Income Distribution Commons^™

Parents, Paths, And Paychecks: Examining Intergenerational Occupational Mobility And Career Choices, Swapnil Landge

Publications and Research

This paper examines the influence of fathers’ and mothers’ occupations on their children’s occupational outcomes, using a self-selection model to analyze intergenerational career mobility. By constructing and analyzing transition matrices, I estimate the extent of positive and negative self-selection for sons and daughters when they follow either their father’s or mother’s occupation. The results reveal distinct patterns for sons and daughters. Sons who follow their father’s occupation tend to avoid negative self-selection, particularly in higher-paying fields such as Professional Occupations and Technicians and Related Support Occupations, where negative self-selection is minimal. Conversely, sons following their mother’s occupation face higher rates …

Ledroit Park Photograph Collection, Jaclynn Martin

Prints and Photographs Department

The LeDroit Park Photograph Collection is a limited edition of ten (10) 12" x 12" gelatin silver print photographs capturing the revitalized LeDroit Park and its surroundings, taken in 2003 by Steven M. Cummings. The LeDroit Park Initiative, spearheaded in the late 1990s by then-Howard University President H. Patrick Swygert and Ms. Jamie Gorelick, Vice Chair of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), aimed to renovate and redevelop Howard University-owned properties within the LeDroit Park area. The initiative also explored innovative mortgage rates and payment assistance programs to enhance homeownership opportunities for the university-affiliated and neighboring community. Notably, the …

Intergenerational Comparison Of Inequality And Standard Of Living, Jillian Cookinham

Honors Theses and Capstones

This paper encompasses how inequality and standard of living have changed intergenerationally. Existing research and a regression analysis examine how income, corporate profits, housing, education, retirement, and health insurance are interconnected in American inequality and standard of living. Data analyzed in the regression includes the period of 1990 to 2021. However, the literature review extends back to 1970. Findings from existing research and regression analysis are used to provide policy recommendations on how the federal government may improve inequality by addressing the housing shortage, revising the tax system, and encouraging automatic enrollment in retirement plans.

Improving American Men's Quality Of Life By Economically Empowering American Women, Margot Rosenblatt

Scripps Senior Theses

In this paper, I explore the relationship between women’s economic empowerment and men’s quality of life in the United States. I created an index of women’s economic empowerment based on county-level data on labor force participation rates, rates of pay, teen birth rates, and families in which a woman is the primary income earner. I then created an index of men’s quality of life based on financial, physical, and mental health indicators. Adjusting for income, dominant industry type, age, population density, race variables, and environmental factors, I found a statistically significant positive correlation between women’s economic empowerment and men’s quality …

The Effect Of Remittances On Housing Expenditure In Filipino Households, Joaquin Franco Rigonan, Angelo Salvo, Lawrence B. Dacuycuy, Tereso S. Tullao Jr, Winfred Villamil, Krista Yu

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) have chosen to work abroad due to the abundance of better work opportunities and a higher salary earned. Migrant workers send remittances to their families from their country of origin to bring extra income for these households to spend on essential consumption. These remittances serve as additional income and protection for recipient households, easing their consumption and enabling them to spend their money on education, housing construction, and household electrical appliances. Numerous existing literature has stated that household-receiving remittances spend more money on investments that will help improve their standard of living; one of these investments …

Medical Expenditures And The Measurement Of Poverty In The United States, Luke Petach, David Wyant

Faculty Scholarship

Using data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) we estimate the fraction of the US population that is health poor. A person is health poor if their income prior to paying health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket healthcare costs is above the poverty line, but their income net-of-premiums and out-of-pocket healthcare costs is below the poverty line. Because resources used to finance health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs are (A) lexicographically preferred and (B) cannot be used to maintain an individual’s standard of living, they should be excluded from official poverty estimates. Approximately 1% to 2% of the US population …

How Do Pay Transparency Laws Impact The Gender Pay Gap In The United States?, Kendall Chapko

CMC Senior Theses

After much progress during the late 1900s, the gender pay gap has hardly closed in the last two decades. As policy makers look for new solutions, many governing bodies have turned to pay transparency laws, which make employee salaries transparent to employees. There have been several international studies on this topic, and almost all found that these laws are very effective in decreasing the pay gap. This research is extremely important, as it suggests that these policies push us further towards equality, and makes gender based discrimination less common in the workplace. In my study, I conduct a difference in …

Which Side (Of The Balance Sheet) Are You On? Household Financial Resources And Participation In The 2020 Protests, Selina Miller, Stephen Roll, C.Taylor Brown, Laura Brugger, Michal Grinstein-Weiss

