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This article introduces the Perceived Economic Scarcity Scale (PESS), a novel instrument measuring the subjective evaluation and experience of economic scarcity (the feeling of having insufficient financial resources to meet one's needs). We conducted three high-powered preregistered studies (total N = 1900) to rigorously evaluate the PESS's psychometric properties. In Study 1, we generated a pool of items and used both Principal Component Analysis and Exploratory Factor Analysis to select the most appropriate items. In Study 2, we examined the PESS's construct validity, demonstrating that it measures a distinct construct from related constructs such as subjective social class. In Study 3, we examined the PESS's predictive validity, demonstrating that it is a robust predictor of both affective outcomes (e.g. anxiety-depressive symptoms) and cognitive outcomes (e.g. economic risk-taking). Critically, we found that the PESS not only has incremental validity over and above income but also has greater predictive utility than income. We also found that the PESS score varies depending on the distance-to-pay and has excellent test-retest reliability. Overall, the PESS appears to be a valid and reliable instrument for assessing perceived economic scarcity, and we encourage researchers to use it to better understand the psychological consequences of 'not having enough'., (© 2024 British Psychological Society.)

Scholars of social mobility increasingly study the role of family background in shaping attainment throughout the entire life course. However, research has yet to establish whether the family characteristics influencing early career attainment are the same as those influencing late career attainment. In this research note, I apply an extended sibling correlation approach to analyze brothers' life cycle earnings and family income, using data from the U.S. National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979. My analysis reveals a near-perfect correlation in the family characteristics that affect attainment at early, mid, and late career stages. This finding has significant implications for how mobility scholars conceptualize the impact of family background across a career. It suggests that family background forms a single, consistent dimension in determining attainment throughout the life course. Further analysis also indicates that the imperfect relationship between current and lifetime income is exclusively driven by within-family processes., (© 2024 The Authors. The British Journal of Sociology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of London School of Economics and Political Science.)

Objectives: Disparities in colorectal cancer (CRC) screening uptake by socioeconomic status have been observed in Canada. We used the OncoSim-Colorectal model to evaluate the health and economic outcomes associated with increasing the participation rates of CRC screening programs to 60% among Canadians in different income quintiles., Methods: Baseline CRC screening participation rates were obtained from the 2017 Canadian Community Health Survey. The survey participants were categorized into income quintiles using their reported household income and 2016 Canadian Census income quintile thresholds. Within each quintile, the participation rate was the proportion of respondents aged 50-74 who reported having had a fecal test in the past two years. Using the OncoSim-Colorectal model, we simulated an increase in CRC screening uptake to 60% across income quintiles to assess the effects on CRC incidence, mortality, and associated economic costs from 2024 to 2073., Results: Increasing CRC screening participation rates to 60% across all income quintiles would prevent 69,100 CRC cases and 36,600 CRC deaths over 50 years. The improvement of clinical outcomes would also translate to increased person-years and health-adjusted person-years. The largest impact was observed in the lowest income group, with 22,200 cases and 11,700 deaths prevented over 50 years. Increased participation could lead to higher screening costs ($121 million CAD more per year) and lower treatments costs ($95 million CAD less per year), averaged over the period 2024-2073., Conclusion: Increased screening participation will improve clinical outcomes across all income groups while alleviating associated treatment costs. The benefits of increased participation will be strongest among the lowest income quintile., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Research on the influence of family background on college graduates' earnings has not considered the importance of the match between parents' and children's field of study. Using a novel design based on within-family comparisons, I examine long-term earnings returns to reproducing parents' field of study in Denmark. I find that individuals whose field of study matches that of a parent have earnings that are 2 percent higher than those of their siblings with college degrees in different fields, on average. Earnings returns to field inheritance are highest in the fields of law (9 percent), medicine (6 percent), and engineering (4 percent) and are driven mainly by income from self-employment. I find no direct evidence of nepotism as the earnings advantage does not arise from inheritance of parents' firms or employment in parents' occupational network. My findings indicate that, although a college degree generally equalizes family background differences in economic outcomes, there are additional payoffs to field inheritance, particularly in traditional fields characterized by a high degree of social closure and self-employment., (© 2024 The Authors. The British Journal of Sociology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of London School of Economics and Political Science.)

Narrowing the income gap between urban and rural areas is the key to achieving common prosperity in China. On the basis of analyzing the mechanism of climate change's impact on urban-rural income gap, this article empirically analyzes the impact of climate change on urban-rural income gap using provincial-level panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2020. Research indicates that climate change significantly impacts the urban-rural income gap at the 1% significance level, implying that climate change exacerbates the urban-rural income gap. This widening effect varies significantly across different regions, particularly in the western regions and areas with lower fiscal support for agriculture. Further analysis reveals that there is a mediating role between the total agricultural output value and resource mismatch in the impact of climate change on urban-rural income inequality; the digital rural construction plays a regulatory role in the impact of climate change on the urban-rural income gap. On this basis, policy recommendations are proposed to promote the development of climate-resilient agriculture, improve the meteorological forecast and early warning system, increase financial support, and optimize the allocation of agricultural resources., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Aim: To examine the experiences of internationally qualified nurses, including those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, transitioning to and working in the aged care sector of high-income countries., Design: A scoping review., Data Sources: CINAHL, MEDLINE and PSychINFO databases were searched to find eligible literature published from January 2010 onwards., Review Methods: This scoping review was based on the framework by Arksey and O'Malley and the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. The literature search was conducted by the first author, and all three authors reviewed the retrieved studies for eligibility and inclusion., Results: Fourteen articles were eligible. Data was categorized into three broad themes: stress of migration and transition; miscommunication, racism and discrimination; and aged care specific challenges which included two sub-themes 'shock of aged care' and 'bottom care'., Conclusion: Internationally qualified nurses, particularly if they are culturally and linguistically diverse, face unique stresses and challenges in aged care and face barriers in the recognition of skills and qualifications. The under-utilization of skills is not only a loss in terms of patient care but is linked to fears of de-skilling, losing professional development and opportunities for career progression., Impact: Internationally qualified nurses are positioned as a solution to aged care shortages in high-income countries; however, there is a scarcity of research exploring their experiences. In the context of the global aged care staffing crisis, an understanding of the stresses and challenges faced by internationally qualified nurses will further strengthen efforts to recruit, support and retain skilled nurses in aged care., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Advanced Nursing published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Childhood behavior problems are associated with reduced labor market participation and lower earnings in adulthood, but little is known about the pathways and mechanisms that explain these associations. Drawing on a 33-year prospective birth cohort of White males from low-income backgrounds (n = 1040), we conducted a path analysis linking participants' teacher-rated behavior problems at age 6 years-that is, inattention, hyperactivity, aggression-opposition, and low prosociality-to employment earnings at age 35-39 years obtained from tax records. We examined three psychosocial mediators at age 11-12 years (academic, behavioral, social) and two mediators at age 25 years (non-high school graduation, criminal convictions). Our findings support the notion that multiple psychosocial pathways-especially low education attainment-link kindergarten behavior problems to lower employment earnings decades later., (© 2023 The Authors. Child Development published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Research in Child Development.)

Quantile regression (QR) provides an alternative to linear regression (LR) that allows for the estimation of relationships across the distribution of an outcome. However, as highlighted in recent research on the motherhood penalty across the wage distribution, different procedures for conditional and unconditional quantile regression (CQR, UQR) often result in divergent findings that are not always well understood. In light of such discrepancies, this paper reviews how to implement and interpret a range of LR, CQR, and UQR models with fixed effects. It also discusses the use of Quantile Treatment Effect (QTE) models as an alternative to overcome some of the limitations of CQR and UQR models. We then review how to interpret results in the presence of fixed effects based on a replication of Budig and Hodges's work on the motherhood penalty using NLSY79 data.

This article aims to understand how access, equity and redress challenges are addressed at South Africa's public universities based on their current funding frameworks. Relying on a pragmatic research approach combining desk-research literature review and secondary data analysis, government funding and tuition fees were found to be the primary sources of funding in most universities, while third stream income from universities' own commercial activities lagged far behind. Secondary data from the public universities' audited annual financial statements for the period 2015 to 2020 further revealed that investment source income superseded third-stream income in most universities. There is consensus in literature on the pivotal role of equity-based funding mechanisms such as the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) in providing tuition cover and living expenses for students from poor households. Based on the agency theory, government funding is used to influence public universities to pursue transformation goals. The general trends observed in various countries is the inclusion of equity-based indicators in a funding model to ensure that students are not denied the opportunity for university education solely based on their poor backgrounds. It is argued in this paper that the NSFAS remains an appropriate vehicle to achieve South Africa's transformational goals in its public universities.

This paper examines the effect of birth order on educational attainment in the United States and the underlying mechanism producing these effects. Using a family fixed effects model, we find negative birth order effects on educational outcomes. However, this effect varies depending on the household's income, being the strongest for households with the highest income and diminishing as households' income decreases. In addition, we show that the timing of income across childhood is important for completed education, as the largest gap in educational attainment between siblings emerges between those who were born and spent their early childhood in wealthier households.

