Inequality and Risk-Taking Behaviour

This paper investigates social infuences on attitudes to risk and offers an evolutionary explanation of risk-taking by young low-ranked males. Becker, Murphy and Werning (2005) found that individuals about to participate in a status tournament may take fair gambles even though they are risk averse in both wealth and status. Here their model is generalised by use of the insight of Hopkins and Kornienko (2010) that in a tournament or status competition one can consider equality in terms of the status or rewards available as well as in initial endowments. While Becker et al. found that risk-taking is increasing in the equality of initial endowments, it is found here that it is increasing in the inequality of rewards in the tournament. Further, it is shown that the poorest will be risk loving if the lowest level of status awarded is su±ciently low. Thus, the disadvantaged in society rationally engage in risky behavior when social rewards are su±ciently unequal. Finally, as greater inequality in terms of social status induces gambling, it can cause greater inequality of wealth.risk, status, inequality.

Gender, risk and the Wall Street alpha male

From the outset, analyses of the 2008 financial crisis, in mainstream as well as feminist discussions, have been gendered. In particular, rampant risk taking in an unregulated environment, widely deemed to be a principle cause of the crash, has been associated with masculine characteristics. In this article I explore how the concepts of gender and risk entwine in two films on the financial crisis – The Other Guys and Margin Call. By looking at how gender is used to dramatise financial risk, I explore how understandings of high risk behaviour are gendered, and the implications this has in the context of finance. Fictional representations mediate public understanding of this notoriously complex field, as the number of films and documentaries on the crisis demonstrates. Exploring how gender is used to communicate risk reminds us that risk taking is part of a performance of masculinity that needs to be established by constructing a feminine, risk-averse other. The contention of this paper is that to address gender bias in finance and the economy, gendered meanings of risk need to be openly challenged, and cultural and material analyses of gendered inequality brought into dialogue

Understanding the urban-rural disparity in HIV and poverty nexus: the case of Kenya

Background The relationship between HIV and poverty is complex and recent studies reveal an urban-rural divide that is not well understood. This paper examines the urban-rural disparity in the relationship between poverty and HIV infection in Kenya, with particular reference to possible explanations relating to social cohesion/capital and other moderating factors. Methods Multilevel logistic regression models are applied to nationally-representative samples of 13,094 men and women of reproductive age from recent Kenya Demographic and Health Surveys. Results The results confirm a disproportionate higher risk of HIV infection among the urban poor, despite a general negative association between poverty and HIV infection among rural residents. Estimates of intra-community correlations suggest lower social cohesion in urban than rural communities. This, combined with marked socio-economic inequalities in urban areas is likely to result in the urban poor being particularly vulnerable. The results further reveal interesting cultural variations and trends. In particular, recent declines in HIV prevalence among urban residents in Kenya have been predominantly confined to those of higher socio-economic status. Conclusion With current rapid urbanization patterns and increasing urban poverty, these trends have important implications for the future of the HIV epidemic in Kenya and similar settings across the sub-Saharan Africa region

Growing up with the one-child policy: CEO early-life experiences and corporate investment in China

We examine corporate investment behaviour of Chinese CEOs whose formative years (5–15 years old) overlapped with China’s one-child policy period. We construct alternative measures of CEO early-life experience of gender inequality based on the information on the cities where CEOs lived in their formative years during the one-child policy period. We find that a sample CEO, who experienced greater gender inequality induced by the one-child policy, intends to increase investment, and they invest more than their peers. Moreover, experiencing greater gender inequality, women CEOs are more conservative and risk-averse in investment, and they invest less than their peers. In contrast, men CEOs experiencing greater gender inequality are overconfident and risk-taking in investment, and they invest more than their peers. These results remain robust across a set of tests, including the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM), Difference-In-Difference (DID), and Propensity Score Matching (PSM). We contribute to the debate surrounding China’s one-child policy by providing new evidence on how the one-child policy affects the Chinese economy through its corporate sector