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51. Does Financial Literacy Influence Use of Mobile Financial Services in Malawi? Evidence from Malawi Household Survey Data

Author:
Mirriam Muhome-Matita and Takondwa Chauma
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
African Economic Research Consortium (AERC)
Abstract:
Mobile financial services are gaining prominence and could be a possible avenue for fast-tracking financial inclusion in developing countries, including Malawi. However, adoption and usage of such services remains low among the Malawi population. This study investigates the influence of financial literacy on financial behaviour of individuals in Malawi, specifically use of mobile phone-based financial transactions. Descriptive and econometric analyses were conducted using cross-sectional data obtained from the Reserve Bank of Malawi. Findings reveal that the likelihood of using mobile financial services increases with increasing levels of financial literacy, type of employment and peri-urban residence. Furthermore, men are more likely to transact on mobile phones than females and that although income levels matter in the use of mobile financial transactions, the magnitude of effect is negligible. Results suggest opportunities for expanding access to financial services and products such as differentiation in financial literacy education by characteristics of population including gender of users. Informal settings do not preclude expansion of digital payments, and therefore financial product innovation and addressing rural resident’s constraints to access mobile financial services is crucial.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Labor Issues, Income Inequality, Labor Policies, and Banks
Political Geography:
Malawi

52. Worker Collective Action in the 21st Century Labor Market

Author:
Suresh Naidu
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Economics for Inclusive Prosperity (EfIP)
Abstract:
Private sector union density in the United States has fallen below 7%, but new historical evidence shows high union density played an important role in compressing the US income distribution at mid-century and lowering intergenerational income persistence. Other recent evidence on pervasive labor market power suggests that unions may be able raise wages without severe dis-employment effects, and may alleviate inefficient contracting problems. Despite substantial survey evidence indicating latent demand for unions, employers have successfully fought unionization efforts in rising service sectors, and a combination of legal restrictions and economic transformations have impaired the ability of US unions to solve collective action problems at the appropriate scale – an issue that economics may be able to help ameliorate.
Topic:
Economics, Labor Issues, Income Inequality, and Labor Policies
Political Geography:
United States

53. Achieving Political Inclusion

Author:
GMF
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMFUS)
Abstract:
Democracies are facing serious stresses at this time. We believe that by making political practice in our democracies more inclusive, we will also make our democracies more robust and enduring, and better showcase this political system which is well suited to organize stable, peaceful and lawful societies for our world on the move. In this reader, we introduce themes for action and share perspectives of diverse political actors and activists in the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) network. We look toward democratic practice where the full involvement of citizens increases the total amount of power available in our societies, rather than zero sum approaches to democratic practice where power is considered to be limited and the temptation is therefore to monopolize and to withhold it.
Topic:
Gender Issues, International Political Economy, and Income Inequality
Political Geography:
Global Focus

54. The Decline of Employment Protection and the Rise of Precarious Work

Author:
Anne Marie Brady
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMFUS)
Abstract:
By 1989, the employment landscape in the United States and Europe had changed significantly from the immediate post-Second World War decades. Between 1960 and 1973, the unemployment rate as a percentage of the total labor force averaged two percent or below in Western Europe’s big economies and 4.8 percent in the United States, but between 1990 and 1995, the average unemployment rate in the United States was 6.4 percent and between 7 and 10.7 percent in Germany, France, and the United Kindgom.1
Topic:
International Political Economy, Employment, and Income Inequality
Political Geography:
Global Focus

55. Does Economic Globalisation Affect Income Inequality? A Meta-analysis

Author:
Philipp Heimberger
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (WIIW)
Abstract:
A large volume of econometric literature has studied the impact of economic globalisation on income inequality around the world. However, reported econometric estimates vary substantially which makes it difficult to draw valid conclusions. This paper presents a quantitative summary and analysis of existing estimates regarding the globalisation-inequality relationship. We used a new data set consisting of 1254 observations from 123 peer-reviewed papers. By applying meta-analysis and meta-regression methods, we obtained several main findings. First, globalisation has a (small-to-moderate) positive impact on income inequality considering the total population of estimates. The average effect is robustly different from zero suggesting that globalisation increases income inequality. Second, while the effect of trade globalisation is small, financial globalisation shows a more sizable and significantly stronger inequality-increasing impact. Third, the cumulative evidence rejects theoretical accounts according to which economic globalisation reduces within-country income inequality in developing countries as the meta-analysis establishes an average inequality-increasing impact in both advanced and developing countries. Fourth, education and technology moderate the impact of globalisation on income inequality. Fifth, we tested for various other factors that could cause heterogeneity in the reported estimates including differences in the econometric specifications, the income inequality measures and data set used and publication characteristics.
Topic:
Globalization, Finance, Income Inequality, Macroeconomics, Trade, and Meta-analysis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