This paper analyzes the impact of college athletic reclassification for educational institutions in the United States. Most of America's colleges and universities offer athletic opportunities for their students under NCAA governance. The level of competition and associated resource requirements range from relatively low (Division 3) to high (Division 1). In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of institutions that have either reclassified to a higher division, or publicly considered such a move. The resource obligations of reclassification are significant, and administrators must carefully weigh expected benefits and costs with respect to the institution's mission and vision. While several studies (Bell, 2017; Schwarzber, 2014; Frieder & Fulks, 2007; Tomasini, 2005) have focused on reclassification from Division 1-FCS to FBS--the highest level of competition--less attention has been paid to colleges in Division 2 and 3--which comprise two-thirds of NCAA membership. Our study addresses a gap in the literature by analyzing athletic reclassification among schools moving up from Division 2 to Division 1 (FCS and no-football) during the period of 2001-2018. Drawing upon multiple data sources, we construct a panel of 33 schools (14 treatments and 19 controls) to evaluate the impact of reclassification on applications and athletic department budgets. Results from quasi-experimental methods (difference in differences, event study, and synthetic control models) suggest that reclassification significantly increased basketball program revenues and athletic department expenses among the treatment schools. However, we do not find evidence that reclassification raises student applications in the short term.

Precarity of the Ukrainian professoriate is a lacuna in the higher education literature. There was no research on this subject before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Furthermore, no investigations have been conducted on how university professors handle the hardships of teaching in wartime. This study tries to understand the phenomenon of precarity, as it is experienced by Ukrainian educators affected by the brutal invasion and ensuing dehumanization. The study explores the following questions: What do post-Soviet educators learn from precarity and hostile environments that undermine their individual and professional dignity? How do they manage the security deficit in their academic and living environments? By presenting insights from thirty-nine interviews, this paper elaborates on the phenomenon of precarity among university educators who are urged to redefine themselves, reinstate their academic identity, and salvage their teaching careers in the context of war.

The recovery of the global economy in the aftermath of COVID-19 faces enormous challenges. Ensuring stable income growth of the population has become an important means for developing countries to ensure sustained economic development. Raising the overall income of the population is a public initiative that benefits all citizens; therefore, governments of developing countries should promote the implementation of relevant public policies and the provision of public goods to ensure that existing economic instruments can benefit the entire population. In this regard, public space, as a typical form of public good, may play an important role in promoting the benefits of existing economic policies for all residents. This paper examines how residents' use of public space contributes to their income growth through social capital. Hypotheses are tested based on an econometric analysis of 1565 questionnaires received from Chinese workers. The results show that residents' use of public space can indeed be an important way to increase their income, which is realized through the enhancement of social capital. The research presented in this paper provides a new influence variable of public space to improve residents' income. Further, it improves people's understanding of the three classical concepts—public space, social capital, and income—by establishing the logical connection and theoretical explanation of physical space, emotional space, and value space in human society. The conclusions of this paper highlight the important role of public space in urban and rural development planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Eradicating poverty is the primary objective of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. While China has achieved great success in achieving poverty reduction targets, reducing the poverty vulnerability of rural households is crucial for ensuring the sustainability of poverty reduction gains. The purpose of land transfer is to ensure the continuous increase of farmers' income through efficient land use; it has become an important initiative for poverty alleviation in rural areas. Existing studies have confirmed the positive effect of land transfer on poverty alleviation, but few have explored the difference in the impact of land transfer on poverty vulnerability of households with different income structures. Methods: Using data from the China Family Panel Survey (CFPS) from 2010 to 2020, this paper empirically examines the impact of land transfer on poverty vulnerability. Results and discussion: The results show that land transfer has a significant positive impact on poverty vulnerability alleviation among rural households. Further comparing households with different livelihood structures, we find that land transfer is more effective in reducing poverty for non-farm employment-oriented household. Therefore, we suggest that the government should improve the land transfer system, increase agricultural subsidies, and consider the occupational differentiation among farmers to improve the poverty reduction effect of land transfer. These suggestions also provide a reference for promoting sustainable agricultural development and consolidating the achievements of poverty alleviation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retirement planning is viewed as one of the cornerstones of long-term household financial security. The responsibility of retirement planning has now been shifted to the individual and is no longer the responsibility of the employer. This paper examines the link between financial literacy and retirement planning among informal sector traders in the Randburg area of Johannesburg, South Africa. A questionnaire approach was used to collect data from 269 randomly selected informal sector respondents. The data was analysed using ordinal regression. Robustness tests were executed using the Wald test. Findings reveal that financial literacy is linked to retirement planning, and especially with reference to informal sector workers. Additionally, education, income and the informal business sector were observed to have a positive and significant influence on retirement planning. The paper contributes to both theoretical and practical discourses on retirement planning for informal sector entrepreneurs which has not received much attention. These results are important for policy makers in retirement planning as well as curriculum development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the mismatch between multidimensional deprivation and monetary poverty in identifying the poor in Egypt and investigates their determinants empirically. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses the Alkire-Foster multidimensional poverty measurement method using data from Egypt's 2017/2018 Household Income, Expenditure and Consumption Survey (HIECS 2017/2018). Using a logistic regression model, the paper assesses the empirical relationship between multidimensional and monetary poverty and their determinants at the aggregate level and by dimension. Findings: The paper demonstrates a significant mismatch between multidimensional and monetary poverty measures, underscoring their complementary nature. Statistics indicate that both measures overlap in classifying 35.81% of Egyptians, whereas monetary poverty ignores 63.12% of multidimensionally poor in at least one dimension. Regression estimates show a significant moderate negative association between expenditure per capita and multidimensional poverty and its dimensions. Moreover, they show that household head's gender, age, education attainment, marital status, job proficiency, household size and location affect poverty mismatch and match in Egypt. Practical implications: This paper offers Egyptian policymakers the multidimensional poverty index that enables more efficient designing and targeting of poverty alleviation programs and assessing current poverty alleviation programs to modify them if needed. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first to examine the mismatch between both poverty measures in Egypt, using the recent full data set of HIECS 2017/2018. This paper confirms that depending only on monetary measures can send inaccurate insights for crafting effective social policies. Also, it offers policymakers a comprehensive insight into the country's poverty landscape, which enable more efficient design, targeting of poverty alleviation programs and monitoring their effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A maternal mortality ratio is a sensitive indicator when comparing the overall maternal health between countries and its very high figure indicates the failure of maternal healthcare efforts. Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam-CLMV countries are the low-income countries of the South-East Asia region where their maternal mortality ratios are disproportionately high. This systematic review aimed to summarize all possible factors influencing maternal mortality in CLMV countries. Methods: This systematic review applied "The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Checklist (2020)", Three key phrases: "Maternal Mortality and Health Outcome", "Maternal Healthcare Interventions" and "CLMV Countries" were used for the literature search. 75 full-text papers were systematically selected from three databases (PubMed, Google Scholar and Hinari). Two stages of data analysis were descriptive analysis of the general information of the included papers and qualitative analysis of key findings. Results: Poor family income, illiteracy, low education levels, living in poor households, and agricultural and unskilled manual job types of mothers contributed to insufficient antenatal care. Maternal factors like non-marital status and sex-associated work were highly associated with induced abortions while being rural women, ethnic minorities, poor maternal knowledge and attitudes, certain social and cultural beliefs and husbands' influences directly contributed to the limitations of maternal healthcare services. Maternal factors that made more contributions to poor maternal healthcare outcomes included lower quintiles of wealth index, maternal smoking and drinking behaviours, early and elderly age at marriage, over 35 years pregnancies, unfavourable birth history, gender-based violence experiences, multigravida and higher parity. Higher unmet needs and lower demands for maternal healthcare services occurred among women living far from healthcare facilities. Regarding the maternal healthcare workforce, the quality and number of healthcare providers, the development of healthcare infrastructures and human resource management policy appeared to be arguable. Concerning maternal healthcare service use, the provisions of mobile and outreach maternal healthcare services were inconvenient and limited. Conclusion: Low utilization rates were due to several supply-side constraints. The results will advance knowledge about maternal healthcare and mortality and provide a valuable summary to policymakers for developing policies and strategies promoting high-quality maternal healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the data of Chinese A-share listed companies to study whether enterprise digital transformation will affect the labor income share. The research results show that enterprise digital transformation greatly increasing the labor income share, and our inferences unchanged after a wide battery of robustness tests. Further studies show that the mechanism of digital transformation to increase labor income share is to expand the scale of employment and increase the proportion of highly skilled labor in the total labor force. Subsample study shows that digital transformation only raises the labor income share of larger scale and higher competitive position enterprises. The research can provide policy references for developing digital economy and improving development quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact mechanism by which an incentive-based fertility policy may reduce the labor income share. First, the specific paths through which this impact mechanism is realized are analyzed using the production function. It is found that an incentive-based fertility policy triggers high savings, which implies more, cheaper, and more readily available capital to be invested in production. A distribution system that earns income based on factor contributions results in more gains for capital than labor, i.e., a lower share of labor income and a wider income gap between labor and capital. Second, the impact mechanism includes three theoretical hypotheses. They are that an encouraging fertility policy is negatively related to labor income share; this relationship is valid provided that the study subject is in a closed economy; and that capital intensification is a mediator variable of fertility policy affecting labor income share. Finally, to further corroborate the impact mechanism in this paper, a Hansen threshold panel model is applied to verify that the effect of fertility policy on labor income share has a threshold effect. This indicates that the effect of the former on the latter changes significantly before and after the change in fertility policy, confirming the existence of an impact mechanism. The established literature has paid little attention to the impact of incentivised fertility policies on the labour income gap. Using capital intensification as the mediating variable, this paper demonstrates the existence of the former