Governments, international agencies, and researchers routinely assess health and income inequalities and inequities so as to better communicate the evidence of their levels and trends to both policy-makers and the general public. Measuring the extent to which differences in health or income are unequal or unfair is, however, complex. This thesis contains three chapters centrally concerned with inequalities, though the focus differs across chapters. Chapter 2 helps address the gap between the requirements of indices often used for measuring income-related health inequality and current research practice by providing a non-technical review and critical assessment of the recent literature. This chapter should function as a guide for policy researchers and analysts to help them be more critical consumers of studies that use these indices while also helping applied researchers in choosing inequality measures that have the normative properties they seek. Most measures of inequality make assumptions about the extent to which society is averse to inequality. Moreover, analysts often assume that attitudes toward inequalities in health or income are the same. Chapter 3 is the first study using a mixed-methods approach to assess public attitudes toward inequalities in income, health, and income-related health inequality to determine preferences and how attitudes toward inequalities in these domains differ. Chapter 2 and 3 contribute to a greater understanding of the measurement and interpretation of inequalities. While chapters 2 and 3 focus on inequalities among individuals within a society, chapter 4 focuses on inequalities globally among societies. Chapter 4 examines global health inequalities that result from medical care use using the example of long-standing drug technologies for treating hypertension. The study links availability and affordability of blood-pressure-lowering medicines with individual use and health outcomes. Chapter 4, therefore, provides an empirical illustration on how country-specific policies can play an important role in either countering or exacerbating health differences. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis concerns itself with different aspects of inequality related to health and income, though the focus differs across chapters. The second and third chapters of this thesis contribute to a greater understanding of the measurement and interpretation of inequalities. Whereas the fourth chapter provides empirical evidence on how country-specific policies can counteract or exacerbate health differences. Chapter 2 comprehensively reviews and critically assesses the literature on the technical and normative properties of indices commonly used for measuring income-related health inequality thereby addressing the gap between the requirements of these indices and current research practice. Chapter 3 investigates public attitudes toward inequalities in income, health, and income-related health inequality to determine preferences and where attitudes toward these inequalities differ. Chapter 4 examines global health inequalities that result from medical care use using the example of long-standing drug technologies for treating hypertension and links availability and affordability of medicines with individual use and health outcomes.

Yes / Recent research on health inequalities moves beyond illustrating the importance of psychosocial factors for health to a more in-depth study of the specific psychosocial pathways involved. Social capital is a concept that captures both a buffer function of the social environment on health, as well as potential negative effects arising from social inequality and exclusion. This systematic review assesses the current evidence, and identifies gaps in knowledge, on the associations and interactions between social capital and socioeconomic inequalities in health. Through this systematic review we identified studies on the interactions between social capital and socioeconomic inequalities in health published before July 2012. The literature search resulted in 618 studies after removal of duplicates, of which 60 studies were eligible for analysis. Self-reported measures of health were most frequently used, together with different bonding, bridging and linking components of social capital. A large majority, 56 studies, confirmed a correlation between social capital and socioeconomic inequalities in health. Twelve studies reported that social capital might buffer negative health effects of low socioeconomic status and five studies concluded that social capital has a stronger positive effect on health for people with a lower socioeconomic status. There is evidence for both a buffer effect and a dependency effect of social capital on socioeconomic inequalities in health, although the studies that assess these interactions are limited in number. More evidence is needed, as identified hypotheses have implications for community action and for action on the structural causes of social inequalities.

