Impact of educational and gender inequality on income and income inequality in South Asian countries

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (8) ◽  
pp. 1043-1062
Author(s):  
Kashif Munir ◽  
Ayesha Kanwal

PurposeThe objectives of this study are threefold: firstly, to measure the impact of educational inequality on income inequality, and per capita income; secondly, to measure the impact of gender inequality in education on income inequality, per capita income and educational inequality; and lastly, to test the Kuznets inverted U-shape hypothesis between inequality in education and average year of schooling.Design/methodology/approachThe study has adopted the Marin and Psacharopoulos (1976) model of human capital in which income earned by an individual can be estimated as a function of number of year spent in schooling or education. Gini coefficient is used as a measure of income inequality, while inequality in education is measured by Gini index of educational inequality. Gender inequality in education is measured by the difference between male and female enrolment ratios as a proportion of male enrolment. The study utilizes the data of six South Asian countries, i.e. Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka from 1980 to 2010 at five-year average and employs fixed effect model (FEM) and random effect model (REM) for estimation.FindingsResult suggests that educational inequality and average year of schooling have positive and significant impact on income inequality. Primary (basic) education and tertiary (higher) education reduce income inequality, while secondary education widens income inequality. Negative relationship exists between educational inequality and per capita income. Unequal distribution of education among boys and girls at primary level increases income inequality, while reduces income inequality at tertiary level. Gender inequality in secondary and tertiary level of education reduces per capita income, while unequal distribution of education among boys and girls further increases the educational inequality. Kuznets inverted U-shape hypothesis does not hold between education expansion and educational inequality, while weak U-shape relationship exists in South Asian countries.Practical implicationsGovernment has to provide free education in poor regions and makes employment programs to reduce the income and educational inequality respectively, while to remove gender inequality in education it is necessary to build more schools especially for girls. Government has to launch different online education programs for expansion in education at all levels.Originality/valueThis study adds to the literature by analyzing whether the inequality in income increases (decreases) due to increase (decrease) in educational and gender inequality in South Asian countries. This study contributes in the existing literature by developing a measure of educational and gender inequality in education in South Asian countries.Peer review The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-04-2020-0226.

2016 ◽  
Vol 55 (4I-II) ◽  
pp. 543-559
Author(s):  
Muhammad Abdullah ◽  
Rukhsana Kalim

The objective of this paper is to examine the impact of global food price escalation on poverty in South Asian countries since 1990 to 2011. Panel data procedure has been applied for empirical analysis. Panel unit root tests have been utilised before the application of panel co-integration. Poverty is measured through revealed behaviour approach which is considered better than other approaches, as it is based on the actual consumption made by the households. The present study uses actual average household consumption to measure poverty. Empirical results reveal that global food price escalation and per capita income positively and significantly affect average household consumption, which is the clear indication of poverty decline. International oil prices and interest rate significantly but negatively affect the average household consumption in South Asian countries. Findings of this study will be helpful for formulating effective public policies for poverty reduction in the era of trade liberalisation. JEL Classification: E31, F410, I32 Keywords: Food Price Escalation, Poverty, Oil Prices, Per Capita Income, South Asia


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 610-638 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Oladapo Alabede

Purpose This study aims to expand the conventional tax effort model to incorporate relevant economic freedom variables to investigate whether economic freedom fosters tax revenue performance in `sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Design/methodology/approach This study uses data from 42 countries across the four sub-regions of SSA from the period 2005 to 2012 with 252 year-country observations in an unbalanced panel method. The data were statistically treated using feasible generalised least square (FGLS) and panel-corrected standard errors (PCSE) estimate techniques. Findings The findings are twofold. First, the principal finding of the study suggests that economic freedom promotes tax revenue performance. Precisely, the FGLS analysis indicates that property rights freedom, freedom from corruption and investment freedom, as well as the composite economic freedom, exerted positive significant impact on tax revenue performance. This implies that country, which attained high degree of economic freedom, is likely to have higher tax-to-GDP ratio than a country with low level of economic freedom. Secondly, the results of most conventional variables conform to the prediction in the traditional theory except per capita income. Specifically, agriculture share in GDP and per capita income indicate negative significant relationship with tax revenue performance. Originality/value Because little is known empirically about the connection between economic freedom and tax revenue performance, this study extended the conventional tax effort model to incorporate the economic freedom to bridge the knowledge gap due to the absence of empirical evidence on the relationship between economic freedom and tax effort.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-74
Author(s):  
Jarita Duasa ◽  
Nur Hidayah Zainal

Purpose The purpose of this study is to adopt quantile regression to investigate the impact of several factors on per capita income of participants of micro-financing scheme (Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia [AIM]), who are mostly women at different point on the income distributions. Design/methodology/approach This study uses data collected from a survey on respondents who are the participants of AIM program using convenience sampling in Perak and Kelantan. Findings The empirical results show that the value of asset, value of loan, household size, ratio of spending to income and dummy state are consistently giving similar impacts on per capita income of participants at different quantiles. Originality/value However, age negatively and significantly affects per capita income only at middle and lower quantiles but not at higher quantile of per capita income.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 476-502 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md Ejaz Anwer ◽  
Bimal Kishore Sahoo ◽  
Simantini Mohapatra