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The summer of 2020 was marked by widespread protests. Though research has often examined the predictors of protest participation, there exists little work examining the relationship between different types of wealth and protesting. Drawing on resource-based theories of protest participation and asset-based theories of civic engagement, we constructed regression models disentangling relationships between income, liquid assets, investment assets, homeownership, and protesting. Using a national survey administered during the protests, we find that liquid assets are negatively associated, homeownership is positively associated, and investment assets exhibit a non-linear association with protesting. These relationships hold when controlling for income, demographics, and ideology, …

Absentee Ownership And Rental Affordability: Evidence From Commuting Zones, Luke Petach

Funded Scholarship

In this paper, we examine the intersection of financialization, wealth inequality, and the housing market in the United States with an emphasis on the relationship between absentee ownership and declining rental affordability. At the same time as financialization has increasingly transformed the market for residential real estate into a vehicle for financial speculation, households at the bottom of the income distribution have been disproportionately affected by rising rents and declining housing affordability. Using data from the decennial Census and the American Community Survey from 1990 to 2020, we investigate the link between absentee ownership and rental affordability across US commuting …

Displaced Worker Angst And Far Right Populism, Thomas E. Lambert

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Background

Nothing causes more anguish and frustration than downward social mobility such as that experienced by less-educated workers and especially by displaced workers. Those who lose economic status lose more than income because they become so socially isolated that they are further frustrated through loneliness (Case and Deaton 2020). Hanna Arendt points out that lonely men are susceptible to authoritarian influence (1973, p. 475).

There is yet another aspect to the downward social mobility of low skilled men, namely that they are losing ground not only relative to social norms but also relative to the wages of low-skilled women. In …

External Debt Pass-Through To Inflation In Nigeria, Emmanuel A. Asue, James V. Ikyaator

CBN Journal of Applied Statistics (JAS)

This study examines external debt pass-through to inflation in Nigeria using annual data from 1981 to 2020 based on structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) model. The results reveal that an increase in external debt service leads to a significant depreciation of the exchange rate, which leads to a contemporaneous increase in inflation, while the direct response of inflation to external debt is statistically not significant. The impulse response confirms these results. The forecast error variance decomposition depicts that future values of official exchange rate depend on external debt, inflation and external debt service. The study recommends that the Nigerian government should …

Financial Inclusion And Poverty Reduction In Nigeria: The Role Of Microfinance Institutions, Okwudili W. Ugwuoke, Oliver E. Ogbonna, Aye-Agele Freeman

CBN Journal of Applied Statistics (JAS)

This study investigates the role of microfinance institutions as a vehicle for driving financial inclusion and alleviating poverty in Nigeria using the EFinA 2018 household survey data. The probit model, propensity score matching, and average treatment effect methods are applied for the analyses. The study finds that financial inclusion driven by access to, and usage of products/services provided by microfinance institutions reduces poverty. The study recommends among others the need for increased access to microfinance products/services and an integrated poverty reduction policies that identifies microfinance institutions as a critical enabler

The Effect Of Conditional Cash Transfers On The Prepaid And Postpaid Expenditures Of Internet And Cellular Services: The Case Of Filipino Households, Krisann Carmina G. Caoile, Edgar Desher P. Empeño, Raphael Manuel P. Ramos, Marie Angeline A. Trinidad, Myrna S. Austria, Ma. Ella Oplas, Tereso S. Tullao Jr, Winfred M. Villamil

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Technology has been playing a large role in the lives of households regardless of income. How, then, do poor families value the importance of internet and cellular services due to the existence of outcome-improving or outcome-worsening effects associated with these services? At the same time, since the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) substantially affects its beneficiaries’ household expenditures, assessing its effectiveness concerning its objectives is important. Most literature on how poor households spend their cash transfers is centered on directly linked goods such as health and education. However, the relationship between CCTs and expenditures on goods that play a more …

The Differential Impact Of 4ps On Child Labor Before And During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Hannah Grace Villaret, Joey Anastacio, Yohana B. Burgos, Lyka May Pauline Fernandez, Paulynne J. Castillo, Roberto Raymundo, Joel Q. Tanchuco

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Poverty is widely considered the root cause of child labor in the Philippines. Thus, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) was designed to alleviate poverty and reduce child labor through financial assistance, conditional on welfare investments like children’s education. Using 2017, 2019, and 2020 data from the Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS), the study estimated the differential impact of 4Ps on child labor before and during COVID-19 across varying demographic, socio-economic, and locational characteristics. Results from the propensity score matching (PSM) and difference-in-differences (DID) model indicated that since cash transfers cannot fully offset the opportunity cost of children’s education, children …

Per Capita Gdp’S Potential Effect On The Percentage Of Children In Foster Care, Jenna Mcclain

