¿Importa la desigualdad de la renta? un análisis sobre los determinantes económicos e institutcionales de la política pública social de los países de la Unión Europea

¿Realizan un mayor esfuerzo aquellos países que presentan problemas más graves de desigualdad? ¿Es la equidad un elemento clave en el diseño de los presupuestos de gasto social? A estas y otras preguntas hemos tratado de responder a lo largo de este artículo. Concretamente, el objetivo de este trabajo es analizar los factores económicos e institucionales que influyen en un mayor menor gasto social en los 27 países que conforman la UE. Para ello hemos utilizado un panel de datos para un período de tiempo de 11 años, y hemos introducido variables adicionales a las generalmente utilizadas como la distribución de la renta, la tasa de pobreza, la ideología del partido gobernante, el índice de libertad económica o la pertenencia a la zona euro. Los resultados obtenidos ponen de manifiesto que el modelo estimado es robusto y que el desarrollo económico, la libertad económica o la entrada en funcionamiento del euro han conllevado un mayor gasto social. En cambio, una mayor desigualdad en la distribución de la renta no hace aumentar las partidas de gasto social

Inequality, public health, and COVID‐19: an analysis of the Spanish case by municipalities

The main objective of this work is to analyze whether inequality in income distribution has an effect on COVID-19 incidence and mortality rates during the first wave of the pandemic, and how the public health system mitigates these effects. To this end, the case of 819 Spanish municipalities is used, and a linear cross-sectional model is estimated. The results obtained allow us to conclude that a higher level of income inequality generates a higher rate of infections but not deaths, highlighting the importance of the Spanish National Health Service, which does not distinguish by income level. Likewise, early detection of infection measured by the number of primary care centers per 100,000 inhabitants, access to health care for the treatment of the most severe cases, unemployment as a proxy for job insecurity, climatic conditions, and population density are also important factors that determine how COVID-19 affects the population

World Analysis of the Determinants of the Inequality in Health. Is the Measurement of Inequality Important?

Ovaj esej ima dvostruki cilj. S jedne strane, identificirati što su odrednice u nejednakosti u zdravstvu. S druge strane, procijeniti u kojoj je mjeri pokazatelj nejednakosti važan. Da bismo to učinili, koristimo model poprečnog presjeka za 176 zemalja. Dobiveni rezultati omogućuju zaključivanje da je izbor mjerenja nejednakosti ključan element u ovom tipu studija. Također, nejednakost u raspodjeli dohotka, težina seoskog stanovništva i kapitalizam uzrokuju povećavanje nejednakosti u zdravstvu.This essay has a double aim. On the one hand, to identify what are the determinants in the inequality in health. On the other hand, to estimate to what extent the inequality indicator used is important. To do this, we use a cross-sectional model for 176 countries. The achieved results allow concluding that the choice of the inequality measurement is a key element in this type of studies. Also, inequality in income distribution, the weight of the rural population and capitalism make inequality in health increase

Determinants of Child Health Inequalities in Developing Countries: a New Perspective

This essay analyzes the determining factors in the differences in child health. To achieve this, we present a cross- sectional model for 88 developing countries, using two mea- sures of child health inequalities: the infant mortality rate by wealth quintiles and the infant mortality rate by maternal educational level. We conclude that a lower inequality in the distribution of income, greater public health expenditures, and the introduction of capitalism in these countries decrease inequalities in health

Institutions and Public Expenditure on Education in OECD Countries

The aim of this study is to determine the factors affecting public expenditure on education with regard to OECD countries, with particular emphasis on the relationship between institutional quality and education spending. For this purpose, a data panel model was estimated for 33 countries over a period of 14 years (from 1996 to 2009, both years inclusive). The results obtained enable us to conclude that the greater the economic, social and democratic development of a country, the higher the spending on education undertaken by the government, even more so in the case of left-wing governments

The Kuznets Curve Hypothesis Checked Out on Up-To-Date Observations in African Countries

The purpose of this article is to study empirically whether the Kuznets’ curve hypothesis on inequality and development is present in the economies located in Africa, as well as whether there is a minimum income for this hypothesis to begin to be fulfilled. In order to study this question, a panel of data from 45 countries is available for the period 1975–2019, and these data are analysed through a graphical point of view and through an econometric analysis using the pooled mean group estimator. The results obtained allow us to conclude that there is evidence in favour of Kuznets’ hypothesis and that a minimum level of income is required for it to be significantly observed. As well as the fact that today there is still a palpable heritage of European colonization

Crisis and Inequality in the European Union

The objective of this work is to analyse the factors that influence a greater or lesser inequality in income distribution in the 27 EU countries, paying particular attention to the effect that the economic crisis has had. For this purpose we have used panel data covering a period of 16 years (from 1996 to 2011, inclusive), and we have introduced additional variables over and above those normally used, such as the ideology of the governing party, the economic freedom index, as well as the ‘crisis’ variable. The results obtained enable us to conclude that while the economic crisis has not necessarily caused a worsening in inequality, the response of European governments by means of social policy has not so far proved effective in the fight against the lack of equality in income distribution

Economic and Social Determinants of Human Development: A New Perspective

The aim of this work is to determine the factors affecting development, not only the economic ones, which play a central role in economic literature, but also social. To do so we have used a wide sample of countries and have estimated a panel data for 171 of those that have been members of the United Nations for a period of 16 years (from 1995 to 2010 inclusive). The results obtained allow us to conclude that fight against poverty, provision of basic infrastructure, and investment in greater democracy, greater stability and less corruption, have, in all cases, a positive effect on human development in these countries

On the Perpetuation of the Situation of Economic and Social Underdevelopment in Africa

Why do the majority of African countries fail to take the steps that would lead them towards greater development? The aim of this work is to determine the factors affecting development, not only the economic ones, which play a central role in economic literature, but also social. To do so, we have used a wide sample of countries and have estimated a panel data for 171 countries of those that have been members of the United Nations (UN) for a period of 16 years (from 1995 to 2010 inclusive). Our results lead us to conclude that monetary instability and the colonial past of these countries have had a negative impact on their level of human development. However, improvements in the efficiency of governmental policy and instruments, investment in greater democracy, greater stability and less corruption, have, in all cases, a positive effect on human development in these countries

Inequality and development: is the Kuznets curve in effect today?

The aim of this work is to study the Kuznets curve in order to examine whether the hypothesis on inequality and development that he posited in his 1955 article is verified or not when using the data at our disposal today; these data are more numerous, both for countries and periods available, than when Kuznets originally conducted his study. The approach that makes this research unique is that it will be performed by differentiating the sample in terms of underdeveloped and developed countries. In this regard, at present (with the data and methodologies of Cochrane-Orcutt and GMM System), the Kuznets hypothesis seems to be robustly verified because, when taking a variable other than the Log GDPpc (GDP per capita in logarithms) as a measure of development, such as the HDI or the proportional contribution of the agricultural sector on GDP, the relationship described by Kuznets still seems to be present; this is not a regularity when using the basic GDPpc variable. Moreover, it has been observed that, over the very long term, the Milanovic hypothesis seems to appear; namely, that inequality follows a sinusoid form rather than a concave curve. Finally, a section has been included in which we see how the 3 effects (scale, technique and composition) of world trade on inequality affect, as has been applied in recent years on CO2 emissions in the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC)