The thesis is focused on relationship between income inequality and religiosity. Results of the analysis confirm correlation between income inequality and religiosity, however, causality of this relationship remains unclear. This relationship is established in the context of the theory of secularization, specifically in the new version -- the theory of existential insecurity. Analysis confirms this theory and is based on several sociological researches with a broad sample of countries and with several variables of religiosity separated into two groups (variables of religious participation and variables of personal faith), which is the main contribution of the analysis. Besides that, the thesis presents other explanations of the relationship between income inequality and religiosity. These theories are based on differences in preferences of religious and nonreligious individuals. The thesis also confirms ongoing secularization in the most countries of the world in last 20-30 years.

Many factors influence quality of higher education. Current research mostly works with economic factors (GDP, higher education expenditures etc.). However, there are also publications that examine an impact of sociological aspects on quality of higher education. My research examined the impact of income inequality on quality of tertiary education. In the analysis of socioeconomic data of 76 countries I have proven that there is no linear relationship between income inequality and quality of tertiary education. According to my results the size of population, GDP per capita and being English speaking country are main drivers of quality of tertiary education. Modified model without outliers also shows that there is a positive effect of R&D expenditures on quality of tertiary education.

Introdução - A maioria dos estudos sobre a teoria da renda relativa tem encontrado associação estatísticamente significativa entre alta desigualdade de renda e piores condições de saúde em grandes regiões como estados norte-americanos ou países. Por outro lado, análises realizadas em municípios e áreas fora dos EUA tem apresentado resultados no mínimo conflitantes. Os maiores obstáculos para que se atinja consenso na área são a inexistência de elevada desigualdade em regiões menores e a dificuldade de controlar pelo conjunto de variáveis de confusão que podem ter efeito na saúde além da desigualdade de renda. O presente estudo objetiva auxiliar na solução desse problema ao analisar o Município de São Paulo por meio de uma metodologia estatística chamada propensity score matching. Metodologia - A análise abordou os 96 distritos da cidade. Foram incluídas 16 variáveis no modelo para identificar distritos comparáveis. Do total de 96 distritos, 27 foram pareados com algum outro (alguns mais de uma vez), formando 17 pares, dos quais apenas um foi composto por distritos que fazem fronteira entre si. Resultados - Após a aplicação do propensity score matching, distritos mais desiguais apresentaram maior mortalidade geral ajustada por idade (41,58 por 10.000 hab; IC 95por cento : 8,85 73,3 por 10.000 hab). Foram também estatísticamente significativas as diferenças de mortalidade para homicídios (8,57 por 10.000; IC 95por cento : 2,60 14,53), doença isquêmica do coração (5,47 por 10.000; IC 95por cento : 0,76 10,17), aids (3,58 por 10.000; IC 95por cento : 0,58 6,57), doença respiratória (3,56 por 10.000; IC 95por cento : 0,18 6,94) e mortalidade infantil (2,8 por 10.000; IC 95por cento : 0,86 4,74). As dez causas 9 básicas mais frequentes foram responsáveis por 72,3por cento do total da diferença de mortalidade entre os distritos mais e menos desiguais. Conclusões - A metodologia estatística foi eficaz para diminuir as diferenças sociais e demográficas, possibilitando a comparação entre distritos semelhantes. A presença de alta desigualdade de renda no Município de São Paulo permitiu a análise do seu efeito na mortalidade / Introduction - The majority of studies on the relative income theory has detected statistically significant associations between high income inequality and worse health conditions for larger areas such as countries or USA states. Nevertheless, for smaller areas such as municipalities or regions outside the USA, the results have been, at best, mixed. The biggest hindrances to a consensus are the lack of high inequalities within smaller areas and the difficulty to control for the many variables that may also affect health beyond the effect of income inequality. This analysis aims to help to solve these problems by applying a statistical analysis known as propensity score matching and by focusing on a very diverse and unequal city such as São Paulo. Methodology - The analysis was done for the 96 distritos of the Municipality of São Paulo, Brazil. The statistical model included 16 variables to account for local heterogeneity. Of the 96 distritos, 27 were matched with a similar one (sometimes, more than once), making a total of 17 pairs (of those, only one pair was made out of two bordering distritos). Results - After the propensity score matching approach, higher inequality distritos had higher age-adjusted overall mortality rate (41.58 per 10,000, 95per cent CI: 8.85 73.3). The difference between high and low inequality was also statistically significant for homicide (8.57 per 10,000; 95per cent CI: 2.60 14.53), ischemic heart disease (5.47 per 10,000; 95per cent CI: 0.76 10.17), HIV/AIDS (3.58 per 10,000; 95per cent CI: 0.58 6.57), respiratory diseases (3.56 per 10,000; 95per cent CI: 0.18 6.94) and infant mortality (2.8 per 10,000; 95per cent CI: 0.86 4.74). The ten most common causes of death accounted for 72.3per cent of total difference in mortality. 11 Conclusion - The statistical methodology was effective to control for local social and demographic heterogeneity, allowing the comparison of only similar distritos. The use of a large and diverse city such as São Paulo made it possible to analyze the effects of income inequality on health

