Explaining the Gender Wealth Gap

Science.gov (United States)

Ruel, Erin; Hauser, Robert M.

2013-01-01

To assess and explain the United States’ gender wealth gap, we use the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study to examine wealth accumulated by a single cohort over 50 years by gender, by marital status, and limited to the respondents who are their family’s best financial reporters. We find large gender wealth gaps between currently married men and women, and never-married men and women. The never-married accumulate less wealth than the currently married, and there is a marital disruption cost to wealth accumulation. The status-attainment model shows the most power in explaining gender wealth gaps between these groups explaining about one-third to one-half of the gap, followed by the human-capital explanation. In other words, a lifetime of lower earnings for women translates into greatly reduced wealth accumulation. A gender wealth gap remains between married men and women after controlling for the full model that we speculate may be related to gender differences in investment strategies and selection effects. PMID:23264038

An Analysis of Wealth Management Practices in Pakistan

OpenAIRE

Jamil, Muhammad Salman

2007-01-01

The recent years have seen a great boom in the global wealth management industry. The emergence of the private banking and wealth management segments in banking in the region of Asia, such as Pakistan, China and India since the late 90s, has attained huge proportions and holds a lot of promise for banks and financial institutions today. Banks from all around the world has gradually moved from their aggressive retail banking focus to a higher level adopting wealth management practices. Wealth ...

Wealth of Nations or Wealth of Persons: World Billionaires and Sector Concentration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Harun YAKIŞIK

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Despite the recent global financial crisis, the number of billionaires in USA, Russia, China and Turkey has increased in the last five years, while it has remained at a constant scale in most developed European countries. The aim of the study is to explore whether wealth accumulation is closely related to the sector concentration in billionaire-generating countries. Unlike the previous studies on billionaires, this study examines the relationship between sectors and wealth accumulation of billionaires in some selected billionaire generating countries through secondary data from the Forbes list for the years from 2006 to 2011.

National and International Inequalities in Income and Wealth in a Global Growth with Free Trade and National Inflation Policies

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WEI-BIN ZHANG

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to study global monetary economic growth with heterogeneous households under free trade. The paper examines dynamics of global and national wealth and income distribution in association with monetary economic growth within an integrated framework. Money is introduced via the cash-in-advance (CIA approach. We show that the dynamics of the world economy (with any number of countries is described by a set of differential equations. We simulate equilibrium of the global economy with three countries and two types of households in each country. We also demonstrate effects of changes in technology and inflation policy. Our model demonstrates, as Grier and Grier (2007 empirically show, that the global economy exhibits absolute divergence in output levels if some determinants of steady state income are different. The study shows that as one country increases its inflation policy, the equilibrium values of the global output, consumption level and physical wealth are enhanced, and the rate of interest is lowered. The country which raises its inflation policy benefits in every aspect, but the other countries suffer in some aspects and benefit in others.

Effects of network topology on wealth distributions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garlaschelli, Diego; Loffredo, Maria I

2008-01-01

We focus on the problem of how the wealth is distributed among the units of a networked economic system. We first review the empirical results documenting that in many economies the wealth distribution is described by a combination of the log-normal and power-law behaviours. We then focus on the Bouchaud-Mezard model of wealth exchange, describing an economy of interacting agents connected through an exchange network. We report analytical and numerical results showing that the system self-organizes towards a stationary state whose associated wealth distribution depends crucially on the underlying interaction network. In particular, we show that if the network displays a homogeneous density of links, the wealth distribution displays either the log-normal or the power-law form. This means that the first-order topological properties alone (such as the scale-free property) are not enough to explain the emergence of the empirically observed mixed form of the wealth distribution. In order to reproduce this nontrivial pattern, the network has to be heterogeneously divided into regions with a variable density of links. We show new results detailing how this effect is related to the higher-order correlation properties of the underlying network. In particular, we analyse assortativity by degree and the pairwise wealth correlations, and discuss the effects that these properties have on each other

NATIONAL WEALTH ASSESSMENT AND UTILIZATION IN TRANSITION ECONOMIES

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J. Martinavičius

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The economy’s power and capacities could be measured using different methodologies and numerous macroindicators. The national wealth definition provides an opportunity to reveal not only accumulated resources, but also exposes a real potential of the country and the path for sustainable development. Wealth measurements for transition countries could show the long term development rationality, comparing national wealth structure and its components for different countries. The two methodologies – National Accounts System and World Bank Measuring of wealth, and the obtained comparison results are discussed in the paper.

Kinetics of wealth and the Pareto law.

Science.gov (United States)

Boghosian, Bruce M

2014-04-01

An important class of economic models involve agents whose wealth changes due to transactions with other agents. Several authors have pointed out an analogy with kinetic theory, which describes molecules whose momentum and energy change due to interactions with other molecules. We pursue this analogy and derive a Boltzmann equation for the time evolution of the wealth distribution of a population of agents for the so-called Yard-Sale Model of wealth exchange. We examine the solutions to this equation by a combination of analytical and numerical methods and investigate its long-time limit. We study an important limit of this equation for small transaction sizes and derive a partial integrodifferential equation governing the evolution of the wealth distribution in a closed economy. We then describe how this model can be extended to include features such as inflation, production, and taxation. In particular, we show that the model with taxation exhibits the basic features of the Pareto law, namely, a lower cutoff to the wealth density at small values of wealth, and approximate power-law behavior at large values of wealth.

The evolution of sovereign wealth funds and their influence in the global economy. The case of China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ioana-Iulica MIHAI

2013-05-01

Full Text Available This paper, through the deductive analysis and the causal explanations, catches the positive and negative character of the Sovereign Wealth Funds development as a relatively new economic tool, but with a strong impact in the global economy, especially in the context of the current financial changes. The benefits brought by them to the global capital market, in terms of increasing liquidity and allotting financial resources, however cannot diminish the fears related to the states holding sovereign funds in the economy of other countries, and in order to give an example we present the case of China.

Wealth inequality: The physics basis

Science.gov (United States)

Bejan, A.; Errera, M. R.

2017-03-01

"Inequality" is a common observation about us, as members of society. In this article, we unify physics with economics by showing that the distribution of wealth is related proportionally to the movement of all the streams of a live society. The hierarchical distribution of wealth on the earth happens naturally. Hierarchy is unavoidable, with staying power, and difficult to efface. We illustrate this with two architectures, river basins and the movement of freight. The physical flow architecture that emerges is hierarchical on the surface of the earth and in everything that flows inside the live human bodies, the movement of humans and their belongings, and the engines that drive the movement. The nonuniform distribution of wealth becomes more accentuated as the economy becomes more developed, i.e., as its flow architecture becomes more complex for the purpose of covering smaller and smaller interstices of the overall (fixed) territory. It takes a relatively modest complexity for the nonuniformity in the distribution of wealth to be evident. This theory also predicts the Lorenz-type distribution of income inequality, which was adopted empirically for a century.

Wealth, health and equity: convergence to divergence in late 20th century globalization.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Sebastian

2009-01-01

Debate over relationships between economic growth, wealth, health and health inequity is long-standing and ongoing. The main message of this paper is that economic growth, while necessary, is not a sufficient condition in itself for achieving equitable health. This review surveys and draws on research into principal factors commonly linked with improving health-income, health care, individual behavior-suggesting, using work from the Commission on Social Determinants of Health, that these are better understood in a broader social determinants of health framework. The paper acknowledges that post-war globalization has seen significant growth, poverty reduction and greater economic resources at individual and household levels all of which can contribute to better health. But it also highlights renewing inequity in global health during the period. It argues that over-reliance on market-driven growth, which fails to address deep-rooted social inequalities in economic resources key to accessing social determinants of health, and in the key determinants of health themselves have contributed to increasing inequity in health outcomes. Commitment to market-driven growth remains evident in national policy-making worldwide. With increasing health inequity, and calamitous global economic events in 2008-09, the centrality of this commitment needs urgently to be reviewed.

WEALTH TAX WITHIN EUROPE IN THE CONTEXT OF A POSSIBLE IMPLEMENTATION IN ROMANIA– THE EXISTING WEALTH TAX AND ITS DECLINE IN EUROPE

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LUMINIŢA RISTEA

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to focus our attention on the conceptualbasis upon which the wealth tax system may be implemented in Romania taking intoconsideration former and actual presence of wealth tax within Europe. The idea of increasingthe taxable basis based on imposing the wealth constitutes one of the most important debatetopics on the agenda of the Romanian Parliament and Government and also within specialists’theoretical approaches. The vast range of such approaches and further solutions is to beanalysed in the global context of direct taxation in Europe and worldwide and particularlyrelevant for the complexity of the problem is the evolution of wealth tax during the last decadesand also the very important context of moving corporate main offices in countries with moreadvantageous systems of taxation.

Property and wealth inequality as cultural niche construction.

Science.gov (United States)

Shennan, Stephen

2011-03-27

In contrast to other approaches, evolutionary perspectives on understanding the power and wealth inequalities in human societies view wealth and power not as ends in themselves but as proximate goals that contribute to the ultimate Darwinian goal of achieving reproductive success. The most successful means of achieving it in specific times and places depend on local conditions and these have changed in the course of human history, to such an extent that strategies focused on the maintenance and increase of wealth can even be more successful in reproductive terms than strategies directed at maximizing reproductive success in the short term. This paper argues that a major factor leading to such changes is a shift in the nature of inter-generational wealth transfers from relatively intangible to material property resources and the opportunities these provided for massively increased inequality. This shift can be seen as a process of niche construction related to the increasing importance of fixed and defensible resources in many societies after the end of the last Ice Age. It is suggested that, despite problems of inference, the evidence of the archaeological record can be used to throw light on these processes in specific places and times.

Simulating the wealth distribution with a Richest-Following strategy on scale-free network

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Mao-Bin; Jiang, Rui; Wu, Qing-Song; Wu, Yong-Hong

2007-07-01

In this paper, we investigate the wealth distribution with agents playing evolutionary games on a scale-free social network adopting the Richest-Following strategy. Pareto's power-law distribution (1897) of wealth is demonstrated with power factor in agreement with that of US or Japan. Moreover, the agent's personal wealth is proportional to its number of contacts (connectivity), and this leads to the phenomenon that the rich gets richer and the poor gets relatively poorer, which agrees with the Matthew Effect.

Scientific Wealth of Mongolia on a Global Scale

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Bazar tser en Boldgiv

2004-06-01

Full Text Available This article attempts to objectively evaluate the scientific wealth of Mongolia as a nation, by analyzing journal publications by Mongolian scientists recorded in the ISI database. Publications by Mongolian authors for the period of 1979-2002 were included for analyses. Although the total number of publications has increased for the given period, there was no significant increase in the relative citation impact or RCI. Changes of publication quality as measured by RCI showed dif ferent trends for various scientific fields. Publications in clinical medicine and biology show most positive trend, whereas publications in mathematics and physics declined in quality. All the fields are well below the world’ s total publication quality for a comparable period. Additionally , percentage of papers by Mongolian senior authors has declined (though the trend is not significant. This is a rather disturbing trend given the fact that the number of researchers with a doctor ’s degree in the country has greatly increased during the same period of time. Quality of publications by Mongolian first authors and only Mongolian authors were significantly lower than collaborative ones. As far as we are aware, this is the first evaluation of scientific wealth of Mongolia as a whole and it is hoped that it would be helpful to policy-making and scientific communities in prioritizing and determining the direction of support and finance.

Household Wealth in China

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Yu; Jin, Yongai

2015-01-01

With new nationwide longitudinal survey data now available from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), we study the level, distribution, and composition of household wealth in contemporary China. We find that the wealth Gini coefficient of China was 0.73 in 2012. The richest 1 percent owned more than one-third of the total national household wealth, while the poorest 25 percent owned less than 2 percent. Housing assets, which accounted for over 70 percent, were the largest component of household wealth. Finally, the urban-rural divide and regional disparities played important roles in household wealth distribution, and institutional factors significantly affected household wealth holdings, wealth growth rate, and wealth mobility. PMID:26435882

Sovereign wealth funds as special international investors under global financial downfall

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N. Drozd

2013-02-01

Full Text Available An overview of origin, functional orientation and characteristics of sovereign wealth funds is presented. Possibility and necessity of cooperation between Ukraine and such systemic investors is proven.

Wealth of the world's richest publicly traded companies per industry and per employee: Gamma, Log-normal and Pareto power-law as universal distributions?

Science.gov (United States)

Soriano-Hernández, P.; del Castillo-Mussot, M.; Campirán-Chávez, I.; Montemayor-Aldrete, J. A.

2017-04-01

Forbes Magazine published its list of leading or strongest publicly-traded two thousand companies in the world (G-2000) based on four independent metrics: sales or revenues, profits, assets and market value. Every one of these wealth metrics yields particular information on the corporate size or wealth size of each firm. The G-2000 cumulative probability wealth distribution per employee (per capita) for all four metrics exhibits a two-class structure: quasi-exponential in the lower part, and a Pareto power-law in the higher part. These two-class structure per capita distributions are qualitatively similar to income and wealth distributions in many countries of the world, but the fraction of firms per employee within the high-class Pareto is about 49% in sales per employee, and 33% after averaging on the four metrics, whereas in countries the fraction of rich agents in the Pareto zone is less than 10%. The quasi-exponential zone can be adjusted by Gamma or Log-normal distributions. On the other hand, Forbes classifies the G-2000 firms in 82 different industries or economic activities. Within each industry, the wealth distribution per employee also follows a two-class structure, but when the aggregate wealth of firms in each industry for the four metrics is divided by the total number of employees in that industry, then the 82 points of the aggregate wealth distribution by industry per employee can be well adjusted by quasi-exponential curves for the four metrics.

Which model of capitalism best delivers both wealth and equality?

OpenAIRE

William Q Judge; Stav Fainshmidt; J Lee Brown III

2014-01-01

Capitalism is the dominant economic system adopted throughout the global economy, but there are many different models of capitalism practiced depending on what the society decides “economic effectiveness” is. In this study, we assert that an effective economy simultaneously achieves two seemingly divergent outcomes: it (1) creates economic wealth efficiently, and (2) shares that wealth equitably. Employing insights from Whitley’s national business systems framework and fuzzy set analysis, we ...

Global power: Markets and strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poirer, J.L.

1998-01-01

The author will first present an updated view of the global power market activity, including opportunities in power generation, transmission and distribution. This will include a review of the trends in closings and transaction flowed by type of activity and geographic area. Estimates will be based on Hagler Bailly's comprehensive database on global power transactions and project announcements. The firm has also worked with dozens of global power companies since 1990. Second, the author will review trends in terms of regulatory changes, project cost trends, developers' project experiences, and financing issues. This systematic review will be the foundation for projection of future market activity (e.g., number of closing by type of project through 2000). A forecast of future greenfield and privatization activity will be provided and the key markets will be highlighted. Third, the author will present an updated view of the competition in the global power market (including the various types of competitors and changes in their respective market posture). Finally, the author will discuss the various types of strategies and business models that are followed by key global power players

Climate policies under wealth inequality.

Science.gov (United States)

Vasconcelos, Vítor V; Santos, Francisco C; Pacheco, Jorge M; Levin, Simon A

2014-02-11

Taming the planet's climate requires cooperation. Previous failures to reach consensus in climate summits have been attributed, among other factors, to conflicting policies between rich and poor countries, which disagree on the implementation of mitigation measures. Here we implement wealth inequality in a threshold public goods dilemma of cooperation in which players also face the risk of potential future losses. We consider a population exhibiting an asymmetric distribution of rich and poor players that reflects the present-day status of nations and study the behavioral interplay between rich and poor in time, regarding their willingness to cooperate. Individuals are also allowed to exhibit a variable degree of homophily, which acts to limit those that constitute one's sphere of influence. Under the premises of our model, and in the absence of homophily, comparison between scenarios with wealth inequality and without wealth inequality shows that the former leads to more global cooperation than the latter. Furthermore, we find that the rich generally contribute more than the poor and will often compensate for the lower contribution of the latter. Contributions from the poor, which are crucial to overcome the climate change dilemma, are shown to be very sensitive to homophily, which, if prevalent, can lead to a collapse of their overall contribution. In such cases, however, we also find that obstinate cooperative behavior by a few poor may largely compensate for homophilic behavior.

The Role of Bequests in Shaping Wealth Inequality: Evidence from Danish Wealth Records

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boserup, Simon Halphen; Kopczuk, Wojciech; Kreiner, Claus Thustrup

2016-01-01

Using Danish administrative data, we estimate the impact of bequests on the level and inequality of wealth. We compare the distributions of wealth over time of people whose parent died and those whose parent did not. Bequests account for 26 percent of the average post-bequest wealth 1-3 years after...... parental death and significantly affect wealth throughout the distribution. Bequests increase absolute wealth inequality (variance of the distribution censored at the top/bottom 1% increases by 33 percent), but reduce relative inequality (the top 1% share declines by 6 percentage points from the base of 31...

Effects of introduction of new resources and fragmentation of existing resources on limiting wealth distribution in asset exchange models

Science.gov (United States)

Ali Saif, M.; Gade, Prashant M.

2009-03-01

Pareto law, which states that wealth distribution in societies has a power-law tail, has been the subject of intensive investigations in the statistical physics community. Several models have been employed to explain this behavior. However, most of the agent based models assume the conservation of number of agents and wealth. Both these assumptions are unrealistic. In this paper, we study the limiting wealth distribution when one or both of these assumptions are not valid. Given the universality of the law, we have tried to study the wealth distribution from the asset exchange models point of view. We consider models in which (a) new agents enter the market at a constant rate (b) richer agents fragment with higher probability introducing newer agents in the system (c) both fragmentation and entry of new agents is taking place. While models (a) and (c) do not conserve total wealth or number of agents, model (b) conserves total wealth. All these models lead to a power-law tail in the wealth distribution pointing to the possibility that more generalized asset exchange models could help us to explain the emergence of a power-law tail in wealth distribution.

The Marriage Wealth Premium Revisited: Gender Disparities and Within-Individual Changes in Personal Wealth in Germany.

Science.gov (United States)

Lersch, Philipp M

2017-06-01

This study examines the association between marriage and economic wealth of women and men. Going beyond previous research that focused on household wealth, I examine personal wealth, which allows identifying gender disparities in the association between marriage and wealth. Using unique data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (2002, 2007, and 2012), I apply random-effects and fixed-effects regression models to test my expectations. I find that both women and men experience substantial marriage wealth premiums not only in household wealth but also in personal wealth. However, I do not find consistent evidence for gender disparities in these general marriage premiums. Additional analyses indicate, however, that women's marriage premiums are substantially lower than men's premiums in older cohorts and when only nonhousing wealth is considered. Overall, this study provides new evidence that women and men gain unequally in their wealth attainment through marriage.

Problems of globalization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Telebaković Boško

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The world has been going through the process of economical, political and cultural integration for a long time. At the end of the 20th century, the integration received a new meaning. In the world’s policy, sovereign countries were in conflict or collaborated earlier. A stricter hierarchy of economical and political power hubs is being established now. In such processes of globalization, differences in development, wealth and power arise, people are less safe, the sovereignity of national states is being violated. The story of equality remains in the sense of disappearance of cultural differences in floods of non-cultural culture. It is difficult to talk about democracy when the world’s power is getting stronger and stronger. Is it possible to have a globalization which would not affect human rights, and which would not prevent people from taking care of truth, freedom and happiness?

Globalization, Inequality, Say’s Law, and Fiscal Globalism

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Gerasimos T. Soldatos

2017-07-01

Full Text Available This is a brief note maintaining that financial globalization has been faster than the integration of the remaining sectors of the world economy, thus encouraging wealth inequality, under-production, and under-consumption in line with Say’s Law. Financial investment has become more profitable than real investment, discouraging production ventures, and weakening labor’s relative income position and purchasing power. Moreover, this article works out a model of international government indirect tax competition as a policy means against increasing inequality. The mentality under which this tax policy paradigm is put forward is that the competition of nation states in a fiscal globalism fashion crystallizes the optimal level of centralization under globalism; optimal, that is, from the viewpoint of safeguarding against the manipulation of world markets by financiers.

Energy, complexity and wealth maximization

CERN Document Server

Ayres, Robert

2016-01-01

This book is about the mechanisms of wealth creation, or what we like to think of as evolutionary “progress”. For the modern economy, natural wealth consists of complex physical structures of condensed (“frozen”) energy – mass - maintained in the earth’s crust far from thermodynamic equilibrium. However, we usually perceive wealth as created when mutation or “invention” – a change agent - introduces something different, and fitter, and usually after some part of the natural wealth of the planet has been exploited in an episode of “creative destruction”. Selection out of the resulting diversity is determined by survival in a competitive environment, whether a planet, a habitat, or a market. While human wealth is associated with money and what it can buy, it is ultimately based on natural wealth, both as materials transformed into useful artifacts, and how those artifacts, activated by energy, can create and transmit useful information. Humans have learned how to transform natural wealth i...

Powering China: reforming the power industry in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Yi Chong

2002-06-01

This, the first text to study the Chinese electric power industry in great detail, examines the ownership and the restructuring of the industry. The reform of the electric power industry is also seen as part of the wider economic development that has been taking place in China, thus providing fresh perspectives on the changes taking place in both the economy and society more generally. Presenting a wealth of extensive research on the subject, the book elucidates the power struggle between political and bureaucratic elite and explains the sensitive and volatile relationship between the central and provincial government against an increasingly complex global background. (Author)

Behavioral and network origins of wealth inequality: insights from a virtual world.

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Benedikt Fuchs

Full Text Available Almost universally, wealth is not distributed uniformly within societies or economies. Even though wealth data have been collected in various forms for centuries, the origins for the observed wealth-disparity and social inequality are not yet fully understood. Especially the impact and connections of human behavior on wealth could so far not be inferred from data. Here we study wealth data from the virtual economy of the massive multiplayer online game (MMOG Pardus. This data not only contains every player's wealth at every point in time, but also all actions over a timespan of almost a decade. We find that wealth distributions in the virtual world are very similar to those in Western countries. In particular we find an approximate exponential distribution for low wealth levels and a power-law tail for high levels. The Gini index is found to be g = 0.65, which is close to the indices of many Western countries. We find that wealth-increase rates depend on the time when players entered the game. Players that entered the game early on tend to have remarkably higher wealth-increase rates than those who joined later. Studying the players' positions within their social networks, we find that the local position in the trade network is most relevant for wealth. Wealthy people have high in- and out-degrees in the trade network, relatively low nearest-neighbor degrees, and low clustering coefficients. Wealthy players have many mutual friendships and are socially well respected by others, but spend more time on business than on socializing. Wealthy players have few personal enemies, but show animosity towards players that behave as public enemies. We find that players that are not organized within social groups are significantly poorer on average. We observe that "political" status and wealth go hand in hand.

Behavioral and network origins of wealth inequality: insights from a virtual world.

Science.gov (United States)

Fuchs, Benedikt; Thurner, Stefan

2014-01-01

Almost universally, wealth is not distributed uniformly within societies or economies. Even though wealth data have been collected in various forms for centuries, the origins for the observed wealth-disparity and social inequality are not yet fully understood. Especially the impact and connections of human behavior on wealth could so far not be inferred from data. Here we study wealth data from the virtual economy of the massive multiplayer online game (MMOG) Pardus. This data not only contains every player's wealth at every point in time, but also all actions over a timespan of almost a decade. We find that wealth distributions in the virtual world are very similar to those in Western countries. In particular we find an approximate exponential distribution for low wealth levels and a power-law tail for high levels. The Gini index is found to be g = 0.65, which is close to the indices of many Western countries. We find that wealth-increase rates depend on the time when players entered the game. Players that entered the game early on tend to have remarkably higher wealth-increase rates than those who joined later. Studying the players' positions within their social networks, we find that the local position in the trade network is most relevant for wealth. Wealthy people have high in- and out-degrees in the trade network, relatively low nearest-neighbor degrees, and low clustering coefficients. Wealthy players have many mutual friendships and are socially well respected by others, but spend more time on business than on socializing. Wealthy players have few personal enemies, but show animosity towards players that behave as public enemies. We find that players that are not organized within social groups are significantly poorer on average. We observe that "political" status and wealth go hand in hand.

Immigrants in the one percent: The national origin of top wealth owners.

Science.gov (United States)

Keister, Lisa A; Aronson, Brian

2017-01-01

wealth ownership is more global than previous research suggests and that immigrant groups are likely to become more prevalent in top wealth positions in the U.S. As the representation of immigrants in top wealth positions grows, their economic, social, and political influence is likely to increase as well.

Liquidity Constraints, Household Wealth, and Entrepreneurship

OpenAIRE

Erik Hurst; Annamaria Lusardi

2004-01-01

The propensity to become a business owner is a nonlinear function of wealth. The relationship between wealth and entry into entrepreneurship is essentially flat over the majority of the wealth distribution. It is only at the top of the wealth distributionafter the ninety-fifth percentilethat a positive relationship can be found. Segmenting businesses into industries with high and lowstarting capital requirements, we find no evidence that wealth matters more for businesses requiring higher ini...

Measuring the wealth of nations.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamilton, Kirk; Dixon, John A

2003-01-01

The sustainability of development is closely linked to changes in total per capita wealth. This paper presents estimates of the wealth of nations for nearly 100 countries, broken down into produced assets, natural resources and human resources. While the latter is the dominant form of wealth in virtually all countries, in low income natural resource exporters the share of natural resources in total wealth is equal to the share of produced assets. For low income countries in general, cropland forms the vast majority of natural wealth. The analysis suggests the process of development can be viewed as one of portfolio management: sustainable development entails saving the rents from exhaustible resources, managing renewable resources sustainably, and investing savings in both produced assets and human resources.

Liquidity Constraints, Household Wealth, and Entrepreneurship.

Science.gov (United States)

Hurst, Erik; Lusardi, Annamaria

2004-01-01

The propensity to become a business owner is a nonlinear function of wealth. The relationship between wealth and entry into entrepreneurship is essentially flat over the majority of the wealth distribution. It is only at the top of the wealth distribution--after the ninety-fifth percentile--that a positive relationship can be found. Segmenting…

Global implications of U.S. power deregulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maschoff, D.C.

1996-01-01

With U.S. power deregulation remaining a topic that is dominating the entire North American energy marketplace, this paper provides an update of events occurring in U.S. electric power markets, offering some observations about changes due to increasing competition in electric power markets, and discusses some reasons why the events in U.S. electric power markets will soon transform global energy markets. How quickly is the move from local service territory to global markets proceeding? More than fifty U.S. utility companies with revenues of over $1 billion (U.S.) will soon be actively seeking and participating in global business opportunities. Using the same logic that led them to pursue utility initiatives nationally, U.S. utilities will use their core capabilities to compete in global energy services markets. In connection with these global initiatives, U.S. utilities will bring the same fuel-neutral, gas-electric perspective to international electric power and natural gas markets. (Author)

The Antieconomy Hypothesis (Part 1): From Wealth Creation to Wealth Extraction

Science.gov (United States)

Vanderburg, Willem H.

2009-01-01

This article attempts to make some sense of what is happening to the role of money and the economy in our lives and in our communities. It shows that the picture provided by the discipline of economics makes no sense at all. Corporations and national economies have become wealth extractors as opposed to wealth creators. Only about 3% of daily…

The relationship among biodiversity, governance, wealth, and scientific capacity at a country level: Disaggregation and prioritization.

Science.gov (United States)

Lira-Noriega, Andrés; Soberón, Jorge

2015-09-01

At a global level, the relationship between biodiversity importance and capacity to manage it is often assumed to be negative, without much differentiation among the more than 200 countries and territories of the world. We examine this relationship using a database including terrestrial biodiversity, wealth and governance indicators for most countries. From these, principal components analysis was used to construct aggregated indicators at global and regional scales. Wealth, governance, and scientific capacity represent different skills and abilities in relation to biodiversity importance. Our results show that the relationship between biodiversity and the different factors is not simple: in most regions wealth and capacity varies positively with biodiversity, while governance vary negatively with biodiversity. However, these trends, to a certain extent, are concentrated in certain groups of nations and outlier countries. We discuss our results in the context of collaboration and joint efforts among biodiversity-rich countries and foreign agencies.

Modelling Hegemonic Power Transition in Cyberspace

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dmitry Brizhinev

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Cyberspace is the newest domain of conflict and cooperation between states. In cyberspace, as in all other domains, land, sea, air, and space, these interactions often lead to the emergence of hegemons which are characterised by their predominant influence over global world order and all other states. We examined the emergence and collapse of hegemons in a modelled cyberspace world through the notions of power transition and power diffusion. We used Repast Simphony to construct a simple agent-based model (ABM of a system of states interacting both competitively and cooperatively in this world. Our simple model parsimoniously captures the character of the real international system of states through simple parameters of wealth and power determining the outcome of attack or cooperation amongst pairwise interacting states. We found hegemons of global world order emerged in cyberspace as they do in the other traditional domains from models with these few parameters. And we found that hegemons, contrary to traditional understanding, are not exceptional states but merely occupy the tail of a continuous distribution of power and lifetimes. We also found that hegemony in the system depends on two perhaps unexpected parameters: the difficulty of acquiring power as wealth increases and the amount of cooperation between states. And as a consequence, we argue that cyberspace, as a power-diffuse domain where cooperation is easier than elsewhere, is less suited to the kind of hegemony we see in the traditional domains of state interaction.

Wealth and Its Associations with Enteric Parasitic Infections in a Low-Income Community in Peru: Use of Principal Component Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Nundy, Shantanu; Gilman, Robert H.; Xiao, Lihua; Cabrera, Lilia; Cama, Rosa; Ortega, Ynes R.; Kahn, Geoffrey; Cama, Vitaliano A.

2011-01-01

The association of wealth and infections with Giardia, Cryptosporidium, Cyclospora, and microsporidia were examined in a longitudinal cohort conducted in Peru from 2001 to 2006. Data from 492 participants were daily clinical manifestations, weekly copro-parasitological diagnosis, and housing characteristics and assets owned (48 variables), and these data were used to construct a global wealth index using principal component analysis. Data were analyzed using continuous and categorical (wealth tertiles) models. Participant's mean age was 3.43 years (range = 0–12 years), with average follow-up of 993 days. Univariate and multivariate analyses identified significant associations between wealth and infections with Giardia and microsporidia. Participants with greater wealth indexes were associated with protection against Giardia (P 14 days). For microsporidia, greater wealth was protective (P = 0.066 continuous and P = 0.042 by tertiles). Contrarily, infections with Cryptosporidium and Cyclospora were independent of wealth. Thus, subtle differences in wealth may affect the frequency of specific parasitic infections within low-income communities. PMID:21212198

Wealth distribution of simple exchange models coupled with extremal dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Bagatella-Flores, N.; Rodríguez-Achach, M.; Coronel-Brizio, H. F.; Hernández-Montoya, A. R.

2015-01-01

Punctuated Equilibrium (PE) states that after long periods of evolutionary quiescence, species evolution can take place in short time intervals, where sudden differentiation makes new species emerge and some species extinct. In this paper, we introduce and study the effect of punctuated equilibrium on two different asset exchange models: the yard sale model (YS, winner gets a random fraction of a poorer player's wealth) and the theft and fraud model (TF, winner gets a random fraction of the loser's wealth). The resulting wealth distribution is characterized using the Gini index. In order to do this, we consider PE as a perturbation with probability ρ of being applied. We compare the resulting values of the Gini index at different increasing values of ρ in both models. We found that in the case of the TF model, the Gini index reduces as the perturbation ρ increases, not showing dependence with the agents number. While for YS we observe a phase transition which happens around ρc = 0.79. For perturbations ρ <ρc the Gini index reaches the value of one as time increases (an extreme wealth condensation state), whereas for perturbations greater than or equal to ρc the Gini index becomes different to one, avoiding the system reaches this extreme state. We show that both simple exchange models coupled with PE dynamics give more realistic results. In particular for YS, we observe a power low decay of wealth distribution.

Global Trends in Adolescent Fertility, 1990-2012, in Relation to National Wealth, Income Inequalities, and Educational Expenditures.

Science.gov (United States)

Santelli, John S; Song, Xiaoyu; Garbers, Samantha; Sharma, Vinit; Viner, Russell M

2017-02-01

National wealth, income inequalities, and expenditures on education can profoundly influence the health of a nation's women, children, and adolescents. We explored the association of trends in national socioeconomic status (SES) indicators with trends in adolescent birth rates (ABRs), by nation and region. An ecologic research design was employed using national-level data from the World Bank on birth rates per 1,000 women aged 15-19 years, national wealth (per capita gross domestic product or GDP), income inequality (Gini index), and expenditures on education as a percentage of GDP (EduExp). Data were available for 142 countries and seven regions for 1990-2012. Multiple linear regression for repeated measures with generalized estimating equations was used to examine independent associations. ABRs in 2012 varied >200-fold-with the highest rates in Sub-Saharan Africa and lowest rates in the Western Europe/Central Asia region. The median national ABR fell 40% from 72.4/1,000 in 1990 to 43.6/1,000 in 2012. The largest regional declines in ABR occurred in South Asia (70%), Europe/Central Asia (63%), and the Middle East/North Africa (53%)-regions with lower income inequality. In multivariable analyses considering change over time, ABRs were negatively associated with GDP and EduExp and positively associated with greater income inequality. ABRs have declined globally since 1990. Declines closely followed rising socioeconomic status and were greater where income inequalities were lower in 1990. Reducing poverty and income inequalities and increasing investments in education should be essential components of national policies to prevent adolescent childbearing. Copyright © 2016 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Gender and globalization. A century in retrospect.

Science.gov (United States)

Chinkin, C

2000-01-01

In the past, power structures of the nation-State have been organized around patriarchal assumptions, granting men monopoly over power, authority, and wealth. A number of structures have been erected to achieve this imbalance, which have disguised its inequity by making it appear as natural and universal. However, with globalization, this centralization of power within the Sovereign State has been fragmented. Although globalization opens up new spaces by weakening the nation-State, subsequently making possible the undermining of traditional gender hierarchies and devising new bases for gender relations, the reality that the State is no longer the sole institution that can define identity and belonging within it has denied women the space to assert their own claims to gendered self-determination. In this regard, globalization has impacted upon gender relations in complex and contradictory ways. This paper discusses such impacts of globalization on gender relations. Overall, it has become apparent that forms of inequality still exist regardless of a State's prevailing political ideology. Their manifestations may differ, but the reality of women's subordination remains constant.

Prediction of National Wealth

Science.gov (United States)

Whetzel, Deborah L.; McDaniel, Michael A.

2006-01-01

In their book, IQ and the Wealth of Nations, Lynn and Vanhanen ([Lynn, R. and Vanhanen, T. (2002). IQ and the wealth of nations. Westport, CT: Praeger.]) proposed the hypothesis that "the intelligence of the populations has been a major factor responsible for the national differences in economic growth and for the gap in per capita income between…

Wealth Transmission and Inequality Among Hunter-Gatherers

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, Kim; Marlowe, Frank; Nolin, David; Wiessner, Polly; Gurven, Michael; Bowles, Samuel; Mulder, Monique Borgerhoff; Hertz, Tom; Bell, Adrian

2010-01-01

We report quantitative estimates of intergenerational transmission and population-wide inequality for wealth measures in a set of hunter-gatherer populations. Wealth is defined broadly as factors that contribute to individual or household well-being, ranging from embodied forms such as weight and hunting success to material forms such household goods, as well as relational wealth in exchange partners. Intergenerational wealth transmission is low to moderate in these populations, but is still expected to have measurable influence on an individual’s life chances. Wealth inequality (measured with Gini coefficients) is moderate for most wealth types, matching what qualitative ethnographic research has generally indicated (if not the stereotype of hunter-gatherers as extreme egalitarians). We discuss some plausible mechanisms for these patterns, and suggest ways in which future research could resolve questions about the role of wealth in hunter-gatherer social and economic life. PMID:21151711

Inheritance and wealth inequality: Evidence from population registers

OpenAIRE

Elinder, Mikael; Erixson, Oscar; Waldenström, Daniel

2016-01-01

We use new population-wide register data on inheritances and wealth in Sweden to estimate the causal impact of inheritances on wealth inequality. We find that inheritances reduce relative wealth inequality (e.g., the Gini coefficient falls by 5–10 percent) but that absolute dispersion increases. Examining different parts of the wealth distribution, we find that the top decile's wealth share decreases substantially, whereas the wealth share of the bottom half increases from a negative to a pos...

Economic wealth related to use of watercourses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ollila, M.

1998-01-01

Investigations have been made in Finland to establish the level of the national wealth, which consists of different lands of capital items. The present investigation focuses on different types of water use and on the economic wealth which they represent. The types of water use chosen include water supply and sewerage, flood protection, water-borne traffic, timber floating, hydropower production, fishing, fish farming and recreation. Wealth has been defined, whenever possible, according to yearly profit or the increase in profit. Where this has not been possible, wealth has been defined on the basis of investment costs or according to the one-off increase in wealth achieved by the project. This method was first employed for certain types of water use in the Kalajoki watercourse. For this watercourse wealth was calculated by both the methods described above, using profits, wealth was calculated to be FIM 533 million and using investments FIM 557 million. Due to lack of adequate basic information the figures, however, cannot be compared. The estimation method was also extended to cover the whole country, whereby the total wealth was estimated to be approximately FIM 155 billion. Most of this wealth consisted of recreation, water supply, sewerage and hydropower production. Comparison of the results of this investigation with the values determined in other national wealth investigations is difficult due to the presence of different groupings and methods of determination. In this investigation, the wealth gained by recreational use of the Ostrobothnian reservoirs was also separately examined and estimated to be approximately FIM 200 million. Different kinds of estimation methods had to be used and developed in this work, because the types of water use are very different and because similar investigations have not previously been undertaken. (orig.) 42 refs

Scientific wealth and inequality within nations

OpenAIRE

Prathap, Gangan

2017-01-01

We show that the greater the scientific wealth of a nation, the more likely that it will tend to concentrate this excellence in a few premier institutions. That is, great wealth implies great inequality of distribution. The scientific wealth is interpreted in terms of citation data harvested by Google Scholar Citations for profiled institutions from all countries in the world.

Ecosystem-based management and the wealth of ecosystems

OpenAIRE

Yun, Seong Do; Hutniczak, Barbara; Abbott, Joshua K.; Fenichel, Eli P.

2017-01-01

Ecosystems store vast quantities of wealth, but difficulties measuring wealth held in ecosystems prevent its inclusion in accounting systems. Ecosystem-based management endeavors to manage ecosystems holistically. However, ecosystem-based management lacks headline indicators to evaluate performance. We unify the inclusive wealth and ecosystem-based management paradigms, allowing apples-to-apples comparisons between the wealth of the ecosystem and other forms of wealth, while providing a headl...

The impact of diminished housing wealth on health in the United States: evidence from the Great Recession.

Science.gov (United States)

Yilmazer, Tansel; Babiarz, Patryk; Liu, Fen

2015-04-01

The sharp decline in home values in many industrialized and developing countries was one of the most evident facets of the global economic recession of 2008. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) for 2007-2011, this study examines how the decline in housing wealth affected the psychological and physical health and health-related behaviors of 4007 U.S. households who were homeowners in 2007. We focus on two mechanisms that could account for how the drop in housing wealth affects health: increase in stress and negative changes in health-related behaviors. Controlling for the changes in non-housing wealth and employment status during the recession, the decline in housing wealth is associated with a small but statistically significant increase in psychological distress. Psychological health deteriorates more as the housing wealth relative to total wealth decreases. Finally, homeowners who have difficulties with mortgage payments report substantial increases in psychological distress and have higher rates of depression. These findings, combined with limited evidence of the change in health-related behaviors, suggest that the increase in stress is the main cause of the adverse health outcomes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sovereign wealth funds: Investment objectives and asset allocation strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniil Wagner

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs have steadily increased their importance in the global financial system in the last decade and especially during the financial crisis period. Although the objectives and investment strategies of SWFs are quite diverse, I propose to sort them into three main groups, depending on their sponsor countries’ endowment with resources and investment objectives. I present case studies and empirical analyses that reflect SWF investment activities and try to elaborate on the special role of each SWF group. Special emphasis is given to the recent financial crisis, where SWFs also acted as bailout investors by injecting substantial capital into global financial institutions, filling a financing gap that other institutional investors could not close

Turnover activity in wealth portfolios

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Castaldi, C.; Milakovic, M.

2007-01-01

We examine several subsets of the wealthiest individuals in the US and the UK that are compiled by Forbes Magazine and the Sunday Times. Since these are named subsets, we can calculate the returns to wealth portfolios, and calibrate a statistical equilibrium model of wealth distribution that

Turnover activity in wealth portfolios

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Castaldi, Carolina; Milakovic, Mishael

We examine several subsets of the wealthiest individuals in the US and the UK that are compiled by Forbes Magazine and the Sunday Times. Since these are named subsets, we can calculate the returns to wealth portfolios, and calibrate a statistical equilibrium model of wealth distribution that

Globalization and State Soverignty

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Islam, Mainul

2003-01-01

.... Globalized capital is reorganizing business firms and undermining national politics. Globalization creates vast new markets and gigantic new wealth, as well as widespread suffering, disorder and unrest...

Knowledge, politics and power in global health

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Garrett Wallace

2015-01-01

This article agrees with recent arguments suggesting that normative and epistemic power is rife within global health policy and provides further examples of such. However, in doing so, it is argued that it is equally important to recognize that global health is, and always will be, deeply political and that some form of power is not only necessary for the system to advance, but also to try and control the ways in which power within that system operates. In this regard, a better focus on health politics can both expose illegitimate sources of power, but also provide better recommendations to facilitate deliberations that can, although imperfectly, help legitimate sources of influence and power. PMID:25674575

Household wealth and child health in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Chalasani, Satvika; Rutstein, Shea

2014-03-01

Using data from the Indian National Family Health Surveys (1992-93, 1998-99, 2005-06), this study examined how the relationship between household wealth and child health evolved during a time of significant economic change in India. The main predictor was an innovative measure of household wealth that captures changes in wealth over time. Discrete-time logistic models (with community fixed effects) were used to examine mortality and malnutrition outcomes: infant, child, and under-5 mortality; stunting, wasting, and being underweight. Analysis was conducted at the national, urban/rural, and regional levels, separately for boys and girls. The results indicate that the relationship between household wealth and under-5 mortality weakened over time but this result was dominated by infant mortality. The relationship between wealth and child mortality stayed strong for girls. The relationship between household wealth and malnutrition became stronger over time for boys and particularly for girls, in urban and (especially) rural areas.

The Rise and Fall of Swedish Wealth Taxation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henrekson Magnus

2014-05-01

Full Text Available We study the evolution of modern Swedish wealth taxation from its introduction in**1911 until it was abolished in 2007. The rules concerning valuation of assets, deductions/exemptions and tax schedules to characterize effective wealth tax schedules are described. These rules and schedules are used to calculate marginal and average wealth tax rates for three differently endowed owners of family firms and individual fortunes corresponding to a large, medium-sized and small firm. The overall trend in the direct wealth tax was rising until 1971 for owners of large and medium-sized firms and for individuals of equally-sized wealth consisting of non-corporate assets. Average direct wealth tax rates were low until 1934, except for 1913 when a progressive defense tax was levied. There were three major tax hikes: in 1934, when the wealth tax was more than doubled, in 1948 when tax rates were doubled again and in 1971 for owners of large firms and similarly sized non-corporate fortunes. Effective tax rates peaked in 1973 for owners of large firms and in 1983 for individuals with large non-corporate wealth. Reduction rules limited the wealth tax rates from 1934 for fortunes with high wealth/income ratios. The wealth tax on unlisted net business equity was abolished in 1991. Tax rates for wealthy individuals were decreased in 1991 and in 1992 and then remained at 0.5-1 percent through 2006, depending on whether the reduction rule was applicable. Tax rates for small-firm owners and small individual fortunes were substantially lower. Aggregate wealth tax revenues were rela-tively small; they never exceeded 0.4 percent of GDP in the postwar period and amounted to 0.16 percent of GDP in 2006.

Global outlook for nuclear power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Southworth, F.H.

2010-01-01

'Full text:' The global nuclear power forecast, the North American outlook and the effect of nuclear power growth on greenhouse gas emissions in North America will be discussed. The construction of Generation III reactors will replace aging power plants and, further, add capacity that is environmentally sustainable. The outlook for Generation IV reactors also may significantly improve the environmental balance after 2030, both in electrical markets, waste reduction, and in non-traditional markets such as process heat. (author)

Entrepreneurs, Chance, and the Deterministic Concentration of Wealth

Science.gov (United States)

Fargione, Joseph E.; Lehman, Clarence; Polasky, Stephen

2011-01-01

In many economies, wealth is strikingly concentrated. Entrepreneurs–individuals with ownership in for-profit enterprises–comprise a large portion of the wealthiest individuals, and their behavior may help explain patterns in the national distribution of wealth. Entrepreneurs are less diversified and more heavily invested in their own companies than is commonly assumed in economic models. We present an intentionally simplified individual-based model of wealth generation among entrepreneurs to assess the role of chance and determinism in the distribution of wealth. We demonstrate that chance alone, combined with the deterministic effects of compounding returns, can lead to unlimited concentration of wealth, such that the percentage of all wealth owned by a few entrepreneurs eventually approaches 100%. Specifically, concentration of wealth results when the rate of return on investment varies by entrepreneur and by time. This result is robust to inclusion of realities such as differing skill among entrepreneurs. The most likely overall growth rate of the economy decreases as businesses become less diverse, suggesting that high concentrations of wealth may adversely affect a country's economic growth. We show that a tax on large inherited fortunes, applied to a small portion of the most fortunate in the population, can efficiently arrest the concentration of wealth at intermediate levels. PMID:21814540

Taxing across Borders: Tracking Personal Wealth and Corporate Profits

OpenAIRE

Gabriel Zucman

2014-01-01

This article attempts to estimate the magnitude of corporate tax avoidance and personal tax evasion through offshore tax havens. US corporations book 20 percent of their profits in tax havens, a tenfold increase since the 1980; their effective tax rate has declined from 30 to 20 percent over the last 15 years, and about two-thirds of this decline can be attributed to increased international tax avoidance. Globally, 8 percent of the world's personal financial wealth is held offshore, costing m...

Youth in a Global World: Attitudes towards Globalization and Global Citizenship among University Students in Hong Kong

Science.gov (United States)

Chui, Wing Hong; Leung, Elliot W. Y.

2014-01-01

Despite the wealth of theoretical literature on globalization and global citizenship, empirical studies on the topic are lacking, especially in the context of pedagogical needs in relation to global citizenship education. In order to address this gap, a study was conducted in Hong Kong to investigate the attitudes of university students towards…

Role of selective interaction in wealth distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gupta, A.K.

2005-08-01

In our simplified description 'money' is wealth. A kinetic theory model of money is investigated where two agents interact (trade) selectively and exchange random amount of money between them while keeping total money of all the agents constant. The probability distributions of individual money (P(m) vs. m) is seen to be influenced by certain modes of selective interactions. The distributions shift away from Boltzmann-Gibbs like exponential distribution and in some cases distributions emerge with power law tails known as Pareto's law (P(m) ∝ m -(1+α) ). (author)

Gamma-distribution and wealth inequality

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

This in turn allows one to quantify the inequalities observed in the wealth distributions and suggests that their origin should be traced back to very general underlying mechanisms, for instance, the fact that smaller the fraction of the relevant quantity (e.g. wealth) that agent can exchange during an interaction, the closer the ...

