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The social stratification of material consequences of individual‐level disruptive events is a widely researched topic. Less is known about the stratification of psychological outcomes in response to contextual‐level disruptive events. We aim to fill this gap by investigating the aftermath of the Covid‐19 pandemic on individuals’ dispositional optimism and the stratification based on unequal wealth resources. The study focuses on Italy, the first European country to be strongly hit by Covid‐19, and one characterised by high levels of private savings and homeownership. Theoretically, we draw on the conventional social inequalities framework informed by insights from the literature on natural disasters, positing that wealth‐related resource disparities may have stratified the socioemotional response to the pandemic. Empirically, we leverage a combination of individual‐level longitudinal survey data (Bank of Italy’s Special Survey of Italian Households) and municipality‐level official statistics on excess mortality (Italian National Institute of Statistics), covering the first 17 months of the Covid‐19 pandemic in Italy. Results indicate overall negative consequences of severe exposure to risks associated with the pandemic on optimism. However, we found evidence in line with a post‐traumatic growth scenario, as optimism slightly increased over the course of the pandemic. The insurance function of wealth emerges in the higher optimism of individuals with more resources. Nevertheless, resource disparities are not translated into stark differences in susceptibility to risk exposure or post‐traumatic growth. Overall, our findings support a limited insurance function of wealth in the socioemotional sphere.

It is well established that women have lower income and wealth levels than men. These inequalities are most pronounced within heterosexual couples and grow once partners get married and have children. Nevertheless, equality in controlling money within couples is highly valued and might ameliorate women’s disadvantages in income and wealth ownership. Previous research has focused on explaining gender wealth inequalities at the household level; less is known about the possible consequences of these inequalities on how couples manage their money. In this article, we investigate how income and wealth inequalities among couples are associated with joint or independent money management. In theoretical terms, we perceive money management systems as representing two different norms of reciprocity within couples for buffering income and wealth inequalities between partners, depending on the transferability of resources and their institutional regulation. We apply pooled logistic regression models to data from the German Socio‐Economic Panel Study. Our findings confirm that income and wealth are relevant but have opposite associations with couples’ money management strategies. While couples with unequal income constellations tend to pool their money, couples with unequal wealth constellations manage their money independently. Accordingly, couples seem to use labour income to buffer gender inequalities by sharing resources, thereby following the norm of partnership solidarity. In contrast, gender wealth inequalities are reproduced by keeping resources separate, thus representing the norm of financial autonomy.

Economic shocks test the resilience of families around the world. Lockdowns, extended periods of unemployment, and inflation challenge the capabilities of private households to maintain their living standards whilst keeping their budgets in balance. Asset poverty is a concept invoked frequently to measure the capacity of private households to mitigate income loss by relying exclusively on their savings. In contrast to conventional asset poverty measures, we quantify the combined cushioning effect of private and public safety nets. Highlighting the importance of public safety nets and familial networks, this article devises a modified concept of asset poverty: Rather than purely simulating a household’s asset decumulation without replacement income, the modified indicator accounts for replacement income in a static setting. The empirical assessment of modified asset poverty in Europe and America combines harmonised microdata on household finances with simulations of institutional rules set by social insurance systems. Our results reveal how differences in social relations and institutional rules shape cross‐country variation in the vulnerability of private households. We find that, in contrast to the US, where the asset poverty of families is particularly low, households in most European countries are less vulnerable because generous social security systems coexist with low private assets. However, in some European countries, benefit generosity decreases the longer income losses last, exposing time dynamics in vulnerability. Complementing social insurance mechanisms, in countries such as Greece, households are more likely to receive financial support from family or friends. Cross‐national heterogeneity in vulnerability suggests that a shock may have different implications across countries.

