Economic Inequality and Social Entrepreneurship

2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 1150-1190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saurav Pathak ◽  
Etayankara Muralidharan

This article explores the extent to which income inequality and income mobility—both considered indicators of economic inequality and conditions of formal regulatory institutions (government activism)—facilitate or constrain the emergence of social entrepreneurship. Using 77,983 individual-level responses obtained from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) survey of 26 countries, and supplementing with country-level data obtained from the Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum, our results from multilevel analyses demonstrate that country-level income inequality increases the likelihood of individual-level engagement in social entrepreneurship, while income mobility decreases this likelihood. Further, income mobility negatively moderates the influence of income inequality on social entrepreneurship, such that the condition of low income mobility and high income inequality is a stronger predictor of social entrepreneurship. We discuss implications and limitations of our study, and we suggest avenues for future research.

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruben Castro ◽  
Eduardo Fajnzylber

Abstract: The well-known socioeconomic gradient in health does not imply that income inequality by itself has any effect on well-being. However, there is evidence of a positive association between income inequality and adolescent fertility across countries. Nevertheless, this key finding is not focused on low-income countries. This study applies a multilevel logistic regression of country-level adolescent fertility on country-level income inequality plus individual-level income and controls to the Demographic and Health Surveys data. A negative association between income inequality and adolescent fertility was found among low-income countries, controlling for income (OR = 0.981; 95%CI: 0.963-0.999). Different measures and different subsamples of countries show the same results. Therefore, the international association between income inequality and adolescent fertility seems more complex than previously thought.


2021 ◽  
pp. 135406882110119
Author(s):  
Matthew Polacko

Previous research into the relationship between income inequality and turnout inequality has produced mixed results, as consensus is lacking whether inequality reduces turnout for all income groups, low-income earners, or no one. Therefore, this paper builds on this literature by introducing supply-side logic, through the first individual-level test of the impact that income inequality (moderated by policy manifesto positions) has on turnout. It does so through multilevel logistic regressions utilizing mixed effects, on a sample of 30 advanced democracies in 102 elections from 1996 to 2016. It finds that higher levels of income inequality significantly reduce turnout and widen the turnout gap between rich and poor. However, it also finds that when party systems are more polarized, low-income earners are mobilized the greatest extent coupled with higher inequality, resulting in a significantly reduced income gap in turnout. The findings magnify the negative impacts income inequality can exert on political behavior and contribute to the study of policy offerings as a key moderating mechanism in the relationship.


2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 146-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Idean Salehyan

This conclusion to the special issue highlights the role of scholars in advancing the public discussion about forced migration. As countries around the world are adopting increasing restrictions on the entry of refugees, academic research can help to dispel some of the myths and apprehensions regarding the risks that forced migration entails. While refugees may be linked to conflict and violence in limited circumstances, the research generally demonstrates that robust international cooperation to manage refugee settlements, provide adequate humanitarian assistance, and integrate refugees into host communities, among other policies, can help to mitigate potential risks. Directions for future research and analysis are also discussed. Forced migration scholars should endeavor to collect more individual-level data; seek to understand factors that exacerbate or reduce security risks associated with cross-border militancy; conduct research on the long-term integration of refugees; and seek to understand the causes and consequences of resettlement and repatriation policies.


Author(s):  
Shuai Li ◽  
Xinyang Hua

AbstractSeveral ecological studies of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have reported correlations between group-level aggregated exposures and COVID-19 outcomes. While some studies might be helpful in generating new hypotheses related to COVID-19, results of such type of studies should be interpreted with cautions. To illustrate how ecological studies and results could be biased, we conducted an ecological study of COVID-19 outcomes and the distance to Brussels using European country-level data. We found that, the distance was negatively correlated with COVID-19 outcomes; every 100 km away from Brussels was associated with approximately 6% to 17% reductions (all P<0.01) in COVID-19 cases and deaths in Europe. Without cautions, such results could be interpreted as the closer to the Europe Union headquarters, the higher risk of COVID-19 in Europe. However, these results are more likely to reflect the differences in the timing of and the responding to the outbreak, etc. between European countries, rather than the ‘effect’ of the distance to Brussels itself. Associations observed at the group level have limitations to reflect individual-level associations – the so-called ecological fallacy. Given the public concern over COVID-19, ecological studies should be conducted and interpreted with great cautions, in case the results would be mistakenly understood.


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 538-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Vaalavuo ◽  
Maarten van Ham ◽  
Timo M Kauppinen

Abstract The spatial concentration of immigrants in disadvantaged neighbourhoods may hinder their opportunities for social and economic integration. It is therefore important that immigrants can translate their available economic resources into mobility to less disadvantaged neighbourhoods. This study adds to existing research on the relationship between socioeconomic and spatial integration by focusing on the effects of income mobility on residential mobility. We analyse intra-urban residential mobility from low-income neighbourhoods into non-low-income neighbourhoods among immigrants and native-born residents in three urban regions in Finland. We use longitudinal register data for the 2004–2014 period for the full population, allowing a dynamic analysis of changes in income and neighbourhood of residence. Based on fixed-effects multinomial logit modelling of residential outcomes, we found that upward income mobility is connected to exit from low-income areas, but the effect is stronger among the native-born Finns than among those with an immigrant background. This stronger effect for natives is in contrast to findings of previous European studies, suggesting that these might have been influenced by unobserved individual-level heterogeneity. Our findings imply that both policies improving labour market opportunities of immigrants and policies reducing constraints for spatial integration are needed if the aim is to decrease ethnic residential segregation.


