Violent crime has many long-lasting negative consequences for society. This thesis aims to explore the relationship between economic inequality and violent crime, represented by the level of intentional homicides in forty-nine countries over the period of nine years from 2010-2018. We delve into several theories and representative works in the fields of criminology, sociology, psychology, and economics that provide important perspectives on the subject and offer a theoretical foundation for the analysis. Previous research has usually pointed to a positive association between inequality and crime rates, albeit with some notable outliers. Our objective was to provide an updated view on the subject, employing recent data and statistical methods. We use fixed-effects estimators to account for time-invariant determinants, provide random-effects estimators for control and apply a generalized methods of moments model for possible inertia regarding the dependent variable. Economic inequality in the form of income inequality does seem to cause more harm than what might be suspected at first, influencing the intentional homicide levels in a society. It is the duty of public and private bodies to foster policies that aim to reduce this trend, and thus diminish the societal costs associated with it.

<p>Economic inequality is increasing in Canada and throughout the world. In addition to the equity concerns of distributive justice, growing economic inequality negatively impacts poverty, social cohesion, and the stability of the economy. This master’s thesis undertakes a major literature review to explore the trends in economic inequality and the policies that influence it.</p> <p>The current increase in economic inequality has been dominated by an increase in the income and wealth of the 1% to which the Occupy movement has drawn significant attention. Policies to directly counter this rise in both before- and after-tax top incomes are critical to combatting economic inequality. In addition to highlighting policies that target the very rich, this thesis examines intersections between traditional social policy and broader public policy in the field of economic inequality. It also argues for increased consideration of economics in social work research and policy practice. Economic inequality should be a concern to social workers alongside poverty.</p> <p>Policies in four areas are considered: income taxes and transfers, public services, labour market institutions, and capital market interventions. Recommendations are made for the future. Addressing economic inequality through national policy is both possible and advantageous. A comprehensive policy package involving policies from the four areas explored has the potential to reduce economic inequality.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

This dissertation consists of three essays on econometric analysis including both parametric and nonparametric econometrics. The first chapter outlines three topics involved and briefly discusses the motivations and methods, as well as some conclusions in each of the following chapters. Both chapter 2 and chapter 3 are in the field of kernel smoothed nonparametric econometrics. Chapter 2 conducts large volumes of simulations to explore the properties of various methods proposed in the literature to detect irrelevant variables in a fully nonparametric regression framework. We focus our attention to two broadly sets of methods, the least square cross-validated bandwidth selection procedure and the conventional nonparametric significance testing frameworks. In chapter 3, a bootstrap test statistic is proposed to test the validity of imposing some arbitrary restrictions on higher order derivatives of a regression function. We use data sharpening method to enforce the desired constraints on the shape of the conditional means and then measure the distance between the unrestricted and restricted models. The empirical distribution of the test statistic is generated by bootstrapping and the asymptotic distribution for the bootstrap test statistic is also provided. The last chapter examines the relationship between population health and income inequality in China. We use a multilevel dynamic panel model to test the absolute income hypothesis, various versions of relative income hypothesis, and health selection hypothesis empirically / Ph. D.

According to the numerical data from the past three decades, income inequality remains a significant challenge on a global scale, irrespective of the countries’ development status. Even though the global economy has experienced growth, income inequalities have not decreased correspondingly. Global integration, international commerce, economic expansions, and changes in labor market dynamics all together participate in the process of shaping economic inequalities. The thesis investigates the impact of various macroeconomic indicators on income inequality and attempts to identify evidence for the bell-shaped Kuznets curve. Fixed- and random-effects models are utilized for the analysis, in which balanced panel data from 52 high- and middle-income countries covering the period 1998 through 2020 are considered. The results of our study identify a U-turned relationship between GDP per capita and income inequality, which does not support the Kuznets hypothesis. Furthermore, we also identified that higher average educational levels reduce income inequality, while international commerce and higher unemployment rates increase it.

This thesis addresses the question, whether the impact of financial development on the relative and absolute indicators of poverty is dependent on the levels of the human capital present in an economy. To answer this question, first we develop a theoretical framework to explain the growth process in the context of financial development assuming that human capital is heterogeneous in terms of the skills and education people have. Then, by using the data sets based on five-year averages over 1960-2010 and 1980-2010, covering 107 developed and developing countries, we empirically investigate the extensions of the theoretical framework developed earlier. These extensions cover the relationships between: 1. Income inequality and economic growth 2. Financial development, human capital and income inequality, and 3. Financial development, human capital and poverty We provide empirical evidence using modern panel data techniques of dynamic and static GMM. The findings elucidate that income inequality and economic growth are inter-dependent on each other. There exists an inverse relationship between initial inequality and economic growth. The changes in income inequality follow the pattern identified by Kuznets (1955) known as Kuznets’ hypothesis. The results also show that financial development helps in reducing income inequalities and in alleviating poverty, only when there is a sufficient level of human capital available. On the basis of our findings we develop the term "effective financial development" which means that financial development is effective in accelerating growth levels, reducing income inequalities and alleviating poverty only if there is a sufficient level of human capital available. The empirical study covers multiple aspects of financial development like private credit extended by banks and other financial institutions, liquid liabilities and stock market capitalization. The results of the empirical investigations are robust to multiple data sets and various indicators of income inequality, financial development, poverty and human capital. The study also provides marginal analysis, which helps in understanding the impact of financial development on inequality and poverty at different levels of human capital. This research study of effective financial development can be a useful learning paradigm for the academics and researchers interested in growth economics and keen to learn how poverty and income inequality can be reduced effectively. This study can also be useful for the policy makers in the financial institutions, because it provides robust empirical evidence that shows that financial development cannot help in alleviating poverty and in reducing inequalities unless there is a sufficient level of human capital available. The findings can be useful for policy makers, particularly in the developing countries where high levels of income inequalities and poverty are big problems. This study explains the mechanism of how effective financial development can be used to reduce income inequalities and to alleviate poverty. It also explains the process of inter-linkages between financial development, human capital, inequality, economic growth and financial instability. The policy makers can also take advantage from the marginal analyses that illustrate the minimum levels of private credit and primary and secondary schooling above which the effects of financial development and human capital become significant in reducing inequalities and poverty.

Questa tesi è una raccolta di due capitoli che indagano due temi distinti di ricerca in economia del lavoro e dell'istruzione. Nel primo capitolo, si studiano gli effetti causali di una nuova politica di ammissione selettiva introdotta presso il Dipartimento di Economia di una importante università private situata nel nord d'Italia. Si trovano significativi miglioramenti nei risultati accademici degli studenti del primo anno che sono esposti alla nuova politica di ammissione in termini di una riduzione del tasso di abbandono scolastico e di un aumento dei crediti compiuti. Nel secondo capitolo di questa tesi, da un'altra parte, si fornisce un'evidenza recente sulla struttura dinamica e di autocovarianza del reddito di lavoro maschile italiano e si caratterizzano gli shock sul reddito del lavoro per tutto il ciclo di vita sfruttando dei dati amministrativa di grande scala provenienti dagli archivi dell'INPS. Osserviamo un aumento sostanziale della varianza del reddito degli individui di età compresa tra 50 e 60 anni. Tali risultati suggeriscono che questo aumento della varianza è guidato dall'aumento della varianza sia del componente transitorio che permanente della disuguaglianza di reddito. Tuttavia, l'accelerazione per gli individui sopra i 50 anni è causato dalla fluttuazione della varianza dei shock transitori. / This thesis is a collection of two chapters that investigate two different research topics in labor and education economics. In the first chapter, we study the causal effects of a new selective admission policy introduced in the Department of Economics at a leading private university located in the North of Italy. We find significant improvements in the academic outcomes of first year students who are exposed to this new admission policy in terms of reduction in the drop-out rate and increase in the average credits. In the second chapter of this thesis, on the other hand, we provide up-to-date evidence on the dynamic and autocovariance structures of Italian males' labor income and characterize labor income shocks over the life-cycle by exploiting a large-scale administrative data from the archives of Italian Social Security Administration (INPS). We observe a substantial increase in the variance of log-incomes of individuals between the ages of 50 and 60. Our results suggest that the latter increase in the variance is driven by the increases in the variances of both transitory and permanent components of income inequality. However, the accelerating pattern after age 50 is caused by the fluctuations in the variance of transitory shocks.

