Test of the Absolute Income Hypothesis in USA and Europe

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emrah Arioglu ◽  
Koray Tuan
Keyword(s):  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Marina A. Kartseva

The article presents a comparative analysis of the level and structure of poverty of the Russian population using two different concepts of poverty definition — the absolute income criterion currently used by Rosstat, and the AROPE indicator of poverty and social exclusion. The paper also attempts to assess how the change of the methodology for determining poverty can affect the existence of the poverty status of individuals. The study is carried out both at a national level and at a federal district level. The empirical basis of the paper is selective observation of income of the population and participation in social programmes, conducted by Rosstat in 2017. The results show that in transition from the absolute income criterion to the multi-criteria AROPE index, the poverty level of the population of the Russian Federation significantly increases. The highest growth of poverty is among people over working age. The age structure of poverty also changes significantly. With AROPE, the proportion of older persons among the poor increases and the proportion of children decreases. It is also shown in the article that the transition from the current official methodology of poverty definition to the definition in accordance with AROPE’s methodology can lead to loss of the poverty status by part of the population, which, in case of the official transition to using AROPE index as a criterion for receiving social support, can have a negative impact on their socio-economic situation. The obtained results vary significantly by federal districts of the Russian Federation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (5(J)) ◽  
pp. 138-155
Author(s):  
Bokana K.G. ◽  
Kabongo W.N.S.

This paper explores, the hotly debated topic among economists and policymakers, whether fiscal and monetary policies impact on households by examining the relevance of the absolute income hypothesis in explaining private consumption expenditure and its relationship with household disposable income in South Africa. Worldwide, private consumption expenditure remains a big puzzle for leading consumption function theories. Friedman’s permanent income hypothesis posits that private consumption expenditure is not affected by how much consumers earn on a daily basis, but by what they expect to earn during their lifetime. Friedman’s permanent income hypothesis is at odds with Keynes’s absolute income hypothesis, that private consumption expenditure is affected by fiscal stimulus policies, which are effective for increasing economic activity and employment. Subscribing to the former underrates the potential power of fiscal stimulus policies and other monetary or trade policies that boost short-term income. The overarching objective of this paper is to ascertain whether patterns of private consumption expenditure in South Africa are determined by Friedman or Keynes’s theory. The paper specified econometric equations with quarterly seasonally adjusted data from the South African Reserve Bank for the sample period 1984 to 2015 and estimated them with cointegration techniques consisting of the Engle-Granger two-step approach. The importance of the paper and its scientific novelty are that it is more realistic since it specified models that take into account the reaction time of the dependent variable when the independent variable changes by imposing lags on the variables. The empirical results indicate that in South Africa, when household disposable income changes over time, private consumption expenditure depends more on a household’s previous disposable income than its current disposable income. The main empirical finding is that the absolute income hypothesis is not appropriate in explaining private consumption expenditure in this country. Even when the interest rate was included in a modified absolute income hypothesis, the overall estimates were not robust. Hence, estimates of the short- and long-run regression models were not consistent with the absolute income hypothesis. This is in line with arguments put forward in some extant studies using this model, that the fiscal stimulus policies might not generate the desired increased economic activity and employment. If households use money from the fiscal stimulus policies to bail themselves out of existing debts rather than consume additional goods and services which, would be the catalyzer to increase Gross Domestic Product (GDP). 


2002 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olli Kangas

The “trickle-down” theory argues that wider income differences are good for economic growth, that growth is good for the poor, and therefore that widening income disparities benefit the poor. The theory thus fulfills Rawlsian principles of justice. The purpose of this article is to present a preliminary evaluation of the correctness of this theory. Income data for 21 countries were obtained from the Luxembourg Income Study, for the period 1985–95. The results of the analysis show no clear connections between inequality and economic prosperity. The wider the inequality, the worse is the absolute income of the poor. In this respect the theory is falsified. However, the trickle-down theory is partly correct in arguing for the beneficial effects of economic growth for the poor: the absolute income level of the poor is dependent on what is happening in the national economy, while the incidence and depth of poverty in advanced countries are not so much associated with economic factors as a result of national social policy programs.