Author(s):  
Martin Vinæs Larsen

AbstractDoes the importance of the economy change during a government's time in office? Governments arguably become more responsible for current economic conditions as their tenure progresses. This might lead voters to hold experienced governments more accountable for economic conditions. However, voters also accumulate information about governments' competence over time. If voters are Bayesian learners, then this growing stock of information should crowd out the importance of current economic conditions. This article explores these divergent predictions about the relationship between tenure and the economic vote using three datasets. First, using country-level data from a diverse set of elections, the study finds that support for more experienced governments is less dependent on economic growth. Secondly, using individual-level data from sixty election surveys covering ten countries, the article shows that voters' perceptions of the economy have a greater impact on government support when the government is inexperienced. Finally, the article examines a municipal reform in Denmark that assigned some voters to new local incumbents and finds that these voters responded more strongly to the local economy. In conclusion, all three studies point in the same direction: economic voting decreases with time in office.


2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadine M Schöneck

Advanced modernity is regarded as an era of time obsession and people in modernized societies seem to live harried lives. Leading time sociologists like Hartmut Rosa adopt a modernization–critical stance and ascribe an accelerated pace of life and frequent time scarcity to socioeconomic and technological advancement. According to these protagonists of the “acceleration debate,” time becomes increasingly precious due to severely changed conditions of work and private life. Against this background it can be assumed that many people may suffer from an unsatisfactory work–life balance. This study uses individual-level data from the fifth round of the European Social Survey (fielded in 2010/11) as well as suitable country-level data capturing key features of advanced modernity to empirically test assumptions arising from the “acceleration debate.” Results from multilevel analyses of 23 European countries provide some confirmation of these assumptions. While most macro indicators for 2010 reflecting a certain stage of development are uninfluential, a country's degree of globalization matters, and moreover growth rates of crucial macro indicators signaling paces of development exert an impact on people's work–life balance in the assumed direction: In countries with accelerations in terms of economic development, coverage of households with internet access and numbers of new cars working people show a significantly greater inclination toward an unsatisfactory work–life balance. Aside from results at the country-level individual-level determinants and group-specific differences of work–life balance under different conditions of advanced modernity are presented. This study's two main findings—(1) paces of development matter more than stages of development and (2) assumptions arising from the “acceleration debate” receive some empirical support—are thoroughly reflected on and discussed.


Demography ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Zhao ◽  
Philipp Hessel ◽  
Juli Simon Thomas ◽  
Jason Beckfield

Abstract This study contributes to the debate on whether income inequality is harmful for health by addressing several analytical weaknesses of previous studies. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics in combination with tract-level measures of income inequality in the United States, we estimate the effects of differential exposure to income inequality during three decades of the life course on mortality. Our study is among the first to consider the implications of income inequality within U.S. tracts for mortality using longitudinal and individual-level data. In addition, we improve upon prior work by accounting for the dynamic relationship between local areas and individuals' health, using marginal structural models to account for changes in exposure to local income inequality. In contrast to other studies that found no significant relation between income inequality and mortality, we find that recent exposure to higher local inequality predicts higher relative risk of mortality among individuals at ages 45 or older.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 13713
Author(s):  
Xuesong Gao ◽  
Hui Wang ◽  
Lun Liu

People’s movement trace harvested from mobile phone signals has become an important new data source for studying human behavior and related socioeconomic topics in social science. With growing concern about privacy leakage of big data, mobile phone data holders now tend to provide aggregate-level mobility data instead of individual-level data. However, most algorithms for measuring mobility are based on individual-level data—how the existing mobility algorithms can be properly transformed to apply on aggregate-level data remains undiscussed. This paper explores the transformation of individual data-based mobility metrics to fit with grid-aggregate data. Fifteen candidate metrics measuring five indicators of mobility are proposed and the most suitable one for each indicator is selected. Future research about aggregate-level mobility data may refer to our analysis to assist in the selection of suitable mobility metrics.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanghoon Kim-Leffingwell

How does an authoritarian past shape voters’ left-right orientation? Recent studies investigate “anti-dictator bias” in political ideology, where citizens in a former right-wing (left-wing) dictatorship may display a leftist (rightist) bias in their ideological self-identification. In this paper, I provide evidence for a “pro-dictator bias” where citizens hold ideological positions corresponding to those of the dictator depending on their experiences during and after transition. In countries with negotiated transitions and stronger former ruling parties, these successors could continue mobilizing the popular base of the former dictatorship with inherited advantages from the past and by invoking nostalgia through consistent reference to previous authoritarian achievements. I test this hypothesis with variables measuring successor party strength and the type of regime transition by combining individual-level survey data and country-level data. The findings emphasize the role of post-transition features in shaping alternative legacies on voter attitudes in former authoritarian societies.


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