Income Distribution Commons^™

Racing The Machine: Automation-Induced Inequality Through The Lens Of The Fourth Industrial Revolution, Evelyn Martin

Economics Theses

This paper analyzes the scope and velocity of automation-induced inequality as a result of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We find that, when left unchecked by intentional government policy, the direct impacts of inequality will affect virtually all demographic groups and occupational skill levels, as well as, be hastened by future recessions and noticeable skill biases. We find that unconditional cash transfers in the form of a universal basic income have the potential to address the aforementioned scope and velocity due to their cash transfer modality and universal qualities. As we are living through the start of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, …

Institutions, State Capacity, And Intra-State Conflict: Evidence From A Decade-Long Civil War In Nepal, Nishant Yonzan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

First, while mass armed civil conflicts predominantly occur in weak states, which are states that lack state capacity, it is unclear why not all weak states experience mass armed civil conflict. Second, political stability and highly unequal distribution of resources are opposing forces that are unlikely to coexist together. However, highly unequal societies have existed with relative stability. Indeed, cross-country literature on civil war finds little relationship between conflict and unequal distribution of resources. This dissertation attempts to address these issues using the Civil War in Nepal which lasted from 1996 to 2006.

Institutions are fundamental for the proper functioning …

An Inferentially Robust Look At Two Competing Explanations For The Surge In Unauthorized Migration From Central America, Nick Santos

Dissertations

The last 8 years have seen a dramatic increase in the flow of Central American apprehensions by the U.S. Border Patrol. Explanations for this surge in apprehensions have been split between two leading hypotheses. Most academic scholars, immigrant advocates, progressive media outlets, and human rights organizations identify poverty and violence (the Poverty and Violence Hypothesis) in Central America as the primary triggers responsible. In contrast, while most government officials, conservative think tanks, and the agencies that work in the immigration and border enforcement realm admit poverty and violence may underlie some decisions to migrate, they instead blame lax U.S. immigration …

Measuring Rental Affordability Dynamics For The Southern United States With Constant Quartile Mismatch, Bradley Curtis

Honors Theses

This project centers on the topic of rental housing affordability for southern metropolitan areas in the United States. In an attempt to understand how rents have changed in relation to incomes in cities throughout the American south, this study uses IPUMS data to compare changes in the distributions of rents and incomes from 2000 to 2019 for each of the geographies in question. The Constant Quartile Mismatch metric employed in this project was first implemented in the study "A constant quartile mismatch indicator of changing rental affordability in US Metropolitan areas, 2000 to 2016". This thesis hopes to extend the …

Are Small Businesses The Framework For A Successful U.S. Economy?, Carson Clevenger

Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis will investigate the impact of small businesses on the United States’ economy. I will be assessing several impact areas including gross domestic product, employment, and local economy contribution. This thesis will cover a study from the time periods of 1998-2014 of the gross domestic product and employment levels and will use numbers from the years of 2018- present for other impact areas. Furthermore, I will be analyzing certain sectors of the economy, comparing small businesses contribution to corporate contribution, in order to discuss if small businesses are necessary for our country’s successful economy.

The Impact Of Socioeconomic Status On Single Women, Catherine Martens

Marketing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Since its formation in the 1700’s, America has been home to varying degrees of discrepancies between social classes, which include assumptions inherently held within these differences. Considering the fact that America was largely built by the hands of human slaves ruled by those with political influence often landowners, social hierarchy has been intricately woven into the fabric of America’s story from the beginning. Despite the progress that has been made to create and advance equal economic opportunity, there is still a considerable lack of social mobility available for those in lower socioeconomic statuses. More specifically, the impact of poverty is …

How The Level Of Job Complexity Impacts The Gender Wage Gap Across Occupations, Zytlaly Magaña Corona