effect on the latter. In view of this, under the encouraged fertility policy, this paper proposes specific measures to enhance the labor income share in order to narrow the income gap between labor and capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green and low carbon reflect the high-quality development, while income distribution is an indicator of the balance of development. Is there a lack of fairness in the process of green and low carbon transition of enterprises? Using data from A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2016, this paper constructs a DID identification framework for controlling the endogeneity problem using the 2013 carbon trading policy pilot as a quasi-natural experiment to empirically test the impact of corporate low-carbon transformation on corporate labor income share in the context of carbon trading policy. The findings indicate that carbon trading policy decreases the labor income share of firms. In addition, we demonstrate that the low-carbon transition promotes labor productivity, suggesting that the Porter's hypothesis is confirmed in China, but the increase in labor wages is not in tandem with productivity growth, resulting in reduced labor income share. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the impact of carbon trading policy on labor income share is mainly pronounced in larger firms, high technology firms and persistent incumbent firms. Collectively, these results are expected to accurately improve our understanding on the impact of low-carbon transformation of enterprises on income distribution and provide reference for the government to formulate industrial policies and distribution mechanisms under low-carbon economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The aim of this paper is to examine if and how the reclassification of platform workers from self-employment status to employment status can provide them with adequate social security protection. Little is known about how this transition would guarantee platform workers adequate social protection within the social protection scheme for employees. National social security schemes, in particular income replacement benefit schemes, often (still) depart from the standard employment relationship, leading to lower protection for atypical work forms. Platform workers combine several of the characteristics of atypical forms of work, such as low earnings, irregular working patterns and working. Integrating platform workers into employee social security schemes faces additional challenges due to the online nature of their work, algorithmic management, high levels of unpaid labor, and employer identification difficulties. This paper focuses on unemployment protection, as EU Member States struggle to provide adequate protection for workers with irregular work patterns and income fluctuations, in the case of (short term) income replacement benefits. By constructing nine ideal work patterns reflective of diverse nature of platform work and current practices among platform work, we analyse how different types of 'employed' platform workers may fare within the legislation of three EU countries (Belgium, Italy, and the Netherlands). This approach allows us to assess the applicability of unemployment protection to different working patterns among 'employed' platform workers, considering formal, effective, and adequate access to unemployment schemes as outlined in the Council Recommendation on access to social protection for workers and the self-employed (2019). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's social safety net is still underdeveloped, hence family support in the form of intergenerational transfers often serves as a substitute for the public transfer system. Using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, this paper finds that both upstream inter‐vivos transfers (from children to parents) and downstream inter‐vivos transfers (from parents to children) are prevalent in urban China. Moreover, the relative income status of the parent and children has an impact on inter‐vivos transfers. To investigate what economic factors generate the observed patterns of inter‐vivos transfers, this paper adopts a general equilibrium life‐cycle model in which overlapping generations are altruistically linked and calibrates the model to match data from urban China. Counterfactual experiments of removing one source of economic risk or modifying the social security replacement rate from the baseline model at a time reveal that intergenerational transfers mainly serve as informal insurance against the income risk of the children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Southeast Asia, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines are defined by the World Bank as countries that failed to overcome the "middle income trap". The four Southeast Asian countries (hereinafter referred to as the "ASEAN Four") entered the ranks of middle-income economies in the late 1970s and early 1980s and achieved rapid economic development throughout the 1980s and 1990s. However, since the early 2000s, the competitive advantages of these countries' labor-intensive industries have started to decline, while the process of industrial transformation and technological improvement has been stagnated due to the lack of innovation resources. With limited R&D input and insufficient indigenous tech innovation, these countries' manufacturing industry show a trend of "deindustrialization" and the "middle technology trap" phenomenon emerged. As the manufacturing sector failed to generate value-added that promotes economic growth and national income increase, ASEAN Four have so far yet to enter the high-income ranks. Drawing from the cases of ASEAN Four, this paper argues that the "middle technology trap" is a key contributing factor to the "middle income trap," and countries fallen into the "middle income trap" often experience the "middle technology trap" as a concomitant phenomenon. The paper first introduces the industrialization process of ASEAN Four while analyzes the challenges they faced in industrial structural transformation and technology advancement. It then discusses major reasons that these countries failed to step over both the "middle technology trap" and the "middle income trap", including limited technology spillovers from FDI, R&D investment shortages and insufficient industrial policies, low-quality education system, deficient intellectual property protection and underdeveloped regional capital markets. The paper concludes with some implications for China and discussion on potential future research on distinctions of the "middle technology trap" phenomenon between upper middle-income and lower middle-income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The grandparents' retirement behavior has important support on mother's employment quality. This paper aims to estimate the influence of grandparents' retirement behavior on mother's employment quality, based on the China Family Panel Studies of 2018. The findings reveal a significant enhancement in mother's employment quality resulting from