Assessing alternative measures of wealth in health research.

Science.gov (United States)

Cubbin, Catherine; Pollack, Craig; Flaherty, Brian; Hayward, Mark; Sania, Ayesha; Vallone, Donna; Braveman, Paula

2011-05-01

We assessed whether it would be feasible to replace the standard measure of net worth with simpler measures of wealth in population-based studies examining associations between wealth and health. We used data from the 2004 Survey of Consumer Finances (respondents aged 25-64 years) and the 2004 Health and Retirement Survey (respondents aged 50 years or older) to construct logistic regression models relating wealth to health status and smoking. For our wealth measure, we used the standard measure of net worth as well as 9 simpler measures of wealth, and we compared results among the 10 models. In both data sets and for both health indicators, models using simpler wealth measures generated conclusions about the association between wealth and health that were similar to the conclusions generated by models using net worth. The magnitude and significance of the odds ratios were similar for the covariates in multivariate models, and the model-fit statistics for models using these simpler measures were similar to those for models using net worth. Our findings suggest that simpler measures of wealth may be acceptable in population-based studies of health.

Knowledge and networks - key sources of power in global health: Comment on "Knowledge, moral claims and the exercise of power in global health".

Science.gov (United States)

Hanefeld, Johanna; Walt, Gill

2015-02-01

Shiffman rightly raises questions about who exercises power in global health, suggesting power is a complex concept, and the way it is exercised is often opaque. Power that is not based on financial strength but on knowledge or experience, is difficult to estimate, and yet it may provide the legitimacy to make moral claims on what is, or ought to be, on global health agendas. Twenty years ago power was exercised in a much less complex health environment. The World Health Organization (WHO) was able to exert its authority as world health leader. The landscape today is very different. Financial resources for global health are being competed for by diverse organisations, and power is diffused and somewhat hidden in such a climate, where each organization has to establish and make its own moral claims loudly and publicly. We observe two ways which allow actors to capture moral authority in global health. One, through power based on scientific knowledge and two, through procedures in the policy process, most commonly associated with the notion of broad consultation and participation. We discuss these drawing on one particular framework provided by Bourdieu, who analyses the source of actor power by focusing on different sorts of capital. Different approaches or theories to understanding power will go some way to answering the challenge Shiffman throws to health policy analysts. We need to explore much more fully where power lies in global health, and how it is exercised in order to understand underlying health agendas and claims to legitimacy made by global health actors today.

Where wealth matters more for health: the wealth-health gradient in 16 countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Semyonov, Moshe; Lewin-Epstein, Noah; Maskileyson, Dina

2013-03-01

Researchers have long demonstrated that persons of high economic status are likely to be healthier than persons of low socioeconomic standing. Cross-national studies have also demonstrated that health of the population tends to increase with country's level of economic development and to decline with level of economic inequality. The present research utilizes data for 16 national samples (of populations fifty years of age and over) to examine whether the relationship between wealth and health at the individual-level is systematically associated with country's level of economic development and country's level of income inequality. The analysis reveals that in all countries rich persons tend to be healthier than poor persons. Furthermore, in all countries the positive association between wealth and health holds even after controlling for socio-demographic attributes and household income. Hierarchical regression analysis leads to two major conclusions: first, country's economic resources increase average health of the population but do not weaken the tie between wealth and health; second, a more equal distribution of economic resources (greater egalitarianism) does not raise health levels of the population but weakens the tie between wealth and health. The latter findings can be mostly attributed to the uniqueness of the US case. The findings and their significance are discussed in light of previous research and theory. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Global wind power potential: Physical and technological limits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castro, Carlos de; Mediavilla, Margarita; Miguel, Luis Javier; Frechoso, Fernando

2011-01-01

This paper is focused on a new methodology for the global assessment of wind power potential. Most of the previous works on the global assessment of the technological potential of wind power have used bottom-up methodologies (e.g. ). Economic, ecological and other assessments have been developed, based on these technological capacities. However, this paper tries to show that the reported regional and global technological potential are flawed because they do not conserve the energetic balance on Earth, violating the first principle of energy conservation (). We propose a top-down approach, such as that in , to evaluate the physical-geographical potential and, for the first time, to evaluate the global technological wind power potential, while acknowledging energy conservation. The results give roughly 1 TW for the top limit of the future electrical potential of wind energy. This value is much lower than previous estimates and even lower than economic and realizable potentials published for the mid-century (e.g. ). - Highlights: → Reported wind power potentials are flawed because they violate energy conservation. → For the first time, it is evaluated the technological wind power potential with a top-down approach. → Our results show 1 TWe for the limit of wind power energy, which is much lower than previous estimates.

The utility of health and wealth.

Science.gov (United States)

Levy, Moshe; Nir, Adi Rizansky

2012-03-01

Tradeoffs between health and wealth are among the most important decisions individuals make, and are central to social and economic policy. Yet, only a few studies have investigated the utility of health and wealth empirically. This paper investigates this utility function both theoretically and empirically. We conduct detailed personal interviews with 180 cancer patients, and also obtain questionnaires from 132 diabetes patients. We find strong support for the utility function U(h, w)=h·log(w), where h denotes health and w denotes wealth. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Powerful Concepts in Global Health Comment on “Knowledge, Moral Claims and the Exercise of Power in Global Health”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eivind Engebretsen

2015-02-01

Full Text Available In this paper we emphasize the importance of questioning the global validity of significant concepts underpinning global health policy. This implies questioning the concept of global health as such and accepting that there is no global definition of the global. Further, we draw attention to ‘quality’ and ‘empowerment’ as examples of world-forming concepts. These concepts are exemplary for the gentle and quiet forms of power that underpin our reasoning within global health.

Global wind power development: Economics and policies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Timilsina, Govinda R.; Cornelis van Kooten, G.; Narbel, Patrick A.

2013-01-01

Existing literature indicates that theoretically, the earth's wind energy supply potential significantly exceeds global energy demand. Yet, only 2–3% of global electricity demand is currently derived from wind power despite 27% annual growth in wind generating capacity over the last 17 years. More than 95% of total current wind power capacity is installed in the developed countries plus China and India. Our analysis shows that the economic competitiveness of wind power varies at wider range across countries or locations. A climate change damage cost of US$20/tCO 2 imposed to fossil fuels would make onshore wind competitive to all fossil fuels for power generation; however, the same would not happen to offshore wind, with few exceptions, even if the damage cost is increased to US$100/tCO 2 . To overcome a large number of technical, financial, institutional, market and other barriers to wind power, many countries have employed various policy instruments, including capital subsidies, tax incentives, tradable energy certificates, feed-in tariffs, grid access guarantees and mandatory standards. Besides, climate change mitigation policies, such as the Clean Development Mechanism, have played a pivotal role in promoting wind power. Despite these policies, intermittency, the main technical constraint, could remain as the major challenge to the future growth of wind power. - Highlights: • Global wind energy potential is enormous, yet the wind energy contribution is very small. • Existing policies are boosting development of wind power. • Costs of wind energy are higher than cost of fossil-based energies. • Reasonable premiums for climate change mitigation substantially promote wind power. • Intermittency is the key challenge to future development of wind power

Cellular Automata Simulation for Wealth Distribution

Science.gov (United States)

Lo, Shih-Ching

2009-08-01

Wealth distribution of a country is a complicate system. A model, which is based on the Epstein & Axtell's "Sugars cape" model, is presented in Netlogo. The model considers the income, age, working opportunity and salary as control variables. There are still other variables should be considered while an artificial society is established. In this study, a more complicate cellular automata model for wealth distribution model is proposed. The effects of social welfare, tax, economical investment and inheritance are considered and simulated. According to the cellular automata simulation for wealth distribution, we will have a deep insight of financial policy of the government.

Wealth, fertility and adaptive behaviour in industrial populations

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-01

The lack of association between wealth and fertility in contemporary industrialized populations has often been used to question the value of an evolutionary perspective on human behaviour. Here, we first present the history of this debate, and the evolutionary explanations for why wealth and fertility (the number of children) are decoupled in modern industrial settings. We suggest that the nature of the relationship between wealth and fertility remains an open question because of the multi-faceted nature of wealth, and because existing cross-sectional studies are ambiguous with respect to how material wealth and fertility are linked. A literature review of longitudinal studies on wealth and fertility shows that the majority of these report positive effects of wealth, although levels of fertility seem to fall below those that would maximize fitness. We emphasize that reproductive decision-making reflects a complex interplay between individual and societal factors that resists simple evolutionary interpretation, and highlight the role of economic insecurity in fertility decisions. We conclude by discussing whether the wealth–fertility relationship can inform us about the adaptiveness of modern fertility behaviour, and argue against simplistic claims regarding maladaptive behaviour in humans. PMID:27022080

Wealth inequality and health: a political economy perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Nowatzki, Nadine R

2012-01-01

Despite a plethora of studies on income inequality and health, researchers have been unable to make any firm conclusions as a result of methodological and theoretical limitations. Within this body of research, there has been a call for studies of wealth inequality and health. Wealth is far more unequally distributed than income and is conceptually unique from income. This paper discusses the results of bivariate cross-sectional analyses of the relationship between wealth inequality (Gini coefficient) and population health (life expectancy and infant mortality) in 14 wealthy countries. The results confirm that wealth inequality is associated with poor population health. Both unweighted and weighted correlations between wealth inequality and health are strong and significant, even after controlling for a variety of potential aggregate-level confounders, including gross domestic product per capita, and after excluding the United States, the most unequal country. The results are strongest for female life expectancy and infant mortality. The author outlines potential pathways through which wealth inequality might affect health, using specific countries to illustrate. The article concludes with policy recommendations that could contribute to a more equitable distribution of wealth and, ultimately, decreased health disparities.

Wealth, income, and health before and after retirement.

Science.gov (United States)

Geyer, Siegfried; Spreckelsen, Ove; von dem Knesebeck, Olaf

2014-11-01

It was supposed that associations of wealth and health might be higher after retirement than in the economically active periods of life, but no comparisons were available. Most studies on wealth were based on net worth, a measure combining several elements of wealth into an index. We examined associations between different elements of wealth and health by comparing retired women and men with economically active ones. Data were drawn from the German Socio-Economic Panel, a nationwide longitudinal survey project. Two waves (2002 and 2007) included indicators of wealth in addition to household income and education. Wealth was not depicted by an index. Instead, debts, property of life insurances, home ownership and assets were considered separately with their associations with self-rated health. Two data sets were used to examine whether the results were occasional, or whether they can be replicated. Associations of income and education emerged in respondents in their active periods of life. In most cases indicators of wealth were associated with subjective health. In retired respondents home ownership was the only indicator yielding consistent associations with health, but their sizes turned out as rather moderate. Contrary to expectation, the associations of wealth and health were inconsistent in the retired study population. These results were obtained in a country with national pension schemes, and it has to be examined whether the findings can be generalised to other countries. The inconsistent findings of indicators of wealth are calling the utility of net worth into question. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Guidelines for exploiting natural resource wealth

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Ploeg, R.

2014-01-01

The principles of how best to manage the various components of national wealth are outlined, where the permanent income hypothesis, the Hotelling rule, and the Hartwick rule play a prominent role. As far as managing natural resource wealth is concerned, a case is made to use an intergenerational

WEALTH MANAGEMENT THROUGH ROBO ADVISORY

OpenAIRE

Ishmeet Singh; Navjot Kaur

2017-01-01

Use of artificial intelligence is changing the working styles of human beings in almost every sphere. From Travel, health, education, communication and other related fields, it has now entered wealth management. A number of wealth management firms have adopted the artificial intelligence based services to the clients so that they are able to get investment advice any time as per their convenience. These services are quickly accessible, cheaper, transparent and unbiased. Since the advisory ser...

Self-esteem and Individual Wealth

OpenAIRE

Chatterjee, Swarn; Finke, Michael; Harness, Nathaniel

2008-01-01

Self-esteem measures confidence in one’s abilities. Prior literature has shown that higher self-esteem can also affect individual financial decision making through an increased willingness to invest in risky assets and motivation to enhance self image through wealth accumulation. However, self-esteem can also lead to wealth-destroying investment behaviors due to overconfidence and an unwillingness to accept inevitable losses. Using the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale included in the National Long...

Nuclear power generation and global heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taboada, Horacio

1999-01-01

The Professionals Association and Nuclear Activity of National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) are following with great interest the worldwide discussions on global heating and the role that nuclear power is going to play. The Association has an active presence, as part of the WONUC (recognized by the United Nations as a Non-Governmental Organization) in the COP4, which was held in Buenos Aires in November 1998. The environmental problems are closely related to human development, the way of power production, the techniques for industrial production and exploitation fields. CO 2 is the most important gas with hothouse effects, responsible of progressive climatic changes, as floods, desertification, increase of average global temperature, thermal expansion in seas and even polar casks melting and ice falls. The consequences that global heating will have on the life and economy of human society cannot be sufficiently emphasized, great economical impact, destruction of ecosystems, loss of great coast areas and complete disappearance of islands owing to water level rise. The increase of power retained in the atmosphere generates more violent hurricanes and storms. In this work, the topics presented in the former AATN Meeting is analyzed in detail and different technological options and perspectives to mitigate CO 2 emission, as well as economical-financial aspects, are explored. (author)

The challenge of market power under globalization

OpenAIRE

David Arie Mayer-Foulkes

2014-01-01

The legacy of Adam Smith leads to a false confidence on the optimality of laissez faire policies for the global market economy. Instead, the polarized character of current globalization deeply affects both developed and underdeveloped economies. Current globalization is characterized by factor exchange between economies of persistently unequal development. This implies the existence of persistent extraordinary market power in transnational corporations, reflected in their disproportionate par...

Ecosystem-based management and the wealth of ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Yun, Seong Do; Hutniczak, Barbara; Abbott, Joshua K.; Fenichel, Eli P.

2017-01-01

We merge inclusive wealth theory with ecosystem-based management (EBM) to address two challenges in the science of sustainable management of ecosystems. First, we generalize natural capital theory to approximate realized shadow prices for multiple interacting natural capital stocks (species) making up an ecosystem. These prices enable ecosystem components to be better included in wealth-based sustainability measures. We show that ecosystems are best envisioned as portfolios of assets, where the portfolio’s performance depends on the performance of the underlying assets influenced by their interactions. Second, changes in ecosystem wealth provide an attractive headline index for EBM, regardless of whether ecosystem wealth is ultimately included in a broader wealth index. We apply our approach to the Baltic Sea ecosystem, focusing on the interacting community of three commercially important fish species: cod, herring, and sprat. Our results incorporate supporting services embodied in the shadow price of a species through its trophic interactions. Prey fish have greater shadow prices than expected based on market value, and predatory fish have lower shadow prices than expected based on market value. These results are because correctly measured shadow prices reflect interdependence and limits to substitution. We project that ecosystem wealth in the Baltic Sea fishery ecosystem generally increases conditional on the EBM-inspired multispecies maximum sustainable yield management beginning in 2017, whereas continuing the current single-species management generally results in declining wealth. PMID:28588145

Ecosystem-based management and the wealth of ecosystems.

Science.gov (United States)

Yun, Seong Do; Hutniczak, Barbara; Abbott, Joshua K; Fenichel, Eli P

2017-06-20

We merge inclusive wealth theory with ecosystem-based management (EBM) to address two challenges in the science of sustainable management of ecosystems. First, we generalize natural capital theory to approximate realized shadow prices for multiple interacting natural capital stocks (species) making up an ecosystem. These prices enable ecosystem components to be better included in wealth-based sustainability measures. We show that ecosystems are best envisioned as portfolios of assets, where the portfolio's performance depends on the performance of the underlying assets influenced by their interactions. Second, changes in ecosystem wealth provide an attractive headline index for EBM, regardless of whether ecosystem wealth is ultimately included in a broader wealth index. We apply our approach to the Baltic Sea ecosystem, focusing on the interacting community of three commercially important fish species: cod, herring, and sprat. Our results incorporate supporting services embodied in the shadow price of a species through its trophic interactions. Prey fish have greater shadow prices than expected based on market value, and predatory fish have lower shadow prices than expected based on market value. These results are because correctly measured shadow prices reflect interdependence and limits to substitution. We project that ecosystem wealth in the Baltic Sea fishery ecosystem generally increases conditional on the EBM-inspired multispecies maximum sustainable yield management beginning in 2017, whereas continuing the current single-species management generally results in declining wealth.

How Financial Literacy Affects Household Wealth Accumulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Behrman, Jere R; Mitchell, Olivia S; Soo, Cindy K; Bravo, David

2012-05-01

This study isolates the causal effects of financial literacy and schooling on wealth accumulation using a new household dataset and an instrumental variables (IV) approach. Financial literacy and schooling attainment are both strongly positively associated with wealth outcomes in linear regression models, whereas the IV estimates reveal even more potent effects of financial literacy. They also indicate that the schooling effect only becomes positive when interacted with financial literacy. Estimated impacts are substantial enough to imply that investments in financial literacy could have large wealth payoffs.

Inequality and visibility of wealth in experimental social networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Nishi, Akihiro; Shirado, Hirokazu; Rand, David G; Christakis, Nicholas A

2015-10-15

Humans prefer relatively equal distributions of resources, yet societies have varying degrees of economic inequality. To investigate some of the possible determinants and consequences of inequality, here we perform experiments involving a networked public goods game in which subjects interact and gain or lose wealth. Subjects (n = 1,462) were randomly assigned to have higher or lower initial endowments, and were embedded within social networks with three levels of economic inequality (Gini coefficient = 0.0, 0.2, and 0.4). In addition, we manipulated the visibility of the wealth of network neighbours. We show that wealth visibility facilitates the downstream consequences of initial inequality-in initially more unequal situations, wealth visibility leads to greater inequality than when wealth is invisible. This result reflects a heterogeneous response to visibility in richer versus poorer subjects. We also find that making wealth visible has adverse welfare consequences, yielding lower levels of overall cooperation, inter-connectedness, and wealth. High initial levels of economic inequality alone, however, have relatively few deleterious welfare effects.

This time it's different. An inevitable decline in world petroleum production will keep oil product prices high, causing military conflicts and shifting wealth and power from democracies to authoritarian regimes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leder, Frederic [2742 Sturges Highway, Westport, CT 06880 (United States); Shapiro, Judith N. [796 Sport Hill Road, Easton, CT 06612 (United States)

2008-08-15

There is virtual agreement among geologists that world production of conventional oil will peak at some point in the future. Oil, after all, is a finite resource, while demand will only grow over time. Geologists disagree, however, exactly when the peak will occur. Using data from the International Energy Agency, the US Department of Energy, the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas, and petroleum industry sources, we argue that conventional oil production will reach a worldwide maximum within the next 5-10 years, earlier than generally estimated, thus leaving a very short time frame within which to plan for conversion to alternative sources of energy. Unless planning is initiated immediately, the United States and other Western democracies will see their positions in the global economy undercut as military conflicts over limited energy resources increase, and wealth and power are shifted to authoritarian regimes in Russia, Venezuela, Africa and the Middle East. (author)

Perspectives of the electric power industry amid the transforming global power generation markets

Science.gov (United States)

Makarov, A. A.; Mitrova, T. A.; Veselov, F. V.; Galkina, A. A.; Kulagin, V. A.

2017-10-01

A scenario-based prognosis of the evolution of global power generation markets until 2040, which was developed using the Scaner model-and-information complex, was given. The perspective development of fuel markets, vital for the power generation industry, was considered, and an attempt to predict the demand, production, and prices of oil, gas, coal, and noncarbon resources across various regions of the world was made. The anticipated decline in the growth of the global demand for fossil fuels and their sufficiency with relatively low extraction expenses will maintain the fuel prices (the data hereinafter are given as per 2014 prices) lower than their peak values in 2012. The outrunning growth of demand for electric power is shown in comparison with other power resources by regions and large countries in the world. The conditions of interfuel competition in the electric power industry considering the changes in anticipated fuel prices and cost indicators for various power generation technologies were studied. For this purpose, the ratios of discounted costs of electric power production by new gas and coal TPPs and wind and solar power plants were estimated. It was proven that accounting the system effects (operation modes, necessary duplicating and reserving the power of electric power plants using renewable energy sources) notably reduces the competitiveness of the renewable power industry and is not always compensated by the expected lowering of its capital intensity and growth of fuel for TPPs. However, even with a moderate (in relation to other prognoses) growth of the role of power plants using renewable energy sources, they will triple electric power production. In this context, thermal power plants will preserve their leadership covering up to 60% of the global electric power production, approximately half using gas.

Wealth distribution, Pareto law, and stretched exponential decay of money: Computer simulations analysis of agent-based models

Science.gov (United States)

Aydiner, Ekrem; Cherstvy, Andrey G.; Metzler, Ralf

2018-01-01

We study by Monte Carlo simulations a kinetic exchange trading model for both fixed and distributed saving propensities of the agents and rationalize the person and wealth distributions. We show that the newly introduced wealth distribution - that may be more amenable in certain situations - features a different power-law exponent, particularly for distributed saving propensities of the agents. For open agent-based systems, we analyze the person and wealth distributions and find that the presence of trap agents alters their amplitude, leaving however the scaling exponents nearly unaffected. For an open system, we show that the total wealth - for different trap agent densities and saving propensities of the agents - decreases in time according to the classical Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts stretched exponential law. Interestingly, this decay does not depend on the trap agent density, but rather on saving propensities. The system relaxation for fixed and distributed saving schemes are found to be different.

Top wealth shares in Australia 1915-2012

OpenAIRE

Katic, Pamela; Leigh, Andrew

2016-01-01

Combining data from surveys, inheritance tax records, and rich lists, we estimate top wealth shares for Australia from World War I until the present day. We find that the top 1 percent share declined by two-thirds from 1915 until the late 1960s, and rose from the late 1970s to 2010. The recent increase is sharpest at the top of the distribution, with the top 0.001 percent wealth share tripling from 1984 to 2012. The trend in top wealth shares is similar to that in Australian top income shares...

Health, Wealth and Happiness: Why pursue a Higher Education?

OpenAIRE

Hartog, Joop; Oosterbeek, Hessel

1997-01-01

We explore the effect of schooling on health, wealth and happiness for a cohort of Dutch individuals born around 1940. We also use observations on childhood IQ and family background. The most fortunate group is the group with a non-vocational intermediate level education: they score highest on health, wealth and happiness. We find that IQ affects health, but not wealth or happiness. Family background level increases wealth, but neither health nor happiness. With a father who worked independen...

Why do they think nuclear power is origin of global warming effect?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukae, Chiyokazu

2005-01-01

A questionnaire on nuclear power was conducted on 1500 adults in Kansai area, Japan, from October 9 to November 9, 2003. The recovery ratio was 71.0%. The results showed that 34% of them thought the nuclear power was protection of the global warming effect and 35% it was origin of the effect. It was analyzed by the logistic regression analysis method on whether the nuclear power was protection of global warming effect or not. About 43% of them recognized the nuclear power contributed to control carbon dioxide emission, and the mechanism of global warming effect. However, 35% of them did not recognize the mechanism and thought radioactive materials emission gave bad effects on the global environment. To make recognize the nuclear power is a good power source for protection of the global warming effect, the amount of reduction of carbon dioxide emission by nuclear power had to be shown. It is the shortest way for solution of the global warming problem to prove worthy of nuclear power's trust by safety and stable operation. (S.Y.)

Financial Literacy, Retirement Planning and Household Wealth

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Rooij, Maarten C. J.; Lusardi, Annamaria; Alessie, Rob J. M.

Relying on comprehensive measures of financial knowledge, we provide evidence of a strong positive association between financial literacy and net worth, even after controlling for many determinants of wealth. We discuss two channels through which financial literacy might facilitate wealth

Individual wealth rank, community wealth inequality, and self-reported adult poor health: a test of hypotheses with panel data (2002-2006) from native Amazonians, Bolivia.

Science.gov (United States)

Undurraga, Eduardo A; Nyberg, Colleen; Eisenberg, Dan T A; Magvanjav, Oyunbileg; Reyes-García, Victoria; Huanca, Tomás; Leonard, William R; McDade, Thomas W; Tanner, Susan; Vadez, Vincent; Godoy, Ricardo

2010-12-01

Growing evidence suggests that economic inequality in a community harms the health of a person. Using panel data from a small-scale, preindustrial rural society, we test whether individual wealth rank and village wealth inequality affects self-reported poor health in a foraging-farming native Amazonian society. A person's wealth rank was negatively but weakly associated with self-reported morbidity. Each step up/year in the village wealth hierarchy reduced total self-reported days ill by 0.4 percent. The Gini coefficient of village wealth inequality bore a positive association with self-reported poor health that was large in size, but not statistically significant. We found small village wealth inequality, and evidence that individual economic rank did not change. The modest effects may have to do with having used subjective rather than objective measures of health, having small village wealth inequality, and with the possibly true modest effect of a person's wealth rank on health in a small-scale, kin-based society. Finally, we also found that an increase in mean individual wealth by village was related to worse self-reported health. As the Tsimane' integrate into the market economy, their possibilities of wealth accumulation rise, which may affect their well-being. Our work contributes to recent efforts in biocultural anthropology to link the study of social inequalities, human biology, and human-environment interactions.

Wealth, welfare and sustainable growth and development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moe, Thorvald

2011-07-01

This Policy Note discuses, based on modern development theory and wealth accounting, challenges for economic- and fiscal policies in resource-producing countries defined as countries - both developed and developing low income countries - which rely heavily on non-renewable or exhaustible natural wealth.(Author)

Can global warming save nuclear power?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pearce, D.

1994-01-01

Nuclear powered electricity generation in the United Kingdom has an uncertain future. The relative costs of generating electricity by nuclear fission compared to other means and the need for a desirable mixture or ''portfolio'' of energy sources in the electricity industry are identified as the key to this uncertainty. The author argues that Government commitments to reducing Carbon Monoxide (CO) emissions, and hence global warming, may strengthen arguments in favour of a firm commitment to nuclear power, as even modern fossil-fuelled power plants emit nearly 90 times as much CO as nuclear plants. (UK)

Health, Wealth and Happiness: Why Pursue a Higher Education?

Science.gov (United States)

Hartog, Joop; Oosterbeek, Hessel

1998-01-01

Explores schooling's effect on health, wealth, and happiness for a cohort of Dutch individuals born around 1940. Uses observations on childhood IQ and family background. The group with a nonvocational, intermediate-level education scored highest on all three factors. IQ affects health, not wealth or happiness. Family background increases wealth,…

Knowledge and networks – key sources of power in global health

Science.gov (United States)

Hanefeld, Johanna; Walt, Gill

2015-01-01

Shiffman rightly raises questions about who exercises power in global health, suggesting power is a complex concept, and the way it is exercised is often opaque. Power that is not based on financial strength but on knowledge or experience, is difficult to estimate, and yet it may provide the legitimacy to make moral claims on what is, or ought to be, on global health agendas. Twenty years ago power was exercised in a much less complex health environment. The World Health Organization (WHO) was able to exert its authority as world health leader. The landscape today is very different. Financial resources for global health are being competed for by diverse organisations, and power is diffused and somewhat hidden in such a climate, where each organization has to establish and make its own moral claims loudly and publicly. We observe two ways which allow actors to capture moral authority in global health. One, through power based on scientific knowledge and two, through procedures in the policy process, most commonly associated with the notion of broad consultation and participation. We discuss these drawing on one particular framework provided by Bourdieu, who analyses the source of actor power by focusing on different sorts of capital. Different approaches or theories to understanding power will go some way to answering the challenge Shiffman throws to health policy analysts. We need to explore much more fully where power lies in global health, and how it is exercised in order to understand underlying health agendas and claims to legitimacy made by global health actors today. PMID:25674577

Nonmarital Fertility, Union History, and Women's Wealth.

Science.gov (United States)

Painter, Matthew; Frech, Adrianne; Williams, Kristi

2015-02-01

We use more than 20 years of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 to examine wealth trajectories among mothers following a nonmarital first birth. We compare wealth according to union type and union stability, and we distinguish partners by biological parentage of the firstborn child. Net of controls for education, race/ethnicity, and family background, single mothers who enter into stable marriages with either a biological father or stepfather experience significant wealth advantages over time (more than $2,500 per year) relative to those who marry and divorce, cohabit, or remain unpartnered. Sensitivity analyses adjusting for unequal selection into marriage support these findings and demonstrate that race (but not ethnicity) and age at first birth structure mothers' access to later marriage. We conclude that not all single mothers have equal access to marriage; however, marriage, union stability, and paternity have distinct roles for wealth accumulation following a nonmarital birth.

Wealth Distribution and Mobility in Denmark: a Longitudinal Study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bentzen, Jan Børsen; Schmidt-Sørensen, Jan Beyer

1994-01-01

We describe and analyse wealth mobility in a national sample of 32,675 individuals from the Danish Longitudinal Database over the period from 1983 to 1990. A transition matrix, the Shorrocks measure, average decile position for various subgroups, and wealth in 1990 compared with wealth in 1983...... are used to describe patterns of wealth mobility. These results and regression models of change in percentile position identify winners and losers. The losers include students, singles with children, those who changed residence and those who experienced unemployment, while the winners were the houseowners...

Grand Advantage: Family Wealth and Grandchildren's Educational Achievement in Sweden.

Science.gov (United States)

Hällsten, Martin; Pfeffer, Fabian T

2017-04-01

We study the role of family wealth for children's educational achievement using novel and unique Swedish register data. In particular, we focus on the relationship between grandparents' wealth and their grandchildren's educational achievement. Doing so allows us to reliably establish the independent role of wealth in contributing to long-term inequalities in opportunity. We use regression models with rich controls to account for observed socioeconomic characteristics of families, cousin fixed effects to net out potentially unobserved grandparental effects, and marginal structural models to account for endogenous selection. We find substantial associations between grandparents' wealth and their grandchildren's grade point averages (GPA) in the 9th grade that are only partly mediated by the socioeconomic characteristics and wealth of parents. Our findings indicate that family wealth inequality - even in a comparatively egalitarian context like Sweden - has profound consequences for the distribution of opportunity across multiple generations. We posit that our estimates of the long-term consequences of wealth inequality may be conservative for nations other than Sweden, like the United States, where family wealth - in addition to its insurance and normative functions - allows the direct purchase of educational quality and access.

Children and the Elderly: Wealth Inequality Among America's Dependents.

Science.gov (United States)

Gibson-Davis, Christina M; Percheski, Christine

2018-05-07

Life cycle theory predicts that elderly households have higher levels of wealth than households with children, but these wealth gaps are likely dynamic, responding to changes in labor market conditions, patterns of debt accumulation, and the overall economic context. Using Survey of Consumer Finances data from 1989 through 2013, we compare wealth levels between and within the two groups that make up America's dependents: the elderly and child households (households with a resident child aged 18 or younger). Over the observed period, the absolute wealth gap between elderly and child households in the United States increased substantially, and diverging trends in wealth accumulation exacerbated preexisting between-group disparities. Widening gaps were particularly pronounced among the least-wealthy elderly and child households. Differential demographic change in marital status and racial composition by subgroup do not explain the widening gap. We also find increasing wealth inequality within child households and the rise of a "parental 1 %." During a time of overall economic growth, the elderly have been able to maintain or increase their wealth, whereas many of the least-wealthy child households saw precipitous declines. Our findings suggest that many child households may lack sufficient assets to promote the successful flourishing of the next generation.

Recognition of people with an opinion that nuclear power generation causes global warming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukue, Chiyokazu

2004-01-01

Almost a half of the people are thinking that nuclear power generation causes global warming. We conducted a survey in order to explore the recognition and background for the thinking of people. Consequently, the existence of the right knowledge ''nuclear power generation does not discharge carbon dioxide at the time of power generation'' influenced most the idea which nuclear power generation prevents global warming. On the other hand, the misunderstanding as ''the radioactive material produced from a nuclear power plant advances global warming'' has influenced the idea considered as a cause, and it is though that this misunderstanding depend on the negative image to nuclear power generation. Moreover, many people do not recognize the mechanism of global warming, and it is thought that they confuse global warming with the other global environment problems, such as acid rain or ozone layer destruction. Therefore, it is required to spread the knowledge that nuclear power generation does not discharge carbon dioxide, and to promote the understanding that a radioactive material is not related to global warming. Furthermore, it is required to distinguish global warming from the other global environment problems, and to explain them intelligibly. (author)

Canada's global health role: supporting equity and global citizenship as a middle power.

Science.gov (United States)

Nixon, Stephanie A; Lee, Kelley; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A; Blanchard, James; Haddad, Slim; Hoffman, Steven J; Tugwell, Peter

2018-02-22

Canada's history of nation building, combined with its status as a so-called middle power in international affairs, has been translated into an approach to global health that is focused on equity and global citizenship. Canada has often aspired to be a socially progressive force abroad, using alliance building and collective action to exert influence beyond that expected from a country with moderate financial and military resources. Conversely, when Canada has primarily used economic self-interest to define its global role, the country's perceived leadership in global health has diminished. Current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal federal government has signalled a return to progressive values, driven by appreciation for diversity, equality, and Canada's responsibility to be a good global citizen. However, poor coordination of efforts, limited funding, and the unaddressed legacy of Canada's colonisation of Indigenous peoples weaken the potential for Canadians to make meaningful contributions to improvement of global health equity. Amid increased nationalism and uncertainty towards multilateral commitments by some major powers in the world, the Canadian federal government has a clear opportunity to convert its commitments to equity and global citizenship into stronger leadership on the global stage. Such leadership will require the translation of aspirational messages about health equity and inclusion into concrete action at home and internationally. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Health, Wealth and the Price of Oil.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Robert G

2016-05-01

The correlation between health and wealth is arguably a very solidly established relationship. Yet that relationship may be reversing. Falling oil prices have raised (average) per capita incomes, worldwide. But from a long-run perspective they are a public health disaster. The latter is easy to see: low oil reduces the incentive to develop alternative energy sources and "bend the curve" of global warming. Their principal impact on incomes has been redistributional - Alberta and Russia lose, Ontario and Germany gain, etc. Zero net gain. But the price has fallen because technical progress in extracting American shale oil has forced the Saudis' hand. These efficiencies have real benefits for (average) incomes, but costs for long-run health. A compensating carbon tax is an obvious response. Copyright © 2016 Longwoods Publishing.

Global Status of Nuclear Power: Prospects and Challenges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tayobeka, B. M.

2010-01-01

Global energy requirements and the share of electricity in total energy consumption are increasing rapidly, and the contribution of nuclear power is projected to increase significantly. Out of the 29 countries currently using nuclear power for electricity generation, 22 intend to allow new plants to be built, and, of those, the majority are actively supporting the increased use of nuclear power, some by providing incentives. Most of these countries are expected to build reactors with a generating capacity of over 1000 MW(e). Only three countries continue to have a policy to phase out the use of nuclear energy in the future by not replacing existing operating nuclear power plants and with no consideration of the option of new nuclear plants.In addition, a growing number of countries are expressing interest in introducing nuclear power. Of the more than 60 countries that have expressed such an interest in recent years, over 20 are actively considering nuclear power programmes to meet their energy needs and the others have expressed interest in understanding the issues associated with the introduction of nuclear power.The drivers for rising expectations for nuclear power include: growing energy demand, concern over national energy supply security, the increasingly volatile price of fossil fuels and global environmental concerns. The drivers appear to be the same for countries expanding existing nuclear programmes and those seeking to introduce programmes. The projections made by different international organizations indicate a significant growth in the use of nuclear power. The IAEA projections indicate a world total for nuclear electrical generating capacity of between 445 and 543 GW(e) by 2020 and between 511 and 807 GW(e) by 2030. This paper takes a detailed look into the global status of nuclear power, highlighting challenges and prospects of the technology going into the next century.(author).

Wealth Effects on Household Final Consumption: Stock and Housing Market Channels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yener Coskun

2018-06-01

Full Text Available The study primarily explores the linkage between wealth effects, arising from stock and housing market channels, and household final consumption for 11 advanced countries over the period from 1970 Q1 to 2015 Q4. As a modelling strategy, we employ regression analysis through the common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG estimator, as well as Durbin–Hausman cointegration and Dumitrescu and Hurlin (2012 causality tests. The study provides various pieces of evidence through whole-panel and country-level analyses. In this respect, we find that consumption is mostly explained by income and housing wealth is positively and significantly correlated with consumption. As counter-intuitive evidence, we detect a negative linkage between consumption and stock wealth. The evidence also suggests a long-run cointegration relationship among consumption, income, interest rates, housing wealth, and stock wealth. Moreover, we find bidirectional causality between consumption and income, stock wealth, housing wealth, and interest rates. Overall, the evidence implies that housing wealth, rather than stock wealth, is the primary source of consumption growth in advanced countries.

The Dynamics of Wealth Inequality and the Effect of Income Distribution.

Science.gov (United States)

Berman, Yonatan; Ben-Jacob, Eshel; Shapira, Yoash

2016-01-01

The rapid increase of wealth inequality in the past few decades is one of the most disturbing social and economic issues of our time. Studying its origin and underlying mechanisms is essential for policy aiming to control and even reverse this trend. In that context, controlling the distribution of income, using income tax or other macroeconomic policy instruments, is generally perceived as effective for regulating the wealth distribution. We provide a theoretical tool, based on the realistic modeling of wealth inequality dynamics, to describe the effects of personal savings and income distribution on wealth inequality. Our theoretical approach incorporates coupled equations, solved using iterated maps to model the dynamics of wealth and income inequality. Notably, using the appropriate historical parameter values we were able to capture the historical dynamics of wealth inequality in the United States during the course of the 20th century. It is found that the effect of personal savings on wealth inequality is substantial, and its major decrease in the past 30 years can be associated with the current wealth inequality surge. In addition, the effect of increasing income tax, though naturally contributing to lowering income inequality, might contribute to a mild increase in wealth inequality and vice versa. Plausible changes in income tax are found to have an insignificant effect on wealth inequality, in practice. In addition, controlling the income inequality, by progressive taxation, for example, is found to have a very small effect on wealth inequality in the short run. The results imply, therefore, that controlling income inequality is an impractical tool for regulating wealth inequality.

Nuclear power in the context of global warming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bodansky, D.

1989-01-01

The paper examines the extent to which nuclear power could help ameliorate the greenhouse problem. Topics discussed include: (1) How serious is the environmental threat posed by the greenhouse effect? (2) How large a part do fossil fuels play in producing greenhouse gases? (3) Is it possible to prevent or abate the anticipated global warming? (4) Can nuclear power play a significant role? (5) What overall approached might best reduce greenhouse emissions? Global cooperativeness in addressing the problem will be essential. 14 refs., 5 tabs

The European Union’s normative power in global politics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Manners, Ian

2012-01-01

comparison. Both political and scholarly assessments argue that ‘we are one of the most important, if not the most important, normative powers in the world’ (Barroso in Peterson, 2008: 69) and that ‘Europe has tremendous normative power’ (Moravcsik, 2010: 18). The normative power approach set out here makes...... it possible to explain, understand, and judge the EU in global politics by rethinking the nature of power and actorness in a globalising, multilateralising and multipolarising era. The EU uses normative power in global politics but the question is whether it is more prone than other actors to do so? In areas...... which are core to the ‘European project’, it seems clear that the EU is more disposed to use normative power....

Private Institutions and Business Power in Global Governance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ougaard, Morten

2008-01-01

Review essay. This article reviews the books "Transnational Private Governance and its Limits" edited by Jean-Christophe Graz and Andreas Nölke, "Business Power in Global Governance" by Doris Fuchs, and Private Institutions and Global Governance. The New Politics of Environmental Sustainability...

WEALTH MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES IN THE ERA OF E-COMMERCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammed Shahedul QUADER

2011-06-01

Full Text Available This paper looks at the key strategies being applied by wealth management and their competitive position.Each approach has merits, although the multi-channel ‘single brand’ approach seems to be gathering momentum. Ecommercefacilitates differentiation and requires focus, whilst making cost leadership more difficult Choices betweenbeing a traditional or extended wealth manager, or simply a wealth product provider, are increasingly being made.Moreover need for strategic choice in the wealth management market is presented, before looking in more detail at thewealth management strategies commonly adopted. The relative success of each is considered, together with thecompetitive advantages to be gained.

The evolution of wealth transmission in human populations: a stochastic model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Augustins, G; Etienne, L; Ferrer, R; Godelle, B; Rousset, F; Ferdy, J-B; Pitard, E

2014-01-01

Reproductive success and survival are influenced by wealth in human populations. Wealth is transmitted to offsprings and strategies of transmission vary over time and among populations, the main variation being how equally wealth is transmitted to children. Here we propose a model where we simulate both the dynamics of wealth in a population and the evolution of a trait that determines how wealth is transmitted from parents to offspring, in a darwinian context

Multiple chronic health conditions and their link with wealth assets.

Science.gov (United States)

Schofield, Deborah J; Callander, Emily J; Shrestha, Rupendra N; Passey, Megan E; Kelly, Simon J; Percival, Richard

2015-04-01

There has been little research on the economic status of those with multiple health conditions, particularly on the relationship between multiple health conditions and wealth. This paper will assess the difference in the value and type of wealth assets held by Australians who have multiple chronic health conditions. Using Health&WealthMOD, a microsimulation model of the 45-64-year-old Australian population in 2009, a counterfactual analysis was undertaken. The actual proportion of people with different numbers of chronic health conditions with any wealth, and the value of this wealth was estimated. This was compared with the counterfactual values had the individuals had no chronic health conditions. There was no change in the proportion of people with one health condition who actually had any wealth, compared to the counterfactual proportion had they had no chronic health conditions. Ninety-four percent of those with four or more health conditions had some accumulated wealth; however, under the counterfactual, 100% would have had some accumulated wealth. There was little change in the value of non-income-producing assets under the counterfactual, regardless of number of health conditions. Those with four or more chronic health conditions had a mean value of $17 000 in income-producing assets; under the counterfactual, the average would have been $78 000. This study has highlighted the variation in the value of wealth according to number of chronic health conditions, and hence the importance of considering multiple morbidities when discussing the relationship between health and wealth. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Traditional wealth, modern goods, and demographic behavior in rural Senegal

OpenAIRE

Garenne, Michel

2015-01-01

The study investigates the relationships of demographic indicators (fertility, mortality, marriage, education) with modern and traditional wealth in rural Senegal. Data were based on rural households interviewed in the 2011 DHS survey. An Absolute Wealth Index was computed from a list of 15 modern goods. A Traditional Wealth Index was computed from data on land and livestock per capita. Modern wealth was always associated with modern demographic behavior (lower fertility, lower mortality, hig...

The Dynamics of Wealth Inequality and the Effect of Income Distribution

Science.gov (United States)

Berman, Yonatan; Shapira, Yoash

2016-01-01

The rapid increase of wealth inequality in the past few decades is one of the most disturbing social and economic issues of our time. Studying its origin and underlying mechanisms is essential for policy aiming to control and even reverse this trend. In that context, controlling the distribution of income, using income tax or other macroeconomic policy instruments, is generally perceived as effective for regulating the wealth distribution. We provide a theoretical tool, based on the realistic modeling of wealth inequality dynamics, to describe the effects of personal savings and income distribution on wealth inequality. Our theoretical approach incorporates coupled equations, solved using iterated maps to model the dynamics of wealth and income inequality. Notably, using the appropriate historical parameter values we were able to capture the historical dynamics of wealth inequality in the United States during the course of the 20th century. It is found that the effect of personal savings on wealth inequality is substantial, and its major decrease in the past 30 years can be associated with the current wealth inequality surge. In addition, the effect of increasing income tax, though naturally contributing to lowering income inequality, might contribute to a mild increase in wealth inequality and vice versa. Plausible changes in income tax are found to have an insignificant effect on wealth inequality, in practice. In addition, controlling the income inequality, by progressive taxation, for example, is found to have a very small effect on wealth inequality in the short run. The results imply, therefore, that controlling income inequality is an impractical tool for regulating wealth inequality. PMID:27105224

The Dynamics of Wealth Inequality and the Effect of Income Distribution.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yonatan Berman

Full Text Available The rapid increase of wealth inequality in the past few decades is one of the most disturbing social and economic issues of our time. Studying its origin and underlying mechanisms is essential for policy aiming to control and even reverse this trend. In that context, controlling the distribution of income, using income tax or other macroeconomic policy instruments, is generally perceived as effective for regulating the wealth distribution. We provide a theoretical tool, based on the realistic modeling of wealth inequality dynamics, to describe the effects of personal savings and income distribution on wealth inequality. Our theoretical approach incorporates coupled equations, solved using iterated maps to model the dynamics of wealth and income inequality. Notably, using the appropriate historical parameter values we were able to capture the historical dynamics of wealth inequality in the United States during the course of the 20th century. It is found that the effect of personal savings on wealth inequality is substantial, and its major decrease in the past 30 years can be associated with the current wealth inequality surge. In addition, the effect of increasing income tax, though naturally contributing to lowering income inequality, might contribute to a mild increase in wealth inequality and vice versa. Plausible changes in income tax are found to have an insignificant effect on wealth inequality, in practice. In addition, controlling the income inequality, by progressive taxation, for example, is found to have a very small effect on wealth inequality in the short run. The results imply, therefore, that controlling income inequality is an impractical tool for regulating wealth inequality.

Income and Wealth Inequality in America, 1949-2013

OpenAIRE

Kuhn, Moritz; Schularick, Moritz; Steins, Ulrike I.

2017-01-01

This paper studies the distribution of U.S. household income and wealth over the past seven decades. We introduce a newly compiled household-level dataset based on archival data from historical waves of the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). Complementing recent work on top income and wealth shares, the long-run survey data give a granular picture of trends in the bottom 90% of the population. The new data confirm a substantial widening of income and wealth disparities since the 1970s. We sho...

POWER-SHIFTS IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY. TRANSITION TOWARDS A MULTIPOLAR WORLD ORDER

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ion IGNAT

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The paper aims to analyze the new realities and trends related to the new polarity of the global economy, and thus the reconfiguration of global power centers, a process characterized by two simultaneous trends: the rise of new powers and the relative decline of traditional powers. At the beginning of 21st century, global power is suffering two major changes: on the one hand it manifests a transition from West to East, from Atlantic to the Asia-Pacific, and on the other hand, a diffusion from state to non-state actors. Current global economic power has a multipolar distribution, shared between the United States, European Union, Japan and BRICs, with no balance of power between these poles, opposed by the strong ambition of rising countries, China especially, China that rivals the traditional powers represented by the developed countries. The evolution of the main macroeconomic indicators given by the most important global organizations, shows a gradual transition towards a multipolar world. Therefore, the United States is and will remain for a long period of time the global economic leader. However, as China, India and Brazil are growing rapidly, and Russia is looking for lost status, the world is becoming multipolar.