Over the past two decades there has been a significant increase in the support for radical-right populist parties in Europe. Simultaneously the income inequality has been rising. The aim of this thesis is to examine how income inequality affects the support for populist radical-right parties. To achieve this, we study the support for the Sweden Democrats, a radical-right populist party, and income inequality measured as the Gini coefficient. Using Swedish municipality level panel data of the election years from 2002 to 2014, a fixed effects-method is employed to examine the relationship between the Gini coefficient and support for the Sweden Democrats. Interestingly, the results show a robust statistically significant negative relationship between income inequality and support for the Sweden Democrats. Thus, our findings indicate that increased inequality decreases the support for the Sweden Democrats.

The existence of Russian middle class is often perceived as a condition for Russia's democratization and the country's economic progress is often mentioned in connection with the growth of the middle class and henceforth increased popular demand for transparent functioning of public institutions. However economic growth does not necessarily lead to more extensive middle class, especially not when the income inequality rises as was the case of Russia in the particular period. This thesis proves that Russian middle class grew between the years 1998 and 2008, it identifies its specific features and explains its evolution from the perspective of occupation and income. The data from Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey, which the thesis is based on, confirm that while the Russian middle class was growing in size, growth in inequality was also observed, especially between cities and countryside and between individual economic sectors.

This paper investigates the effect of financial development on income inequality in 20 African countries. Theory and a growing number of empirical studies suggest that the former exerts a negative impact on the latter by enabling low-income holders to undertake income-enhancing education and business investments, thereby promoting a tighter income distribution. However, using the share of GDP constituted by domestic credit to the private sector and broad money respectively as proxies for financial development, the results of this study fail to give significant evidence of this income-equalising effect. Given the heterogeneous nature of the economies studied here and the fact that data quality and quantity improve over time, it is believed that country-specific studies and future research can offer more conclusive results on how financial development influences income distribution in the African context. This would also provide a stronger foundation for policy recommendations in the continent’s plight to address the persistent high levels of income inequality.

This paper explores the income effect which motherhood has on women, using (American) Census data. The hypothesis states that the income effect is negative. Previous studies have shown that indeed children lower the income of women and that it is decreased with every additional child. We test our hypothesis using data from the Census Bureau from the year 2018, consisting of over 800 000 answers, and running multiple regressions to measure the effect which the number of children have on a woman’s income. As predicted, the results indicate that our hypothesis is true with a 26% decline in income when a woman has one or more children. Marriage has a negative effect on income while completing higher levels of education raises it.