This paper examines the effect of governance on inequality, specifically if improvements in the World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators affect inequality as measured by two Gini coefficients: Market Gini, before taxes and redistribution, and Net Gini, after taxes and redistribution. The data for the Gini measurements was taken from the Standardized World Income Inequality Database (SWIID) and the data for the Worldwide Governance Indicators was taken from the World Bank. Data for fifteen (15) years, from the start of the Worldwide Governance Indicators until 2013, was combined with data from SWIID for the same years. In all, data from one hundred fifty-six (156) countries with a full set of six (6) indicators for the years that had at least one corresponding Gini measurements were used in this study: in total one thousand seven hundred and forty-seven (1747) observations. In a pooled OLS regression, controlling for growth with the variable GDP per Capita expressed as a per cent (%) change on an annual basis, the individual indicators gave the following results, where a positive sign indicates increased inequality and vice versa: Control of Corruption and Regulatory Quality showed a positive sign for both Gini measurements. Rule of Law, Government Effectiveness, Political Stability and the Absence of Violence/Terrorism, gave a negative sign for both Gini measurements. Voice and Accountability showed a positive sign for Market Gini and a negative sign for Net Gini. The fact that an improvement in Control of Corruption increased inequality both before and after taxes and redistribution was unexpected and should be further researched.

O objetivo geral desta pesquisa foi avaliar o impacto do PBF e do BPC sobre as despesas com consumo de: alimentos, frutas, carnes e peixes, aves e ovos, vegetais, cereais e oleaginosas, farinhas e massas, tubérculos e raízes, açúcar, panificados, bebidas alcoólicas, educação, higiene, saúde e materiais escolares. Para estimar esse impacto foram utilizados os microdados da Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares do Brasil (POF-2008/09). Foram utilizadas duas metodologias de controle: pela renda famíliar per capita (RFPC) bruta e RFPC líquida. As estimativas do impacto do PBF e do BPC sobre as despesas com consumo, utilizando dados observacionais, foram calculadas a partir de regressão múltipla e a comparação baseada no escore de propensão (propensity score matching). As estimativas do efeito médio do tratamento sobre os tratados apresentaram resultados estatisticamente significativos nas despesas com: alimentos, aves, ovos, vegetais, cereais, oleaginosas, farinha, massas, tubérculos e raízes, açúcar, entre outras. Dessa forma, observou-se que as famílias beneficiárias aumentaram a aquisição de bens prioritários, que aliviam a sua situação de extrema pobreza. No caso das famílias beneficiárias do PBF observou-se aumento nas despesas com materiais escolares, indicando investimento em educação. Já as famílias com beneficiários do BPC aumentaram suas despesas no consumo de saúde e reduziram as despesas com álcool e fumo. / The general objective of this research is to evaluate the impact of the \"Programa Bolsa Família\" (PBF) and \"Benefício de Prestação Continuada\" (BPC - a benefit to very poor elderly and people with deficiencies) on consumer expenditures on food, alcoholic beverages, fruits, meat and fish, poultry and eggs, vegetables, cereals and oilseeds, flour and pasta, tubers and roots, sugar, baked goods, education, hygiene, health and school supplies. Data from the Brazilian Family Budgets Survey (POF-2008/2009). Two control methods were used to estimate the effect: the per capita family income gross and per capita family income excluding the income of programs. Estimates of the impact of PBF and BPC on consumer expenditures, using observational data, were calculated from Multiple Regression and the comparison based on the Propensity Score Matching. The estimates of the ATT showed statistically significant results in expenditure on food, poultry and eggs, vegetables, cereals and oilseeds, flour, pasta and tubers and roots and sugar and others. According to the results found there was an increase in the purchase of foods what make the beneficiaries extreme poverty and malnutrition less hard. Also, for families beneficiary of the PBF, increase in school supplies shows greater investment in education. For the families with BPC beneficiaries increased their spending on consumer health and reduced expenditure on alcohol and tobacco.