Revisiting r > g-The asymptotic dynamics of wealth inequality

Science.gov (United States)

Berman, Yonatan; Shapira, Yoash

2017-02-01

Studying the underlying mechanisms of wealth inequality dynamics is essential for its understanding and for policy aiming to regulate its level. We apply a heterogeneous non-interacting agent-based modeling approach, solved using iterated maps to model the dynamics of wealth inequality based on 3 parameters-the economic output growth rate g, the capital value change rate a and the personal savings rate s and show that for a income distribution. If a > g, the wealth distribution constantly becomes more and more inegalitarian. We also show that when a economic output, which also implies that the wealth-disposable income ratio asymptotically converges to s /(g - a) .

A Typology of Power in Global Value Chains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dallas, Mark; Ponte, Stefano; Sturgeon, Timothy

‘Power’ has been a foundational concept in examining global value chains and production networks for understanding patterns and dynamics in the global political economy. Yet, in most GVC scholarship, power is not explicitly defined and is applied as a unitary concept, rather than as having multiple...

Global Health Warning: Definitions Wield Power Comment on "Navigating Between Stealth Advocacy and Unconscious Dogmatism: The Challenge of Researching the Norms, Politics and Power of Global Health".

Science.gov (United States)

Marten, Robert

2015-12-25

Gorik Ooms recently made a strong case for considering the centrality of normative premises to analyzing and understanding the underappreciated importance of the nexus of politics, power and process in global health. This critical commentary raises serious questions for the practice and study of global health and global health governance. First and foremost, this commentary underlines the importance of the question of what is global health, and why as well as how does this definition matter? This refocuses discussion on the importance of definitions and how they wield power. It also re-affirms the necessity of a deeper analysis and understanding of power and how it affects and shapes the practice of global health. © 2016 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

WEALTH EFFECT AND DENTAL CARE UTILIZATION IN THE U.S.

Science.gov (United States)

Manski, Richard J.; Moeller, John F.; Chen, Haiyan; Clair, Patricia A. St.; Schimmel, Jody; Pepper, John V.

2012-01-01

Objective The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship of wealth and income and the relative impact of each on dental utilization in a population of older Americans, using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Methods Data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) were analyzed for U.S. individuals aged 51 years and older during the 2008 wave of the HRS. The primary focus of the analysis is the relationship between wealth, income and dental utilization. We estimate a multivariable model of dental use controlling for wealth, income and other potentially confounding covariates. Results We find that both wealth and income each have a strong and independent positive effect on dental care use of older Americans [pdental care utilization as wealth increases depends on a person's income level, or, alternatively, that the impact on dental use as income increases depends on a person's household wealth status [p>.05]. Conclusions Relative to those living in the wealthiest U.S. households, the likelihood of utilizing dental care appears to decrease with a decline in wealth. The likelihood of utilizing dental care also appears to decrease with a decline in income as well. PMID:22515635

On global environment problems in electric power business

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugi, Masashi

1992-01-01

The former environmental problems were atmospheric pollution, water quality contamination, noise and vibration nuisance, waste disposal and so on mainly at interior or district level, but now, the influence that the problems such as the global warming due to carbon dioxide emission, the ozone layer breaking due to freon gas, acid rain going over boundaries and so on exert to environment spreads to wide areas, therefore, various research and investigation have been carried out as the environmental problems on global scale at national and international levels. It has become an important subject to make the preservation of global environment and durable economical development compatible by effectively utilizing limited resources and energy. The electric power companies have advanced positively the prevention of pollution and the preservation of environment, and attained the environment preservation of top level in the world. The consciousness of people on environmental problems has heightened, therefore the construction and operation of power plants harmonized to districts are important. The countermeasures to environmental problems taken by electric power companies are reported. (K.I.)

Wealth Share Analysis with “Fundamentalist/Chartist” Heterogeneous Agents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hai-Chuan Xu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We build a multiassets heterogeneous agents model with fundamentalists and chartists, who make investment decisions by maximizing the constant relative risk aversion utility function. We verify that the model can reproduce the main stylized facts in real markets, such as fat-tailed return distribution and long-term memory in volatility. Based on the calibrated model, we study the impacts of the key strategies’ parameters on investors’ wealth shares. We find that, as chartists’ exponential moving average periods increase, their wealth shares also show an increasing trend. This means that higher memory length can help to improve their wealth shares. This effect saturates when the exponential moving average periods are sufficiently long. On the other hand, the mean reversion parameter has no obvious impacts on wealth shares of either type of traders. It suggests that no matter whether fundamentalists take moderate strategy or aggressive strategy on the mistake of stock prices, it will have no different impact on their wealth shares in the long run.

Global Health Warning: Definitions Wield Power; Comment on “Navigating Between Stealth Advocacy and Unconscious Dogmatism: The Challenge of Researching the Norms, Politics and Power of Global Health”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert Marten

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Gorik Ooms recently made a strong case for considering the centrality of normative premises to analyzing and understanding the underappreciated importance of the nexus of politics, power and process in global health. This critical commentary raises serious questions for the practice and study of global health and global health governance. First and foremost, this commentary underlines the importance of the question of what is global health, and why as well as how does this definition matter? This refocuses discussion on the importance of definitions and how they wield power. It also re-affirms the necessity of a deeper analysis and understanding of power and how it affects and shapes the practice of global health.

Financial Service of Wealth Management Banking: Balanced Scorecard Approach

OpenAIRE

Cheng-Ru Wu; Chin-Tsai Lin; Pei-Hsuan Tsai

2008-01-01

Problem Statement: There are four main banking business sectors in Taiwan, involving the areas of consumer, corporate, wealth management, and investment banking. The wealth management banking sector is actively promoted for reaping a risk-free premium. In the proposed model, the dimensions of financial services for wealth management banks have been taken from four perspectives derived from balanced scorecard approach, viz. finance, customer, internal business, learning and growth. Approach: T...

Power Watch - A global, open database of power plants that supports research on climate, water and air pollution impact of the global power sector.

Science.gov (United States)

Friedrich, J.; Kressig, A.; Van Groenou, S.; McCormick, C.

2017-12-01

Challenge The lack of transparent, accessible, and centralized power sector data inhibits the ability to research the impact of the global power sector. information gaps for citizens, analysts, and decision makers worldwide create barriers to sustainable development efforts. The need for transparent, accessible, and centralized information is especially important to enhance the commitments outlined in the recently adopted Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals. Offer Power Watch will address this challenge by creating a comprehensive, open-source platform on the world's power systems. The platform hosts data on 85% of global installed electrical capacity and for each power plant will include data points on installed capacity, fuel type, annual generation, commissioning year, with more characteristics like emissions, particulate matter, annual water demand and more added over time. Most of the data is reported from national level sources, but annual generation and other operational characteristiscs are estimated via Machine Learning modeling and remotely sensed data when not officially reported. In addition, Power Watch plans to provide a suite of tools that address specific decision maker needs, such as water risk assessments and air pollution modeling. Impact Through open data, the platform and its tools will allow reserachers to do more analysis of power sector impacts and perform energy modeling. It will help catalyze accountability for policy makers, businesses, and investors and will inform and drive the transition to a clean energy future while reaching development targets.

China's Sovereign Wealth Fund Investments in overseas energy: The energy security perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun, Xiaolei; Li, Jianping; Wang, Yongfeng; Clark, Woodrow W.

2014-01-01

Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) are state-owned investment funds that invest in real and financial assets. Since the global financial crisis in 2008, SWFs' investments have resulted in national security concerns of host countries because SWFs continue to expand rapidly and have become increasingly active in real-time strategic transactions. Given this background, China, which has the biggest SWF in the world, is facing severe challenges of energy resources shortages while its plan is to accomplish social and economic development goals. Energy security is a key driving force of the energy investment policy of China's SWFs. This makes the SWF investments more complicated and more politically sensitive. The combination of sovereign rights and the strategic importance of energy also makes geopolitics more complicated and brings more uncertainty to SWF investments. This article explores the relationship between energy security and energy investments of China's SWFs. It is recognised that the energy investment of SWFs must follow a sustainable path to coordinate energy security, economic growth, return on investment and national security concerns. Government policymakers are urged to balance the financial and political returns on SWFs against potential negative effects. The conclusion presents insights for policymakers, energy scholars and SWF researchers. - Highlights: • Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) are government-owned and may pursue geopolitical power. • SWF investment in energy is necessary for commercial and strategic interests. • China's SWFs are active in energy investment to support a “going global” strategy. • Sovereign rights are inevitable to integrate the strategic property of energy. • SWF investments in energy suffer negative impacts due to sovereign rights

Is the U.S. Retirement System Contributing to Rising Wealth Inequality?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sebastian Devlin-Foltz

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Data from the Survey of Consumer Finances for 1989 through 2013 reveal five broad findings. First, overall retirement plan participation was stable or rising through 2007, though overall participation fell noticeably in the wake of the Great Recession and has remained lower. Second, cohort-based analysis of life-cycle trajectories shows that participation in retirement plans is strongly correlated with income, and that the recent decline in participation is concentrated among younger and low- to middle-income families. Third, the shift in the type of pension coverage from defined benefit (DB to defined contribution (DC occurred within—not just across—income groups. Fourth, retirement wealth is less concentrated than nonretirement wealth, so the growth of retirement wealth relative to nonretirement wealth helped offset the increasing concentration in nonretirement wealth. Fifth, the shift from DB to DC had only a modest effect in the other direction because DC wealth is more concentrated than DB wealth.

The influence of economic development level, household wealth and maternal education on child health in the developing world.

Science.gov (United States)

Boyle, Michael H; Racine, Yvonne; Georgiades, Katholiki; Snelling, Dana; Hong, Sungjin; Omariba, Walter; Hurley, Patricia; Rao-Melacini, Purnima

2006-10-01

This study estimates the relative importance to child health (indicated by weight and height for age) of economic development level [gross domestic product (GDP) converted to international dollars using purchasing power parity (PPP) rates: GDP-PPP], household wealth and maternal education and examines the modifying influence of national contexts on these estimates. It uses information collected from mothers aged 15-49-years participating in Demographic Health Surveys (DHS) conducted in 42 developing countries. In multilevel regression models, the three study variables exhibited strong independent associations with child health: GDP-PPP accounted for the largest amount of unique variation, followed by maternal education and household wealth. There was also substantial overlap (shared variance) between maternal education and the other two study variables. The regressions of child health on household wealth and maternal education exhibited substantial cross-national variation in both strength and form of association. Although higher education levels were associated with disproportionately greater returns to child health, the pattern for household wealth was erratic: in many countries there were diminishing returns to child health at higher levels of household wealth. We conclude that there are inextricable links among different strategies for improving child health and that policy planners, associating benefits with these strategies, must take into account the strong moderating impact of national context.

Grand Advantage: Family Wealth and Grandchildren’s Educational Achievement in Sweden

Science.gov (United States)

Hällsten, Martin; Pfeffer, Fabian T.

2017-01-01

We study the role of family wealth for children’s educational achievement using novel and unique Swedish register data. In particular, we focus on the relationship between grandparents’ wealth and their grandchildren’s educational achievement. Doing so allows us to reliably establish the independent role of wealth in contributing to long-term inequalities in opportunity. We use regression models with rich controls to account for observed socioeconomic characteristics of families, cousin fixed effects to net out potentially unobserved grandparental effects, and marginal structural models to account for endogenous selection. We find substantial associations between grandparents’ wealth and their grandchildren’s grade point averages (GPA) in the 9th grade that are only partly mediated by the socioeconomic characteristics and wealth of parents. Our findings indicate that family wealth inequality – even in a comparatively egalitarian context like Sweden – has profound consequences for the distribution of opportunity across multiple generations. We posit that our estimates of the long-term consequences of wealth inequality may be conservative for nations other than Sweden, like the United States, where family wealth – in addition to its insurance and normative functions – allows the direct purchase of educational quality and access. PMID:29200464

The Middle Eastern Wealth Management Industry: Boon or Bust?

OpenAIRE

Michael, Bryane; Apostoloski, Nenad

2014-01-01

The wealth management industry in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) represents a roughly $800 billion opportunity. Yet, tapping this opportunity will require new strategies by the wirehouses looking to penetrate into this market. In this paper, we argue that Middle-Eastern policymakers and bankers will need to develop an indigenous wealth management industry which keeps the super-wealthy’s investments at home. Developing a local national wealth management industry requires letting in fo...

SMEs’ Wealth Creation Model of an Emerging Economy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olalekan Usiobaifo ASIKHIA

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This article synthesizes the evidence on SMEs’ wealth creation in an emerging economy, paying particular attention to human resource/expertise, technology adoption, innovation and creativity, unit economies, organizational infrastructure and strategy as determinants of SMEs’ wealth creation. A survey of 581 Nigerian SMEs was conducted and the data was analysed and tested using multiple regression and structural equation modelling. The findings revealed Human resource/CEOs expertise as the highest contributory factor to wealth creation within the firm in the industrial and the commercial sectors. The relevant domains were modelled and relevant policy adjustments were suggested.

The Theoretical-Methodological Foundations for Studying the Wealth: a Conceptual-Categorial Analysis of the «Wealth – Potential – Development»

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silantiev Oleh I.

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The article is aimed at identifying possibilities for improving theoretical approaches to understanding the contemporary processes in the development of macroeconomic systems and the formation of value of wealth. A conceptual-categorial analysis of the «wealth – potential – development» was carried out using the integrated, complex, system and logical approaches. The article provides improved theoretical approaches to understanding the contemporary processes that are taking place in the world and are linked to the dehumanization of society, when the value of wealth is artificially imposed. The results obtained have a wide potential for practical application, especially in the sphere of production and promotion of goods. Prospect for further research in this direction is an in-depth study on the processes of formation of value, production and consumption of wealth in the current contradictory conditions of transition to post-industrial society.

Wealth Inequality in the Netherlands, c. 1950-2015

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bavel, van Bas; Frankema, Ewout

2017-01-01

This paper reviews the available evidence on post-war trends in Dutch private wealth inequality using a range of scattered sources. Wealth tax records suggest a substantial decline in inequality to the 1970s and, more tentatively, a gradual rise thereafter. In the post-1990 years,

Livelihood Activities And Wealth Ranking Among Rural Households ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Livelihood Activities And Wealth Ranking Among Rural Households In The Farming Systems Of Western Kenya. ... African Journal of Livestock Extension ... The study examined the relationship between the livelihood activities of rural households in the farming systems of Western Kenya in relation to their wealth. A stratified ...

Global warming and nuclear power

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wood, L., LLNL

1998-07-10

Nuclear fission power reactors represent a potential solution to many aspects of global change possibly induced by inputting of either particulate or carbon or sulfur oxides into the Earth`s atmosphere. Of proven technological feasibility, they presently produce high-grade heat for large-scale electricity generation, space heating and industrial process-energizing around the world, without emitting greenhouse gases or atmospheric particulates; importantly, electricity production costs from the best nuclear plants presently are closely comparable with those of the best fossil-fired plants. However, a substantial number of issues currently stand between nuclear power and widespread substitution for large stationary fossil fuel-fired systems. These include perceptual ones regarding both long-term and acute operational safety, plant decommissioning, fuel reprocessing, radwaste disposal, fissile materials diversion to military purposes and - perhaps most seriously- readily quantifiable concerns regarding long-term fuel supply and total unit electrical energy cost. We sketch a road-map for proceeding from the present situation toward a nuclear power-intensive world, addressing along the way each of the concerns which presently impede widespread nuclear substitution for fossil fuels, particularly for coal in the most populous and rapidly developing portions of the world, e.g., China and India. This `design to societal specifications` approach to large-scale nuclear fission power systems may lead to energy sources meeting essentially all stationary demands for high-temperature heat. Such advanced options offer a human population of ten billion the electricity supply levels currently enjoyed by Americans for 10,000 years. Nuclear power systems tailored to local needs-and-interests and having a common advanced technology base could reduce present-day world-wide C0{sub 2} emissions by two-fold, if universally employed. By application to small mobile demands, a second two

How Do the Richest 1% Owns 50% of Wealth in a Small-Open Growth Model with Endogenous Wealth and Human Capital

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei-Bin Zhang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper extends the growth model for a closed national economy by Zhang (2015 to a small-open economy. We attempt to explain some economic mechanisms of how the richest one per cent of the population own 50% of national wealth. We consider endogenous wealth and human capital accumulation by heterogeneous households with different preferences and learning abilities as the main determinants of growth and inequality. We describe the production technologies and economic structure on the basis of the Uzawa two-sector model. By applying Zhang’s concept of disposable income and approach to household behavior, we describe consumers’ wealth accumulation and consumption behavior. We model human capital accumulation on the basis of Arrow’s learning by doing and Zhang’s creativity with leisure. We simulate the model with three groups of the population, the rich 1 %, the middle 69%, and the poor 20%. We demonstrate the existence of an equilibrium point at which the rich 1% own more than half of the national wealth and the poor 20% less than 10% of the national wealth. We show how the system moves to the equilibrium from an initial state and confirm that the equilibrium point is stable. We also conduct comparative dynamic analysis.

75 FR 33343 - Application Nos. and Proposed Exemptions; D-11573, Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. and Its...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-11

... wealth management (retail brokerage) and private wealth management businesses. According to the... programs previously sponsored by Morgan Stanley's Global Wealth Management Group (the MS Channel). As... management fee) which contains investments attributable to the Plan investor. (l) With respect to its...

Petro Rents, Political Institutions, and Hidden Wealth

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Jørgen Juel; Johannesen, Niels; Lassen, David Dreyer

2017-01-01

Do political institutions limit rent seeking by politicians? We study the transformation of petroleum rents, almost universally under direct government control, into hidden wealth using unique data on bank deposits in offshore financial centers that specialize in secrecy and asset protection. Our...... rulers is diverted to secret accounts. We find very limited evidence that shocks to other types of income not directly controlled by governments affect hidden wealth....

Child Benefit Payments and Household Wealth Accumulation

OpenAIRE

Melvin Stephens Jr.; Takashi Unayama

2014-01-01

Using the life-cycle/permanent income hypothesis, we theoretically and empirically assess the impact of child benefit payments on household wealth accumulation. Consistent with the predictions of the model, we find that higher cumulative benefits received increase current assets, higher future benefit payments lower asset holding, and that these effects systematically vary over the life-cycle. We find different wealth responses to child benefit payments for liquidity constrained and unconstra...

Gender differences in pension wealth: estimates using provider data.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, R W; Sambamoorthi, U; Crystal, S

1999-06-01

Information from pension providers was examined to investigate gender differences in pension wealth at midlife. For full-time wage and salary workers approaching retirement age who had pension coverage, median pension wealth on the current job was 76% greater for men than women. Differences in wages, years of job tenure, and industry between men and women accounted for most of the gender gap in pension wealth on the current job. Less than one third of the wealth difference could not be explained by gender differences in education, demographics, or job characteristics. The less-advantaged employment situation of working women currently in midlife carries over into worse retirement income prospects. However, the gender gap in pensions is likely to narrow in the future as married women's employment experiences increasingly resemble those of men.

The Second Law of Economics Energy, Entropy, and the Origins of Wealth

CERN Document Server

Kümmel, Reiner

2011-01-01

Nothing happens in the world without energy conversion and entropy production.  These fundamental natural laws are familiar to most of us when applied to the evolution of stars, biological processes, or the working of an internal combustion engine, but what about industrial economies and wealth production, or their constant companion, pollution?  Does economics conform to the First and the Second  Law of Thermodynamics?  In this important book, Reiner Kümmel takes us on a fascinating tour of these laws and their influence on natural, technological, and social evolution.  Analyzing economic growth in Germany, Japan, and the United States in light of technological constraints on capital, labor, and energy, Professor Kümmel upends conventional economic wisdom by showing that the  productive power of energy far outweighs its small share of costs, while for labor just the opposite is true.  Wealth creation by energy conversion is accompanied and limited by polluting emissions that are coupled to entropy p...

Wealth & Immigration in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dreyer, Johannes Kabderian; Wolffsen, Poul; Mortensen, Mia

2014-01-01

Applying newly developed methods this paper quantifies human capital in Denmark and analyzes highly qualified immigration as a potential source of wealth generation. In order to quantify human capital, we use the methodology of Lettau and Ludvigson (2001, 2004), Zhang (2006) and Dreyer et al. (2013...

Global developments of controls of powered roof supports

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Das, S.K. [Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad (India). Centre of Longwall Mine Mechanisation

1996-04-01

The efficiency of hydraulic powered roof support systems mainly depends upon the efficient control and operation of hydraulic valves and their associated accessories. From 1961 to 1994 tremendous efforts had been made for the development of higher and higher efficient, reliable but simpler control systems starting from the manual hydraulic to electro-hydraulic and finally computer based electronic control system. A global survey of development of various types and design of control systems of powered roof supports has been made and many of them are highlighted in the paper for making this work a small emblem regarding the efforts of development of the controls of powered roof support systems by the global engineers of the 20th century. Many of the control systems are no longer in use and have totally vanished from this earth and many more control systems including their literatures may vanish from this world in the coming decades. This work may give a guideline regarding the selection of right type of control systems for the powered supports in future. 14 refs., 6 figs.

Evaluation of the national wealth in the context of international practices

OpenAIRE

I. Bobuh

2011-01-01

The practices of economic evaluation of a nation's wealth in the foreign countries and in Ukraine are reviewed in the article. The ways to improve methodological approaches to the evaluation of the national wealth are ex-plained. The author laid out the arguments proving the need to apply an empirical matrix of economic evaluation of the national wealth on the basis of the two-level model. The latter treats the national wealth as consisting of national capital and non-capitalized resources.

Wind power: breakthrough to global dimensions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horrighs, W.

1996-01-01

The beginning of the 1980s saw the start of wind-turbine manufacture. Soon it had become a booming industrial sector, thanks mainly to the spirit of some young entrepreneurs and political support in many countries. But the wind-power market has assumed global dimensions and major structural changes have to be faced. (author)

When imagining future wealth influences risky decision making

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam Eric Greenberg

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The body of literature on the relationship between risk aversion and wealth is extensive. However, little attention has been given to examining how future realizations of wealth might affect (current risk decisions. Using paired lottery choice experiments and exposing subjects experimentally to imagined future wealth frames, I find that individuals are more risk-seeking if they are asked to imagine that they will be wealthy in the future. Yet I find that individuals are not significantly more risk-averse if they are asked to imagine that they will be poor in the future. I discuss theoretical and policy implications of these findings, including why savings rates are so low in the United States.

Wealth and Inequality in the Stability of Romantic Relationships

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alicia Eads

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The family is a key institution that transmits inequality, and racial and socioeconomic inequalities in family life have grown markedly. We use data from the 1996 to 2008 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation to offer a comprehensive account of how wealth relates to family stability and how that relationship varies by union type, age cohort, and both type and amount of wealth. We find that liquid and illiquid assets and secured debts are associated with a decrease in the likelihood of dissolution, and that large unsecured debts are associated with an increase. These associations do not differ significantly for married and cohabiting couples. We find evidence of both the material and the symbolic importance of wealth for stability. We also find that wealth explains a significant degree of the racial inequality in family stability.

Macroeconomic Considerations and Motives of Sovereign Wealth Funds Activity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dariusz Urban

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Sovereign wealth funds are entities regarded as an institutional innovation in the international financial market. Due to the nature of the ownership rights, the investment activity of such entities is still highly controversial. Objections against sovereign wealth funds included the alleged extraeconomic goals of their activity. This article attempts to show that the establishment development and operation of sovereign wealth funds are determined by economic factors. The study presents a description of the international monetary system and the motives for building foreign exchange reserves by countries. It has been evidenced on the basis of the most recent data that some countries have reserves considerably exceeding the level regarded as optimal for the economy. The article presents benefits for the economy from the use of sovereign wealth funds to manage excessive foreign exchange reserves.

The future role of nuclear power in the global energy balance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Semenov, B.A.; Guthrie, D.; Tatsuta, Y.

1991-01-01

A sound judgement on the role of nuclear power in the global energy balance within the time span of the next 30 years should logically be based on the consideration of at least a number of factors such as global trends in energy and electricity demand, practically available or estimated sources of supply, major requirements that these energy sources should meet, nuclear power's own potential, a realistic assessment of nuclear power's present status, and problems related to nuclear power. The conclusion of such an analysis is that nuclear power will retain, and may even enhance, its position as an important element in the world's energy supply mix

The recent activities of nuclear power globalization. Our provision against global warming by global deployment of our own technologies as integrated nuclear power plant supply company'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamauchi, Kiyoshi; Suzuki, Shigemitsu

2008-01-01

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) is striving to expand and spread nuclear power plants as an 'Integrated Nuclear Power Plant Supply Company' based on its engineering, manufacturing, and technological support capabilities. The company also has ample experience in the export of major components. MHI is accelerating its global deployment through the market introduction of large-sized strategic reactor US-APWR, the joint development of a mid-sized strategic reactor ATMEA1 with AREVA, and a small strategic reactor PBMR. The company also plans to internationally deploy technologies for the nuclear fuel cycle. We present here the leading-edge trends in the global deployment of these nuclear businesses, all of which help to solve the energy and environmental issues in the world. (author)

Managing global responsibility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saur, K. [Five Winds International, Donzdorf (Germany)

2004-07-01

The electronics industry in particular is a global industry. Local and regional solutions require a globally applicable product design and use global value chains. Operating in increasingly integrated material and product loops offers a unique solution to not only providing markets with compatible solutions, but also offer a chance to significantly reduce the environmental footprint of the industry. Product lifespan extension in emerging economies, utilization of local market needs, utilize available and affordable labour forces and creating wealth and capacity in developing countries may serve as a way to make industry more sustainable and successful. Both the supply side and the product end of life management need to be considered in this global industry. Intelligent solution support the dematerialization and material throughput and help creating markets and build wealth. Critical success factors include knowledge management, capacity building, developing infrastructure. This paper presents a discussion on a solutions oriented approach towards product life cycle management and stewardship combined with sustainable production and consumption considerations, support the industries aspirations and the UNEP Life Cycle Initiative's mission in a perfect manner. The aim of this paper is to offer approaches and develop ideas how economic viable and sustainable solutions can be developed. (orig.)

Nuclear Power Learning and Deployment Rates; Disruption and Global Benefits Forgone

OpenAIRE

Peter A. Lang

2017-01-01

This paper presents evidence of the disruption of a transition from fossil fuels to nuclear power, and finds the benefits forgone as a consequence are substantial. Learning rates are presented for nuclear power in seven countries, comprising 58% of all power reactors ever built globally. Learning rates and deployment rates changed in the late-1960s and 1970s from rapidly falling costs and accelerating deployment to rapidly rising costs and stalled deployment. Historical nuclear global capacit...

The future of personal wealth and inheritance taxation in Norway

OpenAIRE

Pekala, Maciek

2013-01-01

Many countries have recently abandoned or experienced significant reduction in tax rates and revenues from personal wealth and inheritance taxation. Today, Norway remains one of the few countries that still tax annual wealth and intergenerational wealth transfers. Both taxes however face a substantial opposition and their future remains uncertain. In this paper, a dynamic microsimulation model MOSART developed by Statistics Norway is used to project and discuss future revenues and distributio...

Long-term effects of wealth on mortality and self-rated health status.

Science.gov (United States)

Hajat, Anjum; Kaufman, Jay S; Rose, Kathryn M; Siddiqi, Arjumand; Thomas, James C

2011-01-15

Epidemiologic studies seldom include wealth as a component of socioeconomic status. The authors investigated the associations between wealth and 2 broad outcome measures: mortality and self-rated general health status. Data from the longitudinal Panel Study of Income Dynamics, collected in a US population between 1984 and 2005, were used to fit marginal structural models and to estimate relative and absolute measures of effect. Wealth was specified as a 6-category variable: those with ≤0 wealth and quintiles of positive wealth. There were a 16%-44% higher risk and 6-18 excess cases of poor/fair health (per 1,000 persons) among the less wealthy relative to the wealthiest quintile. Less wealthy men, women, and whites had higher risk of poor/fair health relative to their wealthy counterparts. The overall wealth-mortality association revealed a 62% increased risk and 4 excess deaths (per 1,000 persons) among the least wealthy. Less wealthy women had between a 24% and a 90% higher risk of death, and the least wealthy men had 6 excess deaths compared with the wealthiest quintile. Overall, there was a strong inverse association between wealth and poor health status and between wealth and mortality.

The necessity of nuclear power: a global human and environmental imperative

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ritch, J.

2008-01-01

Humankind cannot conceivably achieve a global clean-energy revolution without a huge expansion of nuclear power to generate electricity; to produce battery power and possibly hydrogen for tomorrow's vehicles; to desalinate seawater in response to the worlds rapidly emerging fresh-water crisis. Factors for accelerating the nuclear renaissance are: comprehensive post-Kyoto agreement all major nations, with appropriate obligations, strong political and economic incentives and goal to achieve 60% cut in global emissions by 2050; harness UN system to one clean-energy vision nuclear power at centre of global strategy; national incentive policies not for subsidy but for acceleration; education policies public's better understanding of nuclear energy new generation of nuclear professionals

Electric power globalization and reforming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soares Neto, Jose Lino

1999-01-01

The central issue of debate was the need to align the energy sector's options and organization with changing global patterns of economic and social development, characterized by the increasing role played by the private sector, greater integration in the world economy, and new economic and social priorities such as efficiency, decentralization, deregulation, and a closer attention to environmental issues. The aim of the work was to define the economic and political forces of the electric power sector regulation restructuring

Inequality measures for wealth distribution: Population vs individuals perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Pascoal, R.; Rocha, H.

2018-02-01

Economic inequality is, nowadays, frequently perceived as following a growing trend with impact on political and religious agendas. However, there is a wide range of inequality measures, each of which pointing to a possibly different degree of inequality. Furthermore, regardless of the measure used, it only acknowledges the momentary population inequality, failing to capture the individuals evolution over time. In this paper, several inequality measures were analyzed in order to compare the typical single time instant degree of wealth inequality (population perspective) to the one obtained from the individuals' wealth mean over several time instants (individuals perspective). The proposed generalization of a simple addictive model, for limited time average of individual's wealth, allows us to verify that the typically used inequality measures for a given snapshot instant of the population significantly overestimate the individuals' wealth inequality over time. Moreover, that is more extreme for the ratios than for the indices analyzed.

Age Moderates the Relationship Between Generativity Concern and Understanding of Wealth.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Tianyuan; Tsang, Vivian Hiu-Ling

2016-01-01

Wealth can be considered as resource to promote either public welfare (i.e. through altruistic understanding) or personal well-being (i.e. through egoistic understanding). How people understand wealth can influence the distribution of valuable materialistic resources within a society. The current study examined how generativity concern, the concern for next generation and social welfare in the future, influenced people's understanding of wealth and whether age moderated the relationship. A total of 133 participants ranging from 18 to 78 years old were interviewed with four open-ended questions regarding their understanding of wealth. Their generativity concern and demographical information were also recorded. Findings showed that generativity concern was related to a less egoistic and more altruistic understanding of wealth. Moreover, the effect of generativity concern was especially salient for younger adults, but not significant for older adults. The results suggest that generativity concern is a construct that applies to both young and older adults. It can even be more influential to young adults' cognitive conceptualization in certain aspects (e.g., understanding of wealth) than that of older adults. Future studies can further investigate the general impact of generativity concern as well as the behavioral consequences of people's understanding of wealth. The results were also discussed in the context of lifelong learning.

Does wealth inequality matter for growth? The effect of billionaire wealth, income distribution, and poverty

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Bagchi, S.; Švejnar, Jan

2015-01-01

Roč. 43, č. 3 (2015), s. 505-530 ISSN 0147-5967 Institutional support: PRVOUK-P23 Keywords : economic growth * wealth inequality * income inequality Subject RIV: AH - Economics Impact factor: 1.380, year: 2015

Mental Health Following Acquisition of Disability in Adulthood—The Impact of Wealth

Science.gov (United States)

Kavanagh, Anne Marie; Aitken, Zoe; Krnjacki, Lauren; LaMontagne, Anthony Daniel; Bentley, Rebecca; Milner, Allison

2015-01-01

Background Acquisition of a disability in adulthood has been associated with a reduction in mental health. We tested the hypothesis that low wealth prior to disability acquisition is associated with a greater deterioration in mental health than for people with high wealth. Methods We assess whether level of wealth prior to disability acquisition modifies this association using 12 waves of data (2001–2012) from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey–a population-based cohort study of working-age Australians. Eligible participants reported at least two consecutive waves of disability preceded by at least two consecutive waves without disability (1977 participants, 13,518 observations). Fixed-effects linear regression was conducted with a product term between wealth prior to disability (in tertiles) and disability acquisition with the mental health component score of the SF–36 as the outcome. Results In models adjusted for time-varying confounders, there was evidence of negative effect measure modification by prior wealth of the association between disability acquisition and mental health (interaction term for lowest wealth tertile: -2.2 points, 95% CI -3.1 points, -1.2, pwealth was associated with a greater decline in mental health following disability acquisition (-3.3 points, 95% CI -4.0, -2.5) than high wealth (-1.1 points, 95% CI -1.7, -0.5). Conclusion The findings suggest that low wealth prior to disability acquisition in adulthood results in a greater deterioration in mental health than among those with high wealth. PMID:26444990

Mental Health Following Acquisition of Disability in Adulthood--The Impact of Wealth.

Science.gov (United States)

Kavanagh, Anne Marie; Aitken, Zoe; Krnjacki, Lauren; LaMontagne, Anthony Daniel; Bentley, Rebecca; Milner, Allison

2015-01-01

Acquisition of a disability in adulthood has been associated with a reduction in mental health. We tested the hypothesis that low wealth prior to disability acquisition is associated with a greater deterioration in mental health than for people with high wealth. We assess whether level of wealth prior to disability acquisition modifies this association using 12 waves of data (2001-2012) from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey--a population-based cohort study of working-age Australians. Eligible participants reported at least two consecutive waves of disability preceded by at least two consecutive waves without disability (1977 participants, 13,518 observations). Fixed-effects linear regression was conducted with a product term between wealth prior to disability (in tertiles) and disability acquisition with the mental health component score of the SF-36 as the outcome. In models adjusted for time-varying confounders, there was evidence of negative effect measure modification by prior wealth of the association between disability acquisition and mental health (interaction term for lowest wealth tertile: -2.2 points, 95% CI -3.1 points, -1.2, pwealth was associated with a greater decline in mental health following disability acquisition (-3.3 points, 95% CI -4.0, -2.5) than high wealth (-1.1 points, 95% CI -1.7, -0.5). The findings suggest that low wealth prior to disability acquisition in adulthood results in a greater deterioration in mental health than among those with high wealth.

Globalization challenges in a globalized world

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dr.Sc. Gjon Boriçi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Globalization is an ongoing phenomenon trying to redefine the economic, social, cultural and political dynamics of contemporary societies. The communication among countries and not only them, has been increased expanding political ties, making possible greater economic integration and wider cultural relations combined with augmented global wealth across the world. But, the process of globalization is in wider terms considered a beneficial one, but also viewed by some countries as a menace to national sovereignty and national culture. This paper tries to explain the obstacles to the process of globalization and its attendant benefits. Although globalization has arisen as a result of a more stable world, the factors that had contributed to its rise also help the factions interested to bring destabilization. In an academic approach in this article, between the research and comparative methods, I have been trying to get the maxims between economy, politics and diplomacy in their efforts of affecting the global era.

Modeling the Origin and Possible Control of the Wealth Inequality Surge.

Science.gov (United States)

Berman, Yonatan; Shapira, Yoash; Ben-Jacob, Eshel

2015-01-01

The rapid increase of wealth inequality in the past few decades is a most disturbing social and economic issue of our time. In order to control, and even reverse that surge, its origin and underlying mechanisms should be revealed. One of the challenges in studying these mechanisms is to incorporate realistic individual dynamics in the population level in a self-consistent manner. Our theoretical approach meets the challenge by using interacting multi-agent master-equations to model the dynamics of wealth inequality. The model is solved using stochastic multi-agent iterated maps. Taking into account growth rate, return on capital, private savings and economic mobility, we were able to capture the historical dynamics of wealth inequality in the United States during the course of the 20th century. We show that the fraction of capital income in the national income and the fraction of private savings are the critical factors that govern the wealth inequality dynamics. In addition, we found that economic mobility plays a crucial role in wealth accumulation. Notably, we found that the major decrease in private savings since the 1980s could be associated primarily with the recent surge in wealth inequality and if nothing changes in this respect we predict further increase in wealth inequality in the future. However, the 2007-08 financial crisis brought an opportunity to restrain the wealth inequality surge by increasing private savings. If this trend continues, it may lead to prevention, and even reversing, of the ongoing inequality surge.

MARRIAGE AND MEN’S WEALTH ACCUMULATION IN THE UNITED STATES, 1860-1870

Science.gov (United States)

HONG, SOK CHUL

2013-01-01

This paper explores how changes in marital status affected men’s wealth accumulation in mid-nineteenth-century America, using a longitudinal sample of Union Army veterans linked to the 1860 and 1870 census manuscript schedules. Controlling for the endogeneity of wealth and marital selection, this paper provides strong evidence that marriage had positive effects on men’s wealth accumulation, whereas ending a marriage had negative effects. The estimated wealth premium on married men is about 60 percent per marital year. This substantial wealth premium is closely related to wives’ specializing in household production, and farmers and craftsmen economically benefited from the unpaid labor of their wives. PMID:24058226

Power Laws are Disguised Boltzmann Laws

Science.gov (United States)

Richmond, Peter; Solomon, Sorin

Using a previously introduced model on generalized Lotka-Volterra dynamics together with some recent results for the solution of generalized Langevin equations, we derive analytically the equilibrium mean field solution for the probability distribution of wealth and show that it has two characteristic regimes. For large values of wealth, it takes the form of a Pareto style power law. For small values of wealth, wGeneralized Lotka-Volterra type of stochastic dynamics. The power law that arises in the distribution function is identified with new additional logarithmic terms in the familiar Boltzmann distribution function for the system. These are a direct consequence of the multiplicative stochastic dynamics and are absent for the usual additive stochastic processes.

The taxation of wealth transfers in Thailand

OpenAIRE

Rodthong, Ratichai

2016-01-01

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London This thesis examines the case for a wealth transfer tax in Thailand, against the background, inter alia, of the failure of Thailand’s defunct tax law on estate and inheritance (the Estate and Inheritance Tax Act, 1933). Thailand has a significant problem with income and wealth distribution, with an increasing gulf between the rich and the poor—a root cause of the nation’s ongoing pol...

Global analysis of a renewable micro hydro power generation plant

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, Md. Shad; Nabil, Imtiaz Muhammed; Alam, M. Mahbubul

2017-12-01

Hydroelectric power or Hydropower means the power generated by the help of flowing water with force. It is one the best source of renewable energy in the world. Water evaporates from the earth's surface, forms clouds, precipitates back to earth, and flows toward the ocean. Hydropower is considered a renewable energy resource because it uses the earth's water cycle to generate electricity. As far as Global is concerned, only a small fraction of electricity is generated by hydro-power. The aim of our analysis is to demonstrate and observe the hydropower of the Globe in micro-scale by our experimental setup which is completely new in concept. This paper consists of all the Global and National Scenario of Hydropower. And how we can more emphasize the generation of Hydroelectric power worldwide.

The Nuclear Review: the Institution of Nuclear Engineers' response to the Review of Nuclear Power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1994-01-01

The United Kingdom Government's Nuclear Review currently underway, addresses whether and in what form nuclear power should continue to be part of the country's power generation capability. This article sets out the response of the Institution of Nuclear Engineers to the Nuclear Review. This pro-nuclear group emphasises the benefits to be gained from diversity of generation in the energy supply industry. The environmentally benign nature of nuclear power is emphasised, in terms of gaseous emissions. The industry's excellent safety record also argues in favour of nuclear power. Finally, as power demand increases globally, a health U.K. nuclear industry could generate British wealth through power exports and via the construction industry. The Institution's view on radioactive waste management is also set out. (UK)

Do the wealthy have a health advantage? Cardiovascular disease risk factors and wealth.

Science.gov (United States)

Hajat, A; Kaufman, J S; Rose, K M; Siddiqi, A; Thomas, J C

2010-12-01

The use of wealth as a measure of socioeconomic status (SES) remains uncommon in epidemiological studies. When used, wealth is often measured crudely and at a single point in time. Our study explores the relationship between wealth and three cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors (smoking, obesity and hypertension) in a US population. We improve upon existing literature by using a detailed and validated measure of wealth in a longitudinal setting. We used four waves of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) collected between 1999 and 2005. Inverse probability weights were employed to control for time-varying confounding and to estimate both relative (risk ratio) and absolute (risk difference) measures of effect. Wealth was defined as inflation-adjusted net worth and specified as a six category variable: one category for those with less than or equal to zero wealth and quintiles of positive wealth. After adjusting for income and other time-varying confounders, as well as baseline covariates, the risk of becoming obese was inversely related to wealth. There was a 40%-89% higher risk of becoming obese among the less wealthy relative to the wealthiest quintile and 11 to 25 excess cases (per 1000 persons) among the less wealthy groups over six years of follow up. Smoking initiation had similar but more moderate effects; risk ratios and differences both revealed a smaller magnitude of effect compared to obesity. Of the three CVD risk factors examined here, hypertension incidence had the weakest association with wealth, showing a smaller increased risk and fewer excess cases among the less wealthy groups. In conclusion, this study found a strong inverse association between wealth and obesity incidence, a moderate inverse association between wealth and smoking initiation and a weak inverse association between wealth and hypertension incidence after controlling for income and other time-varying confounders. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Power in global health agenda-setting: the role of private funding Comment on "Knowledge, moral claims and the exercise of power in global health".

Science.gov (United States)

Levine, Ruth E

2015-03-04

The editorial by Jeremy Shiffman, "Knowledge, moral claims and the exercise of power in global health", highlights the influence on global health priority-setting of individuals and organizations that do not have a formal political mandate. This sheds light on the way key functions in global health depend on private funding, particularly from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. © 2015 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Wealth index and maternal health care: Revisiting NFHS-3.

Science.gov (United States)

Goel, Manish Kr; Roy, Pritam; Rasania, Sanjeev Kumar; Roy, Sakhi; Kumar, Yogesh; Kumar, Arun

2015-01-01

The third National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) is a large dataset on indicators of family welfare, maternal and child health, and nutrition in India. This article using NFHS-3 data is an attempt to bring out the impact of economic status, i.e., the wealth index on maternal health. The study was based on an analysis of the NFHS-3 data. Independent variables taken were the wealth index, literacy, and age at first child birth. Effects of these variables on the maternal health care services were investigated. Out of the total 124,385 women aged 15-49 years included in the NFHS-3 dataset, 36,850 (29.6%) had one or more childbirth during the past 5 years. The number of antenatal care (ANC) visits increased as the wealth index increased and there was a pattern for choice of place of delivery (for all deliveries during the last 5 years) according to the wealth index. Logistic regression analysis of the abovementioned variables were sought to find out the independent role of key determinants of the different aspects of maternal health care. It showed that the wealth index is the leading key independent determinant for three or more ANC received: Tetanus toxoid (TT) received before delivery, iron tablet/syrup taken for more than 100 days, and institutional delivery. Mother's literacy was the leading independent key determinant for early antenatal registration. The study suggested that along with the mother's literacy, the wealth index that is an important predictor of maternal health care can be added for categorization of the districts for providing differential approach for maternal health care services.

Health and wealth in Uzbekistan and sub-Saharan Africa in comparative perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Hohmann, Sophie; Garenne, Michel

2010-12-01

The study investigates the magnitude of differences in child and adult mortality by wealth in Uzbekistan, a former soviet country of Central Asia, and compares it with similar indicators from sub-Saharan Africa. Data were derived from Demographic and Health Surveys. An "Absolute Wealth Index" was built from data on goods owned by households and quality of housing, and scaled from 0 to 12. Wealth was distributed evenly in Uzbekistan, with a symmetric distribution around a mean of 5.5 modern goods. In sub-Saharan Africa, on the contrary, the wealth distribution had a lower mean (2.5) and was highly skewed towards the left, revealing a high proportion of very poor people. Adult and child mortality levels were lower in Uzbekistan. Despite these major differences, the relationships between mortality indicators and the wealth index were similar in the two cases. The magnitude of mortality differentials by wealth was of the same order in both cases, with gradients ranging from 2.5 to 1 for child mortality and 1.5 to 1 for adult mortality (poorest versus richest). However, mortality levels remained lower in Uzbekistan than in sub-Saharan Africa at the same level of wealth for both children and adults. A similar relationship was found between nutritional status and wealth index in both cases. On the contrary, there were no differences by wealth in use of health services and level of education in Uzbekistan, whereas wealth gradients were steep for the same variables in sub-Saharan Africa. The study suggests that mortality differentials were primarily due to nutritional status, and not to access and use of health services or to education. The discussion focuses on health and social policies during the colonial and post-colonial period that have produced these patterns. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Green power and performance in global environmental governance

OpenAIRE

Never, Babette

2013-01-01

From 10 to 11 June 2013, the Global Green Growth Summit will take place in Seoul. Policymakers, international organizations and experts from various fi elds will once again discuss how the transformation toward a green economy and more sustainable development paths can be managed. Global environmental governance is characterized by a high number of international activities, but actual environmental outcomes vary. The ability to develop green political and economic power that leads to bett er ...

Housing wealth and US money demand : A panel estimation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Arnold, I.J.M.; Roelands, S.

2011-01-01

This article estimates a panel model for U.S. money demand using annual state-level data for the period from 1977 to 2008. We incorporate housing wealth in the demand-for-money function and find strong evidence of a relationship between a broad monetary aggregate and housing wealth. This finding is

IMBALANCE FACTORS IN THE ARAB WORLD: CONFLICTS AND NATURAL WEALTH DEVALUATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

RALUCA IOANA OPREA

2016-12-01

Full Text Available In an international context characterized by globalization, the analysis of the Arab world is all the more relevant as the particularities of this space are more stringent. To analyse the economy of this region properly, one should consider matters of natural resources that are wealth generators in this area (oil and natural gas, addressed in a global and regional context. Post conflict situation, generated after the Arab Spring (2011, affects the entire region, including GCC countries, where all the members are dealing with decline in their balance of payments. Intra-regional integration stays difficult due to the gap between the development status of the countries. Arab states face the highest unemployment rate for youth and about one third of the population deal with moderate poverty. The geopolitical tensions in the region and the decline of oil prices are the two factors which can lead to a major decline of the area.

On nuclear power, population and sustainable global civilization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishiguro, Yuji

2007-01-01

Humanity is facing a multitude of difficult problems that threaten not only human development but the very continuity of civilization. The fundamental cause is the size of the human population but at present the subject is not discussed in international fora. It is not clear if it is wishfully avoided or if it is not recognized as the fundamental problem. Without limiting fertility and population globally, there will be no future for civilization as we know it and there will be no need for nuclear power as a source of energy. Instead, nuclear power will be the principal agent of the end. The nuclear community is in a position to point out the problem and propose a solution. Principles of sustainability and a path to a sustainable global civilization are shown. (author)

Elements of Property Wealth and Educational Expenditures in Illinois.