Author(s):  
P. Echlin ◽  
M. McKoon ◽  
E.S. Taylor ◽  
C.E. Thomas ◽  
K.L. Maloney ◽  
...  

Although sections of frozen salt solutions have been used as standards for x-ray microanalysis, such solutions are less useful when analysed in the bulk form. They are poor thermal and electrical conductors and severe phase separation occurs during the cooling process. Following a suggestion by Whitecross et al we have made up a series of salt solutions containing a small amount of graphite to improve the sample conductivity. In addition, we have incorporated a polymer to ensure the formation of microcrystalline ice and a consequent homogenity of salt dispersion within the frozen matrix. The mixtures have been used to standardize the analytical procedures applied to frozen hydrated bulk specimens based on the peak/background analytical method and to measure the absolute concentration of elements in developing roots.


Author(s):  
C. M. Payne ◽  
P. M. Tennican

In the normal peripheral circulation there exists a sub-population of lymphocytes which is ultrastructurally distinct. This lymphocyte is identified under the electron microscope by the presence of cytoplasmic microtubular-like inclusions called parallel tubular arrays (PTA) (Figure 1), and contains Fc-receptors for cytophilic antibody. In this study, lymphocytes containing PTA (PTA-lymphocytes) were quantitated from serial peripheral blood specimens obtained from two patients with Epstein -Barr Virus mononucleosis and two patients with cytomegalovirus mononucleosis. This data was then correlated with the clinical state of the patient.It was determined that both the percentage and absolute number of PTA- lymphocytes was highest during the acute phase of the illness. In follow-up specimens, three of the four patients' absolute lymphocyte count fell to within normal limits before the absolute PTA-lymphocyte count.In one patient who was followed for almost a year, the absolute PTA- lymphocyte count was consistently elevated (Figure 2). The estimation of absolute PTA-lymphocyte counts was determined to be valid after a morphometric analysis of the cellular areas occupied by PTA during the acute and convalescent phases of the disease revealed no statistical differences.


Author(s):  
Stuart McKernan ◽  
C. Barry Carter

The determination of the absolute polarity of a polar material is often crucial to the understanding of the defects which occur in such materials. Several methods exist by which this determination may be performed. In bulk, single-domain specimens, macroscopic techniques may be used, such as the different etching behavior, using the appropriate etchant, of surfaces with opposite polarity. X-ray measurements under conditions where Friedel’s law (which means that the intensity of reflections from planes of opposite polarity are indistinguishable) breaks down can also be used to determine the absolute polarity of bulk, single-domain specimens. On the microscopic scale, and particularly where antiphase boundaries (APBs), which separate regions of opposite polarity exist, electron microscopic techniques must be employed. Two techniques are commonly practised; the first [1], involves the dynamical interaction of hoLz lines which interfere constructively or destructively with the zero order reflection, depending on the crystal polarity. The crystal polarity can therefore be directly deduced from the relative intensity of these interactions.


2005 ◽  
Vol 173 (4S) ◽  
pp. 140-141
Author(s):  
Mariana Lima ◽  
Celso D. Ramos ◽  
Sérgio Q. Brunetto ◽  
Marcelo Lopes de Lima ◽  
Carla R.M. Sansana ◽  
...  

Methodology ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 132-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Höfler

A standardized index for effect intensity, the translocation relative to range (TRR), is discussed. TRR is defined as the difference between the expectations of an outcome under two conditions (the absolute increment) divided by the maximum possible amount for that difference. TRR measures the shift caused by a factor relative to the maximum possible magnitude of that shift. For binary outcomes, TRR simply equals the risk difference, also known as the inverse number needed to treat. TRR ranges from –1 to 1 but is – unlike a correlation coefficient – a measure for effect intensity, because it does not rely on variance parameters in a certain population as do effect size measures (e.g., correlations, Cohen’s d). However, the use of TRR is restricted on outcomes with fixed and meaningful endpoints given, for instance, for meaningful psychological questionnaires or Likert scales. The use of TRR vs. Cohen’s d is illustrated with three examples from Psychological Science 2006 (issues 5 through 8). It is argued that, whenever TRR applies, it should complement Cohen’s d to avoid the problems related to the latter. In any case, the absolute increment should complement d.


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