Many measurement concepts of equal living conditions fail to meet central scientific requirements. A comparison and assessment of the equivalence of living conditions has therefore been difficult up to now. This paper presents a newly developed measurement concept that addresses the most frequent points of criticism. A two-stage measurement concept is proposed. In a first step, the regions are grouped into seven types of areas based on the dimensions "social situation", "economic intensity" and "population development/age structure". In a second stage, these types of areas can be used to better analyse and evaluate more specific indicators or further dimensions of equal living conditions with regard to their effect on socially disadvantaged and/or elderly people. This two-stage approach allows the indicators of the second stage to be considered at the appropriate spatial level of detail, i.e. at the raster, municipality, district or functional spatial level. Examples of this are shown. The interpretation and evaluation of these indicators in terms of equal living conditions were validated through workshops and interviews in three case studies, the city of Gelsenkirchen and the districts of Dithmarschen and Mansfeld-Südharz. The article concludes with an outlook on upcoming steps for further development with regard to continuous monitoring on the basis of this measurement concept.

Madrider Mitteilungen, Vol. 61 (2020), La provincia romana de Baetica fue una de las m��s pr��speras del imperio romano. Los autores cl��sicos elogiaron su gran cantidad y variedad de recursos materiales, cuyo aprovechamiento y desarrollo favorecieron especialmente a las familias de los altos ordines. Este estudio se centra en los diversos sectores de la pr��spera econom��a del sur de Hispania (agricultura, comercio, industria, banca, etc.), como fundamento de las grandes fortunas que acumularon tales sectores de poblaci��n. Una riqueza que, adem��s, les permiti�� frecuentemente ascender en la jerarqu��a social.

Das Begleitgremium Covid-19-Pandemie, ein Unterausschuss des Ausschusses für Arbeit, Gesundheit und Soziales des Landestags Nordrhein-Westfalens hat den Auftrag, aktuelle sowie künftige gesundheitliche, soziale und wirtschaftliche Folgen der Bewältigung und der Eindämmung der Covid-19-Pandemie zu behandeln. Im Rahmen eines Fachgesprächs am 16. November 2021 wurde das IAB unter dem Titel "Datenlage - Bereich Arbeit - Wirtschaft" um eine Stellungnahme gebeten. Für Fragen aus dem umfangreichen Fragenkatalog, zu denen relevante Erkenntnisse insbesondere auf der Grundlage von Umfragen und Analysen aus dem IAB vorliegen, geben die folgenden Antworten einen zusammenfassenden Überblick über relevante Studienergebnisse. The Covid 19 Pandemic Monitoring Committee, a sub-committee of the Committee for Labor, Health and Social Affairs of the State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia, has the mandate to address current as well as future health, social and economic consequences of the management andcontainmentoftheCovid19Pandemic. Inthe contextof a technicaldiscussiononNovember 16, 2021,the IAB was asked for a statement underthe title "Datenlage - Bereich Arbeit - Wirtschaft". For questions from the extensive list of questions, for which relevant findings are available in particular on the basis of surveys and analyses from the IAB, the following answers provide a summarized overview of relevant study results.

Acquiescence has been found to distort the psychometric quality of questionnaire data. Previous research has identified various determinants of acquiescence at both the individual and the country level. We aimed to synthesize the scattered body of knowledge by concurrently testing a multilevel model encompassing a set of presumed predictors of acquiescence. Based on a representative sample comprising almost 40,000 respondents from 20 European countries, we analyzed the effects of the country-level indicators economic wealth, corruption level, and collectivism and the individual-level indicators age, gender, educational attainment, and conservatism. Results revealed that 15% of the variance in acquiescence was due to country-level variations in corruption levels and collectivism. Differences among individuals within countries could be partially explained by conservatism and educational attainment.