Science.gov (United States)

Lows, Raymond L.; Ho, Fanny

This study examines the relationships between various elements of property wealth and operating expenditures per pupil by types of school district--elementary (K-8), high (9-12), and unit (K-12). Elements of property wealth were defined as the equalized assessed valuation per pupil for each of the following property tax classifications:…

Framing Political Change: Can a Left Populism Disrupt the Rise of the Reactionary Right?; Comment on “Politics, Power, Poverty and Global Health: Systems and Frames”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ronald Labonté

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Solomon Benatar offers an important critique of the limited frame that sets the boundaries of much of what is referred to as ‘global health.’ In placing his comments within a criticism of increasing poverty (or certainly income and wealth inequalities and the decline in our environmental commons, he locates our health inequities within the pathology of our present global economy. In that respect it is a companion piece to an editorial I published around the same time. Both Benatar’s and my paralleling arguments take on a new urgency in the wake of the US presidential election. Although not a uniquely American event (the xenophobic right has been making inroads in many parts of the world, the degree of vitriol expressed by the President-elect of the world’s (still most powerful and militarized country is being used to further legitimate the policies of right-extremist parties in Europe while providing additional justification for the increasingly autocratic politics of leaders (elected or otherwise in many other of the world’s nations. To challenge right-populism’s rejection of the predatory inequalities that 4 years of (neo-liberal globalization have created demands strong and sustained left populism built, in part, on the ecocentric frame advocated by Benatar.

Wealth distribution across communities of adaptive financial agents

Science.gov (United States)

DeLellis, Pietro; Garofalo, Franco; Lo Iudice, Francesco; Napoletano, Elena

2015-08-01

This paper studies the trading volumes and wealth distribution of a novel agent-based model of an artificial financial market. In this model, heterogeneous agents, behaving according to the Von Neumann and Morgenstern utility theory, may mutually interact. A Tobin-like tax (TT) on successful investments and a flat tax are compared to assess the effects on the agents’ wealth distribution. We carry out extensive numerical simulations in two alternative scenarios: (i) a reference scenario, where the agents keep their utility function fixed, and (ii) a focal scenario, where the agents are adaptive and self-organize in communities, emulating their neighbours by updating their own utility function. Specifically, the interactions among the agents are modelled through a directed scale-free network to account for the presence of community leaders, and the herding-like effect is tested against the reference scenario. We observe that our model is capable of replicating the benefits and drawbacks of the two taxation systems and that the interactions among the agents strongly affect the wealth distribution across the communities. Remarkably, the communities benefit from the presence of leaders with successful trading strategies, and are more likely to increase their average wealth. Moreover, this emulation mechanism mitigates the decrease in trading volumes, which is a typical drawback of TTs.

Corporate Restructuring and Bondholder Wealth

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Renneboog, L.D.R.; Szilagyi, P.G.

2006-01-01

Abstract: This paper provides an overview of existing research on how corporate restructuring affects the wealth of creditors. Restructuring is defined as any transaction that affects the firm’s underlying capital structure. Thus, it reaches well beyond asset restructuring and includes transactions

Corporate Restructuring and Bondholder Wealth

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Renneboog, L.D.R.; Szilagyi, P.G.

2006-01-01

This paper provides an overview of existing research on how corporate restructuring affects the wealth of creditors.Restructuring is defined as any transaction that affects the firm's underlying capital structure.Thus, it reaches well beyond asset restructuring and includes transactions such as

Duality in an asset exchange model for wealth distribution

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jie; Boghosian, Bruce M.

2018-05-01

Asset exchange models are agent-based economic models with binary transactions. Previous investigations have augmented these models with mechanisms for wealth redistribution, quantified by a parameter χ, and for trading bias favoring wealthier agents, quantified by a parameter ζ. By deriving and analyzing a Fokker-Planck equation for a particular asset exchange model thus augmented, it has been shown that it exhibits a second-order phase transition at ζ / χ = 1, between regimes with and without partial wealth condensation. In the "subcritical" regime with ζ / χ 1, a fraction 1 - χ / ζ of the wealth is condensed. Intuitively, one may associate the supercritical, wealth-condensed regime as reflecting the presence of "oligarchy," by which we mean that an infinitesimal fraction of the total agents hold a finite fraction of the total wealth in the continuum limit. In this paper, we further elucidate the phase behavior of this model - and hence of the generalized solutions of the Fokker-Planck equation that describes it - by demonstrating the existence of a remarkable symmetry between its supercritical and subcritical regimes in the steady-state. Noting that the replacement { ζ → χ , χ → ζ } , which clearly has the effect of inverting the order parameter ζ / χ, provides a one-to-one correspondence between the subcritical and supercritical states, we demonstrate that the wealth distribution of the subcritical state is identical to that of the corresponding supercritical state when the oligarchy is removed from the latter. We demonstrate this result analytically, both from the microscopic agent-level model and from its macroscopic Fokker-Planck description, as well as numerically. We argue that this symmetry is a kind of duality, analogous to the famous Kramers-Wannier duality between the subcritical and supercritical states of the Ising model, and to the Maldacena duality that underlies AdS/CFT theory.

The rise of sovereign wealth funds: the new geography of wealth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Du Granrut, Ch.

2008-01-01

For some time now states have been 'making a comeback' in the management of certain strategic areas of the economy, such as energy, as in the case of Russia that was covered in the January 2008 issue of Futuribles. Some emergent countries or countries whose main source of income is their oil revenues are also moving into strategic sectors through the financial markets, using so-called 'sovereign' investment funds. Charles du Granrut describes what sovereign funds are, what they represent in terms of international economic relations and the investment strategies they apply etc. He first recalls the substantial accumulation of trading surpluses that underlies these funds in the Asian countries and the oil-exporting nations. An accumulation of currency reserves ensues, conferring substantial power on these countries with regard to the management of exchange rates and the possibility of managing a part of these reserves dynamically through sovereign funds (funds for the international investment of national savings that come under the authority of the states or central banks of these countries). After giving an account of the main existing sovereign funds, their scope and their strategy, Charles du Granrut shows what the consequences of their development might be, particularly for the international monetary system: among other things, a lasting rise in exchange rates against the US dollar, generating a transfer of wealth from the United States to its creditor countries, foremost among them the emerging Asian nations and the oil exporting states. (author)

INTERPRETING GLOBAL EARTH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shahrokh W. Dalpour

2012-07-01

Full Text Available In today’s constantly changing world it is often times difficult to understand thechanges happening around us every second. Some of these changes may be, inthe aggregate,for good, while others may have unappreciated and heavy costs.What isGlobalization? Globalization is “an elimination of barriers to trade,communication, and cultural exchange. The theory behind globalization is thatworldwide openness will promote the inherent wealth of all nations.”(Jones,2012All this encompasses global cultures, international economics and other growingsocial networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Throughout thisanalysis the pros and cons of globalization will be discussed and also whetherornot globalization is in fact as much of a benefit for today’s global economy─as somany think─will be determined. First,identification of the various types ofglobalization is necessary.

Stochastic processes in the social sciences: Markets, prices and wealth distributions

Science.gov (United States)

Romero, Natalia E.

The present work uses statistical mechanics tools to investigate the dynamics of markets, prices, trades and wealth distribution. We studied the evolution of market dynamics in different stages of historical development by analyzing commodity prices from two distinct periods ancient Babylon, and medieval and early modern England. We find that the first-digit distributions of both Babylon and England commodity prices follow Benfords law, indicating that the data represent empirical observations typically arising from a free market. Further, we find that the normalized prices of both Babylon and England agricultural commodities are characterized by stretched exponential distributions, and exhibit persistent correlations of a power law type over long periods of up to several centuries, in contrast to contemporary markets. Our findings suggest that similar market interactions may underlie the dynamics of ancient agricultural commodity prices, and that these interactions may remain stable across centuries. To further investigate the dynamics of markets we present the analogy between transfers of money between individuals and the transfer of energy through particle collisions by means of the kinetic theory of gases. We introduce a theoretical framework of how the micro rules of trading lead to the emergence of income and wealth distribution. Particularly, we study the effects of different types of distribution of savings/investments among individuals in a society and different welfare/subsidies redistribution policies. Results show that while considering savings propensities the models approach empirical distributions of wealth quite well the effect of redistribution better captures specific features of the distributions which earlier models failed to do; moreover the models still preserve the exponential decay observed in empirical income distributions reported by tax data and surveys.

Complex association between rural/urban residence, household wealth and women's overweight: evidence from 30 cross-sectional national household surveys in Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Madise, Nyovani Janet; Letamo, Gobopamang

2017-01-01

We sought to demonstrate that the relationship between urban or rural residence and overweight status among women in Sub-Saharan Africa is complex and confounded by wealth status. We applied multilevel logistic regression to data from 30 sub-Saharan African countries which were collected between 2006 and 2012 to examine the association between women's overweight status (body mass index ≥ 25) and household wealth, rural or urban place of residence, and their interaction. Macro-level statistics from United Nations agencies were used as contextual variables to assess the link between progress in globalization and patterns of overweight. Household wealth was associated with increased odds of being overweight in nearly all of the countries. Urban/rural living and household wealth had a complex association with women's overweight status, shown by 3 patterns. In one group of countries, characterised by low national wealth (median per capita gross national income (GNI) = $660 in 2012) and lower overall prevalence of female overweight (median = 24 per cent in 2010), high household wealth and urban living had independent associations with increased risks of being overweight. In the second group of less poor countries (median per capita GNI = $870) and higher national levels of female overweight (median = 29), there was a cross-over association where rural women had lower risks of overweight than urban women at lower levels of household wealth, but in wealthier households, rural women had higher risks of overweight than urban women. In the final group of countries, household wealth was an important predictor of overweight status, but the association between urban or rural place of residence and overweight status was not statistically significant. The median per capita GNI for this third group was $800 and national prevalence of female overweight was high (median = 32% in 2010). As nations develop and household wealth increases, rural African women

Does wealth inequality matter for growth? The effect of billionaire wealth, income distribution, and poverty

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Bagchi, S.; Švejnar, Jan

2015-01-01

Roč. 43, č. 3 (2015), s. 505-530 ISSN 0147-5967 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA15-24642S Institutional support: RVO:67985998 Keywords : economic growth * wealth inequality * income inequality Subject RIV: AH - Economics Impact factor: 1.380, year: 2015

Gender Wealth Gap in Slovakia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

S.K. Trommlerová (Sofia Karina)

2017-01-01

markdownabstractNo data on wealth has been available in Slovakia prior to Household Finance and Consumption Survey. Therefore, only studies on labor market participation and wage gender gaps are available to date. These studies indicate that Slovak women earn on average 25% less than men.

Global warming---The role for nuclear power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, J.E. Jr.; Fulkerson, W.

1989-01-01

Nuclear power is currently making an important contribution to our energy requirements. It provides 17% of the world's electricity today --- almost 20% in the US. Reducing the emissions of carbon dioxide over the next 30 to 50 years sufficiently to address the issue of global warming can only be accomplished by a combination of much improved energy efficiency, substantial growth in use of nuclear power, and substantial growth in use of renewable energy. This paper discusses new initiatives in the major nuclear technologies (LWR, HTGR, LMR) which are emerging from a fundamental reexamination of nuclear power in response to the challenges and opportunities in the 21st century. To fulfill its role, nuclear power must gain worldwide acceptance as a viable energy option. The use of modern technology and ''passive'' safety features in next-generation nuclear power plants offers the potential to simplify their design and operation, enhance their safety, and reduce the cost of electricity. With such improvements, we believe nuclear power can regain public confidence and make a significant contribution to our energy future. 24 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab

The Influence of Wealth and Race in Four-Year College Attendance

OpenAIRE

Su Jin Jez

2008-01-01

College is increasingly essential for economic and social mobility. Current research devotes significant attention to race and socioeconomic factors in college access. Yet wealth’s role, as differentiated from income, is largely unexplored. Utilizing a nationally representative dataset, this study analyzes the role of wealth among students who attend four-year colleges. The hypothesis that wealth matters through the provision of differential habitus, social capital, and cultural capital tha...

Effects of heterogeneous wealth distribution on public cooperation with collective risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jing; Fu, Feng; Wang, Long

2010-07-01

The distribution of wealth among individuals in real society can be well described by the Pareto principle or "80-20 rule." How does such heterogeneity in initial wealth distribution affect the emergence of public cooperation, when individuals, the rich and the poor, engage in a collective-risk enterprise, not to gain a profit but to avoid a potential loss? Here we address this issue by studying a simple but effective model based on threshold public goods games. We analyze the evolutionary dynamics for two distinct scenarios, respectively: one with fair sharers versus defectors and the other with altruists versus defectors. For both scenarios, particularly, we in detail study the dynamics of the population with dichotomic initial wealth-the rich versus the poor. Moreover, we demonstrate the possible steady compositions of the population and provide the conditions for stability of these steady states. We prove that in a population with heterogeneous wealth distribution, richer individuals are more likely to cooperate than poorer ones. Participants with lower initial wealth may choose to cooperate only if all players richer than them are cooperators. The emergence of pubic cooperation largely relies on rich individuals. Furthermore, whenever the wealth gap between the rich and the poor is sufficiently large, cooperation of a few rich individuals can substantially elevate the overall level of social cooperation, which is in line with the well-known Pareto principle. Our work may offer an insight into the emergence of cooperative behavior in real social situations where heterogeneous distribution of wealth among individual is omnipresent.

Emergence of Wealth Inequality in China: Evidence from Rural Household Survey, 1986 -2000

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyeongwon Yoo

2003-12-01

Full Text Available Based on relatively recent household survey data (1986 2000 in rural China, this paper analyzes the composition and inequality in non-land wealth. We first document the evolution of rural households wealth during the sample period. Our results show that the housing assets have played a dominant role in their wealth composition although the share of the assets tends to decrease during the period. We also observe that financial and fixed assets have become relatively important in their wealth composition. Based on various inequality measures we are able to provide consistent evidence that the inequality of wealth distribution has worsened in rural China. We find that financial asset holdings appear to have significant unequalizing effect on the total non-land wealth distribution, mostly due to the growing differential in rural non-farm opportunities.

Introduction of nuclear power plant for mitigating the impact of global warming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ida Nuryatin Finahari

2008-01-01

Energy utilization for power plants in Indonesia is still highly depending on the burning of fossil fuel like coal, oil, and gas. From the combustion of fossil fuel, greenhouse gases such as CO 2 and N 2 O are produced. An increase of CO 2 gas emission to the atmosphere can block the heat loss from the earth surface and will increase the greenhouse effect that results in the temperature increase of the earth surface (global warming). Global warming can cause a very extreme climate change on earth. One of the solutions to reduce CO 2 gas emission produced by fossil fuel power plants is to utilize the plants with flue gas treatment facility. At such facility, CO 2 gas is reacted with certain mineral based substances thus can be used as base material in food-, pharmaceutical-, construction-, and cosmetic industry. Another alternative to reduce CO 2 gas emission is by replacing fossil fuel power plants with nuclear power plants. Considering the environmental and economic aspects, the nuclear power plant does not emit CO 2 gas, so that the use of nuclear power plant can mitigate the impact of global warming. Based on the operational experience of nuclear power plants in advanced countries, the cost of generating electricity from nuclear power plants is more competitive than that of fossil fuel power plant. (author)

Mapping the impacts of thermoelectric power generation: a global, spatially explicit database

Science.gov (United States)

Raptis, Catherine; Pfister, Stephan

2017-04-01

Thermoelectric power generation is associated with environmental pressures resulting from emissions to air and water, as well as water consumption. The need to achieve global coverage in related studies has become pressing in view of climate change. At the same time, the ability to quantify impacts from power production on a high resolution remains pertinent, given their highly regionalized nature, particularly when it comes to water-related impacts. Efforts towards global coverage have increased in recent years, but most work on the impacts of global electricity production presents a coarse geographical differentiation. Over the past few years we have begun a concerted effort to create and make available a global georeferenced inventory of thermoelectric power plant operational characteristics and emissions, by modelling the relevant processes on the highest possible level: that of a generating unit. Our work extends and enhances a commercially available global power plant database, and so far includes: - Georeferencing the generating units and populating the gaps in their steam properties. - Identifying the cooling system for 92% of the global installed thermoelectric power capacity. - Using the completed steam property data, along with local environmental temperature data, to systematically solve the Rankine cycle for each generating unit, involving: i) distinguishing between simple, reheat, and cogenerative cycles, and accounting for particularities in nuclear power cycles; ii) accounting for the effect of different cooling systems (once-through, recirculating (wet tower), dry cooling) on the thermodynamic cycle. One of the direct outcomes of solving the Rankine cycle is the cycle efficiency, an indispensable parameter in any study related to power production, including the quantification of air emissions and water consumption. Another direct output, for those units employing once-through cooling, is the rate of heat rejection to water, which can lead to

Constraints on credit, consumer behavior and the dynamics of wealth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gomes Costa Orlando

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This paper develops a simple macroeconomic model where the pattern of wealth accumulation is determined by a credit multiplier and the way households react to short-term fluctuations. Given this setup, long term wealth dynamics are eventually characterized by the presence of endogenous cycles.

An association between neighbourhood wealth inequality and HIV prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Brodish, Paul Henry

2015-05-01

This paper investigates whether community-level wealth inequality predicts HIV serostatus using DHS household survey and HIV biomarker data for men and women ages 15-59 pooled from six sub-Saharan African countries with HIV prevalence rates exceeding 5%. The analysis relates the binary dependent variable HIV-positive serostatus and two weighted aggregate predictors generated from the DHS Wealth Index: the Gini coefficient, and the ratio of the wealth of households in the top 20% wealth quintile to that of those in the bottom 20%. In separate multilevel logistic regression models, wealth inequality is used to predict HIV prevalence within each statistical enumeration area, controlling for known individual-level demographic predictors of HIV serostatus. Potential individual-level sexual behaviour mediating variables are added to assess attenuation, and ordered logit models investigate whether the effect is mediated through extramarital sexual partnerships. Both the cluster-level wealth Gini coefficient and wealth ratio significantly predict positive HIV serostatus: a 1 point increase in the cluster-level Gini coefficient and in the cluster-level wealth ratio is associated with a 2.35 and 1.3 times increased likelihood of being HIV positive, respectively, controlling for individual-level demographic predictors, and associations are stronger in models including only males. Adding sexual behaviour variables attenuates the effects of both inequality measures. Reporting eleven plus lifetime sexual partners increases the odds of being HIV positive over five-fold. The likelihood of having more extramarital partners is significantly higher in clusters with greater wealth inequality measured by the wealth ratio. Disaggregating logit models by sex indicates important risk behaviour differences. Household wealth inequality within DHS clusters predicts HIV serostatus, and the relationship is partially mediated by more extramarital partners. These results emphasize the importance

Global warming mitigation strategies and programs for power plant developers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holmes, N.R.

1992-01-01

Power plant developers are increasingly being surprised by regulatory agencies requiring them to mitigate the carbon dioxide(CO 2 ) emissions from their proposed power plants, as part of the plant's operating permit conditions. Since carbon dioxide is not a criteria pollutant with a National Ambient Air Quality Standard, power plant developers are often troubled by this additional regulatory requirement. This presentation will describe the contribution that CO 2 makes to global warming, the role of trees and forests as carbon sequesters or sinks, some non-forestry related and forestry related mitigation programs, including the advantages, disadvantages, and some cost estimates for the forestry related CO 2 mitigation programs. As public concern about global warming continues to escalate, it is almost certain that regulatory agencies will increase their focus on CO 2 mitigation

Sovereign Wealth and Pension Funds Controlling Canadian Businesses: Tax-Policy Implications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vijay Jog

2013-02-01

Full Text Available In a world without taxes, investors that take over companies would do so because they expect to be able to operate the business efficiently and at a high rate of return. But in Canada today, some acquirers enjoy tax advantages over others. And that could mean that certain buyers, who may not be best suited to owning a particular company, are able to outbid those who are better positioned to run that company at optimal efficiency. That is a problem not just for investors who end up outbid, due to Canada’s uneven tax policy, but for the Canadian economy, which suffers from the resulting economic inefficiency. With respect to registered pension plans, the so-called 30-per-cent rule puts a cap on the amount of voting equity in a company that they are permitted to own. Meanwhile, however, sovereign wealth funds — whether controlled by China or Australia — face no such limit when purchasing stakes in Canadian firms. The number and size of sovereign wealth funds, globally, is only growing — and rapidly. But as Canada increasingly attracts foreign capital, with foreign-controlled government-affiliated funds seeking out Canadian takeover targets, much of the discussion around public policy has focused primarily on the Investment Canada Act and the “net benefit test” for foreign direct investment. Another component in ensuring that Canadian interests are preserved, however, is the question of whether Canadian institutional investors can operate on a level playing field with foreign sovereign wealth funds. With the 30-per-cent rule limiting equity purchases for one but not the other, it would appear that they are not. The most appealing remedy to this imbalance is a tax solution: limiting the corporate deductions on interest, fees, royalties, rents, and the like, that so often factor in to the takeover calculation, as part of a tax-minimization strategy. This would not only put pension funds and sovereign wealth funds on equal footing, but it

Preterm Birth and Adult Wealth: Mathematics Skills Count.

Science.gov (United States)

Basten, Maartje; Jaekel, Julia; Johnson, Samantha; Gilmore, Camilla; Wolke, Dieter

2015-10-01

Each year, 15 million babies worldwide are born preterm. Preterm birth is associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes across the life span. Recent registry-based studies suggest that preterm birth is associated with decreased wealth in adulthood, but the mediating mechanisms are unknown. This study investigated whether the relationship between preterm birth and low adult wealth is mediated by poor academic abilities and educational qualifications. Participants were members of two British population-based birth cohorts born in 1958 and 1970, respectively. Results showed that preterm birth was associated with decreased wealth at 42 years of age. This association was mediated by decreased intelligence, reading, and, in particular, mathematics attainment in middle childhood, as well as decreased educational qualifications in young adulthood. Findings were similar in both cohorts, which suggests that these mechanisms may be time invariant. Special educational support in childhood may prevent preterm children from becoming less wealthy as adults. © The Author(s) 2015.

Politics, Power, Poverty and Global Health: Systems and Frames

Science.gov (United States)

Benatar, Solomon

2016-01-01

Striking disparities in access to healthcare and in health outcomes are major characteristics of health across the globe. This inequitable state of global health and how it could be improved has become a highly popularized field of academic study. In a series of articles in this journal the roles of power and politics in global health have been addressed in considerable detail. Three points are added here to this debate. The first is consideration of how the use of definitions and common terms, for example ‘poverty eradication,’ can mask full exposure of the extent of rectification required, with consequent failure to understand what poverty eradication should mean, how this could be achieved and that a new definition is called for. Secondly, a criticism is offered of how the term ‘global health’ is used in a restricted manner to describe activities that focus on an anthropocentric and biomedical conception of health across the world. It is proposed that the discourse on ‘global health’ should be extended beyond conventional boundaries towards an ecocentric conception of global/planetary health in an increasingly interdependent planet characterised by a multitude of interlinked crises. Finally, it is noted that the paucity of workable strategies towards achieving greater equity in sustainable global health is not so much due to lack of understanding of, or insight into, the invisible dimensions of power, but is rather the outcome of seeking solutions from within belief systems and cognitive biases that cannot offer solutions. Hence the need for a new framing perspective for global health that could reshape our thinking and actions. PMID:27694651

Politics, Power, Poverty and Global Health: Systems and Frames.

Science.gov (United States)

Benatar, Solomon

2016-08-06

Striking disparities in access to healthcare and in health outcomes are major characteristics of health across the globe. This inequitable state of global health and how it could be improved has become a highly popularized field of academic study. In a series of articles in this journal the roles of power and politics in global health have been addressed in considerable detail. Three points are added here to this debate. The first is consideration of how the use of definitions and common terms, for example 'poverty eradication,' can mask full exposure of the extent of rectification required, with consequent failure to understand what poverty eradication should mean, how this could be achieved and that a new definition is called for. Secondly, a criticism is offered of how the term 'global health' is used in a restricted manner to describe activities that focus on an anthropocentric and biomedical conception of health across the world. It is proposed that the discourse on 'global health' should be extended beyond conventional boundaries towards an ecocentric conception of global/planetary health in an increasingly interdependent planet characterised by a multitude of interlinked crises. Finally, it is noted that the paucity of workable strategies towards achieving greater equity in sustainable global health is not so much due to lack of understanding of, or insight into, the invisible dimensions of power, but is rather the outcome of seeking solutions from within belief systems and cognitive biases that cannot offer solutions. Hence the need for a new framing perspective for global health that could reshape our thinking and actions. © 2016 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

What is the association between wealth and mental health?

Science.gov (United States)

Carter, K N; Blakely, T; Collings, S; Imlach Gunasekara, F; Richardson, K

2009-03-01

Socioeconomic inequalities in mental health have been shown in a number of populations. This study aims to investigate the association between asset wealth and psychological distress in New Zealand and whether it is independent of other socioeconomic measures and baseline health status. Data for this study were from the first three waves of the Survey of Families, Income and Employment (SoFIE) conducted in New Zealand (2002-2004/05) (n = 15 340). The Kessler-10 was used as a measure of psychological distress. The association of quintiles of wealth with psychological distress was investigated using logistic regression, controlling for confounders, socioeconomic variables and prior health status. The odds ratio (OR) of reporting high psychological distress were greater in the lowest wealth quintile compared with the highest (OR 3.06, 95% CI 2.68 to 3.50). Adjusting for age and sex did not alter the relationship; however, adjusting for income and area deprivation attenuated the OR to 1.73 (95% CI 1.48 to 2.04). Further controlling for baseline health status reduced the OR to 1.45 (95% CI 1.23 to 1.71), although the confidence interval still excluded the null. Inequalities in wealth are strongly associated with psychological distress, over and above other confounding demographic variables and baseline health status. Much, but not all, of that association is confounded by adult socioeconomic position. This suggests that policy measures to improve asset wealth, through savings and home ownership, may have positive health implications and help to reduce health inequalities.

Housing Wealth and Consumption: A Micro Panel Study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Browning, Martin; Gørtz, Mette; Leth-Petersen, Søren

2013-01-01

find little evidence of a housing wealth effect on consumption: unexpected innovations to house prices are uncorrelated with changes in total expenditure at the household level. A reform in 1992 allowed – for the first time - house owners to use their housing equity as collateral for consumption loans....... We find that young house owners likely to be affected by credit constraints react to house price changes after 1993. Our findings suggest that house prices impact total expenditure through improved collateral rather than directly through wealth....

'Health is wealth and wealth is health'--perceptions of health and ill-health among female sex workers in Savannakhet, Laos.

Science.gov (United States)

Phrasisombath, Ketkesone; Thomsen, Sarah; Sychareun, Vanphanom; Faxelid, Elisabeth

2013-01-02

Female sex workers (FSWs) are vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and other types of health problems and they also encounter socio-economic difficulties. Efforts to develop effective health intervention programs for FSWs have been hampered by a lack of information on why FSWs do not seek or delay seeking treatment for STIs. To further understand their reasons, our study applied a qualitative approach to explore perceptions of health and ill-health among FSWs in Savannakhet province in Laos. Fifteen in-depth interviews were conducted with FSWs in Savannakhet province. Latent content analysis was used for analysis. Sex workers' definitions of health and wealth are intertwined. Thus, good health was described as strongly related to wealth, and wealth was needed in order to be healthy. This is explained in two sub-themes: health is necessary for work and income and ill-health creates social and economic vulnerability. Female sex workers' beliefs and perceptions about health and ill-health were dominated by their economic need, which in turn was influenced by expectations and demands from their families.

Classification of delocalization power of global unitary operations in terms of LOCC one-piece relocalization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Akihito Soeda

2010-06-01

Full Text Available We study how two pieces of localized quantum information can be delocalized across a composite Hilbert space when a global unitary operation is applied. We classify the delocalization power of global unitary operations on quantum information by investigating the possibility of relocalizing one piece of the quantum information without using any global quantum resource. We show that one-piece relocalization is possible if and only if the global unitary operation is local unitary equivalent of a controlled-unitary operation. The delocalization power turns out to reveal different aspect of the non-local properties of global unitary operations characterized by their entangling power.

Global Sustainable Development: The Role of Nuclear Power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hatcher, Stanley R.

1990-01-01

The inevitable growth in the world's population and the need for a reasonable standard of living for all nations will drive the demand for energy to much higher levels than the world has yet experienced. A radical improvement in energy efficiency and conservation could limit the global annual demand to 100 GJ per person. consumption of North America. With the developing nations achieving a standard of living commensurate with this level, the global energy demand would increase by a factor of 2.5 to 1000 EJ per year. Concern over the impact of CO 2 emissions on global warming will likely lead to an international consensus on some reduction in the use of fossil fuels. To maintain environmental sustainability, all nations of the world would need to limit their fossil fuel consumption, particularly those in North America and Europe. Other energy sources will play an important role in all regions. However, the main burden is likely to fall upon nuclear energy as an essential element of the total energy supply. The danger eliminated while sustaining global development if the governments of the world commit to the use of nuclear power on a global scale. The industrial intrastucture can be put in place for such a major international program. A more difficult question is the availability of the necessary financing. On a global scale the financial requirement is within the range of current military expenditures. However, it is clear that not all the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America will be able to finance their own needs. A new international cooperative program will be necessary. The needed change in energy patterns is dramatic and will take time to implement. The change should be underway by the beginning of the next century. Otherwise the world faces the prospect of environmental disaster and social disruption as the nations struggle to improve their living standards through the increased use of fossil fuels. The role of nuclear power in providing the energy for

Assessing the environmental impacts of freshwater thermal pollution from global power generation in LCA.

Science.gov (United States)

Raptis, Catherine E; Boucher, Justin M; Pfister, Stephan

2017-02-15

Freshwater heat emissions from power plants with once-through cooling systems constitute one of many environmental pressures related to the thermoelectric power industry. The objective of this work was to obtain high resolution, operational characterization factors (CF) for the impact of heat emissions on ecosystem quality, and carry out a comprehensive, spatially, temporally and technologically differentiated damage-based environmental assessment of global freshwater thermal pollution. The aggregation of CFs on a watershed level results in 12.5% lower annual impacts globally and even smaller differences for the most crucial watersheds and months, so watershed level CFs are recommended when the exact emission site within the basin is unknown. Long-range impacts account for almost 90% of the total global impacts. The Great Lakes, several Mississippi subbasins, the Danube, and the Yangtze are among the most thermally impacted watersheds globally, receiving heat emissions from predominantly coal-fuelled and nuclear power plants. Globally, over 80% of the global annual impacts come from power plants constructed during or before the 1980s. While the impact-weighted mean age of the power plants in the Mississippi ranges from 38 to 51years, in Chinese watersheds including the Yangtze, the equivalent range is only 15 to 22years, reflecting a stark contrast in thermal pollution mitigation approaches. With relatively high shares of total capacity from power plants with once-through freshwater cooling, and tracing a large part of the Danube, 1kWh of net electricity mix is the most impactful in Hungary, Bulgaria and Serbia. Monthly CFs are provided on a grid cell level and on a watershed level for use in Life Cycle Assessment. The impacts per generating unit are also provided, as part of our effort to make available a global dataset of thermoelectric power plant emissions and impacts. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Health-Wealth Association among Older Americans: Racial and Ethnic Differences

Science.gov (United States)

Lum, Terry

2004-01-01

Using five-year longitudinal data from the AHEAD survey, this study investigated the direction of association between health and wealth among elderly people. In particular, it focused on how this association varied across racial and ethnic groups. The study found that there was a significant nonmonotonic association between health and wealth and…

Wealth Inequality and Mental Disability Among the Chinese Population: A Population Based Study

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zhenjie; Du, Wei; Pang, Lihua; Zhang, Lei; Chen, Gong; Zheng, Xiaoying

2015-01-01

In the study described herein, we investigated and explored the association between wealth inequality and the risk of mental disability in the Chinese population. We used nationally represented, population-based data from the second China National Sample Survey on Disability, conducted in 2006. A total of 1,724,398 study subjects between the ages of 15 and 64, including 10,095 subjects with mental disability only, were used for the analysis. Wealth status was estimated by a wealth index that was derived from a principal component analysis of 10 household assets and four other variables related to wealth. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for mental disability for each category, with the lowest quintile category as the referent. Confounding variables under consideration were age, gender, residence area, marital status, ethnicity, education, current employment status, household size, house type, homeownership and living arrangement. The distribution of various types and severities of mental disability differed significantly by wealth index category in the present population. Wealth index category had a positive association with mild mental disability (p for trend wealth index category had a significant, inverse association with mental disability when all severities of mental disability were taken into consideration. This study’s results suggest that wealth is a significant factor in the distribution of mental disability and it might have different influences on various types and severities of mental disability. PMID:26492258

Do wealth disparities contribute to health disparities within racial/ethnic groups?

Science.gov (United States)

Pollack, Craig Evan; Cubbin, Catherine; Sania, Ayesha; Hayward, Mark; Vallone, Donna; Flaherty, Brian; Braveman, Paula A

2013-05-01

Though wide disparities in wealth have been documented across racial/ethnic groups, it is largely unknown whether differences in wealth are associated with health disparities within racial/ethnic groups. Data from the Survey of Consumer Finances (2004, ages 25-64) and the Health and Retirement Survey (2004, ages 50+), containing a wide range of assets and debts variables, were used to calculate net worth (a standard measure of wealth). Among non-Hispanic black, Hispanic and non-Hispanic white populations, we tested whether wealth was associated with self-reported poor/fair health status after accounting for income and education. Except among the younger Hispanic population, net worth was significantly associated with poor/fair health status within each racial/ethnic group in both data sets. Adding net worth attenuated the association between education and poor/fair health (in all racial/ethnic groups) and between income and poor/fair health (except among older Hispanics). The results add to the literature indicating the importance of including measures of wealth in health research for what they may reveal about disparities not only between but also within different racial/ethnic groups.

Income and wealth distribution of the richest Norwegian individuals: An inequality analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Jagielski, Maciej; Czyżewski, Kordian; Kutner, Ryszard; Stanley, H. Eugene

2017-05-01

Using the empirical data from the Norwegian Tax Administration, we analyze the wealth and income of the richest individuals in Norway during the period 2010-2013. We find that both annual income and wealth level of the richest individuals are describable using the Pareto law. We find that the robust mean Pareto exponent over the four-year period to be ≈2.3 for income and ≈1.5 for wealth.

Wealth Accumulation and Factors Accounting for Success.

Science.gov (United States)

Pawasutipaisit, Anan; Townsend, Robert M

2011-03-01

We use detailed income, balance sheet, and cash flow statements constructed for households in a long monthly panel in an emerging market economy, and some recent contributions in economic theory, to document and better understand the factors underlying success in achieving upward mobility in the distribution of net worth. Wealth inequality is decreasing over time, and many households work their way out of poverty and lower wealth over the seven year period. The accounts establish that, mechanically, this is largely due to savings rather than incoming gifts and remittances. In turn, the growth of net worth can be decomposed household by household into the savings rate and how productively that savings is used, the return on assets (ROA). The latter plays the larger role. ROA is, in turn, positively correlated with higher education of household members, younger age of the head, and with a higher debt/asset ratio and lower initial wealth, so it seems from cross-sections that the financial system is imperfectly channeling resources to productive and poor households. Household fixed effects account for the larger part of ROA, and this success is largely persistent, undercutting the story that successful entrepreneurs are those that simply get lucky. Persistence does vary across households, and in at least one province with much change and increasing opportunities, ROA changes as households move over time to higher-return occupations. But for those households with high and persistent ROA, the savings rate is higher, consistent with some micro founded macro models with imperfect credit markets. Indeed, high ROA households save by investing in their own enterprises and adopt consistent financial strategies for smoothing fluctuations. More generally growth of wealth, savings levels and/or rates are correlated with TFP and the household fixed effects that are the larger part of ROA.

Managing Earth's Future: Global Self-Restraint for the Common Good or Domination by Incentive and Power?

Science.gov (United States)

Anbar, A. D.; Hartnett, H. E.; Rowan, L. R.; Caldeira, K.

2016-12-01

We are global in our impacts, yet local in our thoughts and feelings. The daunting challenge facing Homo sapiens is learning to cooperate at global scale for the common good. Since the invention of the steam engine, we have been developing ever more efficient ways of generating consumer products. Some of the wealth generated by these more efficient technologies was reinvested into additional capital infrastructure, such as factories and machines. We thus expanded capacity to offer goods and services to insatiable consumers, expanding the ability to extract and transform natural resources into both valuable goods and services and dangerous pollution. Improvements in medical technologies led to quasi-exponential population growth, mirroring and multiplying the quasi-exponential growth in per capita consumption. This quasi-exponential growth is starting to reach boundaries, but these boundaries are not sending signals to the market that would allow a laissez faire approach to work. The central question is: How can we continue improving well-being while diminishing material flows associated with environmental pollution? Globally, if we do not place constraints on ourselves, nature will impose constraints on us. We can impose constraints on ourselves to protect us from what nature would otherwise to do to us. To have a sustainable future, we would need to level off population at the lowest feasible levels. The difference between a future population of 6 billion and 16 billion is a half-child per family less-or-more than the central projection of demographers. Empowering women with education and technology has proven to be a most effective strategy at reducing population growth. To have a sustainable future, we would need strong disincentives on environmental damage, especially from long-lived wastes such as carbon dioxide. It is of course a huge political challenge to get such disincentives in place. If we fail to get these global self-protective guardrails established

Mental distress and perceived wealth, justice and freedom across eight countries: The invisible power of the macrosystem.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saskia Scholten

Full Text Available Health and well-being have been related to macro-level factors such as income, income inequality or socioeconomic status. With regard to the increasing burden of disease due to mental disorders worldwide, the association between the macrosystem and mental distress should be further explored, too. In this context, the subjective evaluation of the macrosystem might play an important role. In the present exploratory study, we assessed symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress as well as perceived wealth, justice and freedom in population-based surveys in Spain, France, Germany, Poland, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States of America (n ≈ 1000 per country. The Swedish sample presented the lowest symptom ratings of depression, anxiety and stress and the highest self-rated health. The results also indicated that the subjective evaluation of the macrosystem matters in respect to mental distress. The complete model, including the control variables country, gender, age and education, and perceived wealth, justice and freedom predicted depression, anxiety and stress symptoms explained 8% of the variance of each symptom cluster. The present results encourage research to consider the macrosystem, and the subjective evaluation of macro-level factors, as a relevant component in biopsychosocial models of mental distress.

Mental distress and perceived wealth, justice and freedom across eight countries: The invisible power of the macrosystem

Science.gov (United States)

Velten, Julia; Margraf, Jürgen

2018-01-01

Health and well-being have been related to macro-level factors such as income, income inequality or socioeconomic status. With regard to the increasing burden of disease due to mental disorders worldwide, the association between the macrosystem and mental distress should be further explored, too. In this context, the subjective evaluation of the macrosystem might play an important role. In the present exploratory study, we assessed symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress as well as perceived wealth, justice and freedom in population-based surveys in Spain, France, Germany, Poland, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States of America (n ≈ 1000 per country). The Swedish sample presented the lowest symptom ratings of depression, anxiety and stress and the highest self-rated health. The results also indicated that the subjective evaluation of the macrosystem matters in respect to mental distress. The complete model, including the control variables country, gender, age and education, and perceived wealth, justice and freedom predicted depression, anxiety and stress symptoms explained 8% of the variance of each symptom cluster. The present results encourage research to consider the macrosystem, and the subjective evaluation of macro-level factors, as a relevant component in biopsychosocial models of mental distress. PMID:29718911

Governing Global Capital

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harrington, Brooke

in helping elites avoid taxes and other forms of regulation. The study documents how the means through which they achieve this objective - shifting billions in private capital wealth between Asia, Africa, India and Europe - and how this affects the balance of regional economic power. Drawing from...

Barriers to Surgical Care and Health Outcomes: A Prospective Study on the Relation Between Wealth, Sex, and Postoperative Complications in the Republic of Congo.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Brian M; White, Michelle; Glover, Ana; Wamah, Greta Peterson; Trotti, Davi L; Randall, Kirstie; Alkire, Blake C; Cheney, Mack L; Parker, Gary; Shrime, Mark G

2017-01-01

Approximately thirty percent of the global burden of disease is comprised of surgical conditions. However, five billion people lack access to surgery, with complex factors acting as barriers. We examined whether patient demographics predict barriers to care, and the relation between these factors and postoperative complications in a prospective cohort. Participants included people presenting to a global charity in Republic of Congo with a surgical condition between August 2013 and May 2014. The outcomes were self-reported barrier to care and postoperative complications documented by medical record. Logistic regression was used to adjust for covariates. Of 1237 patients in our study, 1190 (96.2 %) experienced a barrier to care and 126 (10.2 %) experienced a postoperative complication. The most frequently reported barrier was cost (73 %), followed by lack of provider (8.2 %). Greater wealth was associated with decreased odds of cost as a barrier (OR 0.72 [0.57, 0.90]). Greater wealth (OR 1.52 [1.03, 2.25]) and rural home location (OR 3.35 [1.16, 9.62]) were associated with increased odds of no surgeon being available. Cost as a barrier (OR 2.82 [1.02, 7.77]), female sex (OR 3.45 [1.62, 7.33]), and lack of surgeon (OR 5.62 [1.68, 18.77]) were associated with increased odds of postoperative complication. Patient wealth was not associated with odds of postoperative complication. Barriers to surgery were common in Republic of Congo. Patient wealth and home location may predict barriers to surgery. Addressing gender disparities, access to providers, and patient perception of barriers in addition to removal of barriers may help maximize patient health benefits.

Emergence of power-law in a market with mixed models

Science.gov (United States)

Ali Saif, M.; Gade, Prashant M.

2007-10-01

We investigate the problem of wealth distribution from the viewpoint of asset exchange. Robust nature of Pareto's law across economies, ideologies and nations suggests that this could be an outcome of trading strategies. However, the simple asset exchange models fail to reproduce this feature. A Yardsale (YS) model in which amount put on the bet is a fraction of minimum of the two players leads to condensation of wealth in hands of some agent while theft and fraud (TF) model in which the amount to be exchanged is a fraction of loser's wealth leads to an exponential distribution of wealth. We show that if we allow few agents to follow a different model than others, i.e., there are some agents following TF model while rest follow YS model, it leads to distribution with power-law tails. Similar effect is observed when one carries out transactions for a fraction of one's wealth using TF model and for the rest YS model is used. We also observe a power-law tail in wealth distribution if we allow the agents to follow either of the models with some probability.

Marriage, Wealth, and Unemployment Duration:

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lentz, Rasmus; Tranæs, Torben

and the wealthier the woman is, the longer it takes for her to find a job. The contrary is the case for men, where spouse income affects job finding positively: the more the wife earns, the faster the husband finds a job. This is so despite the fact that greater own wealth also prolongs unemployment spells for men...

Wealth and the nation's health.

Science.gov (United States)

Blackburn, C

1993-07-01

Social and economic prosperity to a great extent depend on a healthy population; similarly good health depends on adequate income, writes Clare Blackburn. The government strategy for health promotion outlined most recently in The health of the nation, fails to acknowledge this. Nevertheless health visitors and school nurses cannot ignore the links between health and wealth.

Do Wealth Shocks Affect Health? New Evidence from the Housing Boom.

Science.gov (United States)

Fichera, Eleonora; Gathergood, John

2016-11-01

We exploit large exogenous changes in housing wealth to examine the impact of wealth gains and losses on individual health. In UK household, panel data house price increases, which endow owners with greater wealth, lower the likelihood of home owners exhibiting a range of non-chronic health conditions and improve their self-assessed health with no effect on their psychological health. These effects are not transitory and persist over a 10-year period. Using a range of fixed effects models, we provide robust evidence that these results are not biased by reverse causality or omitted factors. For owners' wealth gains affect labour supply and leisure choices indicating that house price increases allow individuals to reduce intensity of work with commensurate health benefits. © 2016 The Authors. Health Economics Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. © 2016 The Authors. Health Economics Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Nuclear power and the logic of globalization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weizsaecker, C.C. von

2000-01-01

The article discusses effects and results of globalization for nuclear power and other options of electricity generation. According to the present state of knowledge, it will not be possible to meet the growing worldwide energy requirement with fossil and renewable energy sources only - also because of the CO 2 problem. Consequently, nuclear power will remain an important alternative. On an international scale, this applies in particular to large countries, such as China and India, as large national economies particularly benefit from the economies of scale offered by nuclear power. This could well make Chinese nuclear technology a product for the world market. Thinking along these lines has not really gained ground in Germany, as nuclear power, being a technology requiring considerably capital outlay, is considered unsuitable for southern countries. It is an illusion to believe that Germany's opting out of the use of nuclear power could be a model to others. Instead, we are faced by the ethical question of how we can help to minimize the accident risks of nuclear facilities worldwide. We can do so only by maintaining the use of nuclear power and exporting our level of safety, for the risks will not become any smaller merely as a result of our opting out. (orig.) [de

Inheritance and intergenerational wealth transmission in eighteenth-century Ottoman Kastamonu: an empirical investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Ergene, Boğaç A; Berker, Ali

2009-01-01

This article investigates the relationship between inheritance and wealth in the context of eighteenth-century Ottoman Kastamonu. Based on the estate inventories of the deceased (sing. tereke) as recorded in Kastamonu court records (sicils), the article introduces a variety of quantitative techniques to measure the impact of Islamic inheritance practices on wealth accumulation across subsequent generations and to understand how it influenced wealth mobility among various socioeconomic groups. The estimations provided in this article suggest that while the inheritance practice in Kastamonu caused wealth fragmentation, the process also contributed to the durability of economic divisions within the provincial Ottoman society.

Global map of solar power production efficiency, considering micro climate factors

Science.gov (United States)

Hassanpour Adeh, E.; Higgins, C. W.

2017-12-01

Natural resources degradation and greenhouse gas emissions are creating a global crisis. Renewable energy is the most reliable option to mitigate this environmental dilemma. Abundancy of solar energy makes it highly attractive source of electricity. The existing global spatial maps of available solar energy are created with various models which consider the irradiation, latitude, cloud cover, elevation, shading and aerosols, and neglect the influence of local meteorological conditions. In this research, the influences of microclimatological variables on solar energy productivity were investigated with an in-field study at the Rabbit Hills solar arrays near Oregon State University. The local studies were extended to a global level, where global maps of solar power were produced, taking the micro climate variables into account. These variables included: temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, solar radiation. The energy balance approach was used to synthesize the data and compute the efficiencies. The results confirmed that the solar power efficiency can be directly affected by the air temperature and wind speed.

Effects of heterogeneous wealth distribution on public cooperation with collective risk

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jing; Fu, Feng; Wang, Long

2010-07-01

The distribution of wealth among individuals in real society can be well described by the Pareto principle or “80-20 rule.” How does such heterogeneity in initial wealth distribution affect the emergence of public cooperation, when individuals, the rich and the poor, engage in a collective-risk enterprise, not to gain a profit but to avoid a potential loss? Here we address this issue by studying a simple but effective model based on threshold public goods games. We analyze the evolutionary dynamics for two distinct scenarios, respectively: one with fair sharers versus defectors and the other with altruists versus defectors. For both scenarios, particularly, we in detail study the dynamics of the population with dichotomic initial wealth—the rich versus the poor. Moreover, we demonstrate the possible steady compositions of the population and provide the conditions for stability of these steady states. We prove that in a population with heterogeneous wealth distribution, richer individuals are more likely to cooperate than poorer ones. Participants with lower initial wealth may choose to cooperate only if all players richer than them are cooperators. The emergence of pubic cooperation largely relies on rich individuals. Furthermore, whenever the wealth gap between the rich and the poor is sufficiently large, cooperation of a few rich individuals can substantially elevate the overall level of social cooperation, which is in line with the well-known Pareto principle. Our work may offer an insight into the emergence of cooperative behavior in real social situations where heterogeneous distribution of wealth among individual is omnipresent.

