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Many observers have noticed a sharp divergence of household incomes in the last few decades that seems unrelated to the traditional explanations of inequality like economic development. My dissertation examines the question of how the rise of neoliberalism—or the market über alles—impacts this inequality in countries around the world. High inequality is known to hinder economic growth, social mobility, democratic functioning, social capital, and to adversely affect health and education outcomes, as well as to exacerbate racial and residential inequality. Equality, meanwhile, is seen as desirable in its own right as a matter of social justice. Neoliberalism is a likely suspect because it emerged at the same time and in the same places that inequality began to rise after three postwar decades of decline. It is also a particularly competitive form of capitalism, and thus produces more winners and losers at both ends of the income distribution. With its focus on profits, it is much more beneficial to income derived from capital gains at the expense of wages, deepening the typical class divide under capitalism. Finally, neoliberalism is an elite consensus formed without any public participation, and these special interests shape the economy and society to the benefit of this privileged minority. I find four major shortcomings of existing research related to my research question. First, all but the most recent research has had to rely on sub-standard data for cross-national comparisons, which I address using Frederick Solt’s (2009) Standardized World Income Inequality Database (SWIID). Second, past analyses of cross-national data have improperly handled between-country variation, which I address using a dual fixed-effects modelling approach. Third, there are operationalization problems with neoliberalism, in which past research has failed to capture the phenomenon in its entirety. I address this by developing a new multi-dimensional measurement approach. Moreover, there is a determined failure by many to fully consider neoliberalism as a likely explanation because it contradicts the myth of liberal democracy and capitalist benevolence. Along these lines, the fourth shortcoming is that most popular explanations of rising inequality blame otherwise benign trends such as globalization and technological advancement. This obscures the political nature of neoliberalism, especially how the rich are able to dominate political economy at the expense of the masses. In doing so, it makes it appear that inequality is just a byproduct of progress, that we must accept it as inevitable, and that only palliatives are available. The reality, however, is that neoliberalism is neither inevitable nor progressive and requires systemic change to rectify. I address the research question with three research components. First, I develop a definition of neoliberalism in contrast to existing theoretical narratives, namely globalization, neo-Keynesianism, dependency theory, and economic freedom. I argue neoliberalism is a social and political project that emerged in the economic stagnation of the 1970s—a way for corporate elites to revitalize profits by whatever means necessary, regardless of the consequences. These means have included tax cuts, social spending cuts, deregulation, neoliberal monetary policy, corporate and industrial restructuring, free trade agreements and increased foreign investment, export-led growth, and the growing power of global economic institutions. I operationalize this definition using the Economic Freedom for the World Index (42 variables) and other World Bank data. Empirically, I show that many neoliberal variables correlate and thus may embody a wider phenomenon, but they also show moderate independence which supports the multi-dimensional approach rather than a single neoliberal metric. In the second part of the dissertation, I use the measurement developed in part one to analyze neoliberalism’s relationship with inequality. I find a relatively robust relationship in the expected direction, with some exceptions, and the dual-model approach underscores the importance of analyzing both between- and within-country variation. The latter is useful because it inherently controls for cross-country heterogeneity, but it comes at a substantial loss of variability. The former has regrettably been derogated, but it provides much explanatory power and complements within-country analysis well. In other words, between-country variation captures deep institutional and cultural differences across countries, while the other captures more superficial but flexible policy shifts and trends within countries at various points in time. I also explore the nonlinear effects of neoliberalism on inequality. Generally, the analysis showed that more developed countries had a stronger association between various neoliberal dimensions and greater inequality. I speculated this was because more developed countries historically have more institutional protection from the adverse effects of markets, and by weakening these, neoliberalism generates more inequality than in countries whose public intervention is already less robust, especially in unmeasurable ways. The analysis also generally showed that at low levels of neoliberalism the relationship sometimes reversed, creating a U-shaped curve that was typically centered left of the mean. I speculated this was due to the fact that very low scores of neoliberalism occur in underdeveloped countries usually suffering from serious state corruption, which translates into greater inequality. In such cases, moving away from a corrupt state and toward market institutions generates relatively less inequality. In the third part, I expand on the above model to establish competitive testing of alternative explanations of rising inequality using contingency effects. The alternatives include globalization, technological advancement, industrial restructuring, human capital/skills, and female employment. The test asks whether the effects of these alternatives are actually contingent on above average levels of neoliberalism, and thus not responsible for inequality per se. Instead neoliberalism makes globalization, technology, and the other trends more inegalitarian than they would have otherwise been. In general, the analysis showed that the alternatives are robustly contingent in the expected direction. Greater levels of neoliberalism drive many ordinarily benign trends and processes toward greater inequality. Remarkably, even basic education, long thought to be the great equalizer, can actually exacerbate inequality at high levels of neoliberalism. In fact, at average levels of neoliberalism, the alternatives mostly had weak relationships to inequality. And below the average, many alternatives actually appeared to generate less inequality—that is, inequality was lower where and when neoliberalism was less embedded. Overall, the findings demonstrate that neoliberalism is an important if not predominant explanation for rising income inequality that many countries have experienced in the last several decades. It suggests that superficial solutions like more education spending or job creation may be insufficient without addressing, at least to some extent, the deeper issue of neoliberal capitalism. I provide suggestions for this, but ultimately it means shifting our major institutions away from market logic toward public interests, control, and orientation. A future economic crisis more severe than the Great Recession could advance such systemic change, but popular protest will likely also be needed to ensure that addressing today’s challenges becomes more egalitarian. / Sociology