Hintergrund: Hohe Korruption und geringe Wettbewerbsfähigkeit kennzeichnen Länder mit einer fortwährenden römisch-katholischen Tradition. Im Gegensatz dazu weisen historisch protestantische Länder in Europa und dem amerikanischen Kontinent im Allgemeinen ein höheres Maß an Transparenz, Bildung, sozialem Fortschritt und Wettbewerbsfähigkeit aus. Jesus Christus verkundete: "An ihren Fruchten sollt ihr sie erkennen." Damit nahm er Bezug auf die wahren und falschen Propheten, die in seinem Namen kommen wurden. Dieses Gleichnis hat die vorliegende Studie inspiriert, insbesondere die Untersuchung des Zusammenhangs zwischen religiösen Systemen ("Propheten") und sozialem Wohlstand ("Fruchten"). Die Forschungsfrage lautet: Wie beeinflusst der Protestantismus Wettbewerbsfähigkeit und Transparenz im Vergleich zum römischen Katholizismus in Europa und den amerikanischen Kontinent? Methodik: Diese Forschung stutzt sich auf einen umfassenden methodologischen Rahmen, der in verschiedene erkenntnistheoretische Ansätze (Mixed Methods) unterteilt ist. Der korrelationale (quantitative) Teil zeigt, wie sich die Variablen zueinander verhalten während die Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) die kausalen Beziehungen in 65 Ländern in Europa und den amerikanischen Kontinenten aufzeigt. Im qualitativen Teil wird die Kritische Diskursanalyse (CDA) auf vier Fallstudien angewendet: Schweiz, Uruguay, Kuba und Kolumbien. Ergebnisse: Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie weisen auf eine Kombination von drei Hauptfaktoren hin, welche die ungleichen sozioökonomischen und institutionellen Leistungen in Europa und dem amerikanischen Kontinent verdeutlichen: 1. Religion: 1.1) Historischer Protestantismus in Bezug auf Recht / Institutionen / Sprache (höchste Leistungsfähigkeit); 1.2) Antiklerikalismus (mittel-hohe Leistungsfähigkeit); 1.3) Römischer Katholizismus oder Orthodoxie (mittel-niedrige Leistungsfähigkeit); 1.4) Synkretismus (tiefe Leistungsfähigkeit). 2. Politische, nichtreligiöse Einflusse: 2.1) Kommunismus (geringe Einflussgrösse). 3. Geographie und Umwelt zur Modulierung der Gesamtleistung. Fazit: Der Beitrag dieser Studie zur Forschung besteht in der Herausarbeitung der Tatsache, dass mehrere Wohlstandsauslöser (Religion polititische Verhältnisse Umwelt) sich gegenseitig verstärken und dadurch den Grad der Korruption bzw. des Wohlstands in einem Land bestimmen. Der historische Protestantismus förderte das Wohlstandsniveau durch seinen Einfluss auf die Bildung, die Säkularisierung von Institutionen und die Stabilisierung der Demokratie. Der Protestantismus erwies sich auch in den aufeinanderfolgenden historischen Gesetzesrevolutionen, welche die Gesellschaft allmählich von den durchdringenden feudalen Institutionen und einem mittelalterlichen päpstlichen Kirchengesetz trennten, als sehr einflussreich. Im Gegensatz dazu haben Länder der römisch-katholischen Tradition im Allgemeinen ein mittelalterliches Modell extrahierender Institutionen beibehalten, bis antiklerikale (nichtkommunistische) Bewegungen diesen Einfluss in einigen Ländern gemindert haben., Background: High corruption and low competitiveness are common denominators in countries with pervasive Roman Catholic traditions. In contrast, historically Protestant countries, both in the Americas and in Europe, tend to have higher levels of transparency, education, social progress, and competitiveness. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus Christ declared that "Ye shall know them by their fruits." He was referring to the true and false prophets who would come on his behalf. This parable inspires this study, which examines the relationship between religious systems ("prophets") and social prosperity ("fruits"). Its main question is: How does Protestantism influence competitiveness and transparency compared to Roman Catholicism in Europe and the Americas? Methodology: I applied a comprehensive methodological framework consisting of different epistemological approaches (Mixed Methods). The correlational (quantitative) part established the interrelations between the investigated variables, while the Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) further inferred causal relations for 65 countries in Europe and the Americas. The qualitative part used Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to examine four case studies (Switzerland, Uruguay, Cuba, and Colombia). Results: Combining three main factors accounted for uneven socio-economic and institutional performance in Europe and the Americas. These factors are: 1. Religion: 1.1) Historical Protestantism and its positive influence on law, institutions and language (highest performance); 1.2) anti-clericalism (medium-high performance); 1.3) Roman Catholicism or Orthodoxy (medium-low performance); 1.4) Syncretism (low performance). 2. Political non-religious influences: 2.1) Communism (low performance). 3. Geography and environment, which modulate overall performance. Conclusion: This study contributes to existing research in this field by demonstrating for the first time the effect of the mutually reinforcing configuration of multiple prosperity triggers (religionpolitical environment). Historical Protestantism largely influenced prosperity by promoting education, by secularising institutions and by stabilising democracy. Protestantism has also proven highly influential in the successive historical law revolutions that gradually mitigated the power of pervasive feudal institutions and of papalist medieval canon law. In contrast, traditionally Roman Catholic countries have generally upheld a medieval model of extractivist institutions until anti-clerical (non-communist) movements were able to weaken this influence in some countries.