Avoiding poverty: distributing wealth in fisheries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eide, A.; Bavinck, M.; Raakjær, J.; Jentoft, S.; Eide, A.

2011-01-01

Aquatic resources contribute to economic growth, food security, and the livelihoods of millions of fishers around the world. This is evidenced by the industrialization of capture fisheries in the twentieth century, which has generated enormous wealth. Rather than supporting a policy aimed at

Wealth Inequality and Mental Disability Among the Chinese Population: A Population Based Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zhenjie; Du, Wei; Pang, Lihua; Zhang, Lei; Chen, Gong; Zheng, Xiaoying

2015-10-19

In the study described herein, we investigated and explored the association between wealth inequality and the risk of mental disability in the Chinese population. We used nationally represented, population-based data from the second China National Sample Survey on Disability, conducted in 2006. A total of 1,724,398 study subjects between the ages of 15 and 64, including 10,095 subjects with mental disability only, were used for the analysis. Wealth status was estimated by a wealth index that was derived from a principal component analysis of 10 household assets and four other variables related to wealth. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for mental disability for each category, with the lowest quintile category as the referent. Confounding variables under consideration were age, gender, residence area, marital status, ethnicity, education, current employment status, household size, house type, homeownership and living arrangement. The distribution of various types and severities of mental disability differed significantly by wealth index category in the present population. Wealth index category had a positive association with mild mental disability (p for trend disability (p for trend disability when all severities of mental disability were taken into consideration. This study's results suggest that wealth is a significant factor in the distribution of mental disability and it might have different influences on various types and severities of mental disability.

Global Health Governance Challenges 2016 - Are We Ready?

Science.gov (United States)

Kickbusch, Ilona

2016-02-29

The year 2016 could turn out to be a turning point for global health, new political realities and global insecurities will test governance and financing mechanisms in relation to both people and planet. But most importantly political factors such as the global power shift and "the rise of the rest" will define the future of global health. A new mix of health inequity and security challenges has emerged and the 2015 humanitarian and health crises have shown the limits of existing systems. The global health as well as the humanitarian system will have to prove their capacity to respond and reform. The challenge ahead is deeply political, especially for the rising political actors. They are confronted with the consequences of a model of development that has neglected sustainability and equity, and was built on their exploitation. Some direction has been given by the path breaking international conferences in 2015. Especially the agreement on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris agreement on climate change will shape action. Conceptually, we will need a different understanding of global health and its ultimate goals - the health of people can no longer be seen separate from the health of the planet and wealth measured by parameters of growth will no longer ensure health. © 2016 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

American's desire for less wealth inequality does not depend on how you ask them

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael I. Norton

2013-05-01

Full Text Available A large body of survey research offers evidence that citizens are not always fully aware of the economic and political realities in their respective countries. Norton and Ariely (2011 extended this research to the domain of wealth inequality, showing that Americans were surprisingly unaware of the shape of the wealth distribution in America. Using an alternative methodology, Eriksson and Simpson (2012 found that asking Americans to estimate the average wealth of quintiles, rather than the percent of wealth owned by each quintile, led to relatively more accurate estimates. We note, however, that the Eriksson and Simpson (2012 results do not challenge Norton and Ariely's (2011 conclusion that Americans desire a much more equal distribution of wealth.

Money giveth, money taketh away: the dual effect of wealth on happiness.

Science.gov (United States)

Quoidbach, Jordi; Dunn, Elizabeth W; Petrides, K V; Mikolajczak, Moïra

2010-06-01

This study provides the first evidence that money impairs people's ability to savor everyday positive emotions and experiences. In a sample of working adults, wealthier individuals reported lower savoring ability (the ability to enhance and prolong positive emotional experience). Moreover, the negative impact of wealth on individuals' ability to savor undermined the positive effects of money on their happiness. We experimentally exposed participants to a reminder of wealth and produced the same deleterious effect on their ability to savor as that produced by actual individual differences in wealth, a result supporting the theory that money has a causal effect on savoring. Moving beyond self-reports, we found that participants exposed to a reminder of wealth spent less time savoring a piece of chocolate and exhibited reduced enjoyment of it compared with participants not exposed to wealth. This article presents evidence supporting the widely held but previously untested belief that having access to the best things in life may actually undercut people's ability to reap enjoyment from life's small pleasures.

Power Watch: Increasing Transparency and Accessibility of Data in the Global Power Sector to Accelerate the Transition to a Lower Carbon Economy

Science.gov (United States)

Hennig, R. J.; Friedrich, J.; Malaguzzi Valeri, L.; McCormick, C.; Lebling, K.; Kressig, A.

2016-12-01

The Power Watch project will offer open data on the global electricity sector starting with power plants and their impacts on climate and water systems; it will also offer visualizations and decision making tools. Power Watch will create the first comprehensive, open database of power plants globally by compiling data from national governments, public and private utilities, transmission grid operators, and other data providers to create a core dataset that has information on over 80% of global installed capacity for electrical generation. Power plant data will at a minimum include latitude and longitude, capacity, fuel type, emissions, water usage, ownership, and annual generation. By providing data that is both comprehensive, as well as making it publically available, this project will support decision making and analysis by actors across the economy and in the research community. The Power Watch research effort focuses on creating a global standard for power plant information, gathering and standardizing data from multiple sources, matching information from multiple sources on a plant level, testing cross-validation approaches (regional statistics, crowdsourcing, satellite data, and others) and developing estimation methodologies for generation, emissions, and water usage. When not available from official reports, emissions, annual generation, and water usage will be estimated. Water use estimates of power plants will be based on capacity, fuel type and satellite imagery to identify cooling types. This analysis is being piloted in several states in India and will then be scaled up to a global level. Other planned applications of of the Power Watch data include improving understanding of energy access, air pollution, emissions estimation, stranded asset analysis, life cycle analysis, tracking of proposed plants and curtailment analysis.

Global freshwater thermal emissions from steam-electric power plants with once-through cooling systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raptis, Catherine E.; Pfister, Stephan

2016-01-01

Large quantities of heat are rejected into freshwater bodies from power plants employing once-through cooling systems, often leading to temperature increases that disturb aquatic ecosystems. The objective of this work was to produce a high resolution global picture of power-related freshwater thermal emissions and to analyse the technological, geographical and chronological patterns behind them. The Rankine cycle was systematically solved for ∼2400 generating units with once-through cooling systems, distinguishing between simple and cogenerative cycles, giving the rejected heat as a direct output. With large unit sizes, low efficiencies, and high capacity factors, nuclear power plants reject 3.7 GW heat into freshwater on average, contrasting with 480 MW rejected from coal and gas power plants. Together, nuclear and coal-fuelled power plants from the 1970s and 1980s account for almost 50% of the rejected heat worldwide, offering motivation for their phasing out in the future. Globally, 56% of the emissions are rejected into rivers, pointing to potential areas of high thermal pollution, with the rest entering lakes and reservoirs. The outcome of this work can be used to further investigate the identified thermal emission hotspots, and to calculate regionalized water temperature increase and related impacts in environmental, energy-water nexus studies and beyond. - Highlights: • The thermodynamic cycles of ∼2400 power units with once-through cooling were solved. • Global freshwater heat emissions depend on technology, geography & chronology. • Half the global emissions come from nuclear and coal plants from the 70s & 80s. • Hotspots of freshwater thermal emissions were identified globally. • Global georeferenced emissions are available for use in water temperature models.

Five essays on fiscal policy, intergenerational welfare and petroleum wealth

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thoegersen, Oe

1994-12-01

Motivated by current macro economic problems facing the Norwegian economy, this thesis deals with fiscal policy and the management of petroleum wealth in a small open resource economy. The thesis highlights the fact that considerable parts of the petroleum revenues are collected by the government and studies in particular the interaction between fiscal policy, uncertain petroleum revenues and welfare between generations. Essay 1 is a paper on the calculation of the Norwegian petroleum wealth and surveys economic effects of the development of the petroleum sector and the spending of the petroleum revenues. Essay 2 deals with the effects of uncertain government petroleum revenues on fiscal policy, wealth accumulation and inter generational welfare. In Essay 3 a discussion is given of the effects of oil price risk on international risk sharing. Petroleum importing and exporting countries are considered within OECD-Europe. A possible wealth consumption policy is found to have serious and long-lasting negative effects on the welfare of coming generations, as described in Essay 4. Finally, Essay 5 considers a dynamic dependent economy model extended to incorporate finite horizons of the households and structural adjustment costs in production. 121 refs., 19 figs., 10 tabs.

Conditional Wealth Neutrality as a School Finance Equity Criterion in Illinois.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmink, David P.; And Others

This study looks at the relationship between district wealth and revenues available for education in Illinois using a "conditional" conception of wealth neutrality that holds constant the operational tax rate. Data used were demographic data of Illinois school districts. An analysis of beta weights suggested an undesirable relationship…

China’s impact on the global wind power industry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lema, Rasmus; Berger, Axel; Schmitz, Hubert

China’s economic rise has transformed the global economy in a number of manufacturing industries. This paper investigates whether China’s transformative influence extends to the new green economy. Drawing on the debate about how China is driving major economic changes in the world – the ‘Asian...... firms. While the combined impact of Chinese market and production power is already visible, other influences are beginning to be felt – arising from China’s coordination, innovation and financing power....

China’s Impact on the Global Wind Power Industry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lema, Rasmus; Berger, Axel; Schmitz, Hubert

2013-01-01

China’s economic rise has transformed the global economy in a number of manufacturing industries. This paper investigates whether China’s transformative influence extends to the new green economy. Drawing on the debate about how China is driving major economic changes in the world – the “Asian....... While the combined impact of Chinese market and production power is already visible, other influences are beginning to be felt – arising from China’s coordination, innovation and financing power....

The rise of Asian sovereign wealth funds

OpenAIRE

Borst, Nicholas

2015-01-01

This Asia Focus provides an overview of sovereign wealth funds, evaluates the structure and activities of major funds in Asia, and compares the transparency of Asian funds relative to international best practices.

Fission nuclear power prospects and its role in meeting global energy needs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Golan, S.

1992-01-01

Nuclear power currently makes an important contribution to world's energy requirements providing 17% of its electricity. But as global warming becomes of greater concern, many ask whether nuclear power can and should contribute more. The author, who is involved in the nuclear power enterprise for 35 years, tries to answer this question affirmative. He holds the view that: a) nuclear fission power is essential to meeting world's energy needs without unduly impairing the global environment; b) by possessing the required attributes discussed in this paper, nuclear fission power can be made societally acceptable; c) the industrialized world should accelerate LMFR deployment while fostering more convenient energy alternatives for the developing world; and d) the HTGR is unique in its ability to augment non-electricity energy needs and could become the technology choice of developing countries for nuclear electricity production. (author). 5 refs., 5 figs., 4 tabs

Stable power laws in variable economies; Lotka-Volterra implies Pareto-Zipf

Science.gov (United States)

Solomon, S.; Richmond, P.

2002-05-01

In recent years we have found that logistic systems of the Generalized Lotka-Volterra type (GLV) describing statistical systems of auto-catalytic elements posses power law distributions of the Pareto-Zipf type. In particular, when applied to economic systems, GLV leads to power laws in the relative individual wealth distribution and in market returns. These power laws and their exponent α are invariant to arbitrary variations in the total wealth of the system and to other endogenously and exogenously induced variations.

Globalization and the Housing Asset Rich

OpenAIRE

2008-01-01

Abstract This article explores the importance of housing assets in shaping the global landscape of opportunity and disadvantage. In doing so, it is concerned with four key issues. First, it seeks to highlight the increasing significance of housing related wealth at a global scale. Second, it is concerned with the uneven and potentially divisive impact of housing asset accumulation, within and between societies. Third, it seeks to show how economic, geo-demographic and policy contex...

DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PLANS, DEFINED BENEFIT PLANS, AND THE ACCUMULATION OF RETIREMENT WEALTH

Science.gov (United States)

Poterba, James; Rauh, Joshua; Venti, Steven; Wise, David

2010-01-01

The private pension structure in the United States, once dominated by defined benefit (DB) plans, is currently divided between defined contribution (DC) and DB plans. Wealth accumulation in DC plans depends on the participant's contribution behavior and on financial market returns, while accumulation in DB plans is sensitive to a participant's labor market experience and to plan parameters. This paper simulates the distribution of retirement wealth under representative DB and DC plans. It uses data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to explore how asset returns, earnings histories, and retirement plan characteristics contribute to the variation in retirement wealth outcomes. We simulate DC plan accumulation by randomly assigning individuals a share of wages that they and their employer contribute to the plan. We consider several possible asset allocation strategies, with asset returns drawn from the historical return distribution. Our DB plan simulations draw earnings histories from the HRS, and randomly assign each individual a pension plan drawn from a sample of large private and public defined benefit plans. The simulations yield distributions of both DC and DB wealth at retirement. Average retirement wealth accruals under current DC plans exceed average accruals under private sector DB plans, although DC plans are also more likely to generate very low retirement wealth outcomes. The comparison of current DC plans with more generous public sector DB plans is less definitive, because public sector DB plans are more generous on average than their private sector counterparts. PMID:21057597

Saving and Social Security Wealth: A Case of Turkey

OpenAIRE

H. Yigit Aydede

2007-01-01

This paper is the first attempt in the literature to investigate the effects of public social security on aggregate consumption in a time-series setting for a developing country, Turkey that has one of the most generous social security systems in the OECD region. In order to quantify the social security variable, the paper uses the social security wealth (SSW) series calculated for the first time for Turkey and shows that SSW is the largest part of the household wealth in Turkey and therefore...

Effects of the financial crisis on the wealth distribution of Korea's companies

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Kyuseong; Kim, Soo Yong; Swanson, Todd; Kim, Jooyun

2017-02-01

We investigated the distribution functions of Korea's top-rated companies during two financial crises. A power-law scaling for rank distribution, as well as cumulative probability distribution, was found and observed as a general pattern. Similar distributions can be shown in other studies of wealth and income distributions. In our study, the Pareto exponents designating the distribution differed before and after the crisis. The companies covered in this research are divided into two subgroups during a period when the subprime mortgage crisis occurred. Various industrial sectors of Korea's companies were found to respond differently during the two financial crises, especially the construction sector, financial sectors, and insurance groups.

Transforming wealth: using the inverse hyperbolic sine (IHS) and splines to predict youth's math achievement.

Science.gov (United States)

Friedline, Terri; Masa, Rainier D; Chowa, Gina A N

2015-01-01

The natural log and categorical transformations commonly applied to wealth for meeting the statistical assumptions of research may not always be appropriate for adjusting for skewness given wealth's unique properties. Finding and applying appropriate transformations is becoming increasingly important as researchers consider wealth as a predictor of well-being. We present an alternative transformation-the inverse hyperbolic sine (IHS)-for simultaneously dealing with skewness and accounting for wealth's unique properties. Using the relationship between household wealth and youth's math achievement as an example, we apply the IHS transformation to wealth data from US and Ghanaian households. We also explore non-linearity and accumulation thresholds by combining IHS transformed wealth with splines. IHS transformed wealth relates to youth's math achievement similarly when compared to categorical and natural log transformations, indicating that it is a viable alternative to other transformations commonly used in research. Non-linear relationships and accumulation thresholds emerge that predict youth's math achievement when splines are incorporated. In US households, accumulating debt relates to decreases in math achievement whereas accumulating assets relates to increases in math achievement. In Ghanaian households, accumulating assets between the 25th and 50th percentiles relates to increases in youth's math achievement. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The global climate change and its effect on power generation in Bangladesh

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khan, Iftekhar; Alam, Firoz; Alam, Quamrul

2013-01-01

Frequent and intense natural calamities, sea level rises and salinity have been causing adverse impacts on economic, environmental and social aspects of hundreds of millions people across the world. Although a series of studies was undertaken on social and environment impacts, very little information is available on power generation affected by climate change. The power generation in developing countries, especially Bangladesh, whose existence is severely threatened by the rise of sea levels, salinity, the ambient temperature, drought and flood, is not well studied and reported. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to identify the risks imposed by global climate change on existing and projected power generation in Bangladesh. The climate effect parameters and their impacts on power generation capacity are studied and analysed. The findings indicate that all existing and future power plants and their generation across the country will be affected by global climate change. - Highlights: • Analysed the future climate change impact on power generation in Bangladesh. • Projected future power generation in Bangladesh up to 2100. • Power plant in coastal areas will experience threat of inundation and salinity. • Northwest region power generation in Bangladesh will face more drought threat. • Power generation in middle region of Bangladesh will be in high risk of flood

Farmers’ Education and Farmers’ Wealth in Bangladesh

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abu Zafar Mahmudul Haq

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The impact of farmers’ education is examined with a view to evaluate the actual situation of farmers’ education in Bangladesh. Fifty samples were collected from two sub districts of the Gazipur district in Bangladesh. The selection of the study sites and collection of the samples such as the years of schooling of the farm household head, total income, farm size, number of earners of farm families, family size, years of farming experience of farm household head, number of times extension contacts and rice yield were done purposively. It is cleared from the study that education is necessary for farmers to raise their wealth. Results were derived through regression analysis. The study has also shown that size of family and years of farming experience contributed significantly to the wealth accumulation of farmers.

The EU as a global ecological power: The logics of market integration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laurent, Eloi; Le Cacheux, Jacques

2010-05-01

In this paper, we try to show how the EU became a global ecological power, i.e. a power that influences environmental policies throughout the world. While the existing literature stresses the significance of normative power, regulatory politics and multi-level governance in this process, we highlight the importance of what we call the logics of market integration. By that we mean the decisive role of Single market integration in fostering convergence of environmental policies at the European level as well as in extending European influence at the global level. We illustrate our approach with the case of climate policy, detailing the EU's influence on economic instruments developed worldwide to mitigate climate change. (authors)

Income, Wealth and Consumption of Cross-Border Commuters to Luxembourg

OpenAIRE

Thomas Y. Mathä; Alessandro Porpiglia; Michael Ziegelmeyer

2012-01-01

Exceeding 40% of domestic employment cross-border commuters are extremely important to Luxembourg's economy and labour market in general. This paper presents unique information on their income, wealth and consumption using representative survey data from cross-border commuter households to Luxembourg. The estimated average total net wealth of cross-border commuter households is about EUR 240,000, which falls substantially short of comparable estimates for Luxembourg resident households exceed...

Illegitimacy moderates the effects of power on approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lammers, Joris; Galinsky, Adam D.; Gordijn, Ernestine H.; Otten, Sabine

A wealth of research has found that power leads to behavioral approach and action. Four experiments demonstrate that this link between power and approach is broken when the power relationship is illegitimate. When power was primed to be legitimate or when power positions were assigned legitimately,

78 FR 12358 - UBS Financial Services, Inc., Wealth Management Americas Operations, Including On-Site Leased...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-22

..., Inc., Wealth Management Americas Operations, Including On-Site Leased Workers From Leafstone... Services, Inc., Wealth Management Americas Operations (UBS), Weehawken, New Jersey. The workers are engaged... to include all leased workers on-site at UBS Financial Services, Inc., Wealth Management Americas...

Doing More with Less The New Way to Wealth

CERN Document Server

Piasecki, Bruce

2012-01-01

"Bruce Piasecki redefines what winning looks like for all of us."-GERALD BRESNICK, Vice President of Environment, Health & Safety and Social Responsibility, Hess "Bruce Piasecki has created a book about discovering and maintaining wealth that, in fact, redefines wealth itself to include much more than mere numbers in a bank account." -JAY PARINI, bestselling author of The Last Station and The Passages of H.M. "Bruce Piasecki is one of the few thinkers really upping the ante for leaders in business and society."-JAMES HOWARD KUNSTLER, bestselling author of The Long Emergency and The Geograph

Econophysics of Income and Wealth Distributions

Science.gov (United States)

Chakrabarti, Bikas K.; Chakraborti, Anirban; Chakravarty, Satya R.; Chatterjee, Arnab

2013-03-01

1. Introduction; 2. Income and wealth distribution data for different countries; 3. Major socio-economic modellings; 4. Market exchanges and scattering process; 5. Analytic structure of the kinetic exchange market models; 6. Microeconomic foundation of the kinetic exchange models; 7. Dynamics: generation of income, inequality and development; 8. Outlook; References; Index.

A generalized statistical model for the size distribution of wealth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clementi, F; Gallegati, M; Kaniadakis, G

2012-01-01

In a recent paper in this journal (Clementi et al 2009 J. Stat. Mech. P02037), we proposed a new, physically motivated, distribution function for modeling individual incomes, having its roots in the framework of the κ-generalized statistical mechanics. The performance of the κ-generalized distribution was checked against real data on personal income for the United States in 2003. In this paper we extend our previous model so as to be able to account for the distribution of wealth. Probabilistic functions and inequality measures of this generalized model for wealth distribution are obtained in closed form. In order to check the validity of the proposed model, we analyze the US household wealth distributions from 1984 to 2009 and conclude an excellent agreement with the data that is superior to any other model already known in the literature. (paper)

A generalized statistical model for the size distribution of wealth

Science.gov (United States)

Clementi, F.; Gallegati, M.; Kaniadakis, G.

2012-12-01

In a recent paper in this journal (Clementi et al 2009 J. Stat. Mech. P02037), we proposed a new, physically motivated, distribution function for modeling individual incomes, having its roots in the framework of the κ-generalized statistical mechanics. The performance of the κ-generalized distribution was checked against real data on personal income for the United States in 2003. In this paper we extend our previous model so as to be able to account for the distribution of wealth. Probabilistic functions and inequality measures of this generalized model for wealth distribution are obtained in closed form. In order to check the validity of the proposed model, we analyze the US household wealth distributions from 1984 to 2009 and conclude an excellent agreement with the data that is superior to any other model already known in the literature.

Associations Between County Wealth, Health and Social Services Spending, and Health Outcomes.

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McCullough, J Mac; Leider, Jonathon P

2017-11-01

Each year, the County Health Rankings rate the health outcomes of each county in the U.S. A common refrain is that poor counties perform worse than wealthier ones. This article examines that assumption and specifically analyzes characteristics of counties that have performed better in terms of health outcomes than their wealth alone would suggest. Data from the 2013 County Health Rankings were used, as were 2012 financial and demographic information collected by the U.S. Census Bureau. A logistic model was constructed to examine the odds of a county "overperforming" in the rankings relative to community wealth. Analyses were performed in 2016. Communities that were wealthier performed better on the rankings. However, more than 800 of 3,141 counties overperformed by ranking in a better health outcomes quartile than their county's wealth alone would suggest. Regression analyses found that for each additional percentage point of total public spending that was allocated toward community health care and public health, the odds of being an overperformer increased by 3.7%. Community wealth correlates with health, but not always. Population health outcomes in hundreds of counties overperform what would be expected given community wealth alone. These counties tend to invest more in community health care and public health spending and other social services. Although the level of a community's wealth is outside the control of practitioners, shifting the proportion of spending to certain social services may positively impact population health. Copyright © 2017 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Simple wealth distribution model causing inequality-induced crisis without external shocks

Science.gov (United States)

Benisty, Henri

2017-05-01

We address the issue of the dynamics of wealth accumulation and economic crisis triggered by extreme inequality, attempting to stick to most possibly intrinsic assumptions. Our general framework is that of pure or modified multiplicative processes, basically geometric Brownian motions. In contrast with the usual approach of injecting into such stochastic agent models either specific, idiosyncratic internal nonlinear interaction patterns or macroscopic disruptive features, we propose a dynamic inequality model where the attainment of a sizable fraction of the total wealth by very few agents induces a crisis regime with strong intermittency, the explicit coupling between the richest and the rest being a mere normalization mechanism, hence with minimal extrinsic assumptions. The model thus harnesses the recognized lack of ergodicity of geometric Brownian motions. It also provides a statistical intuition to the consequences of Thomas Piketty's recent "r >g " (return rate > growth rate) paradigmatic analysis of very-long-term wealth trends. We suggest that the "water-divide" of wealth flow may define effective classes, making an objective entry point to calibrate the model. Consistently, we check that a tax mechanism associated to a few percent relative bias on elementary daily transactions is able to slow or stop the build-up of large wealth. When extreme fluctuations are tamed down to a stationary regime with sizable but steadier inequalities, it should still offer opportunities to study the dynamics of crisis and the inner effective classes induced through external or internal factors.

Power and Networks in Worldwide Knowledge Coordination: The Case of Global Science

Science.gov (United States)

King, Roger

2011-01-01

The article considers the global governance of knowledge systems, exploring concepts of power, networks, standards (defined as normative practices), and structuration. The focus is on science as a form of predominantly private global governance, particularly the self-regulatory and collaborative processes stretching across time and space. These…

Waste to wealth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sivapalan Kathiravale; Muhd Noor Muhd Yunus

2010-01-01

We currently live in a world where depletion of resources is beyond control. The call for sustainable development both environmentally and economically is spelt out loud and clear. Hence, the current and future generations must ensure that all resources shall be preserved, fully utilized and well managed. Waste generation has been part and parcel of man kinds pursuit for development, be it in social or economic activities. Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is an example of socio-economic activities that entails with waste generation. Generation rates of MSW vary according to the economic and social standing of a country. This in return will also affect the management style of the MSW generated. Generally, the higher income countries generated more waste, recycle more and have the money to employ new technology to treat their waste. As for the lower income countries, the waste generated is more organic in nature, which calls for lesser recycling, whereas disposal is by open dumping. The effects of this naturally would mean that in the lower income countries pollution to the water and air is huge as compare to the more developed countries. However on the other hand, does waste alone generate harmful gasses that pollute the world or does manufacturing, transportation and power production, which is rampant in the more industrialized countries contributing more towards pollution? This subject is argumentative and could be discussed at length. However, the environment cannot wait for the population to debate on the above matter. Action needs to be taken in a world where economic power determines the treatment method. Hence, the idea of recovering all 'wealth' in the waste is essential to ensure that even the poorest countries could benefit from all waste management technologies. For this to work, recycling, reuse and recovery of energy is essential in an integrated approach towards waste management. This would also mean that many environmental disasters could be avoided

Historical construction costs of global nuclear power reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lovering, Jessica R.; Yip, Arthur; Nordhaus, Ted

2016-01-01

The existing literature on the construction costs of nuclear power reactors has focused almost exclusively on trends in construction costs in only two countries, the United States and France, and during two decades, the 1970s and 1980s. These analyses, Koomey and Hultman (2007); Grubler (2010), and Escobar-Rangel and Lévêque (2015), study only 26% of reactors built globally between 1960 and 2010, providing an incomplete picture of the economic evolution of nuclear power construction. This study curates historical reactor-specific overnight construction cost (OCC) data that broaden the scope of study substantially, covering the full cost history for 349 reactors in the US, France, Canada, West Germany, Japan, India, and South Korea, encompassing 58% of all reactors built globally. We find that trends in costs have varied significantly in magnitude and in structure by era, country, and experience. In contrast to the rapid cost escalation that characterized nuclear construction in the United States, we find evidence of much milder cost escalation in many countries, including absolute cost declines in some countries and specific eras. Our new findings suggest that there is no inherent cost escalation trend associated with nuclear technology. - Highlights: •Comprehensive analysis of nuclear power construction cost experience. •Coverage for early and recent reactors in seven countries. •International comparisons and re-evaluation of learning. •Cost trends vary by country and era; some experience cost stability or decline.

Wealth in Middle and Later Life: Examining the Life Course Timing of Women's Health Limitations.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkinson, Lindsay R; Ferraro, Kenneth F; Mustillo, Sarah A

2018-06-04

Guided by cumulative inequality theory, this study poses two main questions: (a) Does women's poor health compromise household financial assets? (b) If yes, is wealth sensitive to the timing of women's health limitations? In addressing these questions, we consider the effect of health limitations on wealth at older ages, as well as examine how health limitations influence wealth over particular segments of the life course, giving attention to both the onset and duration of health limitations. Using 36 years of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Mature Women, piecewise growth curve and linear regression models were used to estimate the effects of life course timing and duration of health limitations on household wealth. The findings reveal that women who experienced health limitations accumulated substantially less wealth over time, especially if the health limitations were manifest during childhood or early adulthood. This study identifies how early-life health problems lead to less wealth in later life.

The Ghost Is the Machine: How Can We Visibilize the Unseen Norms and Power of Global Health? Comment on "Navigating Between Stealth Advocacy and Unconscious Dogmatism: The Challenge of Researching the Norms, Politics and Power of Global Health".

Science.gov (United States)

Forman, Lisa

2015-12-03

In his recent commentary, Gorik Ooms argues that "denying that researchers, like all humans, have personal opinions ... drives researchers' personal opinion underground, turning global health science into unconscious dogmatism or stealth advocacy, avoiding the crucial debate about the politics and underlying normative premises of global health." These 'unconscious' dimensions of global health are as Ooms and others suggest, rooted in its unacknowledged normative, political and power aspects. But why would these aspects be either unconscious or unacknowledged? In this commentary, I argue that the 'unconscious' and 'unacknowledged' nature of the norms, politics and power that drive global health is a direct byproduct of the processes through which power operates, and a primary mechanism by which power sustains and reinforces itself. To identify what is unconscious and unacknowledged requires more than broadening the disciplinary base of global health research to those social sciences with deep traditions of thought in the domains of power, politics and norms, albeit that doing so is a fundamental first step. I argue that it also requires individual and institutional commitments to adopt reflexive, humble and above all else, equitable practices within global health research. © 2016 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Equity monitoring for social marketing: use of wealth quintiles and the concentration index for decision making in HIV prevention, family planning, and malaria programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Chakraborty, Nirali M; Firestone, Rebecca; Bellows, Nicole

2013-01-01

The majority of social marketing programs are intended to reach the poor. It is therefore essential that social marketing organizations monitor the health equity of their programs and improve targeting when the poor are not being reached. Current measurement approaches are often insufficient for decision making because they fail to show a program's ability to reach the poor and demonstrate progress over time. Further, effective program equity metrics should be benchmarked against a national reference population and consider exposure, not just health outcomes, to measure direct results of implementation. This study compares two measures of health equity, concentration indices and wealth quintiles, using a defined reference population, and considers benefits of both measures together to inform programmatic decision making. Three datasets from recent cross-sectional behavioral surveys on malaria, HIV, and family planning from Nepal and Burkina Faso were used to calculate concentration indices and wealth quintiles. Each sample was standardized to national wealth distributions based on recent Demographic and Health Surveys. Wealth quintiles were generated and concentration indices calculated for health outcomes and program exposure in each sample. Chi-square and t-tests were used to assess statistical significance of results. Reporting wealth quintiles showed that recipients of Population Services International (PSI) interventions were wealthier than national populations. Both measures indicated that desirable health outcomes were usually concentrated among wealthier populations. Positive and significant concentration indices in all three surveys indicated that wealth and program exposure were correlated; however this relationship was not necessarily linear. In analyzing the equity of modern contraceptive use stratified by exposure to family planning messages in Nepal, the outcome was equitable (concentration index = 0.006, p = 0.68) among the exposed, while the wealthy

Comparing Wealth – Data quality of the HFCS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anita Tiefensee

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS provides information about house-hold wealth (real and financial assets as well as liabilities from 15 Euro-countries around the year 2010 (first wave. The survey will be the central dataset in this topic in the future. However, several aspects point to potential methodological constraints regarding cross-country comparability. Therefore the aim of this paper is to get a better insight in the data quality of this important data source. The framework for our analysis is the “Guidelines for Micro Statistics on Household Wealth” from the OECD (2013. We have two main focuses: First, we present a synopsis of cross-country differences, which is the core of the paper. We compare the sampling processes, the interview modes, the oversampling techniques, the unit and item non-response rates and how it is dealt with them via weighting and imputation as well as further points which might restrict cross-country comparability of net wealth. We classify the individual country behavior and evaluate the impact on net wealth. Second, we give a first insight in the selectivity of item non-response in a cross-national setting. We make use of logit models to identify differences in characteristics as well as item non-response patterns across countries.

The Real Wealth of Nations: From Global Warming to Global Partnership

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Riane Eisler

2017-10-01

Full Text Available In a speech delivered September 16, 2009 in New York City, at the United Nations' special meeting on climate change hosted by the Caribbean island-country of Grenada, Riane Eisler proposed a new approach for prevention and mitigation of global warming. She placed our climate change crisis in its social and historical context. She highlighted the connection between high technology and an ethos of Domination in bringing on our current crises, and why successfully resolving them requires an understanding of the configurations of the Domination System and the Partnership System as two underlying social configurations. These social configurations transcend conventional categories such as right vs. left, religious vs. secular, or Eastern vs. Western, which fail to take into account the crucial interactions between the cultural construction of our basic childhood and gender relations and politics and economics. As a result, regressions to the Domination side of the Partnership/Domination continuum have punctuated our forward movement, including a disregard for both people and nature. She showed that going back to the old “normal” is not an option, and outlined how, together, we can build a new normal in which caring for people and nature is a top priority.

The Differential Impact of Wealth versus Income in the College-Going Process

Science.gov (United States)

Jez, Su Jin

2014-01-01

College is increasingly essential for economic and social mobility. Current research and public policy devotes significant attention to race, income, and socioeconomic factors in college access. Yet, wealth's role, as differentiated from income, is largely unexplored. This paper examines the differences between wealth and income in the…

New composite distributions for modeling industrial income and wealth per employee

Science.gov (United States)

Wiegand, Martin; Nadarajah, Saralees

2018-02-01

Forbes Magazine offers an annual list of the 2000 largest publicly traded companies, shedding light on four different measurements: Sales, profits, market value and assets held. Soriano-Hernández et al. (2017) modeled these wealth metrics using composite distributions made up of two parts. In this note, we introduce different composite distributions to more accurately describe the spread of these wealth metrics.

The Dynamics of Market Insurance, Insurable Assets, and Wealth Accumulation

OpenAIRE

Koeniger, Winfried

2002-01-01

We analyze dynamic interactions between market insurance, the stock of insurable assets and liquid wealth accumulation in a model with non-durable and durable consumption. The stock of the durable is exposed to risk against which households can insure. Since the model does not have a closed form solution we first provide an analytical approximation for the case in which households own abundant liquid wealth. It turns out that precautionary motives still matter because of fluctuations of the p...

The leverage effect on wealth distribution in a controllable laboratory stock market.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Chenge; Yang, Guang; An, Kenan; Huang, Jiping

2014-01-01

Wealth distribution has always been an important issue in our economic and social life, since it affects the harmony and stabilization of the society. Under the background of widely used financial tools to raise leverage these years, we studied the leverage effect on wealth distribution of a population in a controllable laboratory market in which we have conducted several human experiments, and drawn the conclusion that higher leverage leads to a higher Gini coefficient in the market. A higher Gini coefficient means the wealth distribution among a population becomes more unequal. This is a result of the ascending risk with growing leverage level in the market plus the diversified trading abilities and risk preference of the participants. This work sheds light on the effects of leverage and its related regulations, especially its impact on wealth distribution. It also shows the capability of the method of controllable laboratory markets which could be helpful in several fields of study such as economics, econophysics and sociology.

IQ and the Wealth of States

Science.gov (United States)

Kanazawa, Satoshi

2006-01-01

In "IQ and the Wealth of Nations" (2002), Lynn and Vanhanen estimate the mean IQs of 185 nations and demonstrate that national IQs strongly correlate with the macroeconomic performance of the nations, explaining about half of the variance in GDP per capita. I seek to replicate Lynn and Vanhanen's results across states within the United…

Tracking the global maximum power point of PV arrays under partial shading conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Fennich, Meryem

This thesis presents the theoretical and simulation studies of the global maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for photovoltaic systems under partial shading. The main goal is to track the maximum power point of the photovoltaic module so that the maximum possible power can be extracted from the photovoltaic panels. When several panels are connected in series with some of them shaded partially either due to clouds or shadows from neighboring buildings, several local maxima appear in the power vs. voltage curve. A power increment based MPPT algorithm is effective in identifying the global maximum from the several local maxima. Several existing MPPT algorithms are explored and the state-of-the-art power increment method is simulated and tested for various partial shading conditions. The current-voltage and power-voltage characteristics of the PV model are studied under different partial shading conditions, along with five different cases demonstrating how the MPPT algorithm performs when shading switches from one state to another. Each case is supplemented with simulation results. The method of tracking the Global MPP is based on controlling the DC-DC converter connected to the output of the PV array. A complete system simulation including the PV array, the direct current to direct current (DC-DC) converter and the MPPT is presented and tested using MATLAB software. The simulation results show that the MPPT algorithm works very well with the buck converter, while the boost converter needs further changes and implementation.

Institutions as a Constituent of the Social Wealth and a Factor of the Synthesis of its Constituents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silantiev Oleh I.

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The publication is aimed at studying the role of institutions in the development of modern macroeconomic systems and the growth of their wealth. The integral, integrated, logical approach plus the mathematical modelling method were used for carrying out the analysis. It has been found that the value of institutions is defined for society through cost reduction, as opposed to the value of other accrued benefits that exist in forms of valuable material things, knowledge, information, etc., and the worth of which, accordingly, is determined by the growth of the end result (increase in their volume. A classification of institutions by the criterion of their efficiency for the development of society has been proposed. The economic-mathematical model has been built and analyzed in the form of a regression equation that expresses the dependence of GDP according to the purchasing power parity (PPP per person from the corruption perception index. It has been found that there is a stochastic link between the corruptness of public governance and the formation of the wealth of modern macroeconomic systems. The obtained results can be applied in the sphere of public governance in the formation of Ukraine’s social and economic policy. Prospects for further research are an in-depth examination of the relationship between the institutional infrastructure of society and the level of its wealth.

Engineering Global Soils to Sustain Planet Earth

OpenAIRE

Banwart, Steven A.; Menon, Manoj

2014-01-01

Global soils are under intense pressure from the demographic drivers of increasing human population and\\ud wealth. During the next 40 years Earth’s human population is project to approach 10 billion with a quadrupling\\ud in the global economy, a doubling in the demand for food, a doubling in the demand for fuel, and a more than\\ud 50% increase in the demand for clean water. Can Earth’s soils keep up?

The Social Form of Wealth as a Dominant in the Development Potential of Modern Macroeconomic Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silantiev Oleh I.

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The publication is aimed at researching the role of the social form of wealth and its constituents in the development potential of modern macroeconomic systems. The essence of social wealth has been disclosed and the concept of «social form of wealth» has been defined. The ability of social capital to promote materialization of the potential reserves of development of society is characterized, that is caused by its productive value when it develops itself and develops possibilities of increase of other forms of wealth in certain combinations. The ability of social capital to be integrated into a reproduced process at almost any stage of the latter has been determined. Presence of a controversy between the traditional capitalist way of production of wealth (with a focus on the growth of private wealth corporations and post-industrial (which in practice is manifested in the asymmetry of information has been proved. It has been determined that the social capital is considered as an individual property of everyone, which, however, can become a public (collective resource in whole or in part. The importance of the carried out research is an improvement of theoretical approaches to understanding how the volume of social wealth, accumulated by macroeconomic systems, impacts economic-social development. Prospects for further research are an in-depth study of the relationship between the social wealth of macroeconomic systems and the volume of their wealth.

The Green Economy in the Global South

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brockington, Dan; Ponte, Stefano

2015-01-01

As multiple visions for a Green Economy seek to become real, so are green economic initiatives in the global South multiplying. These can offer integration into wealth-generating markets – as well as displacement, alienation, conflict and opportunities for ‘green washing’. The articles included i...

Wealth-Associated Disparities in Death and Disability in the United States and England.

Science.gov (United States)

Makaroun, Lena K; Brown, Rebecca T; Diaz-Ramirez, L Grisell; Ahalt, Cyrus; Boscardin, W John; Lang-Brown, Sean; Lee, Sei

2017-12-01

Low income has been associated with poor health outcomes. Owing to retirement, wealth may be a better marker of financial resources among older adults. To determine the association of wealth with mortality and disability among older adults in the United States and England. The US Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA) are nationally representative cohorts of community-dwelling older adults. We examined 12 173 participants enrolled in HRS and 7599 enrolled in ELSA in 2002. Analyses were stratified by age (54-64 years vs 66-76 years) because many safety-net programs commence around age 65 years. Participants were followed until 2012 for mortality and disability. Wealth quintile, based on total net worth in 2002. Mortality and disability, defined as difficulty performing an activity of daily living. A total of 6233 US respondents and 4325 English respondents aged 54 to 64 years (younger cohort) and 5940 US respondents and 3274 English respondents aged 66 to 76 years (older cohort) were analyzed for the mortality outcome. Slightly over half of respondents were women (HRS: 6570, 54%; ELSA: 3974, 52%). A higher proportion of respondents from HRS were nonwhite compared with ELSA in both the younger (14% vs 3%) and the older (13% vs 3%) age cohorts. We found increased risk of death and disability as wealth decreased. In the United States, participants aged 54 to 64 years in the lowest wealth quintile (Q1) (≤$39 000) had a 17% mortality risk and 48% disability risk over 10 years, whereas in the highest wealth quintile (Q5) (>$560 000) participants had a 5% mortality risk and 15% disability risk (mortality hazard ratio [HR], 3.3; 95% CI, 2.0-5.6; P £310,550) had a 4% mortality risk and 17% disability risk (mortality HR, 4.4; 95% CI, 2.7-7.0; P wealth quintiles were similar. When adjusted for sex, age, race, income, and education, HR for mortality and sHR for disability were attenuated but remained statistically

Hydroelectric power and global environmental problems: benefits and environmental impacts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chabot, B.

1992-01-01

The risk of global warming is one of the most serious global environmental problems. It is due to the increase of greenhouse gases emissions, mainly because of the use of fossil fuels in the energy sector, particularly for electricity generation. At an international level, experts now agree that measures are to be taken to reduce this risk. In the energy sector, an improvement of energy efficiency and an increase of nuclear electricity generation are often presented as the best available solutions. Renewable energy sources are often presented as a solution with a negligible potential impact, and sometimes, hydro power is even forgotten, or its coasts and its potential impacts on local environment are presented as an obstacle to its positive contribution to the reduction of global warming risk. Without denying the positive impacts of other solutions, this paper explains the possibilities and the benefits of an increased use of hydroelectric power, when implemented with a minimum impact on local environment and with a synergistic effect with the rational use of generated energy, in order to have access to a sustainable development. 19 refs., 6 figs

Household Wealth Trends in the United States, 1962 to 2013: What Happened over the Great Recession?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edward N. Wolff

2016-10-01

Full Text Available I look at wealth trends from 1962 to 2013, particularly for the middle class. Asset prices plunged between 2007 and 2010 but then rebounded from 2010 to 2013. The most telling finding is that median wealth plummeted by 44 percent between 2007 and 2010, almost double the drop in housing prices. Wealth inequality, after almost two decades of little movement, was up sharply from 2007 to 2010. This sharp fall in median net worth and rise in overall wealth inequality are traceable primarily to the high leverage of middle-class families, the high share of homes in their portfolio, and the plunge in house prices. Rather remarkably, median (and mean wealth did not essentially change from 2010 to 2013 despite the rebound in asset prices. The proximate cause was the high dissavings of the middle class. Wealth inequality also remained largely unchanged.

Framing Political Change: Can a Left Populism Disrupt the Rise of the Reactionary Right? Comment on "Politics, Power, Poverty and Global Health: Systems and Frames".

Science.gov (United States)

Labonté, Ronald

2017-01-17

Solomon Benatar offers an important critique of the limited frame that sets the boundaries of much of what is referred to as 'global health.' In placing his comments within a criticism of increasing poverty (or certainly income and wealth inequalities) and the decline in our environmental commons, he locates our health inequities within the pathology of our present global economy. In that respect it is a companion piece to an editorial I published around the same time. Both Benatar's and my paralleling arguments take on a new urgency in the wake of the US presidential election. Although not a uniquely American event (the xenophobic right has been making inroads in many parts of the world), the degree of vitriol expressed by the President-elect of the world's (still) most powerful and militarized country is being used to further legitimate the policies of right-extremist parties in Europe while providing additional justification for the increasingly autocratic politics of leaders (elected or otherwise) in many other of the world's nations. To challenge right-populism's rejection of the predatory inequalities that 4 years of (neo)-liberal globalization have created demands strong and sustained left populism built, in part, on the ecocentric frame advocated by Benatar. © 2017 The Author(s); Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

The Effect of Wealth Shocks on Loss Aversion: Behavior and Neural Correlates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. S. Chandrasekhar Pammi

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Kahneman and Tversky (1979 first demonstrated that when individuals decide whether or not to accept a gamble, potential losses receive more weight than possible gains in the decision. This phenomenon is referred to as loss aversion. We investigated how loss aversion in risky financial decisions is influenced by sudden changes to wealth, employing both behavioral and neurobiological measures. We implemented an fMRI experimental paradigm, based on that employed by Tom et al. (2007. There are two treatments, called RANDOM and CONTINGENT. In RANDOM, the baseline setting, the changes to wealth, referred to as wealth shocks in economics, are independent of the actual choices participants make. Under CONTINGENT, we induce the belief that the changes in income are a consequence of subjects' own decisions. The magnitudes and sequence of the shocks to wealth are identical between the CONTINGENT and RANDOM treatments. We investigated whether more loss aversion existed in one treatment than another. The behavioral results showed significantly greater loss aversion in CONTINGENT compared to RANDOM after a negative wealth shock. No differences were observed in the response to positive shocks. The fMRI results revealed a neural loss aversion network, comprising the bilateral striatum, amygdala and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex that was common to the CONTINGENT and RANDOM tasks. However, the ventral prefrontal cortex, primary somatosensory cortex and superior occipital cortex, showed greater activation in response to a negative change in wealth due to individual's own decisions than when the change was exogenous. These results indicate that striatum activation correlates with loss aversion independently of the source of the shock, and that the ventral prefrontal cortex (vPFC codes the experimental manipulation of agency in one's actions influencing loss aversion.

The Effect of Wealth Shocks on Loss Aversion: Behavior and Neural Correlates.