This paper analyzes if neighborhood income inequality has an effect on informal regulation of environmental quality, using census tract - level data on industrial air pollution exposure from EPA's Risk Screening Environmental Indicators and income and demographic variables from the American Community Survey and EPA's Smart Location Database. Estimating a spatial lag model and controlling for formal regulation at the states level, we nd evidence that overall neighborhood inequality - as measured by the ratio between the fourth and the second income quintile or the neighborhood Gini coefficient - increases local air pollution exposure, whereas a concentration of top incomes reduces local exposure. The positive coefficient of the general inequality measure is driven by urban neighborhoods, whereas the negative coefficient of top incomes is stronger in rural areas. We explain these findings by two contradicting effects of inequality: On the one hand, overall inequality reduces collective action and thus the organizing capacities for environmental improvements. On the other hand, a concentration of income at the top enhances the ability of rich residents to negotiate with regulators or polluting plants in their vicinity. / Series: Ecological Economic Papers

O Brasil é um dos países mais desiguais do mundo, embora tenha apresentado um crescimento econômico razoável e uma melhora significativa na distribuição de renda ao longo da última década. Nesse contexto, é importante analisar quais fatores explicam a recente queda na desigualdade de renda no país A fim de fornecer subsídios empíricos para responder essa questão, são elaboradas representações da economia brasileira para os anos de 2004 e 2009, por meio de Matrizes de Contabilidade Social inter-regionais. A partir destas e da aplicação da metodologia de multiplicadores de preços fixos, são analisados os impactos sobre o grau de desigualdade de renda do país decorrentes de mudanças na estrutura produtiva, no perfil de consumo das famílias, na estrutura de demanda por trabalho das atividades e sua remuneração, e na demanda final. Os resultados indicam que o perfil de apropriação da renda de fatores por parte das famílias e os programas de transferência de renda como o Bolsa Família foram os que mais contribuíram para a queda da desigualdade, enquanto que as significativas mudanças na estrutura produtiva, na demanda final exógena e no consumo das famílias não alteraram tanto a desigualdade no nível nacional. Tal resultado indica que a manutenção de programas de transferência de renda e aumento da escolarização são políticas importantes para a continuidade da queda da desigualdade. / Although Brazil experienced a significant economic growth and an improvement in the income distribution over the last decade, it still figures as one of the most unequal countries in the world. In this context, it is important to analyze the factors that explain the recent fall in income inequality in the country. In order to provide empirical subsidies to answer this question, representations of the Brazilian economy for the years 2004 and 2009 are elaborated, using Inter-regional Social Accounting Matrices. Using these matrices and the fixed-price multipliers, the impacts on the degree of income inequality in the country resulting from changes in the productive structure, in the household consumption profile, in the structure of demand for labor activities and their remuneration, and in the final demand are analyzed. The results indicate that the factor income absorption profile by households and income transfer programs such as Bolsa Família were the main contributors to the inequality reduction, while significant changes in the production structure, exogenous final demand and household consumption did not change significantly the national inequality. This result indicates that maintaining the income transfer programs and implementing policies that increases school enrollment are important to continuing the inequality reduction.