Volunteering and Income Inequality: Cross-National Relationships

Wilkinson and Pickett, in their 2009 book The Spirit Level, found that, in rich countries, income inequality was negatively associated with a range of indicators of well-being, but they did not consider the relationship with volunteering. This paper seeks to fill that gap. Using existing data sources, it shows that, among European countries, higher levels of volunteering are associated with lower levels of income inequality. The relationship is particularly strong for regular and sport-related volunteering. The basic Spirit Level thesis is therefore confirmed as applicable to volunteering. However, while the thesis involves just one theoretical explanation for the income inequality/well-being relationship, namely status anxiety, in the case of volunteering, other variables are also found to be at play, including government social spending, available leisure time and geo-historical traditions. It is concluded that, while high levels of volunteering, as a form of social capital, can be seen as one of a number of features of more equal societies, disentangling cause and effect may require a more holistic approach to understanding its contribution to the generation and sustaining of social well-being.     

National Income, Inequality and Global Patterns of Cigarette Use

Declining tobacco use in high-income nations and rising tobacco use in low- and middle-income nations raises questions about the sources of worldwide patterns of smoking. Theories posit a curvilinear influence of national income based on the balance of affordability and health-cost effects. In addition, however, economic inequality, gender inequality and government policies may moderate the rise and fall in smoking prevalence with national income. This study tests these arguments using aggregate data for 145 nations and measures of smoking prevalence circa 2000. The results show nonlinear effects of national income for males that take the form of an inverted U, but show linear effects for females. They also show non-additive effects of economic inequality for males that moderate both the rise and decline of smoking with national income and non-additive effects of gender equality for females that moderate the positive effect of national income.     

Inequality,Unemployment and Crime: A Cross-National Analysis*

In order to contribute to the development of an international perspective on crime and to examine a central tenet similar to many theoretical perspectives on the etiology of crime, cross-national data on inequality, unemployment, and crime rates were analyzed. It was hypothesized that nations having a high rate of unemployment and an inequitable distribution of income would have a high crime rate. The results of the correlational analyses indicate a moderate positive relationship between the rate of unemployment and homicide rates, whereas there are small negative relationships between unemployment rates and (1) the rates of property crime, and (2) the total crime rates. The variable of inequality is strongly related to the three indices of crime and the directions of the relationships are consistent with those involving unemployment rates. The results were further investigated to examine the possibility that the observed relationships were due to the effects of industrialization. The direction of the zero-order correlations involving property crime rates and total crime rates are not changed in the partial correlations and the strength of the relationships are not consistently reduced. These results are discussed in reference to their implications for criminological theory and the development of a comparative criminology.     

Income Inequality and Economic Convergence in Turkey

Even though the convergence of regional per capita incomes has been a highly debated issue internationally, empirical evidence regarding Turkey is both limited and contradictory. This paper is an attempt to investigate regional income inequality and convergence dynamics in Turkish gross domestic product. First, the Theil coefficient of concentration index has been employed in order to analyze the dispersion aspects of the convergence process which shows a procyclical character. Then, we investigate the convergence dynamics, taking regional interdependencies into account. Empirical results indicate that there is convergence at the national level. Moreover, the spatial error model is preferred by the model selection criteria, indicating that the typical least-squares regional convergence model is misspecified.     

Income Satisfaction Inequality and its Causes

In this paper, the concept of Income Satisfaction Inequality is operationalized on the basis of individual responses to an Income Satisfaction question posed in the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP). Income satisfaction is the subjective analogue of the objective income concept. The paper introduces a method to decompose Income Satisfaction Inequality according to the contributions from variables such as income, education, and the number of children. Given the panel structure of the data, inequality may be attributed partly to permanent individual circumstances and partly to transitory changes. The paper shows that by far the largest part of the satisfaction inequality has to be ascribed to unobserved heterogeneity. Distinguishing between a structural and an unexplained part of inequality we find that income explains the largest part of structural Income Satisfaction Inequality together with household membership; for non-working individuals, the age distribution is very relevant as well.     

Cross-National Research on Family Stories-

No abstract available for this article.     