Science.gov (United States)

Pammi, V S Chandrasekhar; Ruiz, Sergio; Lee, Sangkyun; Noussair, Charles N; Sitaram, Ranganatha

2017-01-01

Kahneman and Tversky (1979) first demonstrated that when individuals decide whether or not to accept a gamble, potential losses receive more weight than possible gains in the decision. This phenomenon is referred to as loss aversion. We investigated how loss aversion in risky financial decisions is influenced by sudden changes to wealth, employing both behavioral and neurobiological measures. We implemented an fMRI experimental paradigm, based on that employed by Tom et al. (2007). There are two treatments, called RANDOM and CONTINGENT. In RANDOM, the baseline setting, the changes to wealth, referred to as wealth shocks in economics, are independent of the actual choices participants make. Under CONTINGENT, we induce the belief that the changes in income are a consequence of subjects' own decisions. The magnitudes and sequence of the shocks to wealth are identical between the CONTINGENT and RANDOM treatments. We investigated whether more loss aversion existed in one treatment than another. The behavioral results showed significantly greater loss aversion in CONTINGENT compared to RANDOM after a negative wealth shock. No differences were observed in the response to positive shocks. The fMRI results revealed a neural loss aversion network, comprising the bilateral striatum, amygdala and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex that was common to the CONTINGENT and RANDOM tasks. However, the ventral prefrontal cortex, primary somatosensory cortex and superior occipital cortex, showed greater activation in response to a negative change in wealth due to individual's own decisions than when the change was exogenous. These results indicate that striatum activation correlates with loss aversion independently of the source of the shock, and that the ventral prefrontal cortex (vPFC) codes the experimental manipulation of agency in one's actions influencing loss aversion.

Legal Pluralism, Private Power, and the Impact of the Financial Crisis on the Global Political Economy

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Edward S. Cohen

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Private corporate actors have played a central role in the construction of the legal rules of globalized capitalism over the past four decades. In no sector has this been more true than in global finance, where private agents have reshaped the norms and practices of credit creation and allocation. The global financial crisis, however, has led many states to challenge aspects of this power and raised broader questions about the legitimacy and future of private power in the global legal order(s. In this paper, I argue that –while state actors have clawed back significant power in global finance– the specific powers of credit creation and allocation combined with the structural pull of transnational legal pluralism will enable major private financial institutions to retain substantial power in the face of these challenges and questions. In the process, I present some broad suggestion about how we can think about private power in the making of global commercial law. Durante las últimas cuatro décadas, actores corporativos privados han desempeñado un papel decisivo en la construcción de las normas legales del capitalismo globalizado. En ningún sector ha sido esto más cierto que en las finanzas globales, donde los agentes privados han reformado las normas y prácticas de la creación de crédito y asignación. La crisis financiera global, sin embargo, ha llevado a muchos estados a cuestionar aspectos de este poder y planteado cuestiones más amplias acerca de la legitimidad y el futuro del poder privado en el/los ordenamiento/s jurídico/s global/es. En este trabajo se sostiene que –mientras que los actores estatales han recuperado un poder significativo en las finanzas globales– los poderes específicos de la creación de crédito y asignación combinados con la fuerza estructural del pluralismo jurídico transnacional permitirán a las principales instituciones financieras privadas retener poder sustancial ante estos retos y preguntas

Bahrain and the global balance of power after the Arab spring

OpenAIRE

Andersen, Lars Erslev

2012-01-01

The global balance of power is changing, and the role of the US as the only superpower is being challenged by emerging new powers and a still more powerful China. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the Persian Gulf. Two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and continually rising debt have meant that the position of the US has declined. At the same time, Asian states are increasing their economic expansion in the Persian Gulf. Increasing political influence, including a bigger role in hard security...

Health and Wealth of Elderly Couples : Causality Tests Using Dynamic Panel Data Models

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Michaud, P.C.; van Soest, A.H.O.

2004-01-01

A positive relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and health, the so-called \\health-wealth gradient", is repeatedly found in most industrialized countries with similar levels of health care technology and economic welfare. This study analyzes causality from health to wealth (health

Childhood family wealth and mental health in a national cohort of young adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Félice Lê-Scherban

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Mental health is critical to young adult health, as the onset of 75% of psychiatric disorders occurs by age 24 and psychiatric disorders early in life predict later behavioral health problems. Wealth may serve as a buffer against economic stressors. Family wealth may be particularly relevant for young adults by providing them with economic resources as they make educational decisions and move towards financial and social independence. Methods: We used prospectively collected data from 2060 young adults aged 18–27 in 2005–2011 from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, a national cohort of US families. We examined associations between nonspecific psychological distress (measured with the K-6 scale and childhood average household wealth during ages 0–18 years (net worth in 2010 dollars. Results: In demographics-adjusted generalized estimating equation models, higher childhood wealth percentile was related to a lower prevalence of serious psychological distress: compared to lowest-quartile wealth, prevalence ratio (PR=0.52 (0.32–0.85 for 3rd quartile and PR=0.41 (0.24–0.68 for 4th quartile. The associations were attenuated slightly by adjustment for parent education and more so by adjustment for childhood household income percentile. Conclusions: Understanding the lifelong processes through which distinct aspects of socioeconomic status affect mental health can help us identify high-risk populations and take steps to minimize future disparities in mental illness. Keywords: USA, Mental health, Health disparities, Socioeconomic status, Young adults, Life course, Wealth, Multigenerational

Current Trends in the Nuclear Power Global Market

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Mariya Mikhailovna Osetskaya

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The review of the nuclear energy technologies market, namely the main processes of the initial and final stages of the nuclear fuel cycle (NTC was shown. The authors reveal key players in the markets of natural uranium mining, conversion, enrichment, fabrication of nuclear fuel, direct disposal, and reprocessing as well as determine their market shares. The article shows the fundamental factors influencing the development trends of the global nuclear power market such as: units’ commissioning in China, India, the Republic of Korea and other countries, the restart of the Japanese nuclear power plants, growth of uranium supplies long-term contracting planned for the period up to 2025, volatility of world prices of the NFC initial and final stages, political, economic and environmental reasons for the nuclear power generation choice. The article presents the results of analyses of Russian and world prices on the NFC initial and final stages main processes’ allowing to draw a conclusion about the current competitiveness of Russian nuclear energy technologies

Global Health Governance and Global Power: A Critical Commentary on the Lancet-University of Oslo Commission Report.

Science.gov (United States)

Gill, Stephen; Benatar, Solomon

2016-01-01

The Lancet-University of Oslo Commission Report on Global Governance for Health provides an insightful analysis of the global health inequalities that result from transnational activities consequent on what the authors call contemporary "global social norms." Our critique is that the analysis and suggested reforms to prevailing institutions and practices are confined within the perspective of the dominant-although unsustainable and inequitable-market-oriented, neoliberal development model of global capitalism. Consequently, the report both elides critical discussion of many key forms of material and political power under conditions of neoliberal development and governance that shape the nature and priorities of the global governance for health, and fails to point to the extent of changes required to sustainably improve global health. We propose that an alternative concept of progress-one grounded in history, political economy, and ecologically responsible health ethics-is sorely needed to better address challenges of global health governance in the new millennium. This might be premised on global solidarity and the "development of sustainability." We argue that the prevailing market civilization model that lies at the heart of global capitalism is being, and will further need to be, contested to avoid contradictions and dislocations associated with the commodification and privatization of health. © The Author(s) 2016.

Low-wealth Entrepreneurs and Access to External Financing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frid, Casey J.; Wyman, David M.; Gartner, Bill

2016-01-01

Purpose: -The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between low-wealth business founders in the USA and external startup funding. Specifically, the authors test whether a founders’ low personal net worth is correlated with a lower probability of acquiring funding from outside sources...... demonstrates the importance of personal wealth as a factor in acquiring external startup financing compared to human capital, industry, or personal characteristics. Social implications: -If the ability to acquire external funding is significantly constrained, the quality of the opportunity and the skill...... endowments at the outset. Originality/value: -Unlike prior studies, the data used are not subject to survivor bias or an underrepresentation of self-employment. The statistical model jointly estimates acquisition of financing and the amount received. This resolves selection and censoring problems. Finally...

Relationship between empowerment and wealth: trends and predictors in Kenya between 2003 and 2008-2009.

Science.gov (United States)

Voronca, Delia; Walker, Rebekah J; Egede, Leonard E

2018-06-01

This study aimed to examine the association between women's empowerment and wealth over time in Kenya. Kenya Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) for 2003 and 2008-2009 were used. Eligible women and men were either married or living with a partner. Two scales were used for empowerment: female participation in decision-making, and attitudes toward domestic violence against female partners. Hierarchical linear models were used based on theoretical blocks of covariates. In a sample of 9847 women and 3207 men, results showed empowerment increased over time. After adjustment, female partners' reporting greater empowerment on either scale remained significantly associated with increased wealth, (urban: β = 0.04, p value wealth in rural regions (β = 0.04, p value wealth in urban regions (β = - 0.08, p value wealth. The association varies by gender of respondent and rural/urban residence.

Socioemotional Wealth and Firms’ Control: Evidence from Malaysian Chinese Owned Companies

OpenAIRE

Goh, Chin Fei; Rasli, Amran; Tan, Owee Kowang; Choi, Sang Long

2015-01-01

This paper explores how the preservation of socioemotional wealth can be manifested in the control and corporate governance of Malaysian Chinese firms. Using panel data from the Industrial Products index of the Bursa Malaysia (the Malaysian stock exchange) during 2003-2006, we show that the ingrained ‘life-raft values’ among overseas Chinese entrepreneurs can be associated with the preservation of their socioemotional wealth, and thus they prioritize control over their firms. Additionally, we...

Agent-based model of the effect of globalization on inequality and class mobility

Science.gov (United States)

Evers, Joep H. M.; Iron, David; Kolokolnikov, Theodore; Rumsey, John

2017-12-01

We consider a variant of the Bouchaud-Mézard model for wealth distribution in a society which incorporates the interaction radius between the agents, to model the extent of globalization in a society. The wealth distribution depends critically on the extent of this interaction. When interaction is relatively local, a small cluster of individuals emerges which accumulate most of the society's wealth. In this regime, the society is highly stratified with little or no class mobility. As the interaction is increased, the number of wealthy agents decreases, but the overall inequality rises as the freed-up wealth is transferred to the remaining wealthy agents. However when the interaction exceeds a certain critical threshold, the society becomes highly mobile resulting in a much lower economic inequality (low Gini index). This is consistent with the Kuznets upside-down U shaped inequality curve hypothesis.

Overlapping consensus versus discourse in climate change policy: The case of Norway's Sovereign Wealth Fund

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nilsen, Heidi Rapp

2010-01-01

This paper is motivated by the mismatch between emission of greenhouse gases and effective mitigation policies. Science now calls for every tool to be considered in order for radical changes to mitigate the situation more effectively. This paper considers Norway's huge Sovereign Wealth Fund which, although withdrawing investment from firms causing severe environmental damage, does not categorize climate change as 'severe environmental damage'. The main reason is a basis of overlapping consensus, which also hinders argumentation for this practice. Overlapping consensus is part of the broader theory 'Justice as Fairness' as conceived by John Rawls. The consensus is with regard to having a socially just system. The word 'overlapping' refers to people having different reasons for supporting the system. However using overlapping consensus for investment-strategies represents an extension beyond its original intention, and moreover, removes mitigating climate change from the agenda. Removing the basis of overlapping consensus opens up scope for value-based discourse conceived by Habermas' communicative action and discourse ethics. The immense severity of climate change demands value-based and substantial arguments from powerful sovereign wealth funds, to consider the acceptability of their practice.

Awareness structure of the people with opinion that nuclear power is effective for preventing global warming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukae, Chiyokazu

2006-01-01

Most of people think that nuclear power generation is not effective for preventing global warming. In this research, the reason why people think so was investigated with using questionnaire survey. As a result, the misunderstanding, the thermal effluent and radioactive substance etc. produced from a nuclear plant promotes global warming, has influenced on this issue. People have negative image against nuclear power in the background of this idea. This negative image is a factor to decrease the evaluation that nuclear power is useful for preventing global warming regardless of the presence of the misunderstanding. By the fear that the accident of the nuclear plant brings the environmental destruction, people evaluate that nuclear power doesn't have the capabilities for environmental preservation. Especially young people have such awareness. It is necessary to learn energy and environmental issues including the merits and demerits of nuclear power objectively in the academic training. (author)

Global Health as a Field of Power Relations: A Response to Recent Commentaries

Science.gov (United States)

Shiffman, Jeremy

2015-01-01

Actors working in global health often portray it as an enterprise grounded in principled concerns, advanced by individuals and organizations who draw on scientific evidence to pursue health equity. This portrait is incomplete. It is also a field of power relations—a social arena in which actors claim and draw on expertise and moral authority to gain influence and pursue career, organizational and national interests. A clear understanding of how power operates in this field is necessary to ensure that it is used productively to serve the aims of health equity and improved population health. Responding to commentaries on an editorial published in this journal, I offer 3 ideas toward this end: (1) be skeptical of the global health rationality project—the effort to rescue the field from the alleged indignities of politics through the application of scientific methods; (2) analyze global health as a field of power relations, a concept developed by sociologist Pierre Bourdieu; and (3) elevate the place of input legitimacy—inclusive deliberation, fair process and transparency—to address legitimacy and knowledge deficits in this field. PMID:26188819

The status and prospects of the debate upon the global warming and nuclear power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yim, C. Y.

2001-01-01

Possible climate change caused by global warming becomes one of the most serious challenges that mankind shall tackle in 21 st century. Nuclear power, which doesn't emit any greenhouse gas during the generation of electricity, is a promising solution to mitigate the global warming. However, there are still debates about the role of nuclear power related to the subjects such as safety, radioactive waste management and nuclear proliferation risk in the international climate change talks. This paper introduces on-going negotiation focused on the nuclear power and then, gives some prospects on the future negotiations. Finally the brief analysis of their impacts on domestic nuclear industry is carried out

Algeria: the illusions of oil wealth - CERI Studies No. 168

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martinez, Luis

2010-09-01

Thirty years after the nationalisation of hydrocarbons Algeria's oil wealth seems to have disappeared judging by its absence in the country's indicators of well-being. In Algeria oil led to happiness for a few and sadness for many. The absence of controls over oil revenue led to the industries downfall. Since 2002 Algeria is again seeing oil wealth. The increase in the price per barrel from 30 to 147 dollars between 2002 and 2008 provided the country with unexpected revenue permitting it to accumulate funds estimated, in 2009, at 150 billion dollars. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, returned to a devastated Algeria to restore civil order, unexpectedly benefited from this price increase. Thus, in addition to national reconciliation he was able to offer Algeria renewed economic growth. However, given that the wounds of the 1990's are not entirely healed and the illusions of oil wealth have evaporated this unexpected return of financial abundance raises concerns. To what ends will this manna be put? Who will control it? Will it provoke new violence and conflict? (author)

The Role of Cultural Power and Its Influence on Global Developments

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Gholamreza Mortazavi

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The study of the culture power in international politics is very complicated and difficult matter because it has been less explicitly used in the analyses and theorizing of cultural elements, hence the role of culture like political, security and economic factors, is not apparent in the theory of international relations. Many researchers have found that it is not possible to achieve the depth of the relations between nations only by relying on the pure political and economic factors. They prescribe to focus on cultural issues and special attention to the field of culture in order to achieve a realistic cognition of international relations. What doubles the importance of the issue, is the design of some new theories and new intellectual schools, and its effect on global politics. Including, the theory of the clash of civilizations, the dialogue of civilizations, cultural fluidity and postmodernist attitude towards the category of identity and culture, that each of them in some way recommends a particular action framework, according to its noetic framework. Hence, the fundamental question is that: What is the role of culture (soft power in foreign policy and what impact does it have on global changes and developments trend? In response to this, the hypothesis is raised in such a way (trying to produce, procure and persuade values, attitudes, and trends and common attitudes lead to achieve cultural power and, as a result, facilitate the achievement of the national goals and interests of the countries, and promote the foreign policy of the countries and, on the other hand, the use of cultural power, creates a culture of resistance in the field of global politics.

Equity monitoring for social marketing: use of wealth quintiles and the concentration index for decision making in HIV prevention, family planning, and malaria programs

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background The majority of social marketing programs are intended to reach the poor. It is therefore essential that social marketing organizations monitor the health equity of their programs and improve targeting when the poor are not being reached. Current measurement approaches are often insufficient for decision making because they fail to show a program's ability to reach the poor and demonstrate progress over time. Further, effective program equity metrics should be benchmarked against a national reference population and consider exposure, not just health outcomes, to measure direct results of implementation. This study compares two measures of health equity, concentration indices and wealth quintiles, using a defined reference population, and considers benefits of both measures together to inform programmatic decision making. Methods Three datasets from recent cross-sectional behavioral surveys on malaria, HIV, and family planning from Nepal and Burkina Faso were used to calculate concentration indices and wealth quintiles. Each sample was standardized to national wealth distributions based on recent Demographic and Health Surveys. Wealth quintiles were generated and concentration indices calculated for health outcomes and program exposure in each sample. Chi-square and t-tests were used to assess statistical significance of results. Results Reporting wealth quintiles showed that recipients of Population Services International (PSI) interventions were wealthier than national populations. Both measures indicated that desirable health outcomes were usually concentrated among wealthier populations. Positive and significant concentration indices in all three surveys indicated that wealth and program exposure were correlated; however this relationship was not necessarily linear. In analyzing the equity of modern contraceptive use stratified by exposure to family planning messages in Nepal, the outcome was equitable (concentration index = 0.006, p = 0.68) among the

From ‘The West and the Rest’ to Global Interconnectedness: China Historians and the Transformation of World History as a Discipline

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert Eng

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Representative of the Eurocentric perspective in world history texts and scholarship is David Landes' 'The Wealth and Poverty of Nations'. He argues that European culture was key to its achievement of wealth and power, and that China was doomed to fail by its "cultural triumphalism" and "petty downward tyranny." By adopting a globalist and comparative framework and disputing European exceptionalism, Andre Gunder Frank's 'ReORIENT: Global Economy in the Asian Age', R. Bin Wong's 'China Transformed', and Kenneth Pomeranz's 'The Great Divergence 'contribute to world history scholarship and teaching. These works collectively make the forceful case for Europe's rise as contingent on external and accidental factors such as the fortuitous abundance of readily accessible coal in Britain and the windfall profits from the Atlantic slave trade and the American colonies. They propose an inclusive vision of history that emphasizes multiple paths and possibilities rather than a single and inevitable path of the rise of industrialism in the West.

A Global Civilian Power? The Future Role of the European Union in International Politics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bedrudin Brljavac

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Questions about the future of the European Union as an international actor continue to puzzle students of international relations and particularly students of EU foreign policy. What kind of predictions can we make about the future role of the EU in international politics? While the question is often framed in terms of military versus normative and/or global civilian power Europe, there are indications that ambitions in both directions may very well coincide. However, despite the EU’s development towards deepened defense integration since the 1990s, such developments are by far outweighed by developments pointing in the direction of the EU consolidating its role as a global civilian power. In this article, we analyze the union’s civilian policies and contrast the findings of our analysis with developments in the field of Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP. Based on our analysis of EU enlargement policy, external aid, global environmental policy and the union’s commitment to multilateralism, our conclusion is that the EU’s international role in the next decades will continue to be best described in terms of a global civilian power.

Rents, Power and Governance in Global Value Chains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dennis Davis

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses the  generation  of  rents  and  the  distribution  of  gains  in  the  global  operations  of  governed Global  Value  Chains  (GVCs  and  seeks  to  provide  an  architecture  for  analyzing  the  governance  of  GVCs.  It distinguishes between four sets of rent—gifts of nature; innovation rents; exogenously defined rents; and market power—and three spheres of governance—setting the rules -“legislative governance”; implementing the rules -“executive governance”; and monitoring rules and sanctioning malfeasance -“judicial governance.” The exercise of governance power in GVCs over the generation, protection and appropriation of rents is considered though the lens of four sets of key GVC stakeholders—the corporate sector, civil society organizations, the nation state and supranational institutions. This general analysis is given flesh through three case studies: food-safety standards in GVCs; taxation  policies  and  competition  policies.  In these  sectors,  the  corporate  sector  is  generally  much  more effective in governing rent generation and appropriation in the global operations of GVCs than are the three sets of  non-corporate  stakeholders.  From this  observation  we  offer  a  hypothesis  that  the  capacity  of  non-corporate stakeholders, including national states, to govern GVCs is contingent upon the extent to which this coincides with the interest of the corporate sector. However, as noted, this balance of power between private and non-corporate actors is a contested terrain and dynamic in nature.

Childhood family wealth and mental health in a national cohort of young adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Lê-Scherban, Félice; Brenner, Allison B; Schoeni, Robert F

2016-12-01

Mental health is critical to young adult health, as the onset of 75% of psychiatric disorders occurs by age 24 and psychiatric disorders early in life predict later behavioral health problems. Wealth may serve as a buffer against economic stressors. Family wealth may be particularly relevant for young adults by providing them with economic resources as they make educational decisions and move towards financial and social independence. We used prospectively collected data from 2060 young adults aged 18-27 in 2005-2011 from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, a national cohort of US families. We examined associations between nonspecific psychological distress (measured with the K-6 scale) and childhood average household wealth during ages 0-18 years (net worth in 2010 dollars). In demographics-adjusted generalized estimating equation models, higher childhood wealth percentile was related to a lower prevalence of serious psychological distress: compared to below-median wealth, prevalence ratio (PR) = 0.56 (0.36-0.87) for 3 rd quartile and PR = 0.46 (0.29-0.73) for 4 th quartile. The associations were attenuated slightly by adjustment for parent education and more so by adjustment for childhood household income percentile. Understanding the lifelong processes through which distinct aspects of socioeconomic status affect mental health can help us identify high-risk populations and take steps to minimize future disparities in mental illness.

The impact of household wealth on child survival in Ghana.

Science.gov (United States)

Lartey, Stella T; Khanam, Rasheda; Takahashi, Shingo

2016-11-22

Improving child health is one of the major policy agendas for most of the governments, especially in the developing countries. These governments have been implementing various strategies such as improving healthcare financing, improving access to health, increasing educational level, and income level of the household to improve child health. Despite all these efforts, under-five and infant mortality rates remain high in many developing nations. Some previous studies examined how economic development or household's economic condition contributes to child survival in developing countries. In Ghana, the question as to what extent does economic circumstances of households reduces infant and child mortality still remain largely unanswered. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate the extent to which wealth affects the survival of under-five children, using data from the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) of Ghana. In this study, we use four waves of data from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) of Ghana from 1993 to 2008. The DHS is a detailed data set that provides comprehensive information on households and their demographic characteristics in Ghana. Data was obtained by distributing questionnaires to women (from 6000 households) of reproductive age between 15 and 49 years, which asked, among other things, their birth history information. The Weibull hazard model with gamma frailty was used to estimate wealth effect, as well as the trend of wealth effect on child's survival probability. We find that household wealth status has a significant effect on the child survival in Ghana. A child is more likely to survive when he/she is from a household with high wealth status. Among other factors, birth spacing and parental education were found to be highly significant to increase a child's survival probability. Our findings offer plausible mechanisms for the association of household wealth and child survival. We therefore suggest that the Government of Ghana

Wealth Management Untuk Pensiun Yang Sejahtera

OpenAIRE

Sina, Peter Garlans

2015-01-01

Abstrak: Wealth Management untuk Pensiun yang Sejahtera. Pensiun yang sejahtera menjadi impian semua orang. Oleh sebab itu, untuk mewujudkan pensiun yang sejahtera membutuhkan manajemen kekayaan yang benar. Hasil analisis menemukan bahwa manajemen kekayaan yang benar mampu meningkatkan peluang mengalami pensiun yang sejahtera. Salah satu cara yang dapat diaplikasikan adalah melalui mengelola arus kas dengan benar. Oleh sebab itu, pada bagian akhir diberikan cara yang dapat ditempuh untuk meng...

GLOBALIZATION AND THE DECLINE OF THE UNITED STATES ECONOMIC INSTRUMENT OF POWER

Science.gov (United States)

2017-06-01

of global trade relations. Whereas forty years ago, 90 percent of international trade consisted of mercantilist goods; today , 90 percent of... GLOBALIZATION AND THE DECLINE OF THE UNITED STATES ECONOMIC INSTRUMENT OF POWER BY MAJOR JOSH WATKINS A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE...bachelor of business administration degree from Old Dominion University in 2001. He was commissioned through Officer Training School in 2002 and his

Are Global Economic Losses from Natural Hazards Increasing?

Science.gov (United States)

McMullan, Caroline; Simic, Milan; Tosco, Antonello; Latchman, Shane

2016-04-01

Global society has long been influenced by natural hazards, but it has been widely noted that the economic cost of natural hazards has been rising rapidly over recent decades. This upward trend highlights the increasing exposure of the global economy to natural hazards and the need for society to understand the driving factors to help improve the resilience of communities. However disaster risk is driven by a plethora of factors, including population, wealth, land-use, and demographics. Consider also the natural variability in the frequency and severity of events, climate change, and implementation of resilience policies, and it becomes clear that disaster-risk management is a challenging field. To investigate the apparent upward trend in reported annual economic losses from natural disasters, socioeconomic factors known to influence the magnitude of losses must first be accounted for. Adjustment for these factors, known as loss normalisation, aims to estimate the losses sustained if historical events were to impact present day society. We have undertaken a detailed assessment of global economic losses from natural disasters for the period 1995 through 2013. Although the studied time-period is relatively short, expanding the investigated period would not necessarily produce more reliable insights owing to the inherent difficulty in obtaining accurate economic loss estimates for earlier periods and the challenge of finding consistent and reliable sources of socioeconomic data for the normalisation process. The results of the study, presented at a global and regional level, appear to suggest that the main driver of perceived increase in economic losses over the last ~20 years was the development of nations' economies (i.e. increase in population and wealth/GDP) and not in the natural hazards themselves. As populations all over the world migrate into areas of higher natural hazards regions (e.g. coastal areas or floodplain zones) and global wealth continues to

Housing as Social Right or Means to Wealth?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mortensen, Jens Ladefoged; Seabrooke, Leonard

2009-01-01

This book demonstrates how housing systems are built from political struggles over the distribution of welfare and wealth. The contributors analyze varieties of residential capitalism through a range of international case studies, as well as investigating the links between housing finance...

From Dearth to El Dorado: Andean Nature, Plate Tectonics, and the Ontologies of Ecuadorian Resource Wealth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Kneas

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Since the early 1990s, the Ecuadorian government has pledged to convert the nation into a “mining country” of global standing. Contemporary claims of mineral wealth, however, stand in stark contrast to previous assessments. Indeed, through much of the 20th century, geologists described Ecuador as a country of mineral dearth. Exploring the process through which Ecuador seemingly transitioned from a nation of resource scarcity to one of mineral plenty, I demonstrate how assessments of Ecuador’s resource potential relate to ideas of Andean nature. Promoters of resource abundance have emphasized Andean uniformity and equivalence—the notion that Ecuador’s mineral wealth is inevitable by virtue of the resource richness of its Andean neighbors. Geologists who have questioned Ecuador’s mineral content, on the other hand, have emphasized Andean heterogeneity. In the recent promotion of Ecuador’s resource potential, notions of Andean uniformity have been bolstered by models of subsoil copper that emerged in the in 1970s in the context of plate-tectonic theory. In highlighting the linkage between ideas of Andean nature and appraisals of Ecuadorian resource potential since the late 19th century, I outline the dialectics between nature and natural resources that underpin processes of resource becoming.

Impacts of Community-Based Natural Resource Management on Wealth, Food Security and Child Health in Tanzania.

Science.gov (United States)

Pailler, Sharon; Naidoo, Robin; Burgess, Neil D; Freeman, Olivia E; Fisher, Brendan

2015-01-01

Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) is a major global strategy for enhancing conservation outcomes while also seeking to improve rural livelihoods; however, little evidence of socioeconomic outcomes exists. We present a national-level analysis that empirically estimates socioeconomic impacts of CBNRM across Tanzania, while systematically controlling for potential sources of bias. Specifically, we apply a difference-in-differences model to national-scale, cross-sectional data to estimate the impact of three different CBNRM governance regimes on wealth, food security and child health, considering differential impacts of CBNRM on wealthy and poor populations. We also explore whether or not longer-standing CBNRM efforts provide more benefits than recently-established CBNRM areas. Our results show significant improvements in household food security in CBNRM areas compared with non-CBNRM areas, but household wealth and health outcomes in children are generally not significantly different. No one CBNRM governance regime demonstrates consistently different welfare outcomes than the others. Wealthy households benefit more from CBNRM than poor households and CBNRM benefits appear to increase with longer periods of implementation. Perhaps evidence of CBNRM benefits is limited because CBNRM hasn't been around long enough to yield demonstrable outcomes. Nonetheless, achieving demonstrable benefits to rural populations will be crucial for CBNRM's future success in Tanzania.

Global status of nuclear power and the needed human resources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernido, Corazon C.

2009-01-01

According to projections of the OECD/IEA, the world energy demand will expand by 45% from now until 2030, with coal accounting for more than a third of the overall rise. To reduce greenhouse gases and mitigate climate change, many countries are resorting to renewables and nuclear power. Some statistics about nuclear energy in the global energy mix and about nuclear power plants worldwide, as well as the energy situation in the country are presented. According to sources from the Department of Energy on the Philippine Energy Plan, nuclear power is a long-term energy option and will likely enter the energy mix by 2025. Preparation of the infrastructure for nuclear power has to start ten to fifteen years before the first plant comes online. The needed human resources, the education and training required are present. (Author)

The globalization of energy activities: what are the issues?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Percebois, J.

2001-01-01

Globalization in many sectors such as information, research and development, finance, technology, etc. led to the implementation of transnational networks to facilitate decision-making. The result is that governments are left to regulation functions. This globalization also led to a larger gap between North and South. Developing countries represent 80 per cent of world population, yet only produce less than 33 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). In the energy sector, developing countries have limited access to energy and use it less efficiently, since they do not master the latest technologies. States must retain their power to regulate this sector to ensure competition takes place in a fair environment within specified guidelines. Licenses must be issued through bidding or auctioned off, but in every case the State must ensure that commitments are met. It must also ensure that pricing is fair. Access for third parties to the power distribution system must be adequate, especially when the company operates in a monopoly environment. The State ends up managing a new category of risks (called major risks) that the private sector is not willing to consider, for example global warming or the management of nuclear waste. Confidence in market mechanisms is limited. Energy exchanges and others represent an economic growth factor and a potential guarantee for world peace. Who is responsible for the social costs associated with economic growth, and what are the solutions? A major issue left to decision-makers is the sharing of wealth within humankind and nations, and the State has a vital role to play. 5 refs., 5 tabs

Greater post-Neolithic wealth disparities in Eurasia than in North America and Mesoamerica.

Science.gov (United States)

Kohler, Timothy A; Smith, Michael E; Bogaard, Amy; Feinman, Gary M; Peterson, Christian E; Betzenhauser, Alleen; Pailes, Matthew; Stone, Elizabeth C; Marie Prentiss, Anna; Dennehy, Timothy J; Ellyson, Laura J; Nicholas, Linda M; Faulseit, Ronald K; Styring, Amy; Whitlam, Jade; Fochesato, Mattia; Foor, Thomas A; Bowles, Samuel

2017-11-30

How wealth is distributed among households provides insight into the fundamental characters of societies and the opportunities they afford for social mobility. However, economic inequality has been hard to study in ancient societies for which we do not have written records, which adds to the challenge of placing current wealth disparities into a long-term perspective. Although various archaeological proxies for wealth, such as burial goods or exotic or expensive-to-manufacture goods in household assemblages, have been proposed, the first is not clearly connected with households, and the second is confounded by abandonment mode and other factors. As a result, numerous questions remain concerning the growth of wealth disparities, including their connection to the development of domesticated plants and animals and to increases in sociopolitical scale. Here we show that wealth disparities generally increased with the domestication of plants and animals and with increased sociopolitical scale, using Gini coefficients computed over the single consistent proxy of house-size distributions. However, unexpected differences in the responses of societies to these factors in North America and Mesoamerica, and in Eurasia, became evident after the end of the Neolithic period. We argue that the generally higher wealth disparities identified in post-Neolithic Eurasia were initially due to the greater availability of large mammals that could be domesticated, because they allowed more profitable agricultural extensification, and also eventually led to the development of a mounted warrior elite able to expand polities (political units that cohere via identity, ability to mobilize resources, or governance) to sizes that were not possible in North America and Mesoamerica before the arrival of Europeans. We anticipate that this analysis will stimulate other work to enlarge this sample to include societies in South America, Africa, South Asia and Oceania that were under-sampled or not

Emergent inequality and self-organized social classes in a network of power and frustration.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahault, Benoit; Saxena, Avadh; Nisoli, Cristiano

2017-01-01

We propose a simple agent-based model on a network to conceptualize the allocation of limited wealth among more abundant expectations at the interplay of power, frustration, and initiative. Concepts imported from the statistical physics of frustrated systems in and out of equilibrium allow us to compare subjective measures of frustration and satisfaction to collective measures of fairness in wealth distribution, such as the Lorenz curve and the Gini index. We find that a completely libertarian, law-of-the-jungle setting, where every agent can acquire wealth from or lose wealth to anybody else invariably leads to a complete polarization of the distribution of wealth vs. opportunity. This picture is however dramatically ameliorated when hard constraints are imposed over agents in the form of a limiting network of transactions. There, an out of equilibrium dynamics of the networks, based on a competition between power and frustration in the decision-making of agents, leads to network coevolution. The ratio of power and frustration controls different dynamical regimes separated by kinetic transitions and characterized by drastically different values of equality. It also leads, for proper values of social initiative, to the emergence of three self-organized social classes, lower, middle, and upper class. Their dynamics, which appears mostly controlled by the middle class, drives a cyclical regime of dramatic social changes.

Effects of spatial location and household wealth on health insurance subscription among women in Ghana.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumi-Kyereme, Akwasi; Amo-Adjei, Joshua

2013-06-17

This study compares ownership of health insurance among Ghanaian women with respect to wealth status and spatial location. We explore the overarching research question by employing geographic and proxy means targeting through interactive analysis of wealth status and spatial issues. The paper draws on the 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey. Bivariate descriptive analysis coupled with binary logistic regression estimation technique was used to analyse the data. By wealth status, the likelihood of purchasing insurance was significantly higher among respondents from the middle, richer and richest households compared to the poorest (reference category) and these differences widened more profoundly in the Northern areas after interacting wealth with zone of residence. Among women at the bottom of household wealth (poorest and poorer), there were no statistically significant differences in insurance subscription in all the areas. The results underscore the relevance of geographic and proxy means targeting in identifying populations who may be need of special interventions as part of the efforts to increase enrolment as well as means of social protection against the vulnerable.

Impacts of community-based natural resource management on wealth, food security and child health in Tanzania

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pailler, Sharon; Naidoo, Robin; Burgess, Neil David

2015-01-01

Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) is a major global strategy for enhancing conservation outcomes while also seeking to improve rural livelihoods; however, little evidence of socioeconomic outcomes exists. We present a national-level analysis that empirically estimates socioecono......Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) is a major global strategy for enhancing conservation outcomes while also seeking to improve rural livelihoods; however, little evidence of socioeconomic outcomes exists. We present a national-level analysis that empirically estimates...... socioeconomic impacts of CBNRM across Tanzania, while systematically controlling for potential sources of bias. Specifically, we apply a difference-indifferences model to national-scale, cross-sectional data to estimate the impact of three different CBNRM governance regimes on wealth, food security and child...... health, considering differential impacts of CBNRM on wealthy and poor populations. We also explore whether or not longer-standing CBNRM efforts provide more benefits than recently-established CBNRM areas. Our results show significant improvements in household food security in CBNRM areas compared...

Global warming and nuclear power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hodgson, P.E.

1999-01-01

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is steadily increasing and it is widely believed that this will lead to global warming that will have serious consequences for life on earth. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has estimated that the temperature of the earth will increase by between 1 and 3.5 degrees in the next century. This will melt some of the Antarctic ice cap, raise the sea level and flood many low-lying countries, and also produce unpredictable changes in the earth's climate. The possible ways of reducing carbon dioxide emission are discussed. It is essential to reduce the burning of fossil fuels, but then how are we to obtain the energy we need? We can try to reduce energy use, but we will still need to generate large amounts energy. Some possible ways of doing this are by using wind and solar generators, by hydroelectric and tidal plants, and also by nuclear power. These possibilities will be critically examined. (author)

Global warming and nuclear power

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hodgson, P.E. [Nuclear and Particle Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics, Oxford Univ., Oxford (United Kingdom)

1999-09-01

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is steadily increasing and it is widely believed that this will lead to global warming that will have serious consequences for life on earth. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has estimated that the temperature of the earth will increase by between 1 and 3.5 degrees in the next century. This will melt some of the Antarctic ice cap, raise the sea level and flood many low-lying countries, and also produce unpredictable changes in the earth's climate. The possible ways of reducing carbon dioxide emission are discussed. It is essential to reduce the burning of fossil fuels, but then how are we to obtain the energy we need? We can try to reduce energy use, but we will still need to generate large amounts energy. Some possible ways of doing this are by using wind and solar generators, by hydroelectric and tidal plants, and also by nuclear power. These possibilities will be critically examined. (author)

Global radioxenon emission inventory based on nuclear power reactor reports.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalinowski, Martin B; Tuma, Matthias P

2009-01-01

Atmospheric radioactivity is monitored for the verification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, with xenon isotopes 131mXe, 133Xe, 133mXe and 135Xe serving as important indicators of nuclear explosions. The treaty-relevant interpretation of atmospheric concentrations of radioxenon is enhanced by quantifying radioxenon emissions released from civilian facilities. This paper presents the first global radioxenon emission inventory for nuclear power plants, based on North American and European emission reports for the years 1995-2005. Estimations were made for all power plant sites for which emission data were unavailable. According to this inventory, a total of 1.3PBq of radioxenon isotopes are released by nuclear power plants as continuous or pulsed emissions in a generic year.

The relation between wealth and health: Evidence from a world panel of countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Worm Hansen, Casper

2012-01-01

Based on a world sample of countries, this paper presents panel data evidence that documents a U-shaped relation between GDP per capita (wealth) and life expectancy (health). The evidence also shows that excluding the possibility of a nonmonotonic relationship induces erroneous conclusions about...... the time-varying wealth-health correlation. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved....

Global Health as a Field of Power Relations: A Response to Recent Commentaries.

Science.gov (United States)

Shiffman, Jeremy

2015-05-22

Actors working in global health often portray it as an enterprise grounded in principled concerns, advanced by individuals and organizations who draw on scientific evidence to pursue health equity. This portrait is incomplete. It is also a field of power relations-a social arena in which actors claim and draw on expertise and moral authority to gain influence and pursue career, organizational and national interests. A clear understanding of how power operates in this field is necessary to ensure that it is used productively to serve the aims of health equity and improved population health. Responding to commentaries on an editorial published in this journal, I offer 3 ideas toward this end: (1) be skeptical of the global health rationality project-the effort to rescue the field from the alleged indignities of politics through the application of scientific methods; (2) analyze global health as a field of power relations, a concept developed by sociologist Pierre Bourdieu; and (3) elevate the place of input legitimacy-inclusive deliberation, fair process and transparency-to address legitimacy and knowledge deficits in this field. © 2015 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Roles of nuclear power system in the presence of uncertainties from global warming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kiriyama, Eriko; Iwata, Shuichi

2005-01-01

Environmental 'bads' like carbon dioxide are not simply incorporated in the market system. The costs involved, however, do not really reflect the inherent value of the environment, or what it is worth to them. This study focuses on the uncertainty of CO 2 emission credits. Assigning economic values to environmental goods and services is complex, but it is an area that is receiving considerable attention from environmental economists. The purpose of this study is to analyze the value of an investment in power generation assets that do not emit CO 2 . To deal with the CO 2 emission credit, we built new models based on the real option model by Pindyck (2000). In the modern, market-based financial systems that dominate the global economy, the value of a resource is represented by the price that an individual or a group is willing to pay for it. Managing CO 2 emission limitations will be a critical aspect of power generation systems. And it will be increasingly so as the emphasis on global environmental issues continues to rise. In order to secure the effectiveness of measures against global warming, we should reconsider the role of nuclear power systems. (author)

Hydroelectric power and privatisation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frankovic, B.

2000-01-01

The paper considers privatisation aspects of both the existing hydroelectric power plants presently owned by the Croatian state and those to be built in the future. The paper highlights the water power utilisation as just one of the possible purposes of water and land resources development, which are the most important segment of the physical development of the Croatian territory, and the fact that water and land are public wealth. (author)

Interaction between Education and Household Wealth on the Risk of Obesity in Women in Egypt

Science.gov (United States)

Aitsi-Selmi, Amina; Chandola, Tarani; Friel, Sharon; Nouraei, Reza; Shipley, Martin J.; Marmot, Michael G.

2012-01-01

Background Obesity is a growing problem in lower income countries particularly among women. There are few studies exploring individual socioeconomic status indicators in depth. This study examines the interaction of education and wealth in relation to obesity, hypothesising that education protects against the obesogenic effect of wealth. Methods Four datasets of women of reproductive age from the Egyptian Demographic and Health Surveys spanning the period 1992–2008 are used to examine two distinct time periods: 1992/95 (N = 11097) and 2005/08 (N = 23178). The association in the two time periods between education level and household wealth in relation to the odds of being obese is examined, and the interaction between the two socioeconomic indicators investigated. Estimates are adjusted for age group and area of residence. Results An interaction was found between the association of education and wealth with obesity in both time periods (P-value for interaction wealth quintile was associated with a 78% increase in the odds of obesity in 1992/95 (OR; 95%CI: 1.78; 1.65,1.91) and a 33% increase in 2005/08 (OR; 95%CI: 1.33; 1.26,1.39). For women with the highest level of education, there was little evidence of an association between wealth and obesity (OR; 95%CI: 0.82; 0.57,1.16 in 1992/95 and 0.95; 0.84,1.08 in 2005/08). Obesity levels increased most in women who were in the no/primary education, poorest wealth quintile and rural groups (absolute difference in prevalence percentage points between the two time periods: 20.2, 20.1, and 21.3 respectively). Conclusion In the present study, wealth appears to be a risk factor for obesity in women with lower education levels, while women with higher education are protected. The findings also suggest that a reversal in the social distribution of obesity risk is occurring which can be explained by the large increase in obesity levels in lower socioeconomic groups between the two time periods. PMID:22761807

The relationship between parity and overweight varies with household wealth and national development.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Sonia A; Yount, Kathryn M; Ramakrishnan, Usha; Martorell, Reynaldo

2007-02-01

Recent studies support a positive relationship between parity and overweight among women of developing countries; however, it is unclear whether these effects vary by household wealth and national development. Our objective was to determine whether the association between parity and overweight [body mass index (BMI) > or =25 kg/m(2)] in women living in developing countries varies with levels of national human development and/or household wealth. We used data from 28 nationally representative, cross-sectional surveys conducted between 1996 and 2003 (n = 275 704 women, 15-49 years). The relationship between parity and overweight was modelled using logistic regression, controlling for several biological and sociodemographic factors and national development, as reflected by the United Nations' Human Development Index. We also modelled the interaction between parity and national development, and the three-way interaction between parity, household wealth and national development. Parity had a weak, positive association with overweight, which varied by household wealth and national development. Among the poorest women and women in the second tertile of household wealth, parity was positively related to overweight only in the most developed countries. Among the wealthiest women, parity was positively related to overweight regardless of the level of national development. As development increases, the burden of parity-related overweight shifts to include poor as well as wealthy women. In the least-developed countries, programmes to prevent parity-related overweight should target wealthy women, whereas such programmes should be provided to all women in more developed countries.

Independent Associations of Maternal Education and Household Wealth with Malaria Risk in Children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José G. Siri

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Despite evidence that they play similar but independent roles, maternal education and household wealth are usually conflated in studies of the effects of socioeconomic status (SES on malaria risk. Demographic and Health Survey and Malaria Indicator Survey data from nine countries in sub-Saharan Africa were used to explore the relationship of malaria parasitemia in children with SES factors at individual and cluster scales, controlling for urban/rural residence and other important covariates. In multilevel logistic regression modeling, completion of six years of maternal schooling was associated with significantly lower odds of infection in children (OR = 0.73, as was a household wealth index at the 40th percentile compared to the lowest percentile (OR = 0.48. These relationships were nonlinear, with significant quadratic terms for both education and wealth. Cluster-level wealth index was also associated with a reduction in risk (OR = 0.984 for a one percentile increase in mean wealth index, as was urban residence (OR = 0.59. Among other covariates, increasing child's age and household size category were positively correlated with infection, and sleeping under an insecticide-treated bednet the previous night (OR = 0.80 was associated with a moderate reduction in risk. Considerable variation in parameter estimates was observed among country-specific models. Future work should clearly distinguish between maternal education and household resources in assessing malaria risk, and malaria prevention and control efforts should be aware of the potential benefits of supporting the development of human capital.

The Sacred Lotus - An Incredible Wealth of Wetlands

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education; Volume 18; Issue 8. The Sacred Lotus - An Incredible Wealth of Wetlands. R N Mandal R Bar. General Article Volume 18 Issue 8 August 2013 pp 732-737. Fulltext. Click here to view fulltext PDF. Permanent link:

Famílias, poder e riqueza: redes políticas no Paraná em 2007 Families, power, and wealth: political networks in the state of Paraná in 2007

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricardo Costa de Oliveira

2007-12-01

Full Text Available A estrutura de poder não é uma abstração, ela se materializa em situações objetivas de posse de riqueza, se reproduz e se consolida graças a redes políticas, sociais e de parentesco. As redes políticas de poder são definidas neste artigo como conexões de interesses envolvendo, basicamente, empresários e cargos políticos no aparelho de Estado, no executivo, legislativo e no judiciário e, também, em outros espaços de poder buscando assegurar vantagens e privilégios para os participantes. Além da ideologia que lhe reforça a legitimidade, as redes podem utilizar artifícios tais como o nepotismo, o clientelismo e a corrupção. O estado do Paraná é apresentado como exemplo de modernidade, de racionalidade, de adesão aos valores e às práticas de um capitalismo regido pelos princípios de impessoalidade e de eficiência. Neste artigo mostraremos que isso é um mito. Para tanto, procederemos à genealogia de famílias que detêm poder e riqueza na atualidade, mas que estão associadas aos interesses dominantes há quase 300 anos. Nomes ilustres da política e da economia compõem uma surpreendente e intricada rede de relações familiares, de parentesco e de privilegiamento que assegura a estrutura do poder nas mais diversas conjunturas econômicas e políticas.The structure of power is not an abstraction; it is materialised in objective situations of possession of wealth, and is reproduced and consolidated thanks to political, social, and kinship networks. Networks of political power are defined in this article as connections of interest which basically involve businesspeople and political offices within the apparatus of the State, in the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary, as well as the other places of power seeking to secure advantages and privileges for their members. In addition to the ideology reinforcing their legitimacy, networks may use artifices like nepotism, clientelism and corruption. The state of Paran

No way out? The double-bind in seeking global prosperity alongside mitigated climate change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. J. Garrett

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In a prior study (Garrett, 2011, I introduced a simple economic growth model designed to be consistent with general thermodynamic laws. Unlike traditional economic models, civilization is viewed only as a well-mixed global whole with no distinction made between individual nations, economic sectors, labor, or capital investments. At the model core is a hypothesis that the global economy's current rate of primary energy consumption is tied through a constant to a very general representation of its historically accumulated wealth. Observations support this hypothesis, and indicate that the constant's value is λ = 9.7 ± 0.3 milliwatts per 1990 US dollar. It is this link that allows for treatment of seemingly complex economic systems as simple physical systems. Here, this growth model is coupled to a linear formulation for the evolution of globally well-mixed atmospheric CO₂ concentrations. While very simple, the coupled model provides faithful multi-decadal hindcasts of trajectories in gross world product (GWP and CO₂. Extending the model to the future, the model suggests that the well-known IPCC SRES scenarios substantially underestimate how much CO₂ levels will rise for a given level of future economic prosperity. For one, global CO₂ emission rates cannot be decoupled from wealth through efficiency gains. For another, like a long-term natural disaster, future greenhouse warming can be expected to act as an inflationary drag on the real growth of global wealth. For atmospheric CO₂ concentrations to remain below a "dangerous" level of 450 ppmv (Hansen et al., 2007, model forecasts suggest that there will have to be some combination of an unrealistically rapid rate of energy decarbonization and nearly immediate reductions in global civilization wealth. Effectively, it appears that civilization may be in a double-bind. If civilization does not collapse quickly this century, then CO₂

Global Public Goods and The Role of Emerging Power: Considering the Concept of Impure Public Goods

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Liu Rieshøj Yi

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The existing analysis of global public goods over-emphasizes the significance of public. Great power as a main provider has played an active role in these strategic initiatives, which may be ignored. In fact, main power has thought about the possible free-riders when providing public goods and making its foreign strategic plan. China’s announcement to “welcome the neighbouring countries to be a free-rider and benefit from China’s rise” is a good example. It is necessary to think about the theory of public goods and take another look at the free-riding phenomenon. The concept of impure public goods may be useful and effective when we understand the reason why global public goods are being provided and are relatively efficient. As an emerging power, China should have a clear strategy on global public goods with a possible “marketing” viewpoint, including more initiatives and specific measures, so that the global public goods provision may be more diverse and well-planned.