grandparents' retirement behavior. The mediating effect of grandparents' intergenerational caregiving explains approximately 68.77% of this improvement. Furthermore, the positive effect of grandparents' retirement behavior on mother's employment quality is more pronounced in families where the grandchild is older and in better health. Notably, the involvement of paternal grandparents yields more favorable outcomes compared to maternal grandparents. Findings from this study suggest that grandparent's retirement behavior play an important role in mother's employment quality through the provision of childcare assistance. Moreover, these findings highlight that the effectiveness of such support varies depending on the characteristics of both grandchildren and grandparents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to study empirically the existence of precautionary saving in Spain at the end of the Great Recession using the micro data provided by the Spanish Survey of Household Finances. Using the panel component of these data, I construct a measure of income uncertainty for each household from the observed household real income and use it to test for the strength of precautionary saving. I find that an increase of 1% in the standard deviation of income reduces household consumption by 8.8% when using the logarithm of the household consumption as dependent variable; however, when using the ratio between consumption and average income as dependent variable, given the average normal income and consumption in the sample, consumption will decrease by 8.1%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an increasingly mobile world, the integration of immigrants and displaced individuals is an important factor in creating cohesive and inclusive societies. Integration has different dimensions; this scoping review examines the conceptualization and measurement of economic integration among immigrants and refugees in the United States. Quantitative peer-reviewed journal papers measuring or conceptualizing the economic integration of first-generation documented adult immigrants or refugees in the United States, as well as relevant conceptual or theory papers on this topic, were included in the review. The search strategy included an online search of the Web of Science Core Collection, PsycINFO, Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA), and EconLit. Additional search strategies included scanning the reference lists of studies identified as relevant in the initial database search. An analysis of 72 studies included in the review using a data extraction table reveals seven key domains of economic integration: income and economic security, employment and occupational categories, assets and use of financial services, neighborhood and housing, health, education, and use of public assistance. Income and economic security emerged as the most common indicators of integration in the reviewed studies. Notably, less than half of the reviewed publications had a multidimensional approach to defining or measuring economic integration, and the majority of studies were focused on immigrants, with a smaller proportion dedicated to refugees. This review emphasizes the need for comprehensive frameworks in assessing economic integration among immigrants and refugees, reflecting the multifaceted nature of their economic integration experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of environment in promoting happiness has been well known, but the impact of the government's ecological environment policy on residents' happiness remains to be explored. This paper uses the first batch of pilot policies for the construction of eco-civilized cities in China (Jiangxi, Fujian, and Guizhou) as a quasi-natural experiment to empirically study the impact of ecological civilization construction in China on residents' subjective well-being. Using the data from the China Household Finance Survey and difference in difference method, we find that Chinese ecological civilization construction has significantly improved the happiness of local residents. Mechanism analysis shows that the "happiness effect" mechanism of Chinese ecological civilization construction by improving household income, health level, and the living environment of residents. In addition, the "happiness effect" of Chinese ecological civilization construction shows group heterogeneity, and ecological civilization construction plays a larger role in promoting the well-being of residents of low-asset families, urban families, and families that own their own houses. Finally, the "happiness effect" of Chinese ecological civilization construction shows regional heterogeneity, and the construction of ecological civilization has a more striking effect on improving the well-being of residents in Jiangxi province and Guizhou province. According to the authors' knowledge, the present study is the first to study the impact of China's macroeconomic environmental policies on residents' happiness, and the present study contributes to the research on residents' happiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "welfare-to-work" program is a comprehensive supportive policy in the 14th five-year plan period in China. In this paper, a systematical assessment of the long-run effectiveness of the welfare-to-work policy on poverty reduction is of great significance to stimulate the internal impetus of people who are lifted out of poverty to achieve income growth and prosperity and promote regional economic development. Based on the data at the county (city) level in China from 2000 to 2019 and the sustainable development theory, in this paper, a county-relative poverty evaluation system was constructed. Besides, the double difference method was employed to evaluate the effect of the welfare-to-work policy on poverty reduction and test its action mechanism. The findings are as follows: (1) the welfare-to-work policy has a significant poverty reduction effect and presents an inverted "U" shape. In addition, significant achievements have been made in "maintaining employment stability, ensuring income, strengthening skills, and supporting the economy" ; (2) the welfare-to-work policy boosts poverty reduction in counties through infrastructure construction, fiscal intervention, and financial tools; however, the financial tools play a positive role in poverty reduction in the northwest region and suppressed role in the southwest region, and has an insignificant effect in the central region; and (3) there are differences in the effect of poverty alleviation policies of the counties with different sustainable development levels, and the regions with higher development level have a stronger driving effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shares new insights on the dynamics of entrepreneurship in the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector, focusing on the case of sub-Saharan Africa. Despite being the region's most important rural nonfarm activity, and generating finance that sustains a sizable portion of its subsistence/smallholder agricultural economy, ASM has barely featured in