本篇研究旨在探討利率政策對所得分佈不均的關係，利用 Azzimonti, De Francisco, and Quadrini (2014) 的模型加以延伸擴展，並加入土地或資產的價格變動，從而進一步探討中央銀行的低利率政策對企業主與受薪階層的影響。 模型假設簡單將市場參與者分成2大類，分別是企業家與受薪的勞工，藉由此2大類分別的終生效用函數對利率的變動來說明利率政策對所得分配的影響。Joseph E. Stiglitz (2015b) 提及在低利率政策之下將導致信用的膨脹，進而使土地或資產的價值提高，而土地或資產之價格不斷上漲為造成所得分佈不均之重要原因之一，故本篇論文將土地價格變動納入模型加以延伸，並觀察台灣近幾年之現況。 此篇研究發現，在中央銀行的低利率政策之下，有產階層的企業家之財富條件將會愈來愈好，而與之相對的受薪階層的勞工之財富條件將會愈來愈差；而台灣近幾年之數據亦顯示當利率降低之際，代表所得分佈不均的GINI指數隨之上升，與本篇之研究結果相符。 / The objective of this thesis is to testify the relation between interest rate policy and income inequality. We develop a model based on Azzimonti, De Francisco, and Quadrini (2014) and expand the model by considering the change of the land or asset price so as to analyze the impact of low interest rate on the welfare of entrepreneurs and workers, respectively. The model simply divides the agents into two groups, entrepreneurs and workers, and uses their lifetime utility to explain the impact of interest rate policy on income inequality. Joseph E. Stiglitz (2015b) mentioned that low interest rate would expand the credit availability and drive up the land or asset price. The continuous upward trend of land or asset price is one of the important reason causing income inequality. After taking into account the land or asset price on the sensibility of income inequality toward interest rate, this thesis is able to provide a theoretical underpinning of Taiwan’s empirical observation in recent years. We find out that with low interest rate policy, entrepreneurs’ wealth condition is doing better and better while the workers’ wealth is getting worse. Taiwan’s data in the recent years also shows that once the central bank lowering the interest rate GINI index, which represent the income inequality distribution, will rise immediately. This situation is in accord with the thesis.

Hong Kong is considered to be the most economically free country in the world, but also has the highest amount of income inequality of any developed country. The Hong Kong government is able to sustain laissez faire policies due to its monopoly on land supply. Maintaining high property values allows the government to maximize revenue from property tax, which acts as a hidden tax. A major contributor to income inequality is the formation of oligopolies in Hong Kong that creates an anticompetitive environment. The interests of the government and oligarchs are aligned as both obtain significant portions of revenue from the property sector. As globalization makes Hong Kong even more vulnerable to external shocks, the government faces the challenges of increasing competition, diversifying its revenue streams, and closing the income gap while standing by its principles in order maintain regional competitiveness as an international business hub.

本文研究目的旨在探討所得不均度對自殺率之影響，採用臺灣2004年至2010年23個縣市的追蹤資料（panel data），使用行政院主計處家庭收支調查報告之年度原始資料，計算自2004年至2010年台灣地區23縣市之吉尼係數作為所得不均度代理變數。 實證結果顯示吉尼係數對總自殺率、男性與25至44歲年齡組自殺率的效果是不顯著的正相關。本文認為，2004至2010年吉尼係數均維持在0.34左右，而且變化不大，以及樣本年度不足，可能是實證結果不顯著的原因之一。此外，由於用以計算吉尼係數之可支配所得並未納入資本利得，導致吉尼係數偏低亦可能是實證結果不顯著的另一個原因。 然而，吉尼係數對於男性自殺率及25至44歲自殺率估計係數的大小卻是值得注意，隱含這二個族群非常關注所得分配的公平性，建議政府在短期政策上可就獨厚富人之賦稅不公平現況加以改善，以達杜漸防微之效。 / This study investigates the impact of income inequality on suicide rate in Taiwan. Using panel data of 23 countries for the period 2004-2010, As a proxy for income inequality, Gini coefficients based on the Survey of Family Income and Expenditure, compiled by the Department of Government of Budget. Empirical results show Gini coefficient has a positive but statistically insignificant effect on total, male and aged 25-44 suicide rates. This paper argues that the Gini coefficient remain around 0.34 for the period of 2004-2010 without significant change, and only 7 years of data may be part of the reason why empirical result is not significant, another reason that might cause Gini coefficient lower is one of the element "disposable income" it did not included capital gain. However, the most noteworthy feature is the magnitude of the Gini coefficients for male and aged 45-64. In other words, these two groups are concerned on the fairness of income distribution. In order to prevent the suicide rate goes higher, government should change the unfair taxes that benefit the riches right away.

