scholarly journals Dynamics of reallocation within India’s income distribution

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anand Sahasranaman ◽  
Henrik Jeldtoft Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Income Distribution ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Distribution Data ◽  
Recent Past ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Theoretical Predictions ◽  
Cast Doubt ◽  
Service Sectors ◽  
The Rich

AbstractIt is well known that inequality has been rising in India in the recent past, but the assumption has been that while the rich benefit more than proportionally from economic growth, the poor are also better off than before. Our modelled outcomes (using the RGBM framework) cast doubt on this proposition. We find that the income share dynamics are consistent with a negative reallocation since the early 2000s, i.e., the Indian income distribution possibly entered a regime of perverse redistribution of resources from the poor to the rich. Our model suggests that the historically low-income shares of the bottom decile (~ 1%) and bottom percentile (~ 0.03%) are possibly due to a decline in real incomes in the 2000s. We find qualified support for these theoretical predictions using income distribution data. We characterize these findings in the context of increasing informalization of the workforce in the formal manufacturing and service sectors as well as the growing economic insecurity of the agricultural workforce in India. Significant structural changes will be required to address this phenomenon.

scholarly journals Vertical position can affect categorization of the rich and the poor in Chinese culture

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 183449092110257
Author(s):  
Qiong Li ◽  
Chen Deng ◽  
Bin Zuo ◽  
Xiaobin Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Social Categorization ◽  
High Income ◽  
Vertical Position ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Rich

This study explored whether vertical position affects social categorization of the rich and the poor. Experiment 1 used high- and low-income occupations as stimuli, and found participants categorized high-income occupations faster when they were presented in the top vertical position compared to the bottom vertical position. In Experiment 2, participants responded using either the “up” or “down” key to categorize high- and low-income occupations, and responded faster to high-income occupations with the “up” key and low-income occupations with the “down” key. In Experiment 3, names identified as belonging to either rich or poor individuals were presented at the top or bottom of a screen, and the results were the same as in Experiments 1 and 2. These findings suggest that social categorization based on wealth involved perceptual simulations of vertical position, and that vertical position affects the social categorization of the rich and the poor.

The effects of debt restructurings on income inequality in the developing world

2021 ◽  
pp. 135406612110014
Author(s):  
Glen Biglaiser ◽  
Ronald J. McGauvran
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Panel Data ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Income Distribution ◽  
Government Spending ◽  
Tax Reform ◽  
Social Spending ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Impact

Developing countries, saddled with debts, often prefer investors absorb losses through debt restructurings. By not making full repayments, debtor governments could increase social spending, serving poorer constituents, and, in turn, lowering income inequality. Alternatively, debtor governments could reduce taxes and cut government spending, bolstering the assets of the rich at the expense of the poor. Using panel data for 71 developing countries from 1986 to 2016, we assess the effects of debt restructurings on societal income distribution. Specifically, we study the impact of debt restructurings on social spending, tax reform, and income inequality. We find that countries receiving debt restructurings tend to use their newly acquired economic flexibility to reduce taxes and lower social spending, worsening income inequality. The results are also robust to different model specifications. Our study contributes to the globalization and the poor debate, suggesting the economic harm caused to the less well-off following debt restructurings.

scholarly journals A registered report on how implicit pro-rich bias is shaped by the perceiver's gender and socioeconomic status

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 191232
Author(s):  
Bradley D. Mattan ◽  
Jasmin Cloutier
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Low Income ◽  
High Status ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Rich ◽  
And Control ◽  
Beliefs And Attitudes

Although high status is often considered a desirable quality, this may not always be the case. Different factors may moderate the value of high status along a dimension such as wealth (e.g. gender, perceiver income/education). For example, studies suggest men may value wealth and control over resources more than women. This may be especially true for high-income men who already have control over substantial resources. Other work suggests that low-income men and women may have different experiences in educational contexts compared to their richer peers who dominate norms at higher levels of education. These experiences may potentially lead to different attitudes about the wealthy among low-income men and women. In this registered report, we proposed two key predictions based on our review of the literature and analyses of pilot data from the Attitudes, Identities and Individual Differences (AIID) study ( n = 767): (H1) increasing income will be associated with increased pro-wealthy bias for men more than for women and (H2) income will also moderate the effect of education on implicit pro-wealthy bias, depending on gender. Overall, men showed greater implicit pro-wealthy bias than did women. However, neither of our hypotheses that income would moderate the effects of gender on implicit pro-wealthy bias were supported. These findings suggest implicit pro-wealthy bias among men and are discussed in the context of exploratory analyses of gender differences in self-reported beliefs and attitudes about the rich and the poor.

scholarly journals The Structure of Inequality and the Politics of Redistribution

2011 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 316-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
NOAM LUPU ◽  
JONAS PONTUSSON
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Lower Half ◽  
Social Spending ◽  
Present Survey ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Redistributive Policies ◽  
Preferences For Redistribution ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Advanced Capitalist

Against the current consensus among comparative political economists, we argue that inequality matters for redistributive politics in advanced capitalist societies, but it is the structure of inequality, not the level of inequality, that matters. Our theory posits that middle-income voters will be inclined to ally with low-income voters and support redistributive policies when the distance between the middle and the poor is small relative to the distance between the middle and the rich. We test this proposition with data from 15 to 18 advanced democracies and find that both redistribution and nonelderly social spending increase as the dispersion of earnings in the upper half of the distribution increases relative to the dispersion of earnings in the lower half of the distribution. In addition, we present survey evidence on preferences for redistribution among middle-income voters that is consistent with our theory and regression results indicating that left parties are more likely to participate in government when the structure of inequality is characterized by skew.

scholarly journals Changes in Consumption Patterns and Employment under Alternative Income Distributions in Pakistan

1985 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aftab Ahmad Cheema ◽  
Muhammad Hussain Malik
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Edible Oils ◽  
Income Redistribution ◽  
Consumption Patterns ◽  
Employment Effects ◽  
Income Distributions ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Poor Households ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Additional Income

The demand and employment effects of alternative distributions of the existing as well as the additional income generated through growth of the economy have been analysed in this paper. The results show that income redistribution in favour of the low-income households would increase the demand for basic necessities like wheat, pulses, edible oils, etc., while the demand for certain other commodities would decrease. The results also show that the consumption levels of the poor households can be significantly increased with income redistribution without much adverse effects on the rich. The employment effects are found to be positive and substantial.

scholarly journals Do the Poor Pay for Card Rewards of the Rich?

2015 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Malte Krueger
Keyword(s):  
Product Differentiation ◽  
Low Income ◽  
High Income ◽  
Payment Systems ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Distribution Effect ◽  
Retail Prices ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Card Payment ◽  
Net Transfer

AbstractCard payment systems are sometimes accused of taking from the poor and giving to the rich. The argument is as follows: High card fees are leading to higher retail prices for both, card users and cash users. However, high-income card holders are receiving rewards when purchasing by card. The result may be a net transfer of, mostly low-income, cash users to, mostly high-income, card users. In this article, models with product differentiation are used to show that rich card-holders may actually be paying for their card rewards themselves. In this case, there is no perverse distribution effect.

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