scholarly journals Income inequality and support for redistributive policies in Ontario: Who gets what, where, how, and who cares?

SURG Journal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-26
Author(s):  
Tara Sutton
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Welfare Spending ◽  
Public Response ◽  
The Public ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Redistributive Policies ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Governmental Action

Income inequality has risen steadily in Canada over the last three decades, and particularly in Ontario, where it has grown at a faster rate. While the public response to this growth remains unclear, policy responses to address the issue have largely failed. To date, the literature remains divided as to the nature of the relationship between income inequality and support for redistributive policies such as welfare spending. This article argues, however, that where a relationship exists between income inequality and public support for welfare spending, it is a negative one. This negative relationship is in part due to perceptions of deservingness and factors explained by institutionalism. Even if support for governmental action to address income inequality is considerable both in Ontario and in the rest of Canada, support for governmental welfare spending is low. These findings point toward a public that is largely unresponsive to the problem of growing income inequality in Ontario. The results have implications for the development of policies to address inequality effectively, both in Ontario and in the rest of Canada.

scholarly journals Effect of Income Inequality on Health Status in a Selection of Middle and Low Income Countries

Equilibrium ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 133-152
Author(s):  
Elnaz Hajebi ◽  
Mohammad Javad Razmi
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Status ◽  
Panel Data ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between the public health status and income inequality has been taken into consideration in the last two decades. One of the important questions in this regard is that whether the changes in income inequality will lead to changes in health indicators or not. To answer this question, life expectancy is used as a health indicator and the Gini coefficient is used as an income inequality indicator. In this study, the relationship between income inequality and the public health has been investigated by panel data in Eviews software during 2000–2011 in 65 low-and middle-income countries. By using panel data and considering fixed effects and heterogeneity of sections, the relationship between income inequality and public health status is a significant negative relationship.

By Popular Demand: The Effect of Public Opinion on Income Inequality

2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 261-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Andersen ◽  
Anthony Heath ◽  
David Weakliem
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Instrumental Variables ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Reciprocal Causation ◽  
Low Incomes ◽  
The World ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Distribution Of Income

AbstractThis paper examines the relationship between public support for wage differentials and actual income inequality using data from the World Values Surveys. The distribution of income is more equal in nations where public opinion is more egalitarian. There is some evidence that the opinions of people with higher incomes are more influential than those of people with low incomes. Although the estimated relationship is stronger in democracies, it is present even under non-democratic governments, and the hypothesis that effects are equal cannot be rejected. We consider the possibility of reciprocal causation by means of an instrumental variables analysis, which yields no evidence that income distribution affects opinion.

scholarly journals The Limits of Income Inequality: Public Support for Social Policy across Rich Democracies

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nate Breznau ◽  
Carola Hommerich
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Public Support ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Liberal Societies ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Income Concentration

Does public opinion react to inequality, and if so, how? The social harms caused by increasing inequality should cause public opinion to ramp up demand for social welfare protections. However, the public may react to inequality differently depending on institutional context. Using ISSP and WID data (1980-2006) we tested these claims. In liberal institutional contexts (mostly English-speaking), increasing income inequality predicted higher support for state provision of social welfare. In coordinated and universalist contexts (mostly of Europe), increasing inequality predicted less support. Historically higher income concentration predicted less public support, providing an account of the large variation in inequality within the respective liberal and coordinated contexts. The results suggest opinions in liberal societies – especially with higher historical inequality – reached the limits of inequality, reacting negatively; whereas in coordinated/universalist societies – especially with lower historical inequality – opinions moved positively, as if desiring more inequality.

scholarly journals INEQUALITY AND WELFARE OF THE DISPLACED HOUSEHOLDS DUE TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF KOTO PANJANG DAM

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 93
Author(s):  
Fery Andrianus ◽  
Syafruddin Karimi ◽  
Werry Darta Taifur ◽  
Endrizal Ridwan
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Household Income ◽  
Gini Index ◽  
Economic Condition ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Household Welfare ◽  
Average Household Income ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Resettlement Programs

Displacement due to the construction of the Koto Panjang dam has an impact on household welfare. The displaced households experienced a very poor economic condition at the beginning of the displacement period. This study seeks answers to two questions: how the current welfare of the households is and how the relationship between welfare and income inequality of those households is. The study was conducted on 12 villages which are the locations of involuntary resettlement programs with a total sample of 360 households. The study used Gini index to measure income inequality and Subjective Welfare Indicator to compare household welfare. The results showed that in general, the average household income in Koto Panjang was higher than the Provincial Minimum Wage, but it was not evenly distributed in all villages. The result also showed a negative relationship between welfare and income inequality, but it cannot be used for further analysis because the correlation value is very low.

scholarly journals Sectoral Growth and Income Inequality in ASEAN-5 Countries: Case of Low-Middle Income Economies

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Dewa Gede Sidan Raeskyesa
Keyword(s):  
Panel Data ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Economic Integration ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Economic Sectors ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Sectoral Growth ◽  
Asean Countries ◽  
The Relationship