Honors College Theses

Few studies have been conducted on the presence of a direct connection between per capita gross domestic product (GDP) and the percentage of children in foster care in a given region. GDP is a known indicator of economic growth (Powers, 1995; Roshaniza & Selvaratnam, 2015), as is a child’s potential for foster care placement associated with a parent or family’s financial status (Bald et. al, 2022; Barth et. al, 2010). Poverty is the bridge in many of these scenarios – low GDP can be indicative of higher poverty rates, and financial hardship under poverty classification can lead to child maltreatment …

An Analysis On The Efficiency Of Philippine Microfinance Institutions: A Stochastic Frontier Approach, Ryan Lou Dio, Elijah Jacob Mendoza, Lunette Clarisse Nunez, Ma. Ellory Villanueva, Myrna S. Austria, Tereso S. Tullao Jr

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) were created to provide loans and financial services for the poor as commercial banks have requirements that are not accessible to them. The Philippines government soon started using MFIs as a poverty alleviation tool to answer the market failure created by the commercial banking industry since it cannot accommodate the needs of low-income earners due to the high costs attached to it. However, recent studies have shown that MFIs are “mission drifting,” which means that they are deviating from their original social purpose and becoming more financially driven. As a result, this paper estimates the financial and …

An Analysis Of Poverty Convergence: Evidence From Pennsylvania Counties, Angel Alcantara, Stephanie M. Brewer, James J. Jozefowicz

The Journal of Economics and Politics

This paper extends applications of unconditional and conditional β-convergence and σ-convergence analysis to poverty rates in a panel data sample of Pennsylvania counties during the period 1990-2019. Spatial structural breaks between rural and urban counties in Pennsylvania plus the possibility that Philadelphia County is an outlier are acknowledged to avoid spurious inferences. The findings support the existence of unconditional β-convergence in the pooled, urban, and rural samples with non-metropolitan areas exhibiting the greatest convergence. However, the largest conditional β-convergence is observed for urban counties, and this outcome is robust to the exclusion of Philadelphia County. Graphical evidence evinces a greater …

Kerala’S International Tourism Demand: An Inquiry Into The Validity Of The Standard And Regular Determinants, Muhammed Salim Anappattath

CBER Conference

The present study aims to identify the role of standard factors and other regular potential determinants in influencing the tourist arrivals in Indian state of Kerala. We used month-wise data of the foreign tourist arrivals in Kerala from January 2002 to December 2019 and applied auto-regressive distributed lagged (ARDL) approach, with the seasonality-adjusted data, for the same.

Analyzing Household Income Inequality: A Subgroup Decomposition Of Generalized Entropy Measures, Jazib Mumtaz, Sayed Irshad Hussain

CBER Conference

The study proves that education level, nature of employment, asset ownership, and gender contribute significantly to income inequality. The study further indicates that changes in income distribution for the bottom of the population through paid employment, female income, and asset ownership could impact income inequality. The study's results can be used to assess policy impact on social welfare and help policymakers design targeted interventions, develop efficient taxation, and create a sustainable model for inclusive growth.

Priced Out Of Housing In The Mountain West, 2022, Maryam Raja, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Housing & Real Estate

This fact sheet presents data from the National Association of Home Builder (NAHB) 2022 report on "priced out estimates" and the consequences of increased prices and interest rates on homes. Data are included from NAHB on home affordability for median home prices in five Mountain West states and 25 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs).

Gross Domestic Product (Gdp) In Mountain West Metros, 2022, Ayda Atici, Eshaan Vakil, Saha Salahi, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Cities & Metros

This fact sheet examines the rankings of large Mountain West metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2022, as well as population rank in 2020. The original report, published by Visual Capitalist, collated information from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Kenan Institute to provide these data.

The Top 1% Of Earners In The Mountain West, Ivan Sun, Zachary Billot, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet examines data from the Smart Asset report, “America’s Top 1% Is Different in Each State: From a $370k to $950k Income,” which examines the thresholds of the top 1% of earners and the tax rates associated with those earners. The original report contains the income threshold, national rankings, and tax rates for the top 1% of earners in all 50 states. This fact sheet focuses on the data for the top 1% of earners in the Mountain West: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.

Does Fertility Matter For Middle Aged And Older Adults’ Risk Attitudes?, Christine Ho, Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan, Joanne Tan, Eugene Rui Le Tan

Research Collection School Of Economics

Given that risk attitudes influence many decisions, it is important to understand the factors that shape such attitudes in late adulthood, when individuals face important risky decisions. While research finds that parenthood tends to correlate with lower risk tolerance in western countries, there is a lacuna on whether such associations persist in late adulthood, and are applicable to the Asian context, where children are conventionally considered a linchpin of old age support. Data for middle aged and older individuals come from the nationwide Singapore Life Panel (N = 6,740). Multivariate statistical analyses are employed to estimate the associations between willingness …

Revisiting Development Discourse Amidst Informal Sector Crises Covid-19 Pandemic, Anjan Chakrabarti, Pooja Sharma