Wealth and Health Behavior: Testing the Concept of a Health Cost.

Science.gov (United States)

van Kippersluis, Hans; Galama, Titus J

2014-11-01

Wealthier individuals engage in healthier behavior. This paper seeks to explain this phenomenon by exploiting both inheritances and lottery winnings to test a theory of health behavior. We distinguish between the direct monetary cost and the indirect health cost (value of health lost) of unhealthy consumption. The health cost increases with wealth and the degree of unhealthiness, leading wealthier individuals to consume more healthy and moderately unhealthy, but fewer severely unhealthy goods. The empirical evidence presented suggests that differences in health costs may indeed partially explain behavioral differences, and ultimately health outcomes, between wealth groups.

Healthcare system and the wealth-health gradient: a comparative study of older populations in six countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Maskileyson, Dina

2014-10-01

The present study provides a comparative analysis of the association between wealth and health in six healthcare systems (Sweden, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Czech Republic, Israel, the United States). National samples of individuals fifty years and over reveal considerable cross-country variations in health outcomes. In all six countries wealth and health are positively associated. The findings also show that state-based healthcare systems produce better population health outcomes than private-based healthcare systems. The results indicate that in five out of the six countries studied, the wealth-health gradients were remarkably similar, despite significant variations in healthcare system type. Only in the United States was the association between wealth and health substantially different from, and much greater than that in the other five countries. The findings suggest that private-based healthcare system in the U.S. is likely to promote stronger positive associations between wealth and health. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Impact of Hedge Fund Activism on Target Firm Performance, Executive Compensation and Executive Wealth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew Carrothers

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the relationship between hedge fund activism and target firm performance, executive compensation, and executive wealth. It introduces a theoretical framework that describes the activism process as a sequence of discrete decisions. The methodology uses regression analysis on a matched sample based on firm size, industry, and market-to-book ratio. All regressions control for industry and year fixed effects. Schedule 13D Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC filings are the source for the statistical sample of hedge fund target firms. I supplement that data with target firm financial, operating, and share price information from the CRSP-COMPUSTAT merged database. Activist hedge funds target undervalued or underperforming firms with high profitability and cash flows. They do not avoid firms with powerful CEOs. Leverage, executive compensation, pay for performance and CEO turnover increase at target firms after the arrival of the activist hedge fund. Target firm executives’ wealth is more sensitive to changes in share price after hedge fund activism events suggesting that the executive team experiences changes to their compensation structure that provides incentive to take action to improve returns to shareholders. The top executives reap rewards for increasing firm value but not for increased risk taking.

Poor and distressed, but happy: situational and cultural moderators of the relationship between wealth and happiness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silvio Borrero

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Evidence on the relationship between wealth and happiness is mixed, hinting that there are situational or individual factors that account for the variability in results. This paper contends that wealth is in fact related to happiness. More specifically, it is proposed that poverty –as well as other adverse situations– has an undermining effect on happiness, and that this effect is attenuated by a collectivist orientation. Analyses of variance (ANOVAs using data on happiness, wealth and culture from 197 countries, supplemented by a meta-analysis of empirical studies that explore the relationship between wealth and perceptions of happiness, support the hypothesized relationship between adversity and happiness, and the moderating effect that collectivism has on such relationship.

Dynamic Interactions Between Health, Human Capital and Wealth

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Wei-Bin Zhang

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a dynamic economic model with health, human capital and wealth accumulation with elastic labor supply. The economic system consists of one industrial, one health, and one education sector. Our model is a synthesis of four main models in economic theory: Solow’s one-sector neoclassical growth mode, the Uzawa-Lucas two sector model, Arrow’s learning by doing model, and Grossman’s growth model with health. The model also includes Zhang’s idea about creative leisure or learning by consuming. Demand and supply of health service and education are determined by market mechanism. The model describes dynamic interdependence among wealth, health, human capital, economic structure, and time distribution among work, health caring, and education under perfect competition. We simulate the model and examine effects of changes in the propensity to consume health caring, the efficiency of producing health caring, the propensity to receive education, and the propensity to save.

Wealth distribution on complex networks

Science.gov (United States)

Ichinomiya, Takashi

2012-12-01

We study the wealth distribution of the Bouchaud-Mézard model on complex networks. It is known from numerical simulations that this distribution depends on the topology of the network; however, no one has succeeded in explaining it. Using “adiabatic” and “independent” assumptions along with the central-limit theorem, we derive equations that determine the probability distribution function. The results are compared to those of simulations for various networks. We find good agreement between our theory and the simulations, except for the case of Watts-Strogatz networks with a low rewiring rate due to the breakdown of independent assumption.

Wealth and cardiovascular health: a cross-sectional study of wealth-related inequalities in the awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in high-, middle- and low-income countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Palafox, Benjamin; McKee, Martin; Balabanova, Dina; AlHabib, Khalid F; Avezum, Alvaro Jr; Bahonar, Ahmad; Ismail, Noorhassim; Chifamba, Jephat; Chow, Clara K; Corsi, Daniel J; Dagenais, Gilles R; Diaz, Rafael; Gupta, Rajeev; Iqbal, Romaina; Kaur, Manmeet; Khatib, Rasha; Kruger, Annamarie; Kruger, Iolanthe Marike; Lanas, Fernando; Lopez-Jaramillo, Patricio; Minfan, Fu; Mohan, Viswanathan; Mony, Prem K; Oguz, Aytekin; Palileo-Villanueva, Lia M; Perel, Pablo; Poirier, Paul; Rangarajan, Sumathy; Rensheng, Lei; Rosengren, Annika; Soman, Biju; Stuckler, David; Subramanian, S V; Teo, Koon; Tsolekile, Lungiswa P; Wielgosz, Andreas; Yaguang, Peng; Yeates, Karen; Yongzhen, Mo; Yusoff, Khalid; Yusuf, Rita; Yusufali, Afzalhussein; Zatońska, Katarzyna; Yusuf, Salim

2016-12-08

Effective policies to control hypertension require an understanding of its distribution in the population and the barriers people face along the pathway from detection through to treatment and control. One key factor is household wealth, which may enable or limit a household's ability to access health care services and adequately control such a chronic condition. This study aims to describe the scale and patterns of wealth-related inequalities in the awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in 21 countries using baseline data from the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology study. A cross-section of 163,397 adults aged 35 to 70 years were recruited from 661 urban and rural communities in selected low-, middle- and high-income countries (complete data for this analysis from 151,619 participants). Using blood pressure measurements, self-reported health and household data, concentration indices adjusted for age, sex and urban-rural location, we estimate the magnitude of wealth-related inequalities in the levels of hypertension awareness, treatment, and control in each of the 21 country samples. Overall, the magnitude of wealth-related inequalities in hypertension awareness, treatment, and control was observed to be higher in poorer than in richer countries. In poorer countries, levels of hypertension awareness and treatment tended to be higher among wealthier households; while a similar pro-rich distribution was observed for hypertension control in countries at all levels of economic development. In some countries, hypertension awareness was greater among the poor (Sweden, Argentina, Poland), as was treatment (Sweden, Poland) and control (Sweden). Inequality in hypertension management outcomes decreased as countries became richer, but the considerable variation in patterns of wealth-related inequality - even among countries at similar levels of economic development - underscores the importance of health systems in improving hypertension management for all

Health responses to a wealth shock: Evidence from a Swedish tax reform

OpenAIRE

Erixson, Oscar

2014-01-01

This essay contributes in two ways to the literature on the effects of economic circumstances on health. First, it deals with reverse causality and omitted variable bias by exploiting exogenous variation in inherited wealth generated by the unexpected repeal of the Swedish inheritance tax. Second, it analyzes responses in health outcomes from administrative registers. The results show that increased wealth has limited impacts on objective adult health over a period of six years. This is in li...

The future of nuclear power worldwide and the role of the global nuclear energy partnership

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spurgeon, D.R.

2008-01-01

This presentation is entitled, 'The Future of Nuclear Power Worldwide and the Role of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership', and the core message in one sentence is: When we look at the challenges of meeting our growing energy demands, providing for energy security and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, we must conclude that nuclear power has to play a significant and growing role in meeting these challenges. Similarly, the mission of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership is to foster the safe and secure worldwide expansion of nuclear energy. GNEP comes at a crucial time in the burgeoning expansion of nuclear power. It is the only comprehensive proposal to close the nuclear fuel cycle in the United States, and engage the international community to minimize proliferation risks as well as provide and benefit from cooperation in policy formation, technical support, and technology and infrastructure development. Nuclear power's poised renaissance is encouraging, but it will require public support, expanded R and D activities and facilities, and increases in human capital needed for wide-scale construction and operation of new nuclear plants. Despite recent political currents, Germany can, too, become a part of this renaissance and become a full partner in the global partnership that shares a common vision for nuclear power's expansion. (orig.)

The European Union in International Politics: Acting as a Global Civilian Power (GCP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bedrudin Brljavac

2011-01-01

Full Text Available During the Cold War the European Community lacking common military instruments was perceived as the example of a civilian power. However, in the early 1990s, under the framework of CFSP, the first concrete defence initiatives have been launched. By the end of the 1990s and after the agreement on the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP the first Rapid Reaction Forces were on the European military agenda. Such defence and military capabilities challenged the idea of the EU as a civil or civilian power. Thus, a main concern in the paper has been to assess the character and identity of the EU`s activities in the context of international relations. For this purpose, this study has explored the EU policy instruments such as the enlargement policy, external aid, environmental policy at the global level, multilateralism, and the EU armed forces. The study concludes that the enlargement policy accounts for an important EU strategy to shape the international environment through civilian means. Furthermore, the international aid policy of the EU states has primarily been based on the sense of duty to other countries as constructivists point out. The EU has also been vocal and has used environmental foreign policy as an instrument to demonstrate its global leadership role which is a clear indication of its commitment to global welfare. Thanks to its presence in the major multilateral interventions of the last decade, the EU has qualified itself as great supporter of multilateralism. Lastly, the EU military capabilities are not achieved by creating permanent European armed forces but are still based on the voluntary contributions of its member states. Therefore, the EU still can be portrayed as a global civilian power (GCP or civilian power Europe (CPE.

Relationship between household wealth inequality and chronic childhood under-nutrition in Bangladesh.

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Rathavuth; Banta, James E; Betancourt, Jose A

2006-12-05

Household food insecurity and under-nutrition remain critically important in developing countries struggling to emerge from the scourge of poverty, where historically, improvements in economic conditions have benefited only certain privileged groups, causing growing inequality in health and healthcare among the population. Utilizing information from 5,977 children aged 0-59 months included in the 2004 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey , this study examined the relationship between household wealth inequality and chronic childhood under-nutrition. A child is defined as being chronically undernourished or whose growth rate is adversely stunted, if his or her z-score of height-for-age is more than two standard deviations below the median of international reference. Household wealth status is measured by an established index based on household ownership of durable assets. This study utilized multivariate logistic regressions to estimate the effect of household wealth status on adverse childhood growth rate. The results indicate that children in the poorest 20% of households are more than three time as likely to suffer from adverse growth rate stunting as children from the wealthiest 20% of households (OR=3.6; 95% CI: 3.0, 4.3). The effect of household wealth status remain significantly large when the analysis was adjusted for a child's multiple birth status, age, gender, antenatal care, delivery assistance, birth order, and duration that the child was breastfed; mother's age at childbirth, nutritional status, education; household access to safe drinking water, arsenic in drinking water, access to a hygienic toilet facility, cooking fuel cleanliness, residence, and geographic location (OR=2.4; 95% CI: 1.8, 3.2). This study concludes that household wealth inequality is strongly associated with childhood adverse growth rate stunting. Reducing poverty and making services more available and accessible to the poor are essential to improving overall childhood health

Relationship between household wealth inequality and chronic childhood under-nutrition in Bangladesh

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Betancourt Jose A

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Household food insecurity and under-nutrition remain critically important in developing countries struggling to emerge from the scourge of poverty, where historically, improvements in economic conditions have benefited only certain privileged groups, causing growing inequality in health and healthcare among the population. Methods Utilizing information from 5,977 children aged 0-59 months included in the 2004 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey , this study examined the relationship between household wealth inequality and chronic childhood under-nutrition. A child is defined as being chronically undernourished or whose growth rate is adversely stunted, if his or her z-score of height-for-age is more than two standard deviations below the median of international reference. Household wealth status is measured by an established index based on household ownership of durable assets. This study utilized multivariate logistic regressions to estimate the effect of household wealth status on adverse childhood growth rate. Results The results indicate that children in the poorest 20% of households are more than three time as likely to suffer from adverse growth rate stunting as children from the wealthiest 20% of households (OR=3.6; 95% CI: 3.0, 4.3. The effect of household wealth status remain significantly large when the analysis was adjusted for a child's multiple birth status, age, gender, antenatal care, delivery assistance, birth order, and duration that the child was breastfed; mother's age at childbirth, nutritional status, education; household access to safe drinking water, arsenic in drinking water, access to a hygienic toilet facility, cooking fuel cleanliness, residence, and geographic location (OR=2.4; 95% CI: 1.8, 3.2. Conclusion This study concludes that household wealth inequality is strongly associated with childhood adverse growth rate stunting. Reducing poverty and making services more available and accessible

PECULIARITIES OF PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT IN SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS

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M. Onopko

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Sovereign wealth funds as the subjects of economic relations are analyzed and the main approaches to the assessment of their activities are discussed. The dependence of the performance measurement system and the strategic objectives of the funds and economic policy objectives of the government is indicated.

Relative Deprivation and Relative Wealth Enhances Anti-Immigrant Sentiments: The V-Curve Re-Examined.

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Jolanda Jetten

Full Text Available Previous research has shown that negative attitudes towards immigrants and support for anti-immigrant parties are observed both among those experiencing relative deprivation and those experiencing relative gratification (so called v-curve. Whereas the effect of relative deprivation is intuitive, the effect of relative gratification is more difficult to explain. Why would economic prosperity provoke negative attitudes towards immigrants? We first present correlational (Study 1 and experimental (Study 2 support for the v-curve. In Study 1, in a national Swiss referendum, a higher percentage anti-immigrant voting was found in cantons with relatively lower and relatively higher relative disposable income. In Study 2, in a hypothetical society, more opposition to 'newcomers' joining society was found among poor or above average wealth group members than among those in a moderate wealth group condition. In Study 3, we replicate this finding and also show that opposition to immigration is higher for all wealth groups when societal inequality is growing rather than declining. In a final study, we examine different forms of relative gratification and mediators of the relationship between relative gratification and opposition to immigration (i.e., identification, collective self-definition as competent and cold, and fear about future wealth. Only fear about future wealth mediates this relationship. We conclude that, paradoxically, relative gratification effects are partly due to the fear of future deprivation.

Revisiting the child health-wealth nexus.

Science.gov (United States)

Fakir, Adnan M S

2016-12-01

The causal link between a household's economic standing and child health is known to suffer from endogeneity. While past studies have exemplified the causal link to be small, albeit statistically significant, this paper aims to estimate the causal effect to investigate whether the effect of income after controlling for the endogeneity remains small in the long run. By correcting for the bias, and knowing the bias direction, one can also infer about the underlying backward effect. This paper uses an instrument variables two-stage-least-squares estimation on the Young Lives 2009 cross-sectional dataset from Andhra Pradesh, India, to understand the aforementioned relationship. The selected measure of household economic standing differentially affects the estimation. There is significant positive effect of both short-run household expenditure and long-run household wealth on child stunting, with the latter having a larger impact. The backward link running from child health to household income is likely an inverse association in our sample with lower child health inducing higher earnings. While higher average community education improved child health, increased community entertainment expenditure is found to have a negative effect. While policies catered towards improving household wealth will decrease child stunting in the long run, maternal education and the community play an equally reinforcing role in improving child health and are perhaps faster routes to achieving the goal of better child health in the short run.

CEO's empathy and salience of socioemotional wealth in family SMEs The moderating role of external directors

OpenAIRE

Goel, Sanjay; VOORDECKERS, Wim; VAN GILS, Anita; VAN DEN HEUVEL, Jeroen

2013-01-01

A focus on preserving socioemotional wealth may influence entrepreneurial activities in family firms. In this paper, we identify the emotion of empathy in the family CEO as an antecedent of socioemotional wealth creation. We argue that the presence of one or more external directors can have a direct as well as moderating influence on the relationship between CEO's empathy and the salience of socioemotional wealth to the family CEO. Our empirical tests confirm these hypotheses. Several areas o...

Poor and distressed, but happy: situational and cultural moderators of the relationship between wealth and happiness

OpenAIRE

Borrero, Silvio; Bolena Escobar, Ana; Cortés, Aura María; Maya, Luis Carlos

2013-01-01

Evidence on the relationship between wealth and happiness is mixed, hinting that there are situational or individual factors that account for the variability in results. This paper contends that wealth is in fact related to happiness. More specifically, it is proposed that poverty - as well as other adverse situations- has an undermining effect on happiness, and that this effect is attenuated by a collectivist orientation. Analyses of variance (ANOVAs) using data on happiness, wealth and cult...

Wealth and Secular Stagnation: The Role of Industrial Organization and Intellectual Property Rights

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Herman Mark Schwartz

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Changes in firm strategy and structure partially explain the sources and consequences of rising wealth inequality in America. Combining use of state-created monopolies around intellectual property rights (IPRs for profitability and firm-level strategies to transform their industrial organization by pushing physical capital and noncore labor outside the boundaries of the firm leads to rising levels of wealth and income inequality among firms as well as individuals. Income inequality among firms in turn reduces growth in productive investment and thus in aggregate demand. Slower growth reflexively deters firms from new investment, aggravating the shortfall in aggregate demand. Decreased protection for IPRs and increased protection for subcontracted workers would help increase aggregate demand and thus push growth back to its prior level, as well as reducing wealth and income inequality among individuals.

Global power production scenarios to 2100 and the dual role of forests: accelerated climate damage or regulating and provisioning ecosystem services?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Callesen, Ingeborg

The worlds' electrical power production is depending on the current energy infrastructure, and future investments in new power supply facilities using renewable and non-renewable energy sources. Continued growth in power production in the 21st century will cause global environmental change (GEC......). GEC with climate change as an important driver will affect the environment and the economy in multiple ways that can be summarized as losses of biodiversity and changing ecosystem services (ES), but with very diverse temporal and spatial impacts. In a simple global growth model for power production......, including non-renewable and renewable energy sources, the potential role of forest biomass is investigated. The demands for forest ecosystem services imposed by the global power production are assessed in the present study. Three global power supply scenarios to 2050 with different emphasis...

Association of a Negative Wealth Shock With All-Cause Mortality in Middle-aged and Older Adults in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Pool, Lindsay R; Burgard, Sarah A; Needham, Belinda L; Elliott, Michael R; Langa, Kenneth M; Mendes de Leon, Carlos F

2018-04-03

A sudden loss of wealth-a negative wealth shock-may lead to a significant mental health toll and also leave fewer monetary resources for health-related expenses. With limited years remaining to regain lost wealth in older age, the health consequences of these negative wealth shocks may be long-lasting. To determine whether a negative wealth shock was associated with all-cause mortality during 20 years of follow-up. The Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative prospective cohort study of US adults aged 51 through 61 years at study entry. The study population included 8714 adults, first assessed for a negative wealth shock in 1994 and followed biennially through 2014 (the most recent year of available data). Experiencing a negative wealth shock, defined as a loss of 75% or more of total net worth over a 2-year period, or asset poverty, defined as 0 or negative total net worth at study entry. Mortality data were collected from the National Death Index and postmortem interviews with family members. Marginal structural survival methods were used to account for the potential bias due to changes in health status that may both trigger negative wealth shocks and act as the mechanism through which negative wealth shocks lead to increased mortality. There were 8714 participants in the study sample (mean [SD] age at study entry, 55 [3.2] years; 53% women), 2430 experienced a negative wealth shock during follow-up, 749 had asset poverty at baseline, and 5535 had continuously positive wealth without shock. A total of 2823 deaths occurred during 80 683 person-years of follow-up. There were 30.6 vs 64.9 deaths per 1000 person-years for those with continuously positive wealth vs negative wealth shock (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 1.50; 95% CI, 1.36-1.67). There were 73.4 deaths per 1000 person-years for those with asset poverty at baseline (adjusted HR, 1.67; 95% CI, 1.44-1.94; compared with continuously positive wealth). Among US adults aged 51 years and older

GLOBAL COMPETITION BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luca DIACONESCU

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The human-geographic regionalization is a landmark in the demarcation of territories that include populations of the same demographic, cultural or economic background. A defining boundary for human characteristics across the planet can be made simple, between the North and the South. The north, though advanced economically, militarily, technologically, united, well-urbanized and landscaped, dominates the world for just 500 years before the South was in power. After a long period of stagnation, the South escapes the colonialist chains until the 1950s, after which begins a vast process of revival in which emerging new powers are emerging as well as a series of economic unions that can rival with the old powers in the North. Analyzing the number of inhabitants in the two regions, it is noted that demographic size is a priority in the slope of the power balance, so when one of the regions exceeded 50% of the total population of the Globe, it attracted wealth by exporting populations and culture that colonized the other half. After 1950, the South holds for the first time 400 years, over 50% of the total population, and in 2017 it reaches 62%, reaching 71% in 2050 and 81% of the world's population by 2100. understands that the economic difficulties in the North, financial crises, the limitation of global influence or the issue of immigrants is only at the beginning, and the transformation of the North into the southern vassal is just a matter of time.

Problem free nuclear power and global change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Teller, E.; Wood, L.; Nuckolls, J.; Ishikawa, M.; Hyde, R.

1997-01-01

Nuclear fission power reactors represent a solution-in-principle to all aspects of global change possibly induced by inputting of either particulate or carbon or sulfur oxides into the Earth's atmosphere. Of proven technological feasibility, they presently produce high- grade heat for electricity generation, space heating and industrial process-driving around the world, without emitting greenhouse gases or atmospheric particulates. However, a substantial number of major issues currently stand between nuclear power implemented with light- water reactors and widespread substitution for large stationary fossil fuel-fired systems, including long-term fuel supply, adverse public perceptions regarding both long-term and acute operational safety, plant decommissioning, fuel reprocessing, radwaste disposal, fissile materials diversion to military purposes and - perhaps more seriously - cost. We describe a GW-scale, high-temperature nuclear reactor heat source that can operate with no human intervention for a few decades and that may be widely acceptable, since its safety features are simple, inexpensive and easily understood. We provide first-level details of a reactor system designed to satisfy these requirements. Such a back-solving approach to realizing large-scale nuclear fission power systems potentially leads to an energy source capable of meeting all large-scale stationary demands for high- temperature heat. If widely employed to support such demands, it could, for example, directly reduce present-day world-wide CO 2 emissions by two-fold; by using it to produce non-carbonaceous fuels for small mobile demands, a second two-fold reduction could be attained. Even the first such reduction would permit continued slow power-demand growth in the First World and rapid development of the Third World, both without any governmental suppression of fossil fuel usage

Potential wealth creation via nuclear energy in Malaysia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sabar Md Hashim; Dol Malek Md Sap

2009-01-01

Like any other developing nation, Malaysia aspires to be an economic force to be reckoned with. A strong opportunity may be in the form of nuclear energy as can be seen from the success stories of France and South Korea. Although nuclear is not the only common parameter that make developed nations tick, the multiplier spin-off impacts of nuclear as sources of wealth creation are deliberated. Foreseeable benefits include job creation (especially highly-skilled knowledge workers), spin-off technologies and vendor development as well as the opportunity to assume regional leadership in carefully-selected sectors. Categorically in Malaysian context, introduction of nuclear energy would yield numerous benefits, i.e. as a strong catalyst to enhance country's competitiveness by raising capacity for knowledge, cutting-edge technology, and eventually, innovation (National Mission Thrust 2) beside ensuring stable electricity generation price; as an element to move up value chain by creating high-skilled knowledge workers who could help to raise country's economic profile and plant the seed for a strong post-2020 Malaysia (National Mission Thrust 1); and as an agent to enhance sustainability and quality of life through clean energy (National Mission Thrust 4) by being environmentally benign due to its low greenhouse gas emissions with very minimal impact to global warming. Our point us that, being synergistic with national aspiration, nuclear energy is a genuine national agenda. (Author)

The physiological impacts of wealth shocks in late life: Evidence from the Great Recession.

Science.gov (United States)

Boen, Courtney; Yang, Y Claire

2016-02-01

Given documented links between individual socioeconomic status (SES) and health, it is likely that-in addition to its impacts on individuals' wallets and bank accounts-the Great Recession also took a toll on individuals' disease and mortality risk. Exploiting a quasi-natural experiment design, this study utilizes nationally representative, longitudinal data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) (2005-2011) (N = 930) and individual fixed effects models to examine how household-level wealth shocks experienced during the Great Recession relate to changes in biophysiological functioning in older adults. Results indicate that wealth shocks significantly predicted changes in physiological functioning, such that losses in net worth from the pre-to the post-Recession period were associated with increases in systolic blood pressure and C-reactive protein over the six year period. Further, while the association between wealth shocks and changes in blood pressure was unattenuated with the inclusion of other indicators of SES, psychosocial well-being, and health behaviors in analytic models, we document some evidence of mediation in the association between changes in wealth and changes in C-reactive protein, which suggests specificity in the social and biophysiological mechanisms relating wealth shocks and health at older ages. Linking macro-level conditions, meso-level household environments, and micro-level biological processes, this study provides new insights into the mechanisms through which economic inequality contributes to disease and mortality risk in late life. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Social security wealth and aggregate consumption : An extended life-cycle model estimated for The Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zant, W.

In this paper a method is developed to calculate a wealth variable accounting for the existence of the basic old-age provisions in The Netherlands (AOW). In line with Feldstein's extended life-cycle model, consumption functions with (gross) social security wealth are estimated for The Netherlands

To consume or not. How oil prices affect the comovement of consumption and aggregate wealth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Odusami, Babatunde Olatunji

2010-01-01

This paper provides insight into how oil price movements affect the consumption choices of U.S. households through the wealth channel. Lettau and Ludvigson (2001) show that while consumption, asset wealth, and labor income share a common long-term trend; they substantially deviate from one another in the short run. In this paper, I show that these transitory deviations can be explained by fluctuations in the price of crude oil. Linear and threshold multivariate autoregressive models are used to measure the oil price effect. Oil price effect on the consumption to aggregate wealth ratio is robust to monetary policy effect, sub-period effect, and econometric specifications of oil price effect. Generally speaking, higher (lower) oil price will lead to a decrease (increase) in the proportion of aggregate wealth consumed. In addition, the magnitude of the oil price effect is asymmetric and sub-period dependent. Oil price effect was higher before the 1980's than in succeeding periods. (author)

A Poisson-like closed-form expression for the steady-state wealth distribution in a kinetic model of gambling

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia, Jane Bernadette Denise M.; Esguerra, Jose Perico H.

2017-08-01

An approximate but closed-form expression for a Poisson-like steady state wealth distribution in a kinetic model of gambling was formulated from a finite number of its moments, which were generated from a βa,b(x) exchange distribution. The obtained steady-state wealth distributions have tails which are qualitatively similar to those observed in actual wealth distributions.

The Treatment of Wealth Distribution by High School Economics Textbooks

Science.gov (United States)

Neumann, Richard

2014-01-01

This article presents findings from an investigation of the treatment of wealth distribution by high school economics textbooks. The eight leading high school economics texts in the United States were examined.

The Forbes 400, the Pareto power-law and efficient markets

Science.gov (United States)

Klass, O. S.; Biham, O.; Levy, M.; Malcai, O.; Solomon, S.

2007-01-01

Statistical regularities at the top end of the wealth distribution in the United States are examined using the Forbes 400 lists of richest Americans, published between 1988 and 2003. It is found that the wealths are distributed according to a power-law (Pareto) distribution. This result is explained using a simple stochastic model of multiple investors that incorporates the efficient market hypothesis as well as the multiplicative nature of financial market fluctuations.

Predominantly Electronic or Personal Service Delivery? A Case in the Wealth Management Context

OpenAIRE

Sunikka, Anne

2009-01-01

Financial services have been a recurrent subject of a multichannel inquiry but investigation into the wealth management area is scarce. This paper intends to fill the gap and presents the results of a questionnaire directed at customers of a financial conglomerate. The objective of this research is to examine which variables influence consumers’ channel preferences in the wealth management context,and to find out possible differences between the customers who prefer predominantly electronic s...

Immunization in India 1993-1999: wealth, gender, and regional inequalities revisited.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaudin, Sylvestre; Yazbeck, Abdo S

2006-02-01

Previously published evidence from the 1992-1993 Indian National Family and Health Survey (NFHS) on the state of childhood immunization showed the importance of analyzing immunization outcomes beyond national averages. Reported total system failure (no immunization for all) in some low performance areas suggested that improvements in immunization levels may come with a worsening of the distribution of immunization based on wealth. In this paper, using the second wave of the NFHS (1998-1999), we take a new snapshot of the situation and compare it to 1992-1993, focusing on heterogeneities between states, rural-urban differentials, gender differentials, and more specifically on wealth-related inequalities. To assess whether improvements in overall immunization rates (levels) were accompanied by distributional improvements, or conversely, whether inequalities were reduced at the expense of overall achievement, we use a recently developed methodology to calculate an inequality-adjusted achievement index that captures performance both in terms of efficiency (change in levels) and equity (distribution by wealth quintiles) for each of the 17 largest Indian states. Comparing 1992-1993 to 1998-1999 achievements using different degrees of "inequality aversion" provides no evidence that distributional improvements occur at the expense of overall performance.

Generation and distribution of wealth in Blumenau non-profit social service

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Loriberto Starosky Filho

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Non-profit organizations exist all over the world and they have an important role to the economy. These are not aimed at profits and they appeared to develop initiatives of social aspects. The main goal of this research is to check how the wealth is generated and distributed by the non-profits that are enrolled in the Welfare Assistance Council in Blumenau city. This data was gotten through a qualitative, descriptive and documentary research based on analysis of published financial statements of a sample consisting of  nineteen non-profit Welfare Assistance Organizations. The results showed that: a To maintain their activities most  institutions  rely on resources coming from social grants, partnerships and donations; b The added value distributed represents more than fifty percent of the total proceeds in a large number  of institutions; c in most organizations the biggest share of the wealth distribution was used to the workers payment; d a low percentage of  the wealth is to lenders and government. As a general rule, most organizations presented a very low rate of retentions for themselves because they do not seek profits. Their goals are related to social services activities.

Global Thermal Power Plants Database: Unit-Based CO2, SO2, NOX and PM2.5 Emissions in 2010

Science.gov (United States)

Tong, D.; Qiang, Z.; Davis, S. J.

2016-12-01

There are more than 30,000 thermal power plants now operating worldwide, reflecting a tremendously diverse infrastructure that includes units burning oil, natural gas, coal and biomass and ranging in capacity from 1GW. Although the electricity generated by this infrastructure is vital to economic activities across the world, it also produces more CO2 and air pollution emissions than any other industry sector. Here we present a new database of global thermal power-generating units and their emissions as of 2010, GPED (Global Power Emissions Database), including the detailed unit information of installed capacity, operation year, geographic location, fuel type and control measures for more than 70000 units. In this study, we have compiled, combined, and harmonized the available underlying data related to thermal power-generating units (e.g. eGRID of USA, CPED of China and published Indian power plants database), and then analyzed the generating capacity, capacity factor, fuel type, age, location, and installed pollution-control technology in order to determine those units with disproportionately high levels of emissions. In total, this work is of great importance for improving spatial distribution of global thermal power plants emissions and exploring their environmental impacts at global scale.

Social Wealth Economic Indicators for a Caring Economy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Indradeep Ghosh

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This essay introduces the reader to an entirely new set of measures that are urgently needed by policymakers and business leaders to foster personal, business, and national economic success. Social Wealth Economic Indicators are measures suggested by a partnership model of society, and they inform us that care work matters tremendously but is grossly undervalued. In our contemporary knowledge-service economy, the essential ingredient for social and economic progress is high-quality human capital, and the way to build such human capital is to support the work of caring and caregiving, traditionally considered “women’s work.” The data presented in this essay clearly show that early childhood care and education, family-friendly workplace practices, and the status of women are key determinants of economic success. But they are also necessary for healthy, creative, and cohesive societies in which members work in partnership with each other and with the natural environment to improve living conditions for all. This is the true meaning of social wealth.

Environment and air pollution like gun and bullet for low-income countries: war for better health and wealth.

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, Xiang; Azam, Muhammad; Islam, Talat; Zaman, Khalid

2016-02-01

The objective of the study is to examine the impact of environmental indicators and air pollution on "health" and "wealth" for the low-income countries. The study used a number of promising variables including arable land, fossil fuel energy consumption, population density, and carbon dioxide emissions that simultaneously affect the health (i.e., health expenditures per capita) and wealth (i.e., GDP per capita) of the low-income countries. The general representation for low-income countries has shown by aggregate data that consist of 39 observations from the period of 1975-2013. The study decomposes the data set from different econometric tests for managing robust inferences. The study uses temporal forecasting for the health and wealth model by a vector error correction model (VECM) and an innovation accounting technique. The results show that environment and air pollution is the menace for low-income countries' health and wealth. Among environmental indicators, arable land has the largest variance to affect health and wealth for the next 10-year period, while air pollution exerts the least contribution to change health and wealth of low-income countries. These results indicate the prevalence of war situation, where environment and air pollution become visible like "gun" and "bullet" for low-income countries. There are required sound and effective macroeconomic policies to combat with the environmental evils that affect the health and wealth of the low-income countries.

Global Poverty, Justice and Taxation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ciprian Niţu

2012-10-01

Full Text Available The question of poverty and justice inside global economic system has received three major types of responses in political theory. The communitarian perspective considers political culture of a society as the main cause of the wealth of that society, and accordingly limits the redistributive duty to the nation-state borders. A second view, which can be called liberal internationalism, claims that trade liberalization is the best way to reduce poverty in developing countries and create a more equitable and stable economic order. This paper argues that a third perspective seems to be a better approach. The cosmopolitan perspective points out that international economic system should be reformed by building up a global tax regime.

The Nigeria wealth distribution and health seeking behaviour: evidence from the 2012 national HIV/AIDS and reproductive health survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Fagbamigbe, Adeniyi F; Bamgboye, Elijah A; Yusuf, Bidemi O; Akinyemi, Joshua O; Issa, Bolakale K; Ngige, Evelyn; Amida, Perpetua; Bashorun, Adebobola; Abatta, Emmanuel

2015-01-01

Recently, Nigeria emerged as the largest economy in Africa and the 26th in the world. However, a pertinent question is how this new economic status has impacted on the wealth and health of her citizens. There is a dearth of empirical study on the wealth distribution in Nigeria which could be important in explaining the general disparities in their health seeking behavior. An adequate knowledge of Nigeria wealth distribution will no doubt inform policy makers in their decision making to improve the quality of life of Nigerians. This study is a retrospective analysis of the assets of household in Nigeria collected during the 2012 National HIV/AIDS and Reproductive Health Survey (NARHS Plus 2). We used the principal component analysis methods to construct wealth quintiles across households in Nigeria. At 5% significance level, we used ANOVA to determine differences in some health outcomes across the WQs and chi-square test to assess association between WQs and some reproductive health seeking behaviours. The wealth quintiles were found to be internally valid and coherent. However, there is a wide gap in the reproductive health seeking behavior of household members across the wealth quintiles with members of households in lower quintiles having lesser likelihood (33.0%) to receive antenatal care than among those in the highest quintiles (91.9%). While only 3% were currently using modern contraceptives in the lowest wealth quintile, it was 17.4% among the highest wealth quintile (p wealth quintiles showed a great disparity in the standard of living of Nigerian households across geo-political zones, states and rural-urban locations which had greatly influenced household health seeking behavior.

Energy and the Wealth of Nations Understanding the Biophysical Economy

CERN Document Server

Hall, Charles A S

2012-01-01

For the past 150 years, economics has been treated as a social science in which economies are modeled as a circular flow of income between producers and consumers.  In this “perpetual motion” of interactions between firms that produce and households that consume, little or no accounting is given of the flow of energy and materials from the environment and back again.  In the standard economic model, energy and matter are completely recycled in these transactions, and economic activity is seemingly exempt from the Second Law of Thermodynamics.  As we enter the second half of the age of oil, and as energy supplies and the environmental impacts of energy production and consumption become major issues on the world stage, this exemption appears illusory at best. In Energy and the Wealth of Nations, concepts such as energy return on investment (EROI) provide powerful insights into the real balance sheets that drive our “petroleum economy.” Hall and Klitgaard explore the relation between energy and the we...

Co-investments of sovereign wealth funds in private equity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mc Cahery, Joseph; de Roode, Alexander

2016-01-01

Direct investments are the preferred vehicle for large institutional investors to have control over their portfolio investments. We study the deal structure of direct investments by sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in private equity transactions. We find that SWFs shift from investing in private equity

The Role of Wealth and Health in Insurance Choice: Bivariate Probit Analysis in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yiding Yue

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper captures the correlation between the choices of health insurance and pension insurance using the bivariate probit model and then studies the effect of wealth and health on insurance choice. Our empirical evidence shows that people who participate in a health care program are more likely to participate in a pension plan at the same time, while wealth and health have different effects on the choices of the health care program and the pension program. Generally, the higher an individual’s wealth level is, the more likelihood he will participate in a health care program; but wealth has no effect on the participation of pension. Health status has opposite effects on choices of health care programs and pension plans; the poorer an individual’s health is, the more likely he is to participate in health care programs, while the better health he enjoys, the more likely he is to participate in pension plans. When the investigation scope narrows down to commercial insurance, there is only a significant effect of health status on commercial health insurance. The commercial insurance choice and the insurance choice of the agricultural population are more complicated.

Control of Shareholders’ Wealth Maximization in Nigeria

OpenAIRE

A. O. Oladipupo; C. O. Okafor

2014-01-01

This research focuses on who controls shareholder’s wealth maximization and how does this affect firm’s performance in publicly quoted non-financial companies in Nigeria. The shareholder fund was the dependent while explanatory variables were firm size (proxied by log of turnover), retained earning (representing management control) and dividend payment (representing measure of shareholders control). The data used for this study were obtained from the Nigerian Stock Exchange [NSE] fact book an...

Black-White Achievement Gap and Family Wealth. National Poverty Center Working Paper Series #07-02

Science.gov (United States)

Yeung, W. Jean; Conley, Dalton

2006-01-01

This paper examines the extent to which family wealth affects the race-child achievement association for young children based on data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. We found little evidence that wealth mediates the black-white test scores gap. However, liquid assets, particularly holding in stocks and mutual funds, are positively…

Levels and trends of childhood undernutrition by wealth and education according to a Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure: evidence from 146 Demographic and Health Surveys from 39 countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Vollmer, Sebastian; Harttgen, Kenneth; Kupka, Roland; Subramanian, S V

2017-01-01

Governments have endorsed global targets to reduce childhood undernutrition as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Understanding the socioeconomic differences in childhood undernutrition has the potential to be helpful for targeting policy to reach these goals. We specify a logistic regression model with the Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure (CIAF) as the outcome and indicator variables for wealth quartiles, maternal education categories and a set of covariates as explanatory variables. Wealth and education variables are interacted with a period indicator for 1990-2000 compared with 2001-2014 to observe differences over time. Based on these regressions we calculate predicted CIAF prevalence by wealth and education categories and over time. The sample included 146 surveys from 39 low-income and lower-middle-income countries with an overall sample size of 533 217 children. CIAF prevalence was 47.5% in 1990-2000, and it declined to 42.6% in 2001-2014. In 1990-2000 the CIAF prevalence of children with mothers with less than primary education was 31 percentage points higher than for mothers with secondary or higher education. This difference slightly decreased to 27 percentage points in 2001-2014. The difference in predicted CIAF prevalence of children from the highest and lowest wealth quartiles was 21 percentage points and did not change over time. We find evidence for persistent and even increasing socioeconomic inequalities in childhood undernutrition, which underlines the importance of previous calls for equity-driven approaches targeting the most vulnerable to reduce childhood malnutrition.

The End of Investment Bank Capitalism? An Economic Geography of Financial Jobs and Power

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dariusz Wójcik

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This article investigates employment patterns, remuneration, and power relations in the U.S. financial sector between 1978 and 2008. It demonstrates that investment banking has played a central part in the securities industry, which has been by far the most expansive segment of the U.S. financial sector and a significant contributor to growing income inequality. The power of investment banking has risen over the past 30 years under the conditions of the growing demand for investment services, technological changes, deregulation, and globalization. Investment banks were at the heart of the shadow banking system, inventing many of the products used by it and often disguising its operation, thus contributing decisively to the outbreak of the global financial crisis of 2007–9. With leading U.S. investment banks converted into bank holding companies and the threat of reregulation, the future of investment banking is uncertain. One area of uncertainty is the banks’ relationship with sovereign wealth funds, which involves both opportunities and challenges. The article identifies the economic geography of investment banking as one of the keys to understanding the dynamics of the contemporary world economy and promotes a mesolevel approach to geographies of finance.

Power and Ideology in American Sport. A Critical Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Sage, George H.

This book offers a critical perspective in examining how the dominant power interests influence sport and its role in society. It provides insights into how government, big business, the mass media, and educational institutions gain and maintain power and wealth while sport participants and spectators look to sport for enjoyment, creative…

Housing wealth and household portfolios in an aging society

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rouwendal, J.

2009-01-01

Housing is one of the most important consumption goods, also for the elderly. For owner-occupiers, housing equity is moreover usually the most important asset in their investment portfolio, and hence, household wealth of the elderly is extremely sensitive to developments on the housing market. This

Job Search and Savings: Wealth Effects and Duration Dependence

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lentz, Rasmus; Tranæs, Torben

2005-01-01

This article studies a risk‐averse worker’s optimal savings and job search behavior as she moves back and forth between employment and unemployment. We show that job search effort is negatively related to wealth under the assumption of additively separable utility. Consequently, job search exhibi...

Oligarchy as a phase transition: The effect of wealth-attained advantage in a Fokker-Planck description of asset exchange

Science.gov (United States)

Boghosian, Bruce M.; Devitt-Lee, Adrian; Johnson, Merek; Li, Jie; Marcq, Jeremy A.; Wang, Hongyan

2017-06-01

The ;Yard-Sale Model; of asset exchange is known to result in complete inequality-all of the wealth in the hands of a single agent. It is also known that, when this model is modified by introducing a simple model of redistribution based on the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process, it admits a steady state exhibiting some features similar to the celebrated Pareto Law of wealth distribution. In the present work, we analyze the form of this steady-state distribution in much greater detail, using a combination of analytic and numerical techniques. We find that, while Pareto's Law is approximately valid for low redistribution, it gives way to something more similar to Gibrat's Law when redistribution is higher. Additionally, we prove in this work that, while this Pareto or Gibrat behavior may persist over many orders of magnitude, it ultimately gives way to gaussian decay at extremely large wealth. Also in this work, we introduce a bias in favor of the wealthier agent-what we call Wealth-Attained Advantage (WAA)-and show that this leads to the phenomenon of ;wealth condensation; when the bias exceeds a certain critical value. In the wealth-condensed state, a finite fraction of the total wealth of the population ;condenses; to the wealthiest agent. We examine this phenomenon in some detail, and derive the corresponding modification to the Fokker-Planck equation. We observe a second-order phase transition to a state of coexistence between an oligarch and a distribution of non-oligarchs. Finally, by studying the asymptotic behavior of the distribution in some detail, we show that the onset of wealth condensation has an abrupt reciprocal effect on the character of the non-oligarchical part of the distribution. Specifically, we show that the above-mentioned gaussian decay at extremely large wealth is valid both above and below criticality, but degenerates to exponential decay precisely at criticality.

The Top Tail of the Wealth Distribution in Germany, France, Spain, and Greece

OpenAIRE

Bach, Stefan; Thiemann, Andreas; Zucco, Aline

2015-01-01

We analyze the top tail of the wealth distribution in Germany, France, Spain, and Greece based on the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS). Since top wealth is likely to be underrepresented in household surveys we integrate the big fortunes from rich lists, estimate a Pareto distribution, and impute the missing rich. Instead of the Forbes list we mainly rely on national rich lists since they represent a broader base for the big fortunes. As a result, the top percentile share of hou...

Generic features of the wealth distribution in ideal-gas-like markets.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohanty, P K

2006-07-01

We provide an exact solution to the ideal-gas-like models studied in econophysics to understand the microscopic origin of Pareto law. In these classes of models the key ingredient necessary for having a self-organized scale-free steady-state distribution is the trading or collision rule where agents or particles save a definite fraction of their wealth or energy and invest the rest for trading. Using a Gibbs ensemble approach we could obtain the exact distribution of wealth in this model. Moreover we show that in this model (a) good savers are always rich and (b) every agent poor or rich invests the same amount for trading. Nonlinear trading rules could alter the generic scenario observed here.

77 FR 25226 - Culturally Significant Object Imported for Exhibition Determinations: “The Wealth of a Nation...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-27

... DEPARTMENT OF STATE [Public Notice 7860] Culturally Significant Object Imported for Exhibition Determinations: ``The Wealth of a Nation: British Silver From the Museum's Collection'' SUMMARY: Notice is hereby... object to be included in the exhibition ``The Wealth of a Nation: British Silver from the Museum's...

Household wealth inequality, entrepreneurs’ financial constraints, and the great recession: evidence from the Kauffman Firm Survey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Braggion, F. (Fabio); Dwarkasing, M. (Mintra); S. Ongena (Steven)

2017-01-01

textabstractWe empirically test if household wealth inequality affects borrowing constraints of young entrepreneurs. We construct a measure of wealth inequality at the US county level based on the distribution of financial rents in 2004. We find that in more unequal areas, entrepreneurs are less

What is freedom--and does wealth cause it?

