scholarly journals Effect of Income Inequality on Health in Quebec: New Insights from Panel Data

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (20) ◽  
pp. 5700
Author(s):  
Bocoum ◽  
Tohon ◽  
Rukundo ◽  
Macombe ◽  

We investigated the relationship between income inequality and all-cause mortality in 87 regional county municipalities (RCMs) of Quebec (Canada) while accounting for time lags and effects of other socioeconomic variables. We presumed to be true that income inequality entails stress and depression. Thus, these phenomena were tested as mediating factors. The data used consist of eight (8) area-based chronological variables: mortality rate, Gini index, disposable income, criminality rate, number of physicians, density of population, and the proportion of people reporting feeling stressed or depressed. The association between income inequality and mortality was analyzed using the generalized method of moments (GMM) approach with local fixed effects to control unobservable characteristics. Our results show that higher income inequality led to a significant increase of mortality rate with a time lag of 5 years when socioeconomic characteristics were held constant. As expected, households’ disposable income and mortality rate were negatively associated. Moreover, mortality rate was positively associated with population density and negatively associated with the number of physicians. Finally, only depression showed the potential to act as a mediating factor. Based on our findings, we suggest that, over time, income inequality, by amplifying depression phenomena, increases the mortality rate in Quebec’s RCMs.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
PHUC VAN PHAN

Public governance and income inequality relationship is complex and debatable. This paper examines the extent to which the quality of local governance affects inequality in Vietnam spanning the 2006–2016 period. I apply a generalized method of moments (GMM) estimators to a dynamic panel data extracted from the Vietnam’s provincial competitiveness index and the Vietnam household living standard surveys. The findings are that there is a positive inequality — corruption link but no statistically significant correlation coefficient between the overall level of governance and income disparity. The study, therefore, suggests that the Vietnamese Government at all levels should consider both more effective legal practices and economic low-cost solutions to mitigate corruption.


2018 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 536-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michaela Curran ◽  
Matthew C. Mahutga

Cross-national empirical research about the link between income inequality and population health produces conflicting conclusions. We address these mixed findings by examining the degree to which the income inequality and health relationship varies with economic development. We estimate fixed-effects models with different measures of income inequality and population health. Results suggest that development moderates the association between inequality and two measures of population health. Our findings produce two generalizations. First, we observe a global gradient in the relationship between income inequality and population health. Second, our results are consistent with income inequality as a proximate or conditional cause of lower population health. Income inequality has a 139.7% to 374.3% more harmful effect on health in poorer than richer countries and a significantly harmful effect in 2.1% to 53.3% of countries in our sample and 6.6% to 67.6% of the world’s population but no significantly harmful effect in richer countries.


2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (40) ◽  
pp. 9882-9888 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna T. Prescott ◽  
James D. Sargent ◽  
Jay G. Hull

To clarify and quantify the influence of video game violence (VGV) on aggressive behavior, we conducted a metaanalysis of all prospective studies to date that assessed the relation between exposure to VGV and subsequent overt physical aggression. The search strategy identified 24 studies with over 17,000 participants and time lags ranging from 3 months to 4 years. The samples comprised various nationalities and ethnicities with mean ages from 9 to 19 years. For each study we obtained the standardized regression coefficient for the prospective effect of VGV on subsequent aggression, controlling for baseline aggression. VGV was related to aggression using both fixed [β = 0.113, 95% CI = (0.098, 0.128)] and random effects models [β = 0.106 (0.078, 0.134)]. When all available covariates were included, the size of the effect remained significant for both models [β = 0.080 (0.065, 0.094) and β = 0.078 (0.053, 0.102), respectively]. No evidence of publication bias was found. Ethnicity was a statistically significant moderator for the fixed-effects models (P≤ 0.011) but not for the random-effects models. Stratified analyses indicated the effect was largest among Whites, intermediate among Asians, and nonsignificant among Hispanics. Discussion focuses on the implications of such findings for current debates regarding the effects of violent video games on physical aggression.


2020 ◽  
pp. 003232172090658
Author(s):  
Matthew Polacko ◽  
Oliver Heath ◽  
Michael S Lewis-Beck ◽  
Ruth Dassonneville

Past research on the relationship between income inequality and turnout has produced mixed results, with some studies suggesting that income inequality leads to lower turnout while other studies find little or no significant effects. In this article, we investigate the extent to which these mixed results are due to the contingent nature of inequality on turnout, which depends upon the nature of the policy options that are presented to the electorate. We test these expectations on data from national elections in 30 established democracies from 1965 through 2017 covering 300 elections. Regression analysis using country-level fixed effects reveals consistent evidence in favor of our hypotheses: Inequality tends to have a negative impact on turnout, especially in depolarized party systems, but as party system polarization increases the negative impact of inequality is mitigated.


2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (7) ◽  
pp. 692-721 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deniz Gevrek ◽  
Karen Middleton

