Inequality and Poverty in Asia

Income inequality is a more complex problem than poverty. The existence of income inequality will hamper the process of economic development and disrupt people's welfare. This study aims to determine the effect of the tourism sector on income inequality in the Regency / City of Central Java Province using the variables of the number of tourists, the number of tourism workers, economic growth, and Human Development Index (HD). This study uses Quantile Panel Regression using time series data 2015-2022 and cross-section data of 35 regencies/cities in Central Java Province. Based on the results of the research, it can be seen that the number of tourists has a positive and significant effect on middle income inequality, but has no effect on low and high income inequality, tourism labour has a negative and significant effect on low income inequality, but has no effect on middle and high income inequality, economic growth has a positive and significant effect on low income inequality, but has no effect on middle and high income inequality, HDI has a negative and significant effect on low income inequality and positive on high income inequality, but HDI has no effect on middle income inequality

In 2004 the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) embarked on a large-scale research project on the ‘Impact of Globalization on the World’s Poor’ co-directed by Machiko Nissanke and Erik Thorbecke. The first conference was essentially conceptual in nature, meant to understand better the various mechanisms and channels through which globalization affects the poor either directly or indirectly. The other three conferences focused on each of the major regions of the developing world: Asia, Africa and Latin America. Theobjectivesofthisintroductionarethreefold:first,toreviewbrieflyhow the forces of globalization influence poverty in general; second, to describe and discuss the main transmission channels and mechanisms; and third to analyze the impact of globalization on Africa and present an overview of the six Africa case studies included in this issue. 1. The Impact of Globalization on the World’s Poor Globalization provides a strong potential for a major reduction in poverty in the developing world because it creates an environment conducive to fastereconomicgrowthandtransmissionofknowledge. 1 However,structural factors and policies within the world economy and national economies have impeded the full transmission of the benefits of the various channels of globalization for poverty reduction. In particular sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) hasbeenrelativelylessaffectedbytheforcesofglobalizationthanotherparts of the world. World income distribution continues to be very unequal and many poor countries particularly in Africa are stagnating. Moreover, there is much empirical evidence that openness contributes to more within-country

This paper contributes to the growth models debate by expanding the concept of growth drivers to emerging capitalist economies (ECEs). Conceptually, the paper synthesizes growth drivers with a growth model operationalization based on GDP growth contributions and financial sector balances. Drawing on post-Keynesian and structuralist economics, as well as, empirical studies, seven growth drivers for ECEs are reviewed: income distribution, price and non-price competitiveness, commodity prices, private debt, foreign direct investment (FDI) and fiscal policy. Descriptive data for these drivers are presented for 19 regionally grouped ECEs between 2000 and 2019. On average, Asian ECEs exhibit higher growth rates, stable real exchange rates, high and increasing non-price competitiveness and high private debt levels. Latin American countries show comparatively lower growth rates, high but decreasing income inequality, unstable exchange rates and relatively expansionary fiscal policy after the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Central and Eastern European countries generally display medium to high growth rates, lower income inequality, high non-price competitiveness, a substantial FDI stock and, after the GFC, real depreciations and contractionary fiscal policy. The assessment of cross-country growth drivers via bivariate coefficients reveals limited robust results, except for non-price competitiveness, which emerges as a significant driver. Additionally, we find indications that private debt and expansionary fiscal policy became more important for growth in ECEs after the GFC. This is in line with the emergence of domestic demand- and private debt-led growth models in ECEs following the GFC in the course of private deleveraging and austerity policies in developed capitalist economies.

Changes in comparative advantage should reflect changes in factor endowment, but increasingly, changes in trade policies also affect a region's trade performance. Based on the arguments in Balassa's stages of comparative advantage thesis, this paper looks at the performance of manufacture exports in a number of Asian and Latin American economies over the period 1981-1997 and examines the revealed comparative advantage indices between economies in East Asia, Southeast Asia and Latin America. Although the RCA measurement may not distinguish between the factor endowment effects from the trade policy effect, we argue that RCA measures provide indication on the movement in a region's comparative advantage. The evidence strongly suggests that despite the strong export performance experienced by East Asian economies, they are losing their comparative advantage to the lower-tier economies in Southeast Asia and Latin America.