The focus of the research is on quantitative characterization of a potential relationship between income and health. The study is conducted in both levels and increments contexts. As a background, the research relies on Grossman's standard economic model of health as well as on previous empirical investigations. The source of the data is the Survey of Income and Labour Dynamics, administered by Statistics Canada. The set of instruments implemented includes ordered probit and ordered logit models, gamma GLM models, the OLS method and bootstrapping techniques in linear models. The results of the study suggest that there exists a strong association between the levels of health and income, whereas no evidence of significant association between the increments is present. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

This study builds on previous research that demonstrated that disabled men and racial/ethnic minority men are more likely than non-disabled white men to work in female-dominated occupations, while at the same time not reaping the same privileges in those occupations as non-disabled white men do. Using an intersectional approach and a large, nationally representative dataset, this study explores how race, gender, and disability intersect to sort workers into occupations. It also examines how advantage and disadvantage cluster with regards to income inequality within and across occupation types. My research finds that disability has an impact on how people are sorted into occupations; however, that impact varies with race as well as by gender. In addition, disability leads to income disadvantages for disabled white men, but has no additional impact on the earnings of white women and racial/ethnic minority men and women. Race has a larger impact on the earnings of racial/ethnic minority men than on racial /ethnic minority women; the latter are already disadvantaged based on their gender. Class, measured by education and professional occupation, had the strongest impact on workplace outcomes both occupation and income for Hispanic men. / Ph. D.

Using data from the China Housing Survey, that was conducted in 1993, the present study attempts to learn whether and how specific factors--human capital (including education and health), guanxi (social connections), housework, and employment in different sectors of the economy influence the income gap between men and women in urban China when traditional, socialist, and market mechanisms are all present. The data were collected from two large Chinese cities, Tianjin and Shanghai. The results of regression show that 1) Differences in education account for much of the gender differences in income. With the same amount of education, women still earn somewhat less than men. Health reduces the gender income gap between men and women in urban China. 2) Sector segregation accounts for much of the gender differences in income. The private sector pays much more than the public sector. Guanxi and housework do not help explain the difference in income between men and women. The present study reveals that the income inequality between men and women comes mainly from market forces. The market factors of education, health, and sector are the primary areas in which women suffer disadvantages that result in their lower income. / Master of Science

Denna studie undersöker hur intäktsdiversifiering i europeiska bankverksamheter påverkar aktiemarknadens värdering och variationen i aktiepriserna. Europeiska bankverksamheter har sedan mitten på 1980-talet expanderat mot tjänster som genererar provisionsintäkter eftersom den historiska uppfattningen har varit att intäktsdiversifiering kan minska variationen i vinsterna och potentiellt öka marknadsvärderingen. Effekten av intäktsdiversifiering studeras utifrån OLS-regressioner på paneldata som består av 103 bankverksamheter från 24 länder i Europa för perioden 2005 till 2012. Aktiemarknadens värdering och variationen i aktiepriserna beräknas utifrån data över aktiepriser och från bankverksamheternas finansiella rapporter. Denna studie undersöker även resultatens ekonomiska signifikans för att utvärdera implikationerna av intäktsdiversifiering. Resultaten visar att en högre intäktsdiversifiering har en positiv effekt på aktiemarknadens värdering. Mer specifikt förväntar sig aktiemarknaden att ‘fee income’ har en positiv effekt på framtida vinster. Däremot innebär en högre intäktsdiversifiering även en högre variation i aktiepriserna. Den ekonomiska signifikansen visar att en högre intäktsdiversifiering främst har en betydande effekt på aktiemarknadens värdering och aktiens systematiska risk. Avslutningsvis framstår effekterna även ha varierat under tidsperioden och var större under den senaste finanskrisen. / This study examines how revenue diversification in European banks affects the market valuation and the total, systematic and idiosyncratic risk. Since the mid-1980s, European banks have expanded towards non-interest income generating activities. The historical perception has been that revenue diversification can reduce overall earnings volatility, potentially contributing to an increased market valuation. The effects of revenue diversification are examined by using OLS regressions on panel data containing 103 banks from 24 European countries over the period of 2005 to 2012. Stock market data and the data from banks’ financial statements are used to calculate market valuations and total, systematic and idiosyncratic risk. Additionally, this study examines the economic significance of the results in order to evaluate the implications of revenue diversification. The study finds a positive effect of revenue diversification on a bank’s market value. Specifically, the findings suggest that the stock market anticipates that ‘fee income’ can improve future profits. However, a higher degree of revenue diversification increases all types of risks. The economic significance reveals that revenue diversification has a considerable effect on the market valuation and the systematic risk. At last, the effects of revenue diversification appear to have varied over time and were greater during the recent financial crisis.