Bien qu'il soit désormais établi que les institutions du travail (tel que la syndicalisation et le salaire minimum) aient eu pour effet de réduire l'inégalité des salaires entre les travailleurs au Canada et dans d'autres pays industrialisés, leur impact sur l'inégalité des revenus entre les familles ou les ménages reste incertain. Cette étude a pour but d'estimer l'impact de la densité syndicale et du salaire minimum réel sur l'évolution de l'inégalité des revenus de marché entre les ménages canadiens durant les années 1981 à 2008. À partir d'une base de données qui intègre des données annuelles agrégées par province, et en maintenant constant un ensemble de facteurs, les estimations par effets fixes indiquent que la densité syndicale a réduit l'inégalité des revenus mesurée au moyen du coefficient de Gini, alors que le salaire minimum réel a plutôt eu pour effet d'accroître celle-ci. Les résultats d'estimation indiquent également que le taux d'activité et la scolarité moyenne sont les principaux facteurs à avoir réduit l'inégalité des revenus, alors que le taux de chômage, le changement technologique (mesuré de différentes façons) et l'immigration récente ont contribué à l'accroître. / While some consensus exists that labor institutions (such as unionization and minimum wage) narrowed wages inequality among workers in Canada, as well as in other industrialized countries, there is little agreement about their outcome on income inequality among families or households. This study investigates how union density and real minimum wage affected the evolution of market income inequality among Canadian households between 1981 and 2008. Utilizing a dataset that incorporates annual data aggregated by province, and holding constant for a range of other factors, fix effects estimates indicate that union density narrowed income inequality as measured by the Gini coefficient, while real minimum wage widened it instead. Estimates further suggest that participation rate and educational attainment are the main factors to have dampened income inequality in recent years, whereas unemployment rate, technological change (measured in different ways) and recent immigration are found to have contributed to greater income inequality.

China's economic development has performed spectacularly during the period of China's economic transition as a result of radical economic reform in the all markets. The country has also gone through extensive fiscal reforms in the last three decades. However, a number of problems have been associated with such rapid economic growth. One of these has been raising inequality. In both Keynesian and neoclassical endogenous growth theories, public spending can play an important role for economic growth and inequality. The majority of previous studies have focused on the relationship between public spending and economic growth, or between public spending and inequality separately. There is no doubt that public spending has an effect on both economic growth and equity simultaneously. In this respect, this thesis attempts to address the problems that have emerged during the period of China's fiscal reforms, and seeks to examine the effects of public spending on economic growth and equality in the same model. This thesis investigates the dynamic relationships among these three variables in China. For aggregate national data, vector error correction model (VECM) has been used. Analysis at the provincial level is based on the panel vector auto-regression (PVAR) model. These methods help to solve the endogeneity in estimations. The national level analysis indicates that total public spending shows a long term Granger causality with GDP per capita, which supports the positive growth effect of public spending in the Keynesian and endogenous growth model. Social public spending has a negative effect on real output per capita in both the short term and long term, but it also has a negative impact on income inequality. Moreover, we find that a higher level of real GDP per capita will increase the level of inequality, but a higher level of inequality has a negative effect on real GDP per capita in the long term. Furthermore, total provincial public spending and provincial social spending have either a non-significant effect on economic growth. On the other hand, the SOEs' investment has a significant, positive growth effect at both the national and provincial level. As for the redistributive role of the public spending, the provincial total public spending and social spending have played an important role on income distribution. Furthermore, the Gini coefficient has a positive effect on the per capita growth rate at the provincial level, but the economic growth has no significant impact on the Gini coefficient.

DETERMINANTS OF POVERTY IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC Abstract In this thesis we present the determinants and the current state of poverty in the Czech Republic in 2014. We clearly set out the definition of poverty and delimit various concepts of poverty, that is the old and the new concept of poverty, the subjective versus the objective one, the absolute versus the relative concept, as well as the direct and the indirect plus the prescriptive and the consensual poverty. We also introduce various ways to measure poverty. A substantial part of the theoretical section focuses on the introduced methods and definitions of particular indicators (the at risk of poverty rate, the relative median at risk of poverty gap, the Gini coefficient, the income quintile share ratio, the material deprivation rate). We have used the method of logistic regression and the processed data which were gained from the project Životní podmínky 2014 (The Living Conditions 2014) and EU-SILC 2014. At the same time, still in the theoretical part of the thesis, we also dealt with the causes of poverty and the attitudes towards the poor as sociology, psychology and ethics view them. The analysis has proved that, based on equivalised household income, persons living in households in villages with 2 000-4 999 inhabitants are susceptible to poverty...