Changing Income Inequality in Nonmetropolitan Counties, 1980 to 1990*

Abstract Income inequality has been increasing across the United States, but little is known about changing income inequality in nonmetropolitan counties. Data from the 1980 and 1990 Summary Tape Files of the U.S. Census of Population and Housing are used to estimate ordinary least squares models of change in income inequality. Household income inequality increased in a smaller share of nonmetro than metro counties from 1980 to 1990, and increases in income inequality were influenced more strongly by economic restructuring in nonmetro than in metro counties. Other factors, such as change in household structure, demographic composition, and labor supply and job quality, were generally similar in affecting income inequality in nonmetro and metro counties. The greater importance of economic restructuring in nonmetro counties indicates the lesser diversity and smaller size of local economies, and their greater vulnerability to forces of economic restructuring.     

Meaning and Measurement in Cross-National Research on Satisfaction with Democracy

The stability of a democratic nation has long been thought torest on its level of legitimacy among the mass public. Yet,measurement of such support has been characterized by considerableconfusion. One key element in that confusion is the heavy relianceover the past 20 years on data from a survey item that measuresrespondents' levels of satisfaction with democracy. Data fromthis item have been analyzed in numerous studies of politicalsupport. This research has proceeded despite the existence ofsubstantial disagreement regarding what dimension or dimensionsof support the item measures. In an effort to resolve this ambiguity,we examine the conceptual and empirical properties of the itemin question. The analysis draws on original surveys conductedin 1999 in Romania and El Salvador and on data from the 1997Latinbarometer. Results reveal that the satisfaction with democracyitem taps multiple dimensions of political support and thatthe substantive content represented by the item varies acrossboth individuals and nations. We argue that these empiricalcharacteristics limit the capacity of analysts to derive meaningfulinferences from study of this item and that, until clarificationof the measurement issue is obtained, progress in identifyingpredictors of democratic stability will be slowed.     

When to Use a Standardized Procedure:

It is argued on empirical as well as on ethical grounds that a standardized procedure be used as a second professional opinion whenever possible.     

The Use of Remittance Income in Mexico

Immigration affects sending countries through the receipt of remittance income. The impact of these cash transfers on households and communities has brought attention to remittances as a development mechanism. This study attempts to understand the degree to which household consumption is affected by the receipt of remittance income and the ways in which the broader communities may be impacted. Using household income and expenditure data for Mexico, expenditure patterns of remittance‐receiving households are analyzed. Regression analysis indicates that remittance‐receiving households spend a greater share of total income on durable goods, healthcare, and housing.     

Globalization,Producer Services and Income Inequality across US Metro Areas

We analyze globalization impacts on changes in income inequality, focusing on the top and bottom of the income distribution. Data are for all US metro areas from 1980 to 1990. Income polarization has risen. The international flow of labor polarizes earnings by depressing wages among low-income workers. Producer services increase earnings at the upper levels, but, in contrast to the main theories, are unrelated to polarization.     

The Effect of World Economy on Income Inequality: A Reassessment*

The research on the world systems model of income distribution has been marked by some conflicting reports on whether or not periphery status is significantly related to inequality. Writers such as Rubinson argue for the salience of the world-systems model, while authors such as Weede claim that it is insignificant if we include a correctly specified control for level of development. This confusion is based, in part, on a debate over how periphery status should be measured. Previous work has often used measures of questionable validity, such as foreign trade, as a percent of GDP. The present investigation develops a conceptualization of dependency on the world market based on the concentration of export receiving nations. A multiple regression analysis of data from forty-three nations indicates that the index of periphery status does influence indicators of inequality. However, the parabolic model of level of development tends to explain more of the variance in inequality than the world-systems factor. Finally, a control for political democracy gave no support for the political paradigm on inequality.     

Residence and Income Inequality: Effects on Mortality Among U.S. Counties

Abstract Despite lower average incomes, greater percentages living in poverty, lower levels of health insurance, less preventive health care, and poorer health status, nonmetropolitan residents have been found to experience lower mortality than their metropolitan counterparts. Several pathways through which residence influences mortality have been proposed. The objective of this study is to examine the effects of income inequality on residential differentials in mortality. Using data from the Compressed Mortality File for counties in the coterminous United States for 1990, we estimate weighted least squares models of total mortality for 3,067 counties, and separately for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties. Mortality is lower in nonmetropolitan counties than in metropolitan counties, once rates are standardized for age, sex, and race. Moreover, income inequality exerts stronger effects in nonmetro counties, an effect that persists when per capita income, median household size, and racial composition are controlled. The percentage of the population that is black exerts an independent effect on mortality in both metro and non‐metro counties.