Purpose Agriculture diversification acts as income enhancing as well as distress mitigating strategy. India has witnessed rise in per-capita income which in turn has increased the demand for food particularly high-valued food items but agricultural production has failed to keep pace with the growing demand. The purpose of this paper is to examine spatio-temporal variations in agricultural diversification (AD) in India. Second, the authors try to identify the determinants of AD. Third, the authors examine the convergence hypothesis with reference to agriculture diversification across Indian states. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on the panel data constituting 20 major states of India during 1990–1991 to 2013–2014. It uses Simpson Diversification Index to measure AD. The heteroskedasticity-corrected panel regression model is applied to find out the determinants of AD. The fixed-effects model is used to examine β-convergence in AD across the sample states. Alternative time series models are applied to examine σ-convergence in AD. Findings The rising per-capita income and urbanization are driving dietary diversity towards high-valued crops and providing ample opportunity for AD. But poor and inadequate cold storage facility and rising cost of cultivation are posing major hindrance to it. Small land holding and road length have negatively influenced AD which is contrary to the traditional wisdom. The study found divergence in diversification and rising inequality in diversification. Research limitations/implications The study is based on secondary data. A primary study to complement this could have been better. It is only based on one country. Social implications Food inflation has serious adverse effect on the society at large. It is necessary to promote AD for controlling food price inflation. Minimum support price provided by the government should be extended to all crops; otherwise, it will fuel inflation. Given the fact fragmentation of land holding is adversely affecting AD, community based farming and consolidation of farm land should be the way forward to improve farmers’ income as well as reduce risk. Originality/value To best of the authors’ study, this is the first study that examines determinants of AD and convergence in AD during the high growth period of India.


2020 ◽  
pp. 097674792091082
Author(s):  
Ranjan Aneja ◽  
Barkha ◽  
Umer Jeelanie Banday

This article attempts to examine the behaviour of various sectors, with emphasis on the role of income inequality. First, the article estimates the sectoral decomposition in terms of net state domestic product (NSDP) among different states from years 1991–1992 to 2016–2017. Second, we analyse the sector-wise decomposition of regional inequality in term of per capita income. Finally, we analyse the role of developmental expenditure in regional inequalities in term of per capita developmental expenditure across various states. Based on empirical results, India has witnessed a high growth in per capita income in the post-reform period. With high growth rate, the sectoral composition of income has also registered a major change. The tertiary sector is the major contributor to growth in the post-reform period. At the sectoral level, disparity decreased within the sectors in case of primary and tertiary sector and increased in secondary sector. However, overall, the tertiary and secondary sectors are more responsible for raising the income inequality among the states while primary sector is offsetting this gap. JEL: O15, I14, I32, O12


2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 469-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mak Arvin ◽  
Byron Lew

Purpose – Empirical evidence on the relation between happiness (life satisfaction) and corruption is barely perceptible in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to closing this gap by presenting some estimates using a large cross-section of countries over the period 1996-2010. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical model allows both corruption and per capita income to enter as arguments of a happiness “production function”. The correlation between happiness and corruption is presumed to be non-linear. Findings – While the results do not support the existence of a Kuznets-type trajectory, the study finds that the level of per capita income determines whether happiness and corruption are related and in what way. The authors estimate cutoff income levels at which corruption has a discernible effect on happiness. The results show that corruption reduces happiness, but only for high-income countries – roughly the upper half of the income range in the sample. Practical implications – Results nullify the oft-asserted statement that happiness is negatively linked to corruption in all countries. The nature of correlation is more complex. Originality/value – The paper goes beyond simply testing whether happiness is related to corruption. It conjectures that the relationship between the two variables is non-monotonic. Thus, the analysis considers the notion that the association between happiness and probity is income dependent. A novel feature of the empirical model is that the estimated income cutoff levels are endogenously determined. That is, income thresholds are not pre-determined. The authors also test for the robustness of the results by addressing the issue of potential endogeneity of corruption.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Uswatun Hasanah

AbstractHuman resource is one of capital importance in the development of a nation. One of the important aspects that affect human resources are a public health level, where health sector has an important role. The status of one's health is the result of the interaction of various factors, namely internal and external factors. Internal factors consist of physical and psychological factors, while external factors consist of economic factors, education, environment and cultureThis research aims to examine and analyze the effect of income inequality as measured by the Gini Ratio against the health sector as measured by life expectancy in Indonesia in 2005-2013. On the research of regression equation using data panels with Random Effects Model approach. The results of this research is the inequality of income, per capita income, and Government expenditure in the health effect simultaneously against health sector in Indonesia in 2005-2013 and is partial, inequality of income, per capita income, and Government expenditure in the health sector impact health sector in Indonesia in 2005-2013. Keywords : Health sector, income inequality, income per capita, Government expenditure in health sector. Research Area: Indonesia


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 711-733 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajesh Sharma ◽  
Pradeep Kautish

Purpose Over the years, India has witnessed irregular FDI inflows. Therefore, this study aims to explore the asymmetric impact of per capita income, final consumption expenditure, globalization index and exchange rate on FDI inflows in India. Design/methodology/approach Using the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag bounds framework and unknown structural break, the study investigates the impacts of selected macroeconomic variables in driving FDI inflows in India during the study period (1979-2016). Findings The outcomes of the study confirm the asymmetric relationship between FDI inflows and its determinants during the study period. The results have confirmed that the improvement in per capita income, private consumption expenditure, globalization index and currency value appreciation play a crucial role in increasing FDI inflows in India. In contrast, the downside movements in the volume of consumption expenditure, globalization index and depreciation of the currency value in relation to the trade partners result in reducing the volume of FDI inflows in the long run. Originality/value For determining FDI inflows, previous studies have considered the overall impact of its potential determinants, which may provide partial information about the phenomenon. The adopted nonlinear approach highlights that both the types of fluctuations (i.e. upside and downside) in the independent variables may affect FDI inflows differently and substantially. The nonlinear association between FDI and selected determinants may be vital in formulating a long-term policy.


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