This thesis is a collection of three independent essays in empirical political economics. The first chapter investigates if the presence of appointed mayors in a subset of municipalities during the Brazilian dictatorship led to elite capture. This is done comparing measures of inequality after redemocratization between municipalities that had appointed mayors with municipalities where mayors were elected directly. The main results are consistent with the hypothesis of elite capture and indicate income inequality increased more in municipalities that had mayors appointed by the regime. The second chapter investigates the extent to which media vehicles are prone to political capture in the context of the Brazilian dictatorship. This is done by investigating the effects of Rede Globo, the main Brazilian television station, on electoral outcomes of mayoral elections during the Brazilian dictatorship, mainly on the share of votes obtained by ARENA, the ruling party during the dictatorship. The main effects documented in this chapter show that during the first years of the military dictatorship, Globo has a positive effect on ARENA\'s vote-share. In the latter years, however, the effect becomes negative and, on average, overlaps the positive result. It is provided evidence that this break in the effect of Globo is associated with a change in the company\'s position towards the regime and in the content of the shows broadcast by Globo. The third chapter investigates if teachers with strong partisan stances are capable of influencing electoral outcomes through shaping their students\' voting behavior. This is done by exploiting unique datasets on party-affiliated voters, on public high school teachers and on election results and voter characteristics in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The main findings of this chapter are suggestive of a positive and significant effect of the presence of affiliated teachers on the electoral performance of the corresponding party, especially in elections based on plurality voting systems. / Esta tese é composta por três ensaios empíricos em economia política. O primeiro capítulo investiga se a presença de prefeitos nomeados em um subconjunto de municípios durante a ditadura brasileira levou à captura por parte da elite. Isso é feito comparando medidas de desigualdade após a redemocratização entre municípios que tiveram prefeitos nomeados e municípios onde os prefeitos foram eleitos democraticamente. Os principais resultados deste capítulo são consistentes com a hipótese de captura e indicam que a desigualdade de renda aumentou mais em municípios que tiveram prefeitos nomeados pelo regime e que isso se deve principalmente a um aumento na parcela de rendimentos auferidos pelos mais ricos. O segundo capítulo investiga em que medida os veículos de comunicação são propensos a captura política no contexto da ditadura brasileira. Isso é feito investigando os efeitos da Rede Globo, a principal emissora de televisão brasileira, sobre os resultados eleitorais das eleições para prefeito durante a ditadura brasileira, especialmente sobre o percentual de votos obtido pela ARENA, o partido de situação durante a ditadura militar. Os principais efeitos mostram que durante os primeiros anos da ditadura, a Globo tem um efeito positivo sobre o percentual de votos obtidos pela ARENA. Nos últimos anos, no entanto, o efeito torna-se negativo e, em média, sobrepõe-se o resultado positivo dos primeiros anos. São fornecidas evidências de que esta quebra no efeito da Globo está associado a uma mudança na posição da empresa em relação ao regime e no conteúdo dos programas transmitidos por ela. O terceiro capítulo investiga se professores com fortes posições partidárias são capazes de interferir nos resultados eleitorais a partir de influência exercida sobre o voto dos seus alunos. Para isso são utilizados dados sobre filiação partidária de eleitores, sobre professores das escolas públicas e sobre resultados eleitorais e características dos eleitores no Estado de São Paulo, Brasil. As principais conclusões deste capítulo sugerem um efeito positivo e significativo da presença de professores filiados sobre o desempenho eleitoral do partido correspondente, especialmente em eleições majoritárias.