This thesis addresses a long-standing puzzle in empirical econometrics: Does the size distribution of income matter in the aggregate consumption function? Current opinion on whether distribution matters is divided. There is also a lack of consensus (among those who believe distribution effects exist) on the nature of such effects; that is, whether a decrease or an increase in income inequality is needed to stimulate aggregate demand. In this thesis, the previous or existing tests are challenged on the grounds that they do not properly take into account the causal link between the variability of the marginal, not the average, propensity to consume (with respect to the income level) and the existence of distribution effects. This particular link is taken care of, however, if one tests for the linearity (in income) of the micro relation underlying one's aggregate consumption function. The rejection of the linearity hypothesis will establish the existence of distribution effects. Ex post, if the nonlinear relation is such that the marginal propensity to consume declines with income, it also follows that an equalization in the income distribution produces greater aggregate consumption. The theoretical contribution of this thesis lies in the clarification of these issues. On the empirical side, this thesis cautions against the casual use of the term "distribution effects". In the current income-current expenditure framework of the Keynesians, it refers to "the effect of a redistribution of real disposable income" on aggregate real consumers' expenditure. In the Permanent Income Hypothesis framework, however, it could mean either "the effect of a redistribution of real disposable income" or "the effect of a redistribution of real permanent income" on aggregate real consumption. In this thesis, the distributions of real disposable income and real permanent income are alternatively assumed to follow the lognormal density, and two conclusions are empirically determined: I. The distribution of real disposable income matters in the current income-current expenditure framework---this result is statistically significant at a 10% level after the correction for serial correlation and simultaneity bias. In particular, the estimates indicate that the marginal propensity to consume declines with the level of real disposable income and, hence, a decrease in inequality would stimulate aggregate demand. II. The elasticity of consumption out of real permanent income is unity; therefore, the distribution of real permanent income does not matter in the Permanent Income Hypothesis framework---this result is statistically. significant at all conventional levels of significance both before and after the correction for serial correlation. Both findings are based on aggregative time-series data for Canada. The consumer unit in this thesis is an individual income-recipient, and the data period is 1947-1976. Maximum-likelihood procedures have been used in the estimation, with proper allowance for across-parameter constraints. In the event of correction for serial correlation, the autocorrelation coefficient is constrained to the open-interval (+1,-1). The results are also double-checked by examining many avenues that might affect the nature of the outcomes. Another contribution of this study is the compilation of data on the distribution of pre-tax personal income (in current dollars) in Canada under the lognormality hypothesis. The parameters of this distribution are determined using the minimum chi-square method. Estimates of the variance (of logarithms of income) parameter show a slight increase in income inequality over the period 1946 to 1976. The data on this parameter are used to approximate the variance of logarithms for the distribution of real disposable income (while establishing result I) and also the same for the distribution of real permanent income (while establishing the result II). / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This thesis investigates the effect of union members’ position in the wage distribution on income inequality in Germany between 1998 and 2019. Specifically, data from the German Socio-Economic Panel are analyzed on two levels. Regression analyses on the sector-year and individual level show that if a large share of union members is relatively well positioned in the wage spectrum, the inequality-reducing union effect weakens.The purpose of this thesis is to provide evidence on within-union dynamics that might contribute to the continued union decline in many industrialized economies. This thesis fills a gap in the literature as most researchers focus either on how union strength affects income inequality or look at how union members’ wages affect their preferences on redistribution. By directly studying the effect of union members’ wages on inequality levels, this thesis additionally engages with the theoretical tradition of Power Resource Theory (PRT). Specifically, this analysis confirms that union strength and income inequality are negatively associated. However, it also provides evidence for a central critique of PRT, suggesting that working-class interest is heterogeneous and not homogeneous as PRT presumes.

The purposes of the study are to determine the status of educational opportunities in Denton County, based on latest available data, and to make definite recommendations for needed improvements which would aid materially in equalizing educational opportunities for Denton County's children. The study is an important one, since solution of it will be a basis for serious thinking to the end that more nearly equalized educational opportunities may result.