by country. Based on the future income distribution and the simulation results of the author’s crop market model, we evaluate the share of people who cannot afford the major crop. The authors also propose a procedure to estimate the potential food demand function considering the income distribution changes, suggesting that the future demand could be affected by not only the per-capita income growth but the income distribution changes.

Purpose – Emerging evidence revealed a high rate of dependence of marginal people on forest resources in developing countries for both subsistence use and cash income. The purpose of this paper is to examine the rural livelihoods welfare dimensions of community forest income in south-western Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach – Forest activities and income pattern data were collected from 160 rural households’ selected using multistage sampling approach. Descriptive statistics and Gini decomposition technique were used to analyse the data. Findings – The result shows that forest income accounts for about 38.2 per cent of total household income and was the first ranked source of income in the study area. The Gini decomposition analysis showed that access to forest income is income inequality reducing in the study area. The study findings suggests that household welfare in rural Nigeria could be improved through policies and programmes that can stimulate sustainable access to forest resources and assist households to earn income from alternative sources such as agriculture. Originality/value – The result of the study helped provide information on the uses and benefits of community forests as it affects the well-being of rural people. Also, it provides the benchmark for policy makers, government agencies and NGO's involved in rural livelihood outcome of forest communities.

Drawing from both theoretical and empirical research, the literature on basic income (BI) is now voluminous, pronouncing both its merits and its limitations. Burgeoning research documents the impacts of un/conditional cash transfers and negative income tax programs, with many studies highlighting the effectiveness of these programs in reducing poverty, and improving a host of social, economic and health outcomes. We consider possible avenues for BI architecture to be adopted within Canada’s existing constellation of income security programs, to the benefit of disadvantaged groups in society. Identifying key federal and provincial (i.e., Ontario) transfer and tax benefit programs, we highlight which programs might best be maintained or converted to a BI. While opponents decry the (alleged) exorbitant costs of BI schemes, we suggest that the existing approach not only produces an ineffective system—which actually engenders poverty and the health and social problems that accompany it—but an excessively costly one.

Background: Industrial income differential is the most important cause of the public dissatisfaction with the income inequality in China. The high income of monopoly industries is now the typical one of the massive income inequity phenomena. But objectively speaking, not all high income of monopoly industries is unreasonable. The income differential caused by employees' education level is reasonable in a certain range. Measuring and analyzing the high income of monopoly industries should be based on taking various elements such as employees' education level and working age into account. Methods: Using the employer-employee matched data, we overcome the problem of missing variables and make the estimates of unreasonable parts of the high income of monopoly industries more reliable. By the decomposition method, the wage gaps between monopoly and competitive industries are decomposed into the reasonable part and the unreasonable part. Results: On the average level, nearly half of the average wage difference between monopoly and competition industry is unreasonable, which is caused by monopolization. From the view of income levels, the income gaps between monopoly industry and competitive industry get widened as the income quantile increases. Specifically, at the quantile points of 10, 50, and 90%, the income gaps are 9.4, 52, and 60.6% respectively and the proportions of the unreasonable part are 26, 71, and 72% respectively. Conclusions: The gap between the monopoly industries and competition industries is robust facts. The different decomposition method gives a consistent picture that the monopoly is the important source of the income gap. The most import source of income difference comes from the structural difference of return between the monopoly industries and competition industries.

Background: Section 7 of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 (the Act) was introduced as an anti-avoidance measure to prevent tax avoidance by means of a donation, settlement or other disposition in various types of schemes. In terms of this section, in certain circumstances, ‘income’ is deemed to be income received by or accrued to a taxpayer. Despite the fact that the term ‘income’ has been used in Section 7 from the time that it was first introduced into the Act and the fact that it is defined in section 1 of the Act, there still remains uncertainty regarding the intention of the legislature and the actual meaning of the term in terms of Section 7. Aim: The objective of the study is to understand whether the term ‘income’, as used in Sections 7(2) to 7(8) of the Act, is used in its defined sense or if it should be ascribed a different meaning. Setting: This article examines existing literature in a South African income tax environment. Method: A non-empirical study of existing literature was conducted by performing a historical analysis within a South African context. A doctrinal research approach was followed. Results: Possible interpretations determined include ‘income’ as defined in section 1 of the Act, namely ‘gross income’ (also defined) less exempt income, ‘gross income’, profits and gains or ‘taxable income’ (i.e. ‘income’ less allowable expenditure, deductions and losses) and ‘gross income’ less related deductible expenses and losses. Conclusion: It was found that the meaning of ‘income’, for purposes of Sections 7(2) to 7(8), remains an uncertainty, and it is recommended that the wording of Section 7 be amended to reflect the intended meaning thereof.