Rising inequalities between and within income categories (especially labour and capital) haveemerged as an increasing concern particularly in the last two decades. One of the main reasons for this has been a sharp decline in the wage share in many countries. A declining wage share refers to a decrease in the size of the total wage bill relative to either national income or net value addition (NVA). India is an important example of this situation. Trends at the level of aggregate statistics show that the wage bill has not kept up with productivity increases. This has led to a sharp decline in the wage share, leaving researchers the task of explaining the causes (and consequences) of this decline. The research contributes towards this task by critically examining one of the main avenues ofresearch that has been used in order to explain the causes of a declining wage share in India. This refers to the hypothesis according to which this trend is the outcome of increased capital intensity of employment, or more generally labour-saving investments. The study examines the relevance of this hypothesis for dynamics taking place at a disaggregated level of analysis in Indian industrial manufacturing. In order to do this, three main questions are addressed. The first is whether a declining wage share is a necessary outcome of labour-saving investments in production, or whether other factors are also important in mediating this relationship. The second is the conditions affecting the degree to which a declining wage share also involves increased income inequalities within the labour income category, and in some cases, declining real incomes for workers. The third is the relevance of drawing upon a demand and supply framework for the treatment of the question of causality in the analysis. The study answers the questions by drawing on two very different case studies. The first is thePimpri Chinchwad Industrial Township (PCIT), located in the outskirts of Pune (State ofMaharashtra, western India). The production processes characterising many of the factoriesoperating in this area are capital intensive. The second is the art metalware industry in Moradabad (State of Uttar Pradesh, northern India). The production processes taking place in the majority of units in this area are labour-intensive. The findings suggest that the factors contributing to a declining wage share cannot be analysed without at the same time examining the distributional set-ups within which technological changes take place, and how these arrangements are changing. Firstly, many of the factors contributing towards a declining wage share are not directly caused by changes in technology, and hence skill requirements, in production. This includes the weakness (and further weakening) of the mechanisms linking wages to productivity at the firm and sectoral level. Secondly, a declining wage share also involves changing income inequalities within the labour income category. The sources of these inequalities are not only linked to differentials in skills. Thirdly, this is happening in the context of speedy changes in the economy, including changing needs. This makes the links between wages and productivity an important requirement for the labour income category to be able to benefit from increased productivity, not only as workers through the wage system, but also as consumers. Lastly, many of the variables that emerge as important in the analysis cannot be subsumed under a demand and supply framework. One of the implications for the treatment of the issue of causality is the need to move away from seeking causal links in the traditional ‘cause and effect’ framework, to questions about how certain trends come about. This also has consequences for the normative side of the debate.

Annually, over 25 million people in the United States receive the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Nearly 5 million of those people are lifted out of poverty by the wage supplement the credit provides. A wide body of literature supplies evidence for the positive labor force participation effects of the EITC. However, little is known about the effects of the additional labor supply on the wages of low-income workers. This report employs state-level panel data to estimate the influence of EITC visibility and benefit levels on the wages of occupation groups with high shares of EITC eligible workers. Using OLS regression, I find that a 10 percent increase in the share of the population claiming the EITC corresponds with a 0.3 to 2.2 percent decrease in the median wages of high-EITC eligible sectors, relative to overall median wages. Further, a 10 percent increase in the maximum benefit level of the EITC corresponds with a 0.1 to 0.8 percent decrease in median wages in occupation groups with large shares of EITC eligible workers, relative to overall median wages. These findings provide useful information to policymakers regarding the unintended consequences of the EITC. Policy recommendations include increasing the credit value for childless adults, regularly adjusting the minimum wage for inflation, and financially penalizing employers who engage in unsavory wage behavior. / text

Past research has been divergent about perceived income inequality among diversely positioned members of the Chinese population. Several scholars have suggested that persistent earnings disparity results in societal unrest while others claim that most Chinese citizens view existing disparities as relatively reasonable. In this dissertation I argue that individuals with different socioeconomic status possess different perceptions of income inequality which reflect differences in legitimating income inequality and wealth rearrangement preferences. Implementing the survey data from the China General Social Survey (CGSS), I developed a new measurement of perceived earnings disparity and a Structural Equation Model (SEM) to analyze perceived earnings disparity among the Chinese population. This analysis is integrated with psychological and cultural approaches in order to understand why it is that Chinese people seem relatively unresponsive to persistent income inequality. Results show that: (1) People with high socioeconomic status believe that income inequality is the normal result of competition in the market economy and those with low socioeconomic status tolerate income inequality for government’s good economic performance; (2) socioeconomic status differentials in perceived income inequality diverge as higher earnings disparity becomes evident in contemporary China; and (3) the people within the lowest economic strata are sensitive to the intensified income inequality, and have stronger demands for redistributive policies while those in the highest strata express attitudes that suggest indifference to this issue. The divergence in perceptions of income inequality and redistributive preferences between people from the elite and the bottom can be seen as a sign of social as well as economic polarization in Chinese society. The research partly supports the existing statement that the members in privileged group turn into oligarch while those in disadvantaged group are amenable to populist expressions. The policy implication is that the government should implement an institutional approach to solve the persistent income inequality.