Die vorliegende Bachelorarbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Forschungsfrage „Wie stellt sich Verwahrlosung durch Wohlstand dar?“. Der Fokus liegt darauf, wie Wohlstandsverwahrlosung entsteht, wie sie sich zeigen kann und welche möglichen Auswirkungen diese auf das spätere Erwachsenenleben eines Kindes haben kann. Das Ergebnis der Literaturrecherche und wissenschaftlichen Ausarbeitung zeigt, dass Wohlstandsverwahrlosung eine sehr komplexe Thematik darstellt. Ausschlaggebend ist jedoch die fehlende qualitative und kindgerechte Beziehung der Bezugspersonen zu ihren Kindern. Wohlstandsverwahrlosung stellt sich dementsprechend durch emotionale Abwesenheit der Eltern, materielle Überhäufung oder das Ausüben von Leistungsdruck auf die Kinder dar. Dadurch fallen Kinder und Jugendliche im späteren Leben oftmals in eine Suchtproblematik oder erleiden eine psychische Erkrankung. Es gibt vielzählige Angebote, bei denen Kinder, Jugendliche und Familien Hilfe bekommen, jedoch ist es äußerst schwer, sehr wohlhabende Familien zu erreichen und mit ihnen eine Zusammenarbeit zu starten. Auf Grund dessen ist es wichtig, diese Art von Verwahrlosung zu thematisieren und die Gesellschaft dafür zu sensibilisieren. The following bachelor thesis deals with the research question; "What does affluent neglect look like in today’s society?" The focus is on how affluent neglect arises, what form or shape it can take, and what possible effects it can have on a child's development into adolescence and adulthood. Research and scientific examination of this issue shows that affluent neglect is a very complex issue. The decisive factor, importantly, is the lack of qualitative and child-friendly relationships between the caregivers and their children. Accordingly, wealth neglect is represented by the emotional absence of the parents, material overload, or the exertion of performance pressure on the children. As a result, children and adolescents often experience many developmental issues which can lead to addiction or mental illness later in life. While resources exist to help children, adolescents, and families confront the issues of neglect, it is often extremely difficult to reach and work with wealthy families regarding these issues. Because of this, it is important to address this type of neglect and raise awareness of it in our society.

We employ a novel approach for analyzing the effects of relative consumption and relative wealth preferences on both the decentralized and the socially optimal economic growth rates. In the pertinent literature these effects are usually assessed by examining the dependence of the growth rates on the two parameters of the instantaneous utility function that seem to measure the strength of the relative consumption and the relative wealth motive. We go beyond the sole consideration of parameters by revealing the fundamental factors that ultimately determine long-run growth. In doing so we identify widely used types of status preferences in which the traditional approach is prone to erroneous conclusions. For example, in one of these specifications the parameter that seems to determine the strength of the relative consumption motive actually also affects the strength of the relative wealth motive and the elasticity of intertemporal substitution.