56. Would an EU-wide Basic Income Compliment the aims of the Minority SafePack Initiative?

Author:
Craig Willis
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI)
Abstract:
The broader goals of the Minority SafePack Initiative call for a pact between minorities and majorities in order to preserve, develop and promote the linguistic and cultural diversity in Europe in relation to the high number of national minorities inside the European Union. After a successful campaign and the collection of over 1,100,000 validated signatures, the Initiative is ready to be submitted to the EU Commission alongside concrete legislative proposals. This Working Paper examines how the EU-wide proposals for a basic income possibly fit theoretically with the Initiative, discussing basic income more generally as well as two proposals from Van Parijs and DiEM25. Developing four core areas as assessment criteria, the Working Paper finds that basic income theory overlaps significantly in terms of potential impact on the capacity for living in homeland, learning in mother tongue, preservation and development of identity and culture, and aiming for equality. However, these potentially diminish if the amount of a basic income is not enough to meet basic needs, as could be the case with the two proposals analysed – particularly when applied in the EU member states with a higher cost of living. Nonetheless, the differentiation between the Euro-dividend and the Universal Basic Dividend in terms of funding mechanism offers a significant factor which could change the normative understanding of a basic income – with the latter possibly better suiting the idea of a pact between different groups in society, in this case the majority and national minorities.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation, Labor Issues, European Union, Income Inequality, and Universal Basic Income
Political Geography:
Europe

57. Tourism as a Mechanism in Reducing Income Inequality in Developing Economies

Author:
D. Tan and Risa Morimoto
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
School of Oriental and African Studies - University of London
Abstract:
Although numerous studies have investigated the contribution of tourism to economic growth and development, much less attention has been paid to assessing whether tourism-induced growth and development contribute to the poverty alleviation and income inequality (Kinyondo & Pelizzo, 2015). This study emamines the statistical relationship between tourism activities and a suite of income inequality measures. Using a dynamic fixed country-level effects panel model and bootstrapped standard errors, we find strong evidence showing both tourism dollars and inbound tourism numbers have an adverse effect ion income equality. These findings are supported by the results of the fixed-effects panel and dynamic pooled OLS regressions. The results of this study suggest that more effort should be exerted to develop pro-poor tourism initiatives in order to mitigate the inequitable distribution of the benefits of tourism as well as to reduce possible environmental degradation caused by rural poverty.
Topic:
Development, Tourism, Inequality, Income Inequality, Economic Theory, and Models
Political Geography:
Global Focus

58. Income and consumption inequality in China: A comparative approach with India

Author:
Carlos Gradín and Binbin Wu
Publication Date:
08-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
We analyse income and expenditure distribution in China in a comparative perspective with India. These countries represent extreme cases in the relationship of inequality to both wellbeing indicators. Income is more highly concentrated than expenditure in India, especially at the top of the distribution. Both types of inequality are similar in China, although expenditure is more unequally distributed than income in urban areas. China has a much stronger correlation in individual ranks and levels between the two wellbeing distributions. As a result, expenditure inequality is higher in China than in India, but income inequality much lower. This results partially from differences in population composition, such as China being more urbanized and having smaller households, but mostly from differences in conditional income distributions, especially by attained education of the household head. We show that hybrid measures of wellbeing combining income and expenditure can be useful for such cross-country comparison.
Topic:
Inequality, Income Inequality, and Consumerism
Political Geography:
China, South Asia, India, and Asia

59. Inequality in Brazil: Inclusive growth trend of this millennium is over

Author:
Marcelo Neri
Publication Date:
05-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
After three decades of persistently high inequality, Brazil has been experiencing a downward trend since 2001, accompanied by a rise in household incomes. These trends lasted until 2014 when a major reversal took place on both fronts.
Topic:
Education, Inequality, Finance, and Income Inequality
Political Geography:
Brazil and South America

60. Uncertainty about Future Income: Initial Beliefs and Resolution During College

Author:
Yifan Gong, Todd Stinebrickner, and Ralph Stinebrickner
Publication Date:
03-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Human Capital and Productivity (CHCP), Western University
Abstract:
Uncertainty about future income plays a conceptually important role in college decisions. Unfortunately, characterizing how much earnings uncertainty is present for students at college entrance and how quickly this uncertainty is resolved has proven to be difficult. This paper takes advantage of unique expectations data from the Berea Panel Study to provide new evidence about this issue. We characterize initial uncertainty using survey questions that elicit the entire distribution describing one’s beliefs about future earnings at an ideal time - immediately before students began their first year courses. We characterize the amount of uncertainty that is resolved during college by taking advantage of the longitudinal nature of the expectations data. Taking advantage of a variety of additional survey questions, we provide evidence about how the resolution of income uncertainty is influenced by factors such as college GPA and college major, and also examine why much income uncertainty remains unresolved at the end of college.
Topic:
Economics, Income Inequality, Human Capital, Higher Education, and Productivity
Political Geography:
United States and Canada