the business and management literature. It has rather been scholars from other disciplines who have shared opinions on the individuals who pursue work in this sector and why. They are in broad agreement that in sub-Saharan Africa, ASM sites attract, at the one extreme, people who are desperate for income (the "poverty-driven" category) and, at the other extreme, individuals motivated by the possibility of becoming wealthy (the "get-rich-quick" category). These two narratives map, virtually wholesale, on to the necessity-based-opportunity-based typology of entrepreneurship that business and management scholars have interrogated for decades. This paper fuses these narratives with the typology, with the goal of showcasing ASM within an evolving body of literature on entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa. It then draws on a case study of Kéniéba District (Mali), the location of one of the region's more dynamic gold-panning industries, to articulate more clearly the sector's different entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There exists a vast empirical literature on Financial Sector Development (FSD) and the income inequality nexus; however, it lacks consensus. To study this, 24 studies with 87 regression estimates on financial institution depth and income inequality were collected. This paper used the most common method of economic meta-analysis, the Partial Correlation Coefficient (PCC), to answer the question: What is the magnitude and impact, if any, of financial institution depth on income inequality? In addition, a multivariate meta-regression model was used to find moderator variables that produced mixed results in the literature. The results show that the global average comovement of financial institution depth (domestic credit) on income inequality is very small but positive; suggesting that growth in domestic credit may widen income inequality. The positive correlation between domestic credit and income inequality highlights how financial institutions use household income and collateral as a signal when deciding on credit applications. Finally, the multivariate regression results suggest that the present heterogeneity within the literature stems from different methodologies and control variables included in the econometric models, and panel studies that mix countries with heterogeneous characteristics. These suggest that different components of FSD may impact income inequality differently [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on mortgage interest deduction (MID) as an indirect tax support for acquiring one's housing. This form of support is the most widely used in the Czech Republic compared to other tax reliefs and causes the highest losses for the government budget. This paper provides quantitative evidence on how the MID was distributed among taxpayers in the Czech Republic in the period 2008–2019 in relation to taxable income and revenue losses for the government budget. Furthermore, it assesses the effectiveness of these tax measures in reducing socioeconomic inequalities among taxpayers. Research based on the application of the MID in tax returns has shown the effective distribution of the MID until 2017. Tax support for housing was used mainly by taxpayers with low taxable income, which is also the largest group. The essence of vertical equity has been fulfilled, which contributed to reducing the level of social inequality. This positive distributional effect has diminished over time. As of 2019, the highest share of public expenditure was redistributed to taxpayers with higher taxable income, indicating the existence of inequalities in the tax system. The different developments over time have shown that the use of the mortgage interest deduction cannot be assessed statically, as it evolves dynamically over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women who sell sex (WSS) are vulnerable to violence. We present a scoping review of the last decade of research on the prevalence and incidence of, factors associated with, and services regarding violence against WSS in Eastern and Southern African (ESA). A systematic search of various databases resulted in 20 papers being reviewed. Inclusion criteria, applied by the first two authors, were as follows: empirical papers, key research problem is violence against WSS, and conducted in ESA countries. The lifetime prevalence of violence revealed in the studies ranged from 21% to 82%. A pattern of generalized violence against WSS from paying clients, male partners, strangers, family members, friends/acquaintances, and the authorities emerged. Factors associated with violence included the context within which the sex work occurs, alcohol use, type of sex exchange interactions, and personal factors (low education, low income, marriage, youth, high client volume, time in sex work, forced sexual debut, and internalized sex work stigma). WSS seldom access services after violence. Evaluations of two programs, a woman-focused HIV intervention, and the Diagonal Interventions to Fast-Forward Reproductive Health project, showed improvements in gender-based violence services. Findings suggest that targeted programmes should be paired with improving general health services and focus on promoting collective agency among WSS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural subsidy policy can improve the planting enthusiasm of rural households by increasing their income. It is of great significance to assess and summarise the effect of the soybean and cotton target price subsidy policy and to determine future policy direction. Using the national rural fixed-observation point socioeconomic survey data from 2009 to 2017, the study employed the difference-in-differences (DID) method to evaluate the impact of the target price policy (TPP) on rural household income in China. TPP had no significant impact on the total income of rural households. Specifically, TPP increased the farm income of rural households but simultaneously reduced the wage income and had no significant impact on the other income. Moreover, the impact of TPP on rural household income varied with the planting scale and income level; the effect of TPP was strong among the non-poor or scale operation rural households. TPP implementation affected rural household farm and wage income by affecting farmers' allocation of working time and cost input. Therefore, implementing TPP should consider farmers' participation in non-farm employment, further adjust the subsidy intensity and scope, and combine direct subsidies with the poverty reduction effect in poor areas. The contribution of this article is to explore the implementation effect of target price subsidy policies from the perspective of farmers' income, to deconstruct farmers' income, and explore the mechanism of policy action. This paper provides a theoretical basis and policy inspiration for China to improve and adjust the agricultural subsidy policy, mobilise farmers' enthusiasm to cultivate, and ensure national food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study takes on the challenge of quantifying a complex