This paper aims to explore the relationship between growth in economic sectors, especially manufacturing, service, and agriculture, towards income inequality. Furthermore, it utilizes panel data for low-middle income ASEAN countries. The result shows that the share of agricultural sector in GDP has a significant and negative relationship with income inequality. In fact, the effect is robust for the incorporation of control variables. Therefore, it underlines the importance of agricultural sector development for reducing inequality and also for fostering ASEAN economic integration.

scholarly journals How to get closer together: impacts of income inequality and policy responses

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Barber
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Living Standards ◽  
Social Dysfunction ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
The Relationship

Professors Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett in The Spirit Level (2010) have documented the relationship between income inequality and health and social dysfunction across 25 developed countries including New Zealand, and summarised their findings in their Index of Health and Social Problems (IHSP). The results of this work show that New Zealand is performing poorly in comparison to countries with lower levels of income inequality. Their research has prompted debate in New Zealand (see Policy Quarterly issues of May and August 2011), and an example of the influence of their work can be seen in the references and measures chosen for the Treasury’s Living Standards Framework released in May 2011.   

Evolution of the Firm Structure in the Post-COVID-19 Era

2021 ◽  
pp. 245-266
Author(s):  
Yigit Aydogan
Keyword(s):  
Stock Market ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Economic Effects ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Public Response ◽  
The Public ◽  
Firm Structure ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Medium Enterprises ◽  
Opening And Closing

In this chapter, small and medium enterprises in Turkey have been analyzed in a timely manner to provide insight into their post-COVID-19 performance. The analysis starts with a snapshot of the firm structure and firm size distribution in Turkey. A brief overview of the course of the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey has been provided. The policy responses to the economic effects of the health crisis have been discussed. SMEs' medium-term dynamics have been tabulated using the data of opening and closing firms during the first months of the pandemic. Several surveys conducted with SMEs during the pandemic by public and private organizations have been combined to match the business owners' expectations to policy responses. To assess the public response to the shock and the solutions, the stock market performance of SMEs has been compared with large firms using stock market indices of XKOBI, XPGIP, and XU100.

scholarly journals A Reassessment of the Relationship Between Inequality and Growth

2000 ◽  
Vol 90 (4) ◽  
pp. 869-887 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin J Forbes
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Omitted Variable Bias ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Variable Bias ◽  
Time Invariant ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Country Specific

This paper challenges the current belief that income inequality has a negative relationship with economic growth. It uses an improved data set on income inequality which not only reduces measurement error, but also allows estimation via a panel technique. Panel estimation makes it possible to control for time-invariant country-specific effects, therefore eliminating a potential source of omitted-variable bias. Results suggest that in the short and medium term, an increase in a country's level of income inequality has a significant positive relationship with subsequent economic growth. This relationship is highly robust across samples, variable definitions, and model specifications. (JEL O40, O15, E25)

scholarly journals No Generalizable Effect of Income Inequality on Public Support for Redistribution among Rich Democracies, 1980-2010

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nate Breznau ◽  
Carola Hommerich
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Least Squares ◽  
Statistical Power ◽  
Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Model Specification ◽  
General Effect ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
The Public

We revisit a longstanding hypothesis that the public become more supportive of redistributive policy as income inequality rises. Previous tests of this hypothesis using various forms of general least squares regressions are inconclusive. We suggest improvements and alternatives to these tests. Using the World Inequality Data and International Social Survey Program we analyze 91 surveys in 19 countries. We incorporate three alternative measures of income inequality, including a measure of liberalization as a known cause of income inequality increases. We also employ two alternative test formats that arguably reflect the data generating model better than a least squares regression. The first is vector-autoregression aiming to account for path dependency of public opinion and income inequality, and the endogeneity between them. Next is qualitative comparative analysis to capture sets of conditions that collectively should have led to inequality having an impact on public opinion. Finally, we run our regression models separately for low and high socio-economic strata. In all tests we find no measurable impact of income inequality on support for redistribution. From a macro-perspective we argue that this suggests ruling out a general effect that exists across space and time, and focusing instead on theory to explain why there should not be a general effect. Some arguments suggest the public are normatively opposed to what sounds like ‘handouts’. We therefore discuss model specification via theory, but also Type II errors, statistical power and the limitations of our conclusions.

scholarly journals Bailout or bust? Government evaluations in the wake of a bailout

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Gahner Larsen ◽  
Robert Klemmensen ◽  
Michael Baggesen Klitgaard
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Negative Events ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Public Response ◽  
The Public ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Economic Downturns ◽  
History Of ◽  
Nationally Representative

AbstractGovernments are often punished for negative events such as economic downturns and financial shocks. However, governments can address such shocks with salient policy responses that might mitigate public punishment. We use three high-quality nationally representative surveys collected around a key event in the history of the Dutch economy, namely the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2008, to examine how voters responded to a salient government bailout. The results illustrate that governments can get substantial credit for pursuing a bailout in the midst of a financial crisis. Future research should take salient policy responses into account to fully understand the public response to the outbreak of financial and economic crises.

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