This paper assesses the potential impacts of the removal of agricultural and other trade distortions using a newly developed dataset and methodological approach for evaluating the global poverty and inequality effects of policy reforms. It finds that liberalization of agriculture will increase global extreme poverty (US$1 a day) slightly and by almost 1 percent if other goods trade is also liberalized; but the number of people living on less than $2 a day will fall by almost 1 percent. Beneath these small aggregate changes, most countries witness a substantial reduction in poverty while South Asia where half of the world's poor reside will experience an increase in extreme (but not moderate) poverty incidence due to high rates of protection afforded to its unskilled labor-intensive agricultural sectors. The distributional changes also are projected to be mild, but again exhibit a strong regional pattern: inequality falls in Latin America, which is characterized by high initial inequality, and rises in South Asia, has relatively low income inequality.

Recent studies by economists such as Piketty (2013, 2019) and Atkinson (2015) have contested the well-established view that post-war redistribution policies have been successful in the long term at slowing down the rise of structural inequalities. In reality, the claim goes, they have dealt mostly with reducing inequalities of income through redistribution and have left inequalities of wealth and capital ownership uncontrolled. These, according to their studies, have now risen in the developed world and reached levels more typical of 19th Century Europe. To make matters worse, perceptions of and attitudes towards fighting inequalities as unjust that Rawls saw as based on a wide consensus of citizens' "considered judgments" (Rawls, 1999, p. 17), have changed, leading to them being accepted as the justified and even necessary price to pay for economic growth and as a reward for merit. Economic arguments based on the need for incentives for raising productivity and the "trickle-down effect" have become widely accepted as if the price of economic efficiency should be disconnected from the demands of equity. Meritocracy has provided ethical arguments too. As John Roemer says, "today the most important problem for the social sciences of inequality is understanding how electorates have come to acquiesce to policies which increase inequality… and to try revealing the logic of the I would like to thank the editors of the Special Issue on Rawls for inviting me to develop ideas that I first presented in a previous paper published in French in 2016, "L'état-providence face aux inégalités et la démocratie de propriétaires: une comparaison entre Meade, Rawls, Ackerman et Piketty," Tocqueville Review, 2/2016), as well as in another paper in English in 2018: « Self-development and Social Justice ». I hope to be able to develop these ideas in a future book on property-owning democracy and its philosophical justifications.

South Asia relies considerably on foreign aid to ameliorate its economic development. The primary cause of this reliance on foreign aid is a lack of resources to enhance macroeconomic performance. This study investigated how foreign aid affects South Asia's macroeconomic performance. Additionally, the significance of financial development is emphasized to assess the aid growth relationship. The panel autoregressive distributed lag (P-ARDL) model is used as part of an advanced panel data method. The study concluded that foreign aid by itself does not enhance South Asia's macroeconomic performance; however, it does have a favorable and noteworthy effect on economic growth when interrelated with financial development. Therefore, it is argued that for foreign aid to be effective, financial growth is required in South Asia.

INTRODUCTION: Equitable healthcare distribution is essential, yet socioeconomic disparities often impact the availability of specialty medical services. This study examines how income inequality affects neurosurgeon distribution in U.S. counties. METHODS: We utilized the 2021 CDC Interactive Atlas of Heart Disease and Stroke to gather data on the distribution of neurosurgeons across U.S. counties. Additionally, demographic and socioeconomic data for each county were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau county profiles. Income inequality was calculated using the Gini index. RESULTS: Among 437 U.S. counties with at least one practicing neurosurgeon, 72 exhibited a Gini index above the national average, reflecting higher income inequality. These counties had a significantly higher proportion of non-Hispanic Black (18.29% vs. 7.99%, P<0.001) and Hispanic residents (21.37% vs. 13.22%, P<0.001) compared to counties with lower income inequality. Additionally, these high inequality counties also reported higher poverty rates (15.76% vs. 11.64%, P<0.001) and a greater percentage of residents without health insurance (10.80% vs. 9.22%, P=0.007). Furthermore, these areas had fewer healthcare facilities; on average, there were fewer hospitals (2.66 vs. 5.54, P<0.001) and fewer hospitals providing specialized neurological services (1.58 vs. 3.58, P<0.001). The analysis underscored a significant disparity in the availability of neurosurgeons in high income inequality counties, with these regions being three times more likely to be underrepresented by neurosurgeons (OR 3.49, 95%CI 1.68-7.25, P<0.001). This relationship persisted even after adjusting for various demographic and socioeconomic factors. CONCLUSIONS: The study underscores significant disparities in neurosurgeon distribution linked to income inequality, with higher inequality associated with fewer healthcare resources and greater demographic challenges. Enhanced policy measures are needed to improve healthcare access and infrastructure in underserved areas.

Correlation or causation? Income inequality and infant mortality in fixed effects models in the period 1960–2008 in 34 OECD countries

An effective governance structure is central to growth, sustainable development and equal income distribution (economic welfare) (Glass & Newig, 2020). Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) countries differ in governance structure with varying outcomes on economic welfare. This article explores the extent to which governance impacts economic welfare in BRICS countries viewed as an emerging powerhouse, with significant growth prospects — yet distinct in their governance systems, and income variability amongst its population. The article utilised panel static models (pooled ordinary least squares (OLS) and fixed effects (FEs) estimator) from 1996 to 2019 to investigate the effects of governance proxied by the World Bank World Governance Indicators (WGI) on economic welfare (proxied from two channels): quantitative (output stock/economic growth) and qualitative (reduced income inequality). The two channels combine the ordinary measure of welfare: gross domestic product (GDP), a proxy for economic growth, household and income distribution, and a proxy for income inequality drawing (Heys, 2019). The findings revealed that governance produced varying results on the economic welfare in BRICS. Democratic countries which practise good governance principles (South Africa and Brazil) had a negative economic welfare effect from both channels compared to one-party states, such as China and Russia. Therefore, the findings invalidate the null hypothesis that good governance is a catalyst for economic welfare. Sound policies, especially on structural change and equitable income distribution are necessary to enhance economic welfare in BRICS countries. The article is relevant and discloses iterations of the distinction between good governance and sound policy implications on developing nations’ economic welfare.

The Seoul 1988 Olympic Games were South Korea's "coming out" party as a developed and democratic country, boosting minjok and South Koreans' pride in their own country. High rates of economic growth and a growing middle class continued throughout the early years of South Korea as a democratic country. In this context and coinciding with the final years of the Cold War, Roh Tae-woo, South Korea's first post-dictatorship president, launched Nordpolitik, a policy for the South to support the North, which was already much poorer. As a democratic country, South Korea pushed with economic liberalization to an extent unseen previously, following Washington Consensus policies. This helped to boost growth, and South Korea eventually joined the OECD in 1996—seen as a mark of its developed economy status. At the same time, democracy brought freedom to culture and the arts. By the early 1990s, South Korean artists were laying the groundwork for the emergence of K-Pop. In 1997, however, South Korea suffered its biggest economic crisis since the Korean War as a result of uncontrolled economic liberalization and domestic corruption.

This study examines the key determinants of carbon emissions (COE) in South Asia, focusing on energy transition (ENT), digitalization (DIG), financial development (FDT), and human capital (HCT). Using panel data from 2000 to 2023 and the cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) model, it offers novel insights into both direct and moderating effects. A major finding is that FDT negatively moderates the effects of ENT and DIG on COE, implying that financial development plays a crucial role in enhancing the environmental benefits of clean energy and digital technologies. ENT, DIG, and HCT are found to reduce COE significantly in both the short and long term, while FDT contributes to higher emissions. These results have important implications for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 7, 9, and 13 and advancing COP28-aligned carbon neutrality. The study underscores the importance of green finance, digital and renewable energy expansion, and human capital development as key drivers for emissions reduction and sustainable growth in South Asia.

This article evaluates the relationship between inequality in cognitive test scores across countries and income inequality. By meta-analyzing the standard deviations in PISA results from 2000 to 2018, the authors construct a measure of intelligence inequalities across countries. They then test this measure to investigate if it has any association with income inequality as measured by the gini index. Across all models and subsamples, the authors do not find a positive association between intelligence inequality and income inequality. In models where the coefficient is statistically significant, the direction is unexpectedly negative, implying greater intelligence inequality is associated with lower income inequality. This is contrary to theoretical predictions of a positive association between these variables. Finally, the authors also find some evidence that greater mean intelligence is associated with lower levels of income inequality.

Quantitative Aspects of the Economic Growth of Nations: VIII. Distribution of Income by Size

Household Debt and Income Inequality: Evidence from Italian Survey Data