In the centuries since the enlightenment, the world has seen an increase in socioeconomic development, measured as increased life expectancy, education, economic development and democracy. While the co-occurrence of these features among nations is well documented, little is known about their origins or co-evolution. Here, we compare this growth of prosperity in nations to the historical record of cultural values in the twentieth century, derived from global survey data. We find that two cultural factors, secular-rationality and cosmopolitanism, predict future increases in GDPper capita, democratization and secondary education enrollment. The converse is not true, however, which indicates that secular-rationality and cosmopolitanism are among the preconditions for socioeconomic development to emerge.

Measuring fluctuation in families’ economic conditions is the raison d’être of household panel studies. Accordingly, a particularly challenging critique is that extreme fluctuation in measured economic characteristics might indicate compounding measurement error rather than actual changes in families’ economic wellbeing. In this article, we address this claim by moving beyond the assumption that particularly large fluctuation in economic conditions might be too large to be realistic. Instead, we examine predictors of large fluctuation, capturing sources related to actual socio-economic changes as well as potential sources of measurement error. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we study between-wave changes in a dimension of economic wellbeing that is especially hard to measure, namely, net worth as an indicator of total family wealth. Our results demonstrate that even very large between-wave changes in net worth can be attributed to actual socio-economic and demographic processes. We do, however, also identify a potential source of measurement error that contributes to large wealth fluctuation, namely, the treatment of incomplete information, presenting a pervasive challenge for any longitudinal survey that includes questions on economic assets. Our results point to ways for improving wealth variables both in the data collection process (e.g., by measuring active savings) and in data processing (e.g., by improving imputation algorithms)., methods, data, analyses, Vol 11, No 1 (2017)

Wohlstand und Konsum sind relevante Themen für das Wohlergehen von Personen, Gesellschaften und Ländern. So ist die Wohlstands- und Konsumwende eine von sieben Wenden, die für die Grosse Transformation entscheidend ist. Der Fokus dieser Arbeit liegt hierbei auf der übergeordneten Frage, wie Wohlstand und Konsum erweitert werden können, sodass eine erfolgreiche nachhaltige Transformation im Bereich von «Convenience Goods» erzielt wird. Die methodische Vorgehensweise beruht auf einer Literaturrecherche und Auswertung einer durchgeführten Umfrage. Ein erster Teil fasst die theoretischen Grundlagen zur Wohlstands- und Konsumwende zusammen, zudem wird das aktuelle Wohlstands- und Konsumverhalten in der Schweiz durchleuchtet. Anschliessend wird die Forschungsmethodik erläutert, sodass eine Umfrage im Bereich von Konsumverhalten im Umgang mit «Convenience Goods» durchgeführt werden konnte. Mit der Online-Umfrage, welche von 148 Personen zu Ende geführt wurde, wird das Wissen zu Wohlstand und Konsum, das persönliche Konsumverhalten (im Bereich «Convenience Goods») und die Bereitschaft das Konsumverhalten zu ändern aufgezeigt. Da es sich bei dieser Bachelorarbeit um eine empirische Studie mit quantitativer Erhebungs- und Auswertungsmethodik handelt, erfolgte die Auswertung mithilfe deskriptiver Statistik. Die Resultate der Umfrage und der Theorieteil zeigen im Zusammenspiel auf, wie Wohlstand und Konsum in der Schweiz erweitert werden können, sodass eine nachhaltige Wende möglich ist. Wohlstand und Konsum geniessen in der Schweiz einen sehr hohen Standard. Das Konsumverhalten ist jedoch nicht sehr nachhaltig und es besteht Handlungsbedarf. Das grösste Änderungspotential findet sich im bestehenden gesellschaftlichen und wirtschaftlichen Handeln.