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The present study focused on unpacking the social and structural aspects of job complexity to better understand its effects on the gender wage gap. Previous research on the job complexity-compensation dynamic has primarily focused on cognitive complexity. Job complexity across occupations were examined using work activity data from O*NET and merging it with the Current Population Survey data sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (N=67,003). Results revealed that higher complexity jobs in this study yielded greater wage disparities across different occupations as predicted. Furthermore, physical activities and gaining knowledge from the Generalized Work Activities were the two most …

Barriers To Post-Secondary Success, Douglas Swanson, Najeana Henderson, Maritza Sloan

Dissertations

This study reviews factors that prior studies have identified or failed to consider as barriers to post-secondary success. The three main areas include academic success for Latinx students after high school, organizational systems and their impact on African-American students’ postsecondary readiness, and what workers think of their high school education with regards to career preparedness.

Five factors are identified as major barriers for Latinx students to continue in a higher education system. A survey of former students from Saint Louis, Missouri, and Dallas, Texas, metroplex area identified 56 Latinx students that participated in an initial survey. This led to a …

The Effects Of Racial Capitalism On Poor White Laborers, Amy Whittaker

Liberal Studies (MA) Final Essays

While always remembering that racial capitalism’s very nature ensures that non-white Americans suffer incomparable racial oppression, this paper will endeavor to expose the devastation caused to American society as a whole by explaining the ways in which racial capitalism destroyed poor white labors ability to participate fully in the economic system and strangled its chances of living the American dream. It is my hope that by discussing the missing piece of the poor white laborers’ experience under racial capitalism will unite poor white laborers and poor black laborers to work together to end racial capitalism, policing, and the carceral system. …

Sufficientarianism Revised: A Look At Past Theories Of Distributive Justice And Working Prospects For Future Theories, Georgia Dietz

CMC Senior Theses

In philosophy, distributive justice is the economic, political, and social structure that constitutes a larger debate on how resources should be divided in society. What is a ‘fair’ way of distributing resources? Many philosophers have created different frameworks that attempt to answer this question. This paper will focus on the attempts that have been made by sufficientarians, then look at problems with these theories that have been pointed out by critics, and finally attempt to revise sufficientarianism altogether.

The Structures That Bind: An Examination Of Housing And Wealth Inequality In America And A Proposal For An Effective Economic Solution, Baylor Brown

Senior Projects Fall 2021

Given America’s violently racist history, it should not come as a surprise that housing inequality still runs rampant in 21st century American cities. What may come as more of a surprise, however, is the true complexity of housing inequality and its broader implications. Housing inequality is not an independent phenomena and there are a multitude of structures which enable housing discrimination to interact with and perpetuate other forms of discrimination. Economically speaking, a public banking option in the U.S would serve as an effective tool to regulate household finance and chip away at the foundations of inequality. While there are …

Socioeconomic And Other Dynamics In The Geographical Distribution Of Success In The English F.A. Cup, Edward Genereux

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The F.A. Cup, which is England’s primary football (soccer) knockout competition, is the world’s oldest competition in the sport, but no comprehensive study into factors that correlate with success has been undertaken. The purpose of the present thesis is to fill this void by assessing the strength of the nine regions of England, as well as the collective strength of non-English clubs in the competition. The coefficent formula used by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for ranking member associations is utilized in a form adapted for the generally single-legged nature of the F.A. Cup. The figures ascertained are …

The Effects Of Higher Education On Socioeconomic Mobility: A Comparative Analysis Of Outcomes At Bucknell University, Katrien Weemaes

Honors Theses

Income inequality and the lack of higher-education opportunities across the United States often correlate with families' socioeconomic status. In this honors thesis, the following questions will be examined: How does the social mobility of Bucknell Students compare with students from other national universities? How do a student’s race and financial aid status affect their ability to achieve social mobility? How has the rate of social mobility through Bucknell changed in recent years? How does a student’s current family socioeconomic status affect their ability to achieve high-income success upon graduation? Does the level of accessibility to Bucknell change when socioeconomic status …