International Journal on Responsibility

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, India has experienced a severe catastrophe of the informal sector, related to both health and livelihood. The informal sector and migrant workers are closely linked and they became easy prey during the nationwide lockdown at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The informal sector, primarily a fallout of the prevailing dual economy, makes it highly imperative to revisit not only India’s growth and development process but also the distribution. The paper attempts to evaluate the development process adopted by developing countries and their relevance in terms of growth and inequality. The study finds the missing link …

Analysing Pandemic Induced Economic Inequality In Developing Nations, Ravneet Kaur Bhogal

International Journal on Responsibility

The dawn of the new decade of the 21st century saw an unprecedented global crisis. This crisis led the world to halt economic and social progress. It led to a galloping increase in the economic inequality and migration of people in search of opportunities to save them from the current situation. The developing nations saw a sea of people migrating back to their roots in search of safe havens. This has led to the loss of jobs which has increased income inequality. Migrants face the risk of contagion and also the possible loss of employment, wages, and health insurance coverage. …

The Determinants Of Poverty In Pennsylvania Counties, Angelique Alcantara

Pennsylvania Economic Review

This study examines the determinants of poverty in Pennsylvania counties. Economic and demographic characteristics are evaluated in their relation to the poverty rate, using panel data from 2000 to 2019 for the 67 Pennsylvania counties. Data was collected from the U.S. Census Bureau. In accordance with the Hausman (1978) specification test, a two-way fixed effects model is estimated to account for unobserved county-specific and time-specific heterogeneity. Wald (1939) tests are used to determine joint significance for both demographic and economic variable groups. Results indicate that employment in manufacturing and in construction are negatively related to the poverty rate. Employment in …

National Debt And The Misleading Family Metaphor: A Message To The Economic Managers And Journalists, Jesus Felipe

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

A recent article in the prestigious British newspaper, The Guardian (“Bad economics at the BBC enabled Tory austerity and its aftermath — and it knows as much,” James Meadway, January 31, 2023), claimed that bad economics by the British Broadcasting Co. (BBC), the reputable British television company, enabled Tory austerity and its aftermath. A BBC internal review noted that too many journalists don’t get “basic economics,” with a negative effect on U.K. politics. The review refers to taxation, public spending, government borrowing, and debt output. Poor information is particularly serious when it comes to reporting on the central political issue …

Food Price And Inflation Adjustments In Nigeria: Evidence From Threshold Cointegration, Usman A. Bello, Aliyu R. Sanusi

CBN Journal of Applied Statistics (JAS)

This paper investigates two stages of transmission through which inflation stabilization policy affects headline inflation by estimating a threshold cointegration model. The paper finds that asymmetric monetary shocks passing-through food prices exerts inflationary pressure on consumer prices, and is characterized by deep asymmetric movement, large degree of stickiness in adjusting downward, while exhibiting upward momentum in correcting food price fall. In addition, asymmetries were found in consumer price adjustment as food price shock transmits substantial inflationary pressure to consumer prices, while disinflationary effect originating from a fall in food price is inconsequential. The coefficients of adjustment were found to be …

Modelling The Impact Of Government Expenditure On Economic Growth In Nigeria: The Moderating Effects Of Oil And Non-Oil Revenue, Victor U. Ijirshar, Gaius M. Asombo, Florence D. Bundepuun, Ashifa Tersugh, Ayila Ngutsav

CBN Journal of Applied Statistics (JAS)

This study examines the relationship between government expenditure and economic growth and assesses the moderating effects of oil revenue and non-oil revenue in Nigeria from 1981 to 2021. The study uncovered short-term asymmetry in the government expenditure-economic growth nexus while the long-term relationship was symmetric. The study found that government expenditure is a significant determinant of economic growth in Nigeria and that oil and non-oil revenue influences the nexus between government expenditure and economic growth in Nigeria positively. The study recommends efficient management of oil revenue, directing investments during high revenue periods and ensuring fiscal sustainability. Government should also establish …

Improving The Efficiency Of Exponential Ratio-Type Estimator For Population Median: A Calibration Weight Adjustment Approach, Mathew J. Iseh, Kufre J. Bassey

CBN Journal of Applied Statistics (JAS)

This paper modifies the Bahl and Tuteja exponential ratio-type estimator for population median under simple random and stratified sampling schemes using calibration weight adjustment technique with supplementary information to vary the stratum weights. The bias and mean square error of the modified estimator were obtained up to the second-order approximation, which satisfies the necessary conditions for efficiency. The findings show that the new estimator surpasses existing estimators in efficiency gain. This suggests the appropriateness of calibration weight modification in boosting the efficiency of a population parameter estimator under stratified random sampling especially where the population parameter of the auxiliary variable …