causal loop diagram describing how poverty and health affect each other, and does so using longitudinal data from The Netherlands. Furthermore, this paper elaborates on its methodological approach in order to facilitate replication and methodological advancement. Methods: After adapting a causal loop diagram that was built by stakeholders, a longitudinal structural equation modelling approach was used. A cross-lagged panel model with nine endogenous variables, of which two latent variables, and three time-invariant exogenous variables was constructed. With this model, directional effects are estimated in a Granger-causal manner, using data from 2015 to 2019. Both the direct effects (with a one-year lag) and total effects over multiple (up to eight) years were calculated. Five sensitivity analyses were conducted. Two of these focus on lower-income and lower-wealth individuals. The other three each added one exogenous variable: work status, level of education, and home ownership. Results: The effects of income and financial wealth on health are present, but are relatively weak for the overall population. Sensitivity analyses show that these effects are stronger for those with lower incomes or wealth. Physical capability does seem to have strong positive effects on both income and financial wealth. There are a number of other results as well, as the estimated models are extensive. Many of the estimated effects only become substantial after several years. Conclusions: Income and financial wealth appear to have limited effects on the health of the overall population of The Netherlands. However, there are indications that these effects may be stronger for individuals who are closer to the poverty threshold. Since the estimated effects of physical capability on income and financial wealth are more substantial, a broad recommendation would be that including physical capability in efforts that are aimed at improving income and financial wealth could be useful and effective. The methodological approach described in this paper could also be applied to other research settings or topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between income inequality and consumption, utilizing panel data from rural China over a span of four years to validate the application of relative income theory in the domain of food consumption. Food consumption represents a significant portion of expenditures for the low-income demographic and is of vital importance to China's food security and agricultural development. To ascertain the impact of income inequality on food consumption, this paper employs a bi-directional fixed-effects model, a mediation effect model, and machine learning causal analysis methods. Utilizing four years of rural resident survey data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey database, the study empirically tests the effect of income inequality on various types of food consumption, the channels through which it operates, and the heterogeneity among different income groups and educational backgrounds. The findings indicate that (1) income inequality within rural communities positively influences food consumption, and this conclusion remains robust under endogeneity treatment and robustness checks, positively affecting the transformation of food consumption and healthy intake; (2) income inequality among rural residents promotes food consumption through two mediating channels: the "demonstration effect" and the "ratchet effect;" (3) the impact of income inequality on food consumption exhibits heterogeneity among rural residents of different income levels and educational backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Income increase is an important way to achieve comprehensive human development and to escape from poverty, and the growing aging problem in rural China poses a challenge to farm household income increase. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the impact of China's rural old-age burden on farm household income, this paper empirically examines the impact and mechanism of household old-age burden on farm household income based on the data from the 2023 micro-farm field survey of China's Henan Province, utilizing linear regression modeling and mediation effect modeling, filling the research gaps in the related fields. The results of the study found that, firstly, family old-age burden has a significant impact on the income of farm households, and that the heavier the family old-age burden, the lower the total income of farm households. Secondly, from the results of the heterogeneity of the impact, the poorer the health condition, the greater the negative impact of family old-age burden on farm household income. Old-age burden has a greater impact on high-income farm households than on low-income farm households, and old-age burden has a significant impact on the income of part-time farm households, while the impact is not significant on purely farm and non-farm households. Thirdly, the heavier the household old-age burden, the more unfavorable it is to the non-farm employment of farm households, thus affecting the income capacity of farm households. Finally, corresponding countermeasures and recommendations are put forward in three areas, namely, the continuous improvement of the social old-age security system, the realization of the function of the social old-age mechanism as an old-age pocket for key special groups, and the improvement of the social flexible employment mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community gardens are more popular than ever, yet we know little about how leadership structure and neighborhood characteristics relate to programming. Hence, this paper analyzes how the racial/ethnic backgrounds of the community garden leaders are related to the activities the garden undertakes. What types of initiatives do gardens undertake to reduce food insecurity? The paper analyzes how the location of the garden impacts what it does. The article presents novel findings on the impact of leadership and neighborhood characteristics on community garden operations and outcomes. Hence, the essay examines how the race/ethnicity of garden managers and their sex and neighborhood characteristics, such as poverty rate, household income, and racial composition, are related to garden initiatives. Finally, the paper examines how community gardens responded to increased demands for food and services during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic. We studied 53 community gardens in Michigan from the summer 2020 through the winter 2021. Whites manage 66% (35) of the gardens, while People of Color manage 34% (18). Roughly half of the gardens are managed by males and the remainder by females. The gardens, which lack paid staff, rely heavily on volunteers. Almost 53% of the gardens are in low-income census tracts (with median income of $40,000 or less). During the pandemic, 31% of the gardens reduced their staff, 51.4% had fewer volunteers than in pre-pandemic times, and 51.9% had increased amounts of people seeking food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]