Digital Commons Network^™

Global Cities And Socioeconomic Inequality: A Pathways Inquiry, Herman Boschken

Faculty Publications, School of Management

Inequality in metropolitan areas is part of a paradoxical triangle of competing motives over resources allocation. Chief among inequality/equity rivals is the penchant for urban economic development, but in recent decades, ecological sustainability has also become increasingly important in this triangle. To understand inequality in global cities in such a context, one must recognize the intensity of economic development motives for those particular metropolitan areas seeking to maintain worldwide centrality, connectivity and command over the forces of globalization. As a comparative analysis of 53 large U.S. metropolitan areas, this paper examines the apparatus of a global city in response to …

The Impact Of Taxes And Wasteful Government Spending On Giving, Roman Sheremeta, Neslihan Uler

ESI Working Papers

We examine how taxes impact charitable giving and how this relationship is affected by the degree of wasteful government spending. In our model, individuals make donations to charities knowing that the government collects a flat-rate tax on income (net of charitable donations) and redistributes part of the tax revenue. The rest of the tax revenue is wasted. The model predicts that a higher tax rate increases charitable donations. Surprisingly, the model shows that a higher degree of waste decreases donations (when the elasticity of marginal utility with respect to consumption is high enough). We test the model’s predictions using a …

Globalization And Top Income Shares, Lin Ma, Dimitrije Ruzic

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper documents empirically that access to global markets is associated with a higher executive-to-worker pay ratio within the firm. It then uses China's 2001 accession to the World Trade Organization as a trade shock to show that firms that exported to China prior to 2001 subsequently exported more, grew larger, and grew more unequal in terms of executive-to-worker pay. To evaluate analytically and quantitatively the impacts of globalization on top income inequality, this paper builds a model with heterogeneous firms, occupational choice, and executive compensation. In the model, executive compensation grows with the size of the firm, while the …

Income Inequality, Progressive Taxation And Tax Expenditures, James R. Hines Jr.

Book Chapters

There are important and growing concerns about income inequality in the United States and other high-income countries. These concerns reflect rising apprehension about the political and social consequences of inequality and worries that the advance of technology, expanding international trade and investment, and other economic developments may have significantly widened income gaps in recent decades and will continue to do so in the future. In the United States, these concerns have prompted renewed calls for political activism and vigorous searches for policy measures that might improve the relative economic positions of low- and middle-income Americans.

There are many ways in …

The Urban Heat Island Effect In Nevada, Ember Smith, Kaylie Pattni, Caitlin Saladino, William E. Brown

Environment

This fact sheet explores the temperature difference between Nevada cities and their undeveloped surrounding areas using reports by the Urban Land Institute, Climate Central, National Public Radio (NPR), and various governmental organizations. We investigate what “urban heat islands” are, their effects, the correlation between heat and income, and factors that contribute to rising temperatures in Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson, and Reno.

Changes In Assortative Matching And Inequality In Income: Evidence For The Uk, Pierre-André Chiappori, Monica Costa-Dias, Sam Crossman, Costas Meghir

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

The extent to which like-with like marry is important for inequality as well as for the outcomes of children that result from the union. In this paper we present evidence on changes in assortative mating and its implications for household inequality in the UK. Our approach contrasts with others in the literature in that it is consistent with an underlying model of the marriage market. We argue that a key advantage of this approach is that it creates a direct connection between changes in assortativeness in marriage and changes in the value of marriage for the various possible matches by …

Economic Segregation, Inequality, And The New Urban Crisis In The Mountain West, Ember Smith, Caitlin Saladino, William E. Brown

Housing & Real Estate

This fact sheet highlights economic segregation, inequality, and the effect of the “New Urban Crisis” in the Mountain West region (Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah) as computed and analyzed by Richard Florida in The New Urban Crisis: How Our Cities are Increasing Inequality, Deepening Segregation, and Failing the Middle Class- and What We Can Do About it.

College Attainment, Income Inequality, And Economic Security: A Simulation Exercise, Brad J. Hershbein, Melissa S. Kearney, Luke W. Pardue

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

We conduct an empirical simulation exercise that gauges the plausible impact of increased rates of college attainment on a variety of measures of income inequality and economic insecurity. Using two different methodological approaches—a distributional approach and a causal parameter approach—we find that increased rates of bachelor’s and associate degree attainment would meaningfully increase economic security for lower-income individuals, reduce poverty and near-poverty, and shrink gaps between the 90th and lower percentiles of the earnings distribution. However, increases in college attainment would not significantly reduce inequality at the very top of the distribution.

College Attainment, Income Inequality, And Economic Security: A Simulation Exercise, Brad J. Hershbein, Melissa S. Kearney, Luke W. Pardue

Upjohn Institute Policy and Research Briefs

No abstract provided.

The Wealth Tax: Apportionment, Federalism, And Constitutionality, Alex Zhang

Faculty Articles

Proposals of wealth taxation as a mechanism to combat economic inequality and raise revenue for welfare programs have dominated recent political debate. Despite extensive academic commentary, questions surrounding the constitutionality of a wealth tax remain unresolved. Previous scholarly approaches have drawn a dichotomy between two key cases. Supporters of the wealth tax emphasize Hylton's functional rule for identifying direct taxes, which must be apportioned under the Constitution, and reject Pollock, which invalidated the federal income tax on the grounds that it was a direct tax. Opponents of the wealth tax, in contrast, argue that Pollock, rather than …

Lack Of Higher Wage Opportunities In Missouri Contributes To Slower Economic Growth, Mallory Rahe

Center for Applied Economics

This paper uses publicly available datasets from federal government agencies to explore differences in income inequality across rural and urban Missouri in the aftermath of the Great Recession to better understand how these factors are associated with relative job loss and job recovery. Previous work has explored various explanations for Missouri’s weak economic performance; could income inequality be a contributing factor? I find that Missouri has lower income inequality than the nation, largely from a lack of high-wage jobs. Missouri, and especially rural Missouri, obtains lower income inequality primarily through a lack of high-income households. Across the nation, rising income …

The Distributional Short-Term Impact Of The Covid-19 Crisis On Wages In The United States, Yonatan Berman

Publications and Research

This paper uses Bureau of Labor Statistics employment and wage data to study the distributional impact of the COVID-19 crisis on wages in the United States by mid-April. It answers whether wages of lower-wage workers decreased more than others', and to what extent. We find that the COVID-19 outbreak exacerbates existing inequalities. Workers at the bottom quintile in mid-March were three times more likely to be laid off by mid-April compared to higher-wage workers. Weekly wages of workers at the bottom quintile decreased by 6% on average between mid-February and mid-March and by 26% between mid-March and mid-April. The average …