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between the ratification of the United Nations’ (UN’s) Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and women’s and girls’ health outcomes using a unique longitudinal data set of 192 UN-member countries that encompasses the years from 1980 to 2011. Design/methodology/approach – The authors focus on the impact of CEDAW ratification, number of reports submitted after ratification, years passed since ratification, and the dynamic impact of CEDAW ratification by utilizing ordinary least squares (OLS) and panel fixed effects methods. The study investigates the following women’s and girls’ health outcomes: total fertility rate, adolescent fertility rate, infant mortality rate, maternal mortality ratio, neonatal mortality rate, female life expectancy at birth (FLEB), and female to male life expectancy at birth. Findings – The OLS and panel country and year fixed effects models provide evidence that the impact of CEDAW ratification on women’s and girls’ health outcomes varies by global regions. While the authors find no significant gains in health outcomes in European and North-American countries, the countries in the Northern Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Africa, Caribbean and Central America, South America, Middle-East, Eastern Asia, and Oceania regions experienced the biggest gains from CEDAW ratification, exhibiting reductions in total fertility, adolescent fertility, infant mortality, maternal mortality, and neonatal mortality while also showing improvements in FLEB. The results provide evidence that both early commitment to CEDAW as measured by the total number of years of engagement after the UN’s 1980 ratification and the timely submission of mandatory CEDAW reports have positive impacts on women’ and girls’ health outcomes. Several sensitivity tests confirm the robustness of main findings. Originality/value – This study is the first comprehensive attempt to explore the multifaceted relationships between CEDAW ratification and female health outcomes. The study significantly expands on the methods of earlier research and presents novel methods and findings on the relationship between CEDAW ratification and women’s health outcomes. The findings suggest that the impact of CEDAW ratification significantly depends on the country’s region. Furthermore, stronger engagement with CEDAW (as indicated by the total number of years following country ratification) and the submission of the required CEDAW reports (as outlined in the Convention’s guidelines) have positive impacts on women’s and girls’ health outcomes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-175
Author(s):  
Yunmin Nam

This article examines the nexus of globalization, welfare systems and income inequality, in which a key theme is the assessment of how the distributional consequences of globalization are altered by the welfare benefit programmes of advanced welfare states. Existing literature contends that globalization is one of the principle reasons for the current increases in income inequality in developed economies. However, the distributional effects of globalization can vary across disparate national contexts. The study investigates whether welfare systems successfully compensate those who are displaced by external competition while reducing the income inequalities caused by globalization. For the empirical analysis, both random- and fixed-effects models with cluster-robust standard errors are utilized, as are comprehensive measures of globalization, welfare policy and income inequality. The results from 16 affluent democracies between 1980 and 2010 show that some aspects of globalization were significantly related to increased income inequality; however, the relationship was also significantly moderated by generous welfare benefit programmes. These findings support the argument that welfare systems play a critical role in compensating for the rising income inequalities caused by globalization.


2014 ◽  
Vol 142 (11) ◽  
pp. 2352-2359 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. D. HALSBY ◽  
C. A. JOSEPH ◽  
J. V. LEE ◽  
P. WILKINSON

SUMMARYWe studied the timing of occurrence of 1676 sporadic, community-acquired cases of Legionnaires' disease in England and Wales between 1993 and 2008, in relation to temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, windspeed and ultraviolet light using a fixed-stratum case-crossover approach. The analysis was conducted using conditional logistic regression, with consideration of appropriate lag periods. There was evidence of an association between the risk of Legionnaires' disease and temperature with an apparently long time lag of 1–9 weeks [odds of disease at 95thvs. 75th centiles: 3·91, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2·06–7·40], and with rainfall at short time lags (of 2–10 days) (odds of disease at 75thvs.50th centiles: 1·78, 95% CI 1·50–2·13). There was some evidence that the risk of disease in relation to high temperatures was greater at high relative humidities. A higher risk of Legionnaires' disease may be indicated by preceding periods of warmer wetter weather.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaclyn L.W. Butler ◽  
Grace Wildermuth ◽  
Brian C. Thiede ◽  
David L. Brown

This paper examines the effects of population growth and decline on county-level income inequality in the United States from 1980 to 2016. Findings from previous research have shown that income inequality is positively associated with population change, but these studies have not explicitly tested for differences between the impacts of population growth and decline. Understanding the implications of population dynamics is particularly important given that many rural areas are characterized by population decline. We analyze county-level data (n=15,375 county-decades) from the Decennial Census and American Community Survey (ACS), applying fixed effects models to estimate the respective effects of population growth and decline on income inequality, to identify the processes that mediate the links between population change and inequality, and to assess whether these effects are moderated by county-level economic and demographic characteristics. We find evidence that population decline is associated with increased levels of income inequality relative to counties experiencing stable and high rates of population growth. This relationship remains robust across a variety of model specifications, including models that account for changes in counties’ employment, sociodemographic, and ethnoracial composition. We also find that the relationship between income inequality and population change varies by metropolitan status, baseline level of inequality, and region.


Equilibrium ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 133-152
Author(s):  
Elnaz Hajebi ◽  
Mohammad Javad Razmi

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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wiebke Neumann ◽  
Fredrik Widemo ◽  
Navinder J. Singh ◽  
Andreas Seiler ◽  
Joris P. G. M. Cromsigt

AbstractMost European ungulate species are increasing in numbers and expanding their range. For the management and monitoring of these species, 64% of European countries rely on indirect proxies of abundance (e.g., hunting bag statistics). With increasing ungulate numbers, data on ungulate-vehicle collisions (UVC) may provide an important and inexpensive, complementary data source. Currently, it is unclear how bag statistics compare with UVC. A direct comparison of these two indices is important because both are used in ungulate management. We evaluated the relationship between UVC and ungulate hunting bags across bioclimatic, regional, and local scales, using five time lags (t−3 to t+1) for the five most common wild ungulate species in Sweden. For all species, hunting bags and UVC correlated positively, but correlation strength and time lags varied across scales and among species. The two indices correlated most strongly at the local management scale. Correlation between both indices was strong for the smaller deer species and wild boar, in particular, but much weaker for moose where we found the best fit using a 2-year time lag. For the other species, indices from the same year correlated best. We argue that the reason for moose data behaving differently is that, in Sweden, moose are formally managed using a 3-year time plan, while the other species are not. Accordingly, moose hunting bags are influenced more strongly by density-independent processes than bags of the other species. Consequently, the mismatch between the two indices may generate conflicting conclusions for management depending on the method applied.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document