Poverty, Inequality and Health: An International Perspective raises new and critical issues about health inequalities. It is unique in that it provides the first truly international perspective on ...this problem, with contributions from the developed and developing world. The outcome of a Public Health Forum organised by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, this book brings together material from internationally recognised contributors from a wide range of disciplines and countries. The chapters reflect this diversity, ranging from the micro- to the macro-level, from aetiology to intervention. Topics covered include: the over-arching concepts linking economic and social forces and health status the extent to which ethical concerns lie at the heart of the issue of inequalities in health and attempts to ameliorate them; macro-level features of inequalities in health within and between countries; an overview of the main body of work on inequalities in health in developed countries and those in transition within Europe; specific pathways and mechanisms at the individual level that link poverty and inequality to health status; the interaction of social and biological influences on health status throughout life; specific disease-specific links; and issues of policy and interventions aimed at reducing inequalities in health. The book brings together people from very varied disciplines to discuss an area of clear international interest and global importance. As such it will be of value to the broad public health audience as well as research epidemiologists, international policy analysts and policy makers and those concerned with economic development and health. Available in OSO: http://www.oxschol.com/oso/public/content/publichealthepidemiology/9780192631961/toc.html
This paper estimates the dynamic effects of changes in taxes in the United States. We distinguish between changes in personal and corporate income taxes and develop a new narrative account of federal ...tax liability changes in these two tax components. We develop an estimator which uses narratively identified tax changes as proxies for structural tax shocks and apply it to quarterly post-WWII data. We find that short run output effects of tax shocks are large and that it is important to distinguish between different types of taxes when considering their impact on the labor market and on expenditure components.
The evolution of income inequality during the process of development has attracted enormous amounts of attention in the economic literature as well as in political spheres. Understanding the relative ...roles of "natural" economic progress such as technological change versus policy interventions such a taxation, redistribution, and regulation is shaping the distribution of income requires analyzing long-term series on inequality. Income tax statistic are the only source of income distribution data available on an annual basis for extended periods of time and are still the best source to study upper-income groups. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
The literature on the economics of happiness in developed economies finds discrepancies between reported measures of well-being and income measures. One is the so-called Easterlin paradox: that ...average happiness levels do not increase as countries grow wealthier. This article explores how that paradox—and survey research on reported well-being in general—can provide insights into the gaps between standard measures of economic development and individual assessments of welfare. Analysis of research on reported well-being in Latin America and Russia finds notable discrepancies between respondents’ assessments of their own well-being and income- or expenditure-based measures. Accepting a wide margin for error in both types of measures, the article posits that taking such discrepancies into account may improve the understanding of development outcomes by providing a broader view on well-being than do income- or expenditure-based measures alone. It suggests particular areas where research on reported well-being has the most potential to contribute. Yet the article also notes that some interpretations of happiness research—psychologists’ set point theory, in particular—may be quite limited in their application to development questions and cautions against the direct translation of results of happiness surveys into policy recommendations.
Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty provides a unified theory of the functioning of the capitalist economy by linking theories of economic growth and functional and personal income ...distributions. It argues, based on the long-run historical data series, that the forces of economic divergence (including rising income inequality) tend to dominate in capitalism. It regards the twentieth century as an exception to this rule and proposes policies that would make capitalism sustainable in the twenty-first century.
Inequality in the long run Piketty, Thomas; Saez, Emmanuel
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
05/2014, Letnik:
344, Številka:
6186
Journal Article
Recenzirano
This Review presents basic facts regarding the long-run evolution of income and wealth inequality in Europe and the United States. Income and wealth inequality was very high a century ago, ...particularly in Europe, but dropped dramatically in the first half of the 20th century. Income inequality has surged back in the United States since the 1970s so that the United States is much more unequal than Europe today. We discuss possible interpretations and lessons for the future.
We analyze randomized online survey experiments providing interactive, customized information on US income inequality, the link between top income tax rates and economic growth, and the estate tax. ...The treatment has large effects on views about inequality but only slightly moves tax and transfer policy preferences. An exception is the estate tax—informing respondents of the small share of decedents who pay it doubles support for it. The small effects for all other policies can be partially explained by respondents' low trust in government and a disconnect between concerns about social issues and the public policies meant to address them.
This book investigates the relationship between the character of political regimes in Russia's subnational regions and the structure of earnings and income. Based on extensive data from Russian ...official sources and surveys conducted by the World Bank, the book shows that income inequality is higher in more pluralistic regions. It argues that the relationship between firms and government differs between more democratic and more authoritarian regional regimes. In more democratic regions, business firms and government have more cooperative relations, restraining the power of government over business and encouraging business to invest more, pay more and report more of their wages. Average wages are higher in more democratic regions and poverty is lower, but wage and income inequality are also higher. The book argues that the rising inequality in postcommunist Russia reflects the inability of a weak state to carry out a redistributive social policy.
Most available estimates of U.S. wealth and income concentration indicate that the top shares are high and have been rising in recent decades, but there is some disagreement about specific levels and ...trends. Household surveys are the traditional data source used to measure the top shares, but recent studies using administrative tax records suggest that these survey-based top share estimates may not be capturing all of the increasing concentration. In this paper, we reconcile the divergent top share estimates, showing how the choices of data sets and methodological decisions affect levels and trends. Relative to the new and most widely cited top share estimates based on administrative tax data alone, our preferred estimates for both wealth and income concentration are lower and have been rising less rapidly in recent years.
We are used to thinking about inequality within countries--about rich Americans versus poor Americans, for instance. But what about inequality between all citizens of the world? Worlds Apart ...addresses just how to measure global inequality among individuals, and shows that inequality is shaped by complex forces often working in different directions. Branko Milanovic, a top World Bank economist, analyzes income distribution worldwide using, for the first time, household survey data from more than 100 countries. He evenhandedly explains the main approaches to the problem, offers a more accurate way of measuring inequality among individuals, and discusses the relevant policies of first-world countries and nongovernmental organizations.
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