L’Amérique Latine et les Caraïbes sont l’une des régions plus violentes du monde. Le niveau de violence est particulièrement élevé dans les plus grandes villes de cette région (UNODC, 2013). La compréhension des déterminants de la criminalité urbaine est donc un défi majeur pour ces pays. Cette thèse a pour but d’explorer le rôle de trois déterminants de la criminalité en Équateur: les inégalités économiques, la taille des villes et le role des émotions liés aux évènements sportifs tels que les matchs de football.Avant d’entreprendre cette analyse empirique, nous proposons une revue des littératures théorique et empirique sur les déterminants de la criminalité urbaine. Une conclusion importante est que les incitations économiques conduisant à des activités criminelles sont influencées par les schémas de localisation des criminels et des victimes. Partant de ce constat, la thèse propose d’entreprendre trois analyses empiriques à différentes échelles géographiques. Tout d’abord, nous explorons l'effet des inégalités de revenus sur le risque de victimisation en Équateur, en utilisant des données individuelles issues de l’enquête nationale de victimisation. Le principal résultat est que, contrairement aux prédictions, le coefficient de Gini a un effet négatif sur la probabilité d’être victime de vols. Ce résultat pourrait être lié à une ségrégation résidentielle élevée ou à un contrôle social élevé contre la criminalité. De plus, les estimations révèlent une relation croissante et concave entre le niveau de revenu des victimes et la probabilité de victimisation concernant les vols de véhicule, qui augmente avec un revenu mensuel jusqu’à 5,100 dollars, et puis diminue.Ensuite, nous testons l'existence d'une prime de criminalité urbaine (criminalité plus élevée dans les zones urbaines) en Équateur, à l’échelle des paroisses. Le principal résultat indique que la taille des villes a une influence non-monotone sur le taux d’homicide. La probabilité de constater un ou plusieurs homicides est plus élevée dans les paroisses les plus peuplées. Toutefois, le taux d’homicide diminue avec le niveau de population dans les paroisses où se produisent des homicides. Concernant les crimes contre la propriété, les résultats confirment l’influence positive de la population sur le nombre de crime par habitant. Enfin, nous estimons l’impact des matchs de football sur le nombre d'homicides et de crimes contre la propriété dans 16 cantons d’Équateur, à l’échelle intra-urbaine. L’objectif est d’étudier l’influence des matchs de football sur les profils temporels et géographiques des crimes, ainsi que l’impact des émotions (frustration et euphorie) liées aux résultats des matchs sur la criminalité. Les résultats indiquent que le nombre d'homicides augmente 0.18% avant le match, tandis que le nombre de crimes contre la propriété augmente 12% après le match, à proximité du stade. Les matchs de football entraînent également une diffusion spatiale de la criminalité dans des quartiers éloignés des stades. Les jours de matchs, les crimes contre la propriété diminuent 0.88% avant le match et les homicides diminuent 0.05% pendant le match, dans les quartiers éloignés des stades. Après le match, les homicides et les crimes contre la propriété augmentent de manière significative dans les quartiers éloignés des stades. Enfin, l'effet des émotions sur les homicides et les crimes contre la propriété n'est pas significatif au niveau agrégé, alors qu’il est significatif en ce qui concerne les homicides commis dans la capitale de l'Équateur, Quito. / Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is one of the most violent regions in the world. Importantly, higher levels of violence prevail in most urbanized LAC cities (UNODC, 2013). Understanding the determinants of urban crime is therefore a major challenge for those countries. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the role of three crime determinants in Ecuador: economic inequalities, city size, and the emotions caused by soccer events.Before conducting this empirical analysis, we first review the theoretical and empirical literature on urban crime determinants. An important conclusion is that economic incentives that lead individuals to commit crime are influenced by the location pattern of criminals and victims. Building on these considerations, we perform three empirical analyses at different geographic levels.First, we explore the effect of income inequality on victimization in Ecuador, using data at the individual level thanks to the Ecuadorian Victimization survey. The main result is that, contrary to the predictions, the Gini coefficient has a negative effect on victimization by robbery. This result could be related to a high residential segregation or a high social control against crime. In addition, we provide evidence for an increasing and concave relationship between the income level of victims and the probability of victimization by vehicle theft, which first increases with a monthly household income up to $5,100, and then falls.Second, we test the existence of an urban crime premium (higher crime in urban areas) in Ecuador, at the parish level. Our main result is that population exerts a non-linear influence on the homicide rate. The probability that a homicide happens is higher in larger parishes. However, the homicide rate decreases with population in parishes with positive homicides. By contrast, the results regarding property crimes confirm that the level of population increases the number of pecuniary crimes per inhabitant.Third, we explore the effect of soccer matches on the number of homicides and property crimes in 16 cantons of Ecuador, at the intra-city level. The aim is to test whether soccer matches alter the temporal and spatial patterns of crime, and the role of emotions (frustration and euphoria) resulting from soccer matches on crime. Results reveal that the number of homicides increases by 0.18% before the match whereas the number of property crimes increases by 12% after the match, near the stadium. Soccer matches also cause spatial spillovers of crime in locations distant from stadiums. On game days, the number of property crimes falls by 0.88% before the match and the number of homicides falls by 0.05% during the match, in these distant locations. After the game, the homicides and property crimes significantly increase in locations distant from stadiums. Finally, the effect of emotions on homicides or property crimes is not significant at the aggregate level but it is significant regarding homicides that occur in the capital of Ecuador, Quito.