Science.gov (United States)

Iyer, Ravi; Motyl, Matt; Graham, Jesse

2013-10-01

The target article's climato-economic theory will benefit by allowing for bidirectional effects and the heterogeneity of types of freedom, in order to more fully capture the coevolution of societal wealth and freedom. We also suggest alternative methods of testing climato-economic theory, such as longitudinal analyses of these countries' histories and micro-level experiments of each of the theory's hypotheses.

The HIV-poverty thesis re-examined: poverty, wealth or inequality as a social determinant of HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa?

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, Ashley M

2012-07-01

Although health is generally believed to improve with higher wealth, research on HIV in sub-Saharan Africa has shown otherwise. Whereas researchers and advocates have frequently advanced poverty as a social determinant that can help to explain sub-Saharan Africa's disproportionate burden of HIV infection, recent evidence from population surveys suggests that HIV infection is higher among wealthier individuals. Furthermore, wealthier countries in Africa have experienced the fastest growing epidemics. Some researchers have theorized that inequality in wealth may be more important than absolute wealth in explaining why some countries have higher rates of infection and rapidly increasing epidemics. Studies taking a longitudinal approach have further suggested a dynamic process whereby wealth initially increases risk for HIV acquisition and later becomes protective. Prior studies, conducted exclusively at either the individual or the country level, have neither attempted to disentangle the effects of absolute and relative wealth on HIV infection nor to look simultaneously at different levels of analysis within countries at different stages in their epidemics. The current study used micro-, meso- and macro-level data from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) across 170 regions within sixteen countries in sub-Saharan Africa to test the hypothesis that socioeconomic inequality, adjusted for absolute wealth, is associated with greater risk of HIV infection. These analyses reveal that inequality trumps wealth: living in a region with greater inequality in wealth was significantly associated with increased individual risk of HIV infection, net of absolute wealth. The findings also reveal a paradox that supports a dynamic interpretation of epidemic trends: in wealthier regions/countries, individuals with less wealth were more likely to be infected with HIV, whereas in poorer regions/countries, individuals with more wealth were more likely to be infected with HIV. These

Relative household wealth and non-fatal road crashes: analysis of population-representative data of Kenyan adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Kraemer, John D

2018-05-18

This study aims to examine potential road crash disparities across relative wealth and location of residence in Kenya by analyzing population-representative Demographic and Health Survey data. Relative wealth was measured by household assets, converted into an index by polychoric principal components analysis. Location and sex-stratified associations between wealth quantiles and crashes were flexibly estimated using fractional polynomial models. Structural equation models were fit to examine whether observed differences may operate through previously identified determinants. In rural areas, crashes were least common for both the poorest men (-5.2 percentage points, 95% CI: -7.3 to -3.2) and women (-1.6 percentage points, 95% CI: -2.9 to -0.4). In urban areas, male crashes were lowest (-3.0 percentage points, 95% CI: -5.2 to -0.8) among the wealthiest, while they peaked in the middle of the female wealth distribution (2.0 percentage points, 95% CI: 0.3-3.8). Male differences operate partially though occupational driving and vehicle ownership. Urban female differences operate partially through household vehicle ownership, but differences for rural women were not explained by modeled determinants. Relative wealth and road crash have opposite associations in rural and urban areas. Especially in rural areas, it is important to mitigate potential unintended effects of economic development.

Health, wealth and happiness: Why pursue a higher education?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oosterbeek, H.; Hartog, J.

1998-01-01

We explore the effect of schooling on health, wealth and happiness for a cohort of Dutch individuals born around 1940. We also use observations on childhood IQ and family background. The most fortunate group is the group with a non-vocational intermediate level education: they score highest on

Beyond Health and Wealth: Predictors of Women's Retirement Satisfaction

Science.gov (United States)

Price, Christine A.; Balaswamy, Shantha

2009-01-01

Despite empirical support for the positive effects of health and wealth on retirement satisfaction, alternative variables also play a key role in helping to shape women's assessment of retirement. In the present study, we explore personal and psychosocial predictors of women's retirement satisfaction while controlling for financial security and…

Hydroclimatic risks and uncertainty in the global power sector

Science.gov (United States)

Gidden, Matthew; Byers, Edward; Greve, Peter; Kahil, Taher; Parkinson, Simon; Raptis, Catherine; Rogelj, Joeri; Satoh, Yusuke; van Vliet, Michelle; Wada, Yoshide; Krey, Volker; Langan, Simon; Riahi, Keywan

2017-04-01

Approximately 80% of the world's electricity supply depends on reliable water resources. Thermoelectric and hydropower plants have been impacted by low flows and floods in recent years, notably in the US, Brazil, France, and China, amongst other countries. The dependence on reliable flows imputes a large vulnerability to the electricity supply system due to hydrological variability and the impacts of climate change. Using an updated dataset of global electricity capacity with global climate and hydrological data from the ISI-MIP project, we present an overview analysis of power sector vulnerability to hydroclimatic risks, including low river flows and peak flows. We show how electricity generation in individual countries and transboundary river basins can be impacted, helping decision-makers identify key at-risk geographical regions. Furthermore, our use of a multi-model ensemble of climate and hydrological models allows us to quantify the uncertainty of projected impacts, such that basin-level risks and uncertainty can be compared.

An Inquiry into the nature, causes and distribution of wealth in the Cape Colony, 1652-1795

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fourie, J.

2012-01-01

Three important questions about the Dutch Cape Colony are investigated in this dissertation: 1) how affluent were Cape settlers, 2) what were the causes of such wealth, and 3) how was the wealth distributed? Using a variety of statistical sources, most notably the detailed probate inventories and

Climatic Warmth and National Wealth: Some Culture-Level Determinants of National Character Stereotypes.

Science.gov (United States)

McCrae, Robert R; Terracciano, Antonio; Realo, Anu; Allik, Jüri

2007-12-01

National character stereotypes are widely shared, but do not reflect assessed levels of personality traits. In this article we present data illustrating the divergence of stereotypes and assessed personality traits in north and south Italy, test hypotheses about the associations of temperature and national wealth with national character stereotypes in 49 cultures, and explore possible links to national values and beliefs. Results suggest that warmth and wealth are common determinants of national stereotypes, but that there are also idiosyncratic influences on the perceptions of individual nations.

Adam Smith's conceptual contributions to international economics: Based on the Wealth of Nations

OpenAIRE

Ismail Kucukaksoy

2011-01-01

The 1776 dated "Wealth of Nations" work of Adam Smith has formed economic dimension of the Industrial Revolution and also transformed economics into the identity of a social science. As if the wealth of nations, namely the welfare increase became the top goal two and a half centuries ago, it is the top goal today and in the future as well. So understanding Smith's works well carries importance in fighting against poverty in the world. According to Smith, in the basis of the welfare increases ...

IAEA’s Perspectives on Global Nuclear Power – Opportunities and Challenges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, J.K.

2014-01-01

Status of global nuclear power: 437 reactors in operation (374.5 GWe); 2 reactors in long-term shutdown; 149 reactors in permanent shutdown; 70 reactors under construction. [As of Sep. 2014] Latest connections to the grid: - Ningde-2, 1000 MW(e), PWR, China; - Atucha-2, 692 MW(e), PHWR, Argentina; - Fuqing-1, 1000 MW(e), PWR, China). [Website: http://www.iaea.org/pris/]. IAEA projections of nuclear power: • Sep. 2014: 374.5 GWe; • 2030 - low 400.6 GWe: 7.0% increase; - high 699.2 GWe: 86.7% increase; • 2050 - low 412.9 GWe: 10.3% increase; - high 1091.7 GWe: 191.5% increase

Chemical Education: A Tool for Wealth Creation from Waste ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper focuses on exposing the indispensible role of chemical education in wealth creation from waste. Every settlement of people has one type of waste or the other to dispose. The challenge of waste management has in recent time occupied researchers such that innovations are geared towards reducing wastes that ...

Corruption and inequality of wealth amongst the very rich

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ph.H.B.F. Franses (Philip Hans); E.A. de Groot (Bert)

2016-01-01

textabstractCorruption may lead to tax evasion and unbalanced favors and this may lead to extraordinary wealth amongst a few. We study for 13 countries 6 years of Forbes rankings data and we examine whether corruption leads to more inequality amongst the wealthiest. When we correct in our panel

Determinants of sovereign wealth fund investment in private equity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Johan, S.A.; Knill, A.M.; Mauck, N.

2010-01-01

This paper examines investment patterns of 50 sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in nations around the world. We study investment by SWFs in 903 public and private firms over the period 1984-2009. As expected, we observe SWFs investments are more often in private firms when the market returns of target

Role of Waste Management in Wealth Creation in Nigeria ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The concept of entrepreneurship as it relates to waste to wealth by private sector participation (PSP) franchise is considered to have assisted the government create jobs and new businesses for many in contemporary economies, This study essentially try to access whether PSP franchise operators aid in the creation of jobs ...

Global warming and oil: Can nuclear power make a difference?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bodansky, D.

1991-01-01

A responsible energy policy, for the United States and the world, must address two needs: to restrain the rate of fossil fuel consumption, and to reduce the consumption of oil. Unless the first is accomplished, the world may experience major climate changes, some perhaps disastrous, from the buildup of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Unless the second is met, we face recurring threats of economic disruption and war, due to the dangerous concentration of the world's oil resources in the Persian Gulf region. Nuclear power has long been cited as a possible answer to these needs. Mr. Bodansky takes a fresh look at the contribution nuclear power could make, in the light of our increased awareness of global warming dangers and the renewed reminders of the instabilities of oil markets. He notes, however, that the basic objections to nuclear power remain. They are well-known, stemming from concerns about reactor safety, waste disposal, nuclear proliferation, and cost. These are old but continuing controversies, involving a tangle of technical, political, social, and economic issues. If nuclear power is to be revived, these concerns clearly must be addressed. 1 fig., 7 tabs

Global energy demand outlook

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hatcher, S.R.

1999-01-01

Perhaps the most compelling issue the world will face in the next century is the quality of life of the increasing populations of the poorer regions of the world. Energy is the key to generating wealth and protecting the environment. Today, most of the energy generated comes from fossil fuels and there should be enough for an increase in consumption over the next half century. However, this is likely to be impacted by the Kyoto Protocol on carbon dioxide emissions. Various authoritative studies lead to a global energy demand projection of between 850 to 1070 EJ per year in the mid-21 st century, which is nearly three times as much as the world uses today. The studies further indicate that, unless there is a major thrust by governments to create incentives and/or to levy heavy taxes, the use of fossil fuels will continue to increase and there will be a major increase in carbon dioxide emissions globally. Most of the increase will come from the newly industrializing countries which do not have the technology or financial resources to install non-carbon energy sources such as nuclear power, and the new renewable energy technologies. The real issue for the nuclear industry is investment cost. Developing countries, in particular will have difficulty in raising capital for energy projects with a high installed cost and will have difficulties in raising large blocks of capital. A reduction in investment costs of the order of 50% with a short construction schedule is in order if nuclear power is to compete and contribute significantly to energy supply and the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. Current nuclear power plants and methods are simply not suited to the production of plants that will compete in this situation. Mass production designs are needed to get the benefits of cost reduction. Water cooled reactors are well demonstrated and positioned to achieve the cost reduction necessary but only via some radical thinking on the part of the designers. The reactors of

The history of wealth concept and ways to achieve it for sustainable development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. A. Kalchenko

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The evolution of well-known philosophers and economists views on wealth is considered: Voltaire, Adam Smith, JeanJacques Rousseau, Karl Marx, John Stuart Mill, Milton Friedman, John Maynard Keynes, Joseph Schumpeter, Georg von Wallwitz and others. Economics was initially studying ways and means of achieving wealth. The essence of wealth has changed dramatically in people's minds after the first and the second industrial revolutions. The world today is on the verge of the third industrial revolution (according to Jeremy Rifkin, or, as it is called by many scientists, the new tenor of technology. In the history of any civilization comes the moment of a radical direction change for new prospects or endangered. Not all civilizations were able to transform in time. However, in the past, the effects of civilizations collapse were limited in time, space, and never addressed the species. Currently, the high probability of temperature and planet geochemistry changes as a result of climate change can lead to mass extinction of animals, plants, and people. Humanity has the ability to transit into a stable post-carbon era in the middle of the century and to prevent catastrophic climate change. Currently, sustainable development is the mechanism used to achieve the ultimate goal of any country, enterprise and human development, which is wealth. Under controlled sustainable development we understand the system unity of not only economic, social, environmental, but also resource, technological, institutional activities, as well as a permanent interaction between development and economic safety.

Emerging middle powers and global security challenges: the case of Brazil and Turkey - implications for Portugal

OpenAIRE

Balla, Evanthia

2012-01-01

Today's global order fundamentally differs from the one of classic multipolarity, Cold War bipolarity or post Cold War unipolarity. There are many emerging powers and many no nation-states entities with powers. Yet, the world seems to slowly adjusting to these new realities.

Socioemotional Wealth and Firms’ Control: Evidence from Malaysian Chinese Owned Companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chin Fei Goh

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper explores how the preservation of socioemotional wealth can be manifested in the control and corporate governance of Malaysian Chinese firms. Using panel data from the Industrial Products index of the Bursa Malaysia (the Malaysian stock exchange during 2003-2006, we show that the ingrained ‘life-raft values’ among overseas Chinese entrepreneurs can be associated with the preservation of their socioemotional wealth, and thus they prioritize control over their firms. Additionally, we confirm the monitoring role of non-dominant large shareholders in reducing the families’ influence in managing and enhancing their firms’ performance. Specifically, control contestability exercised by the non-dominant large shareholders mediates the relationship between a family’s involvement in management and their firm’s performance.

Material wealth in 3D: Mapping multiple paths to prosperity in low- and middle- income countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Hruschka, Daniel J; Hadley, Craig; Hackman, Joseph

2017-01-01

Material wealth is a key factor shaping human development and well-being. Every year, hundreds of studies in social science and policy fields assess material wealth in low- and middle-income countries assuming that there is a single dimension by which households can move from poverty to prosperity. However, a one-dimensional model may miss important kinds of prosperity, particularly in countries where traditional subsistence-based livelihoods coexist with modern cash economies. Using multiple correspondence analysis to analyze representative household data from six countries-Nepal, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Guatemala-across three world regions, we identify a number of independent dimension of wealth, each with a clear link to locally relevant pathways to success in cash and agricultural economies. In all cases, the first dimension identified by this approach replicates standard one-dimensional estimates and captures success in cash economies. The novel dimensions we identify reflect success in different agricultural sectors and are independently associated with key benchmarks of food security and human growth, such as adult body mass index and child height. The multidimensional models of wealth we describe here provide new opportunities for examining the causes and consequences of wealth inequality that go beyond success in cash economies, for tracing the emergence of hybrid pathways to prosperity, and for assessing how these different pathways to economic success carry different health risks and social opportunities.

Material wealth in 3D: Mapping multiple paths to prosperity in low- and middle- income countries.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel J Hruschka

Full Text Available Material wealth is a key factor shaping human development and well-being. Every year, hundreds of studies in social science and policy fields assess material wealth in low- and middle-income countries assuming that there is a single dimension by which households can move from poverty to prosperity. However, a one-dimensional model may miss important kinds of prosperity, particularly in countries where traditional subsistence-based livelihoods coexist with modern cash economies. Using multiple correspondence analysis to analyze representative household data from six countries-Nepal, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Guatemala-across three world regions, we identify a number of independent dimension of wealth, each with a clear link to locally relevant pathways to success in cash and agricultural economies. In all cases, the first dimension identified by this approach replicates standard one-dimensional estimates and captures success in cash economies. The novel dimensions we identify reflect success in different agricultural sectors and are independently associated with key benchmarks of food security and human growth, such as adult body mass index and child height. The multidimensional models of wealth we describe here provide new opportunities for examining the causes and consequences of wealth inequality that go beyond success in cash economies, for tracing the emergence of hybrid pathways to prosperity, and for assessing how these different pathways to economic success carry different health risks and social opportunities.

Student Power in a Global Perspective and Contemporary Trends in Student Organising

Science.gov (United States)

Klemencic, Manja

2014-01-01

Students, if organised into representative student governments or movements, can be a highly influential agency shaping higher education policy. This article introduces the Special Issue on student power in a global perspective, which addresses the question of how students are organised in different world regions and what role they play in higher…

The Emergence of `Power with': The Case of a Born Global Organization

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Lin; Panteli, Niki

Thanks to the advancement of Information and Communications Technologies, the past decade has seen the rise of Born Global organizations (Rennie, 1993; Oviatt and McDougall, 1994; Karra and Philips, 2004; Zahra, 2005). Broadly defined as ‘business organizations that, right from inception, seek to derive significant competitive advantages from the use of resources and the sales of outputs in multiple countries’ (Oviatt and McDougall, 1994: 49), Born Global organizations are small, young, and internationally dispersed. While sharing the characteristics of ‘smallness’ and ‘newness’ of Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), Born Global organizations also bear ‘foreignness’, similar to that of Multinational Corporations (Zahra, 2005). Born Globals therefore need to strike a balance between ‘global reach’ and ‘local touch’ as in Multinational Corporations (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1989); yet they have to do so with scare resources and organizational uncertainty similar to SMEs, and with ‘lean’ and ‘mean’ communications afforded by ICT (e.g. Sproull and Kiesler, 1986). This study is an initial attempt to untangle the combined challenges in Born Globals’ innovative way of management. Through a longitudinal case study, we aim to explore the issue of power in a Born Global’s endeavour to manage its global knowledge via technology mediation.

Negative wealth shock and short-term changes in depressive symptoms and medication adherence among late middle-aged adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Pool, Lindsay R; Needham, Belinda L; Burgard, Sarah A; Elliott, Michael R; de Leon, Carlos F Mendes

2017-08-01

Experiencing a negative wealth shock in late middle age may cause high levels of stress and induce reductions in health-related consumption. We used data on late middle age individuals (51-64 years) from the longitudinal US-based Health and Retirement Study (N=19 281) to examine the relationship between negative wealth shock and short-term outcomes that serve as markers of the pathways from wealth shock to health: elevated depressive symptoms, as a marker of the stress pathway and cost-related medication non-adherence (CRN), as a marker of the consumption pathway. Negative wealth shock was considered to be a loss of total net worth of 75% or more. Using a nested cross-over approach-a within-person design among exposed individuals only that adjusts by design for all time-invariant individual characteristics-we found that negative wealth shock was significantly associated with increased odds of elevated depressive symptoms (OR=1.50, CI 1.10 to 2.05), but was not significantly associated with higher odds of CRN (OR=1.18, CI 0.76 to 1.82), even after further adjustment for time-varying sociodemographic and health covariates. Negative wealth shock during late middle age confers an increased risk of elevated depressive symptoms, but does not change levels of CRN. Personal and policy factors that may buffer the mental health risks of negative wealth shock, such as social support and social welfare policy, should be considered. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

The new challenges for oil-based sovereign wealth funds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aoun, Marie-Claire; Boulanger, Quentin

2015-02-01

Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are often presented as an effective instrument for managing hydrocarbon rents, reducing the impact of the volatility of oil or gas revenues on the economy, separating expenditure from income, and promoting a more transparent management of the rent. The asset allocation strategy has become more complex with the rapid rise in oil prices between 2007 and 2014, and the substantial financial reserves accumulated in hydrocarbon-producing countries, switching from an approach of wealth management to an approach of investment and financial optimisation. Hence, these funds have become major players on the international financial and industrial scene. Moreover, with the discovery of new hydrocarbon resources in recent years, particularly in Africa, the strategies of new funds appear to be moving towards a new goal of local economic development. But the unforeseen collapse of crude oil prices in recent months poses a new risk for some SWFs based on hydrocarbon revenues, which has to come to the aid of their economies and focus on their main principle of macro-economic stabilisation. (author)

Power Deals. Mergers and acquisitions activity within the global electricity and gas market. 2010 Annual Review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2011-02-15

The global power deal market is finally seeing an upward trend in momentum from the lows reached in 2009, with the total deal value in the non-renewable electricity and gas sectors up 19% year on year from USD 97.6bn to USD 116bn in 2010 - a year which also saw an end to the deal stalemate in the US with a renewed deal flow that looks set to continue this year. Compared to the heady mountain of power deals transacted between 2005-2008, deal values remain low but conditions are in place for a return at least to the foothills of these peaks, according to PwC's annual Power Deals review. Globalisation of the power sector is moving forward on a number of fronts with, for example, companies looking at gaining a larger presence in growth markets, acquisitions of global network asset portfolios with strong international interest in infrastructure assets and signs of greater Chinese involvement, not just from grid companies but also independent power producers.

Wealth gradient-based divergence in the prevalence of underweight among women by marital status in Quoc Oai district, Vietnam.

Science.gov (United States)

Heo, Jongho; Yu, Soo-Young; Yi, Jinseon; Nam, You-Seon; Son, Dinh Thai; Oh, Juhwan; Lee, Jong-Koo

2018-01-01

The prevalence of underweight is high among women in Asian countries, despite nutritional changes in the region. Previous studies have demonstrated independent associations between female body weight, marital status and economic status. However, few studies have investigated possible interaction between marital and economic status in relation to Asian women's body weight. This study aimed to test associations between household wealth, marital status and underweight among women living in the Quoc Oai district of Vietnam and to identify wealth-marital status interaction in relation to body weight in these women. Data from 1087 women aged 19-60 years were collected via a baseline community survey conducted in the Quoc Oai district of Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2016. Underweight was defined using an Asian-specific body mass index cut-off (wealth index quintiles. Multivariable logistic regressions tested association between wealth and underweight after adjusting for marital status and other confounders. An interaction term (wealth index*marital status) was fitted to determine whether the association between wealth and body weight is modified by marital status. Our results show that underweight was independently associated with a wealth status (odds ratio [OR]: 0.88, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.79-0.98, p = 0.026) and ever-married status (OR: 0.50, 95% CI: 0.34-0.75, p = 0.002). A significant interaction effect (OR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.50-0.90, p = 0.010) indicated that wealthy married women were less likely to be underweight, whereas wealthy never-married women were more likely to be underweight. Our results suggest that the interaction between wealth and marital status has divergent effects on underweight among Asian women. Interventions to reduce underweight among Asian women should simultaneously consider economic and marital status.

Polygyny without wealth: popularity in gift games predicts polygyny in BaYaka Pygmies.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaudhary, Nikhil; Salali, Gul Deniz; Thompson, James; Dyble, Mark; Page, Abigail; Smith, Daniel; Mace, Ruth; Migliano, Andrea Bamberg

2015-05-01

The occurrence of polygynous marriage in hunter-gatherer societies, which do not accumulate wealth, remains largely unexplored since resource availability is dependent on male hunting capacity and limited by the lack of storage. Hunter-gatherer societies offer the greatest insight in to human evolution since they represent the majority of our species' evolutionary history. In order to elucidate the evolution of hunter-gatherer polygyny, we study marriage patterns of BaYaka Pygmies. We investigate (i) rates of polygyny among BaYaka hunter-gatherers; (ii) whether polygyny confers a fitness benefit to BaYaka men; (iii) in the absence of wealth inequalities, what are the alternative explanations for polygyny among the BaYaka. To understand the latter, we explore differences in phenotypic quality (height and strength), and social capital (popularity in gift games). We find polygynous men have increased reproductive fitness; and that social capital and popularity but not phenotypic quality might have been important mechanisms by which some male hunter-gatherers sustained polygynous marriages before the onset of agriculture and wealth accumulation.

Problematizing Socioemotional Wealth in Family Firms : A Systems-Theoretical Reframing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hasenzagl, Rupert; Hatak, Isabella; Frank, Hermann

2018-01-01

The concept of socioemotional wealth (SEW) seeks to present an independent paradigmatic basis for family-firm research, and in doing so aims to establish a sound basis for the scientific legitimacy of family-firm research. Establishing that legitimacy requires scholars to demonstrate that SEW is

The Elephant in The Ground: Managing Oil and Sovereign Wealth

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Bremer, T.; van der Ploeg, F.; Wills, S.

2016-01-01

One of the most important developments in international finance and resource economics in the past twenty years is the rapid and widespread emergence of the $6 trillion sovereign wealth fund industry. Oil exporters typically ignore below-ground assets when allocating these funds, and ignore

A GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF SOLAR ENERGY RESOURCES: NASA's Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resources (POWER) Project

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, T.; Stackhouse, P. W., Jr.; Chandler, W.; Hoell, J. M.; Westberg, D.; Whitlock, C. H.

2010-12-01

NASA's POWER project, or the Prediction of the Worldwide Energy Resources project, synthesizes and analyzes data on a global scale. The products of the project find valuable applications in the solar and wind energy sectors of the renewable energy industries. The primary source data for the POWER project are NASA's World Climate Research Project (WCRP)/Global Energy and Water cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Surface Radiation Budget (SRB) project (Release 3.0) and the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) assimilation model (V 4.0.3). Users of the POWER products access the data through NASA's Surface meteorology and Solar Energy (SSE, Version 6.0) website (http://power.larc.nasa.gov). Over 200 parameters are available to the users. The spatial resolution is 1 degree by 1 degree now and will be finer later. The data covers from July 1983 to December 2007, a time-span of 24.5 years, and are provided as 3-hourly, daily and monthly means. As of now, there have been over 18 million web hits and over 4 million data file downloads. The POWER products have been systematically validated against ground-based measurements, and in particular, data from the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) archive, and also against the National Solar Radiation Data Base (NSRDB). Parameters such as minimum, maximum, daily mean temperature and dew points, relative humidity and surface pressure are validated against the National Climate Data Center (NCDC) data. SSE feeds data directly into Decision Support Systems including RETScreen International clean energy project analysis software that is written in 36 languages and has greater than 260,000 users worldwide.

Annual Report on U.S. Wind Power Installation, Cost, and Performance Trends: 2007 (Revised)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wiser, R.; Bolinger, M.

2008-05-01

This report focuses on key trends in the U.S. wind power market, with an emphasis on the latest year, and presents a wealth of data, some of which has not historically been mined by wind power analysts.

Radiation losses and global power balance of JT-60 plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishitani, T.; Itami, K.; Nagashima, K.; Tsuji, S.; Hosogane, N.; Yoshida, H.; Ando, T.; Kubo, H.; Takeuchi, H.

1990-01-01

The radiation losses and the global power balance for Ohmic and neutral beam heated plasmas have been investigated in different JT-60 configurations. Discharges with a TiC coated molybdenum wall and with a graphite wall, with limiter, outer and lower X-point configurations have been studied by bolometric measurements, thermocouples and an infrared TV camera. In neutral beam heated outer X-point discharges with a TiC coated molybdenum first wall, the radiation loss of the main plasma was very low (10% of the absorbed power). The radiation loss due to oxygen was dominant in this case. On the contrary, in discharges with TiC coated molybdenum limiters the radiation loss was very high (>60% of the absorbed power). In the discharges with a graphite wall the radiated power from the main plasma was 20-25% for both limiter and lower X-point configurations. In lower X-point discharges the main contributor to the radiation loss was oxygen, whereas in limiter discharges the loss due to carbon was equal to the loss due to oxygen. The radiation loss from the lower X-point divertor increased with increasing electron density of the main plasma. (author). 33 refs, 14 figs, 1 tab

The Relation Between Financial and Housing Wealth of Dutch Households

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hochgürtel, S.; van Soest, A.H.O.

1996-01-01

We analyze households' joint investment decisions for financial wealth and homes.In our bivariate censored regression model with endogenous switching, fixed costs or transaction costs are captured by a threshold that has to be passed before the purchase.The model allows for spill-over effects of a

Statistical Mechanics of Money, Income, and Wealth

Science.gov (United States)

Yakovenko, Victor

2006-03-01

In Ref. [1], we proposed an analogy between the exponential Boltzmann-Gibbs distribution of energy in physics and the equilibrium probability distribution of money in a closed economic system. Analogously to energy, money is locally conserved in interactions between economic agents, so the thermal Boltzmann-Gibbs distribution function is expected for money. Since then, many researchers followed and expanded this idea [2]. Much work was done on the analysis of empirical data, mostly on income, for which a lot of tax and census data is available. We demonstrated [3] that income distribution in the USA has a well-defined two-class structure. The majority of population (97-99%) belongs to the lower class characterized by the exponential Boltzmann-Gibbs (``thermal'') distribution. The upper class (1-3% of population) has a Pareto power-law (``superthermal'') distribution, whose parameters change in time with the rise and fall of stock market. We proposed a concept of equilibrium inequality in a society, based on the principle of maximal entropy, and quantitatively demonstrated that it applies to the majority of population. Income distribution in other countries shows similar patterns. For more references, see http://www2.physics.umd.edu/˜yakovenk/econophysics.html. References: [1] A. A. Dragulescu and V. M. Yakovenko, ``Statistical mechanics of money'', Eur. Phys. J. B 17, 723 (2000). [2] ``Econophysics of Wealth Distributions'', edited by A. Chatterjee, S. Yarlagadda, and B. K. Chakrabarti, Springer, 2005. [3] A. C. Silva and V. M. Yakovenko, ``Temporal evolution of the `thermal' and `superthermal' income classes in the USA during 1983-2001'', Europhys. Lett. 69, 304 (2005).

Financial Wealth Distribution in Revised Financial Accounts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Václav Rybáček

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Financial statistics undergo dynamic evolution as apparent consequence of their rising importance. Structureof assets, source of fi nancing, price changes or net fi nancial position, all these indicators can detect oncomingfi nancial instability. Financial statistics as a logical extension of the national accounts provide such information.Th e aim of the following text is to present fi nancial statistics, relation between particular accounts, the impact of extraordinary revision carried out in 2011, and also to analyse current wealth distribution as described by fi nancial statistics.

Wealth dynamics in a sentiment-driven market

Science.gov (United States)

Goykhman, Mikhail

2017-12-01

We study dynamics of a simulated world with stock and money, driven by the externally given processes which we refer to as sentiments. The considered sentiments influence the buy/sell stock trading attitude, the perceived price uncertainty, and the trading intensity of all or a part of the market participants. We study how the wealth of market participants evolves in time in such an environment. We discuss the opposite perspective in which the parameters of the sentiment processes can be inferred a posteriori from the observed market behavior.

Dynamics of global supply chain and electric power networks: Models, pricing analysis, and computations

Science.gov (United States)

Matsypura, Dmytro

In this dissertation, I develop a new theoretical framework for the modeling, pricing analysis, and computation of solutions to electric power supply chains with power generators, suppliers, transmission service providers, and the inclusion of consumer demands. In particular, I advocate the application of finite-dimensional variational inequality theory, projected dynamical systems theory, game theory, network theory, and other tools that have been recently proposed for the modeling and analysis of supply chain networks (cf. Nagurney (2006)) to electric power markets. This dissertation contributes to the extant literature on the modeling, analysis, and solution of supply chain networks, including global supply chains, in general, and electric power supply chains, in particular, in the following ways. It develops a theoretical framework for modeling, pricing analysis, and computation of electric power flows/transactions in electric power systems using the rationale for supply chain analysis. The models developed include both static and dynamic ones. The dissertation also adds a new dimension to the methodology of the theory of projected dynamical systems by proving that, irrespective of the speeds of adjustment, the equilibrium of the system remains the same. Finally, I include alternative fuel suppliers, along with their behavior into the supply chain modeling and analysis framework. This dissertation has strong practical implications. In an era in which technology and globalization, coupled with increasing risk and uncertainty, complicate electricity demand and supply within and between nations, the successful management of electric power systems and pricing become increasingly pressing topics with relevance not only for economic prosperity but also national security. This dissertation addresses such related topics by providing models, pricing tools, and algorithms for decentralized electric power supply chains. This dissertation is based heavily on the following

Is nuclear power part of Australia's global warming solutions?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lowe, I.

2007-01-01

Forty years ago, I was preparing for my final exams. Having studied electrical engineering and science part-time for seven years at the University of New South Wales, I did well enough to spend the following year doing honours in physics. I then went to the United Kingdom for doctoral studies at the University of York, supported by the UK Atomic Energy Authority. At the time, like most young physicists, I saw nuclear power as the clean energy source of the future. Here, I want to tell you why my professional experience has led me to reject that view. There is no serious doubt that climate change is real, it is happening now and its effects are accelerating. It is already causing serious economic impacts: reduced agricultural production, increased costs of severe events like fires and storms, and the need to consider radical, energy-intensive and costly water supply measures such as desalination plants. The alarming consequences of climate change have driven distinguished scientists like James Lovelock to conclude that the situation is desperate enough to reconsider our attitude to nuclear power. I agree with Lovelock about the urgency of the situation, but not about the response. The science is very clear. We need to reduce global greenhouse pollution by about 60%, ideally by 2050. To achieve that global target, allowing for the legitimate material expectations of poorer countries, Australia's quota will need to be at least as strong as the UK's goal of 60% by 2050 and preferably stronger. Our eventual goal will probably be to reduce our greenhouse pollution by 80-90%. How can we reach this ambitious target?

Wealth, wages and wedlock : Explaining the college gender gap reversal

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reijnders, Laurie

2018-01-01

We study the role of changes in the wage structure and expectations about marriage in explaining the college gender gap reversal. With strongly diminishing marginal utility of wealth and in the presence of a gender wage gap, single women have a greater incentive than single men to invest in

Seven Global Goals. 2013 annual report, Southwestern Power Administration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

2014-09-01

For over 70 years, Southwestern has marketed and delivered reliable, renewable, and affordable hydropower, partnering with Federal power stakeholders and others in the industry to make sure the lights stay on. This kind of effective, efficient, and cost conscious operation is made possible only by hard work and dedication. Southwestern employees work individually and as a team to meet seven comprehensive agency goals that touch on all aspects of the agency’s operations. Dubbed the “Seven Global Goals” by Administrator Chris Turner, these objectives identify specific, measurable targets that support Southwestern’s mission and reinforce its responsibilities toward its customers and the Nation.

Japan and the changing global balance of power: The view from the summit

OpenAIRE

Dobson, H.

2010-01-01

This article explores Japan's relative decline and its responses to the changing global balance of power through a case study of one symptom of this shift: the rise of the G20 as the 'premier forum for international economic co-operation' at the expense of the G8. The G8 has traditionally held a significant position in Japan's international relations that appears to be undermined by the rise of the G20. Japan's responses to these developments reveal it to be a status quo power that is still c...

Cost analysis of small hydroelectric power plants components and preliminary estimation of global cost

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Basta, C.; Olive, W.J.; Antunes, J.S.

1990-01-01

An analysis of cost for each components of Small Hydroelectric Power Plant, taking into account the real costs of these projects is shown. It also presents a global equation which allows a preliminary estimation of cost for each construction. (author)

Effect of national wealth on BMI: An analysis of 206,266 individuals in 70 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohd Masood

Full Text Available This study explores the relationship between BMI and national-wealth and the cross-level interaction effect of national-wealth and individual household-wealth using multilevel analysis.Data from the World Health Survey conducted in 2002-2004, across 70 low-, middle- and high-income countries was used. Participants aged 18 years and over were selected using multistage, stratified cluster sampling. BMI was used as outcome variable. The potential determinants of individual-level BMI were participants' sex, age, marital-status, education, occupation, household-wealth and location(rural/urban at the individual-level. The country-level factors used were average national income (GNI-PPP and income inequality (Gini-index. A two-level random-intercepts and fixed-slopes model structure with individuals nested within countries was fitted, treating BMI as a continuous outcome.The weighted mean BMI and standard-error of the 206,266 people from 70-countries was 23.90 (4.84. All the low-income countries were below the 25.0 mean BMI level and most of the high-income countries were above. All wealthier quintiles of household-wealth had higher scores in BMI than lowest quintile. Each USD10000 increase in GNI-PPP was associated with a 0.4 unit increase in BMI. The Gini-index was not associated with BMI. All these variables explained 28.1% of country-level, 4.9% of individual-level and 7.7% of total variance in BMI. The cross-level interaction effect between GNI-PPP and household-wealth was significant. BMI increased as the GNI-PPP increased in first four quintiles of household-wealth. However, the BMI of the wealthiest people decreased as the GNI-PPP increased.Both individual-level and country-level factors made an independent contribution to the BMI of the people. Household-wealth and national-income had significant interaction effects.

Effect of national wealth on BMI: An analysis of 206,266 individuals in 70 low-, middle- and high-income countries

Science.gov (United States)

Reidpath, Daniel D.

2017-01-01

Background This study explores the relationship between BMI and national-wealth and the cross-level interaction effect of national-wealth and individual household-wealth using multilevel analysis. Methods Data from the World Health Survey conducted in 2002–2004, across 70 low-, middle- and high-income countries was used. Participants aged 18 years and over were selected using multistage, stratified cluster sampling. BMI was used as outcome variable. The potential determinants of individual-level BMI were participants’ sex, age, marital-status, education, occupation, household-wealth and location(rural/urban) at the individual-level. The country-level factors used were average national income (GNI-PPP) and income inequality (Gini-index). A two-level random-intercepts and fixed-slopes model structure with individuals nested within countries was fitted, treating BMI as a continuous outcome. Results The weighted mean BMI and standard-error of the 206,266 people from 70-countries was 23.90 (4.84). All the low-income countries were below the 25.0 mean BMI level and most of the high-income countries were above. All wealthier quintiles of household-wealth had higher scores in BMI than lowest quintile. Each USD10000 increase in GNI-PPP was associated with a 0.4 unit increase in BMI. The Gini-index was not associated with BMI. All these variables explained 28.1% of country-level, 4.9% of individual-level and 7.7% of total variance in BMI. The cross-level interaction effect between GNI-PPP and household-wealth was significant. BMI increased as the GNI-PPP increased in first four quintiles of household-wealth. However, the BMI of the wealthiest people decreased as the GNI-PPP increased. Conclusion Both individual-level and country-level factors made an independent contribution to the BMI of the people. Household-wealth and national-income had significant interaction effects. PMID:28662041

Democratic Capitalism and Philanthropy in a Global Economy

OpenAIRE

Zoltan J. Acs; Sameeksha Desai

2007-01-01

Democratic capitalism has become the popular paradigm in the modern world, and it is spreading further through globalization. It is a model based on growth, expansion and constant innovation. However, it is accompanied by social problems which may worsen despite overall gains in wealth. In this paper, we suggest that democratic capitalist societies may benefit from the application of what has been a primarily American institution: Philanthropy. We present the Entrepreneurship-Philanthropy Cyc...

IS THE LINK BETWEEN HEALTH AND WEALTH CONSIDERED IN DECISION MAKING? RESULTS FROM A QUALITATIVE STUDY.

Science.gov (United States)

Garau, Martina; Shah, Koonal Kirit; Sharma, Priya; Towse, Adrian

2015-01-01

The aim of this study was to explore whether wealth effects of health interventions, including productivity gains and savings in other sectors, are considered in resource allocations by health technology assessment (HTA) agencies and government departments. To analyze reasons for including, or not including, wealth effects. Semi-structured interviews with decision makers and academic experts in eight countries (Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, South Korea, Sweden, and the United Kingdom). There is evidence suggesting that health interventions can produce economic gains for patients and national economies. However, we found that the link between health and wealth does not influence decision making in any country with the exception of Sweden. This is due to a combination of factors, including system fragmentation, methodological issues, and the economic recession forcing national governments to focus on short-term measures. In countries with established HTA processes and methods allowing, in principle, the inclusion of wider effects in exceptional cases or secondary analyses, it might be possible to overcome the methodological and practical barriers and see a more systematic consideration of wealth effect in decision making. This would be consistent with principles of efficient priority setting. Barriers for the consideration of wealth effects in government decision making are more fundamental, due to an enduring separation of budgets within the public sector and current financial pressures. However, governments should consider all relevant effects from public investments, including healthcare, even when benefits can only be captured in the medium- and long-term. This will ensure that resources are allocated where they bring the best returns.

Topics in Finance Part I--Introduction and Stockholder Wealth Maximization

Science.gov (United States)

Laux, Judy

2010-01-01

The following article represents the first in a series dedicated to presenting students the opportunity to better understand the key theoretical constructs in the introductory financial management course. The current essay offers an introduction to the series and covers the topics of stockholder wealth maximization and its close cousin, agency…

Wealth Creation and Poverty Alleviation in Nigeria: The Role of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study investigated the Role of Information Technology (IT) in thecreation of wealth and poverty alleviation in Nigeria. The design of the studywas a descriptive survey, carried out at Nwafor Orizu College of Education,Nsugbe in Anambra State of Nigeria. One hundred and ninety three (193)respondents formed the ...

A Power Efficient Exaflop Computer Design for Global Cloud System Resolving Climate Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Wehner, M. F.; Oliker, L.; Shalf, J.

2008-12-01

Exascale computers would allow routine ensemble modeling of the global climate system at the cloud system resolving scale. Power and cost requirements of traditional architecture systems are likely to delay such capability for many years. We present an alternative route to the exascale using embedded processor technology to design a system optimized for ultra high resolution climate modeling. These power efficient processors, used in consumer electronic devices such as mobile phones, portable music players, cameras, etc., can be tailored to the specific needs of scientific computing. We project that a system capable of integrating a kilometer scale climate model a thousand times faster than real time could be designed and built in a five year time scale for US$75M with a power consumption of 3MW. This is cheaper, more power efficient and sooner than any other existing technology.

Global environment outlook GEO5. Environment for the future we want

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2012-05-15

The main goal of UNEP's Global Environment Outlook (GEO) is to keep governments and stakeholders informed of the state and trends of the global environment. Over the past 15 years, the GEO reports have examined a wealth of data, information and knowledge about the global environment; identified potential policy responses; and provided an outlook for the future. The assessments, and their consultative and collaborative processes, have worked to bridge the gap between science and policy by turning the best available scientific knowledge into information relevant for decision makers. The GEO-5 report is made up of 17 chapters organized into three distinct but linked parts. Part 1 - State and trends of the global environment; Part 2 - Policy options from the regions; Part 3 - Opportunities for a global response.

Global environment outlook GEO5. Environment for the future we want

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2012-05-15

The main goal of UNEP's Global Environment Outlook (GEO) is to keep governments and stakeholders informed of the state and trends of the global environment. Over the past 15 years, the GEO reports have examined a wealth of data, information and knowledge about the global environment; identified potential policy responses; and provided an outlook for the future. The assessments, and their consultative and collaborative processes, have worked to bridge the gap between science and policy by turning the best available scientific knowledge into information relevant for decision makers. The GEO-5 report is made up of 17 chapters organized into three distinct but linked parts. Part 1 - State and trends of the global environment; Part 2 - Policy options from the regions; Part 3 - Opportunities for a global response.

Simulations research of the global predictive control with self-adaptive in the gas turbine of the nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Su Jie; Xia Guoqing; Zhang Wei

2007-01-01

For further improving the dynamic control capabilities of the gas turbine of the nuclear power plant, this paper puts forward to apply the algorithm of global predictive control with self-adaptive in the rotate speed control of the gas turbine, including control structure and the design of controller in the base of expounding the math model of the gas turbine of the nuclear power plant. the simulation results show that the respond of the change of the gas turbine speed under the control algorithm of global predictive control with self-adaptive is ten second faster than that under the PID control algorithm, and the output value of the gas turbine speed under the PID control algorithm is 1%-2% higher than that under the control slgorithm of global predictive control with self-adaptive. It shows that the algorithm of global predictive control with self-adaptive can better control the output of the speed of the gas turbine of the nuclear power plant and get the better control effect. (authors)

Experience with nuclear power conference preview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-01-01

The development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes has had a series of big international scientific and technical conferences as major milestones. The first was, of course, the United Nations Geneva Conference in 1955, which released a wealth of information which had hitherto been classified. This conference gave rise to a worldwide enthusiasm for the potential and possibilities of nuclear power. The three following Geneva Conferences in 1958, 1964, and 1971 showed a successive slow change in character reflecting the change in the nature of the information exchange which was taking place, the new role of smaller and more specialized meetings, and fast and extensive literature dissemination systems. Steadily, these conferences turned from the original role of international information exchange among scientists and technicians to one of summarizing a wealth of available information in order to present it to those who were to take planning and programming decisions in each nation, reflecting also the hopes and the great investments required in nuclear power. The IAEA, established in 1957, provided the UN with a scientific secretariat for the last two Geneva Conferences, and itself organized the Conference on Nuclear Power and its Fuel Cycle in Salzburg in 1977 at a time when the closing of the nuclear fuel cycle was a focal point of interest

Global impact of carbon-14 from nuclear power reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moghissi, A.A.; Carter, M.W.

1977-01-01

Carbon-14 is produced by nuclear power reactors, predominently as a result of the interaction of a neutron and nitrogen-14 both in the fuel and in the coolant. Several other reactions also contribute to the production of carbon-14. Present operational procedures, in general, for reactors and fuel reprocessing plants result in the release of carbon-14 into the environment. Combustion of fossil fuels and certain industrial operations contribute to the supply of CO 2 in the atmosphere and this contribution is essentially free of carbon-14. Future carbon-14 burdens by assuming a thorough mixing of all CO 2 in the atmosphere is predicted. Available data on electric power generation, fossil fuel combustion and certain other information are used to calculate the projected specific activity of carbon-14 by the year 2000 and the twenty-first century. According to these calculations, the global population dose from carbon-14 can be substantial. Also, carbon-14 in the vicinity of nuclear power reactors is considered. Because of the chemistry of carbon-14, it is shown that local problems may be more significant around BWR's as compared to PWR's. Based on environmental considerations of carbon-14, its increasing production and discharge into the atmosphere, and available control technology, it is recommended that nitrogen use and its presence be minimized in pertinent reactor components and operations

Brexit and Global Wealth Chains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Seabrooke, Leonard; Wigan, Duncan

2017-01-01

One vision of a post Brexit Britain is of a political economy sustained by highly flexible labour markets, light touch regulation, and a hyper competitive low-tax regime. This article focuses on the tax element, evaluating the prospects of this vision’s realization on the basis of the attributes...

Spousal violence in sub-Saharan Africa: does household poverty-wealth matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Bamiwuye, Samson Olusina; Odimegwu, Clifford

2014-06-17

Despite the threat of violence to the health and rights of women yet, for many years, there has been a dearth of nationally comparable data on domestic violence in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper examines whether women from poor households are more likely to experience violence from husband/partner than other women who are from middle or rich households. Data for the study are derived from most recent DHS surveys of ever-married women age 15-49 in Cameroun(3,691), Kenya(4,336), Mozambique(5610), Nigeria (16,763), Zambia(3,010) and Zimbabwe(5,016) who participated in the questions on Domestic Violence Module. Bivariate analysis and Binary Logistic Regression Analysis are used to explore the linkage between household poverty-wealth and spousal violence while simultaneously controlling for confounding variables. The overall prevalence of any form of violence (physical, sexual or emotional) ranges from 30.5% in Nigeria to 43.4% in Zimbabwe; 45.3% in Kenya; 45.5% in Mozambique; 53.9% in Zambia and 57.6% in Cameroun. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses show that in two of the six countries -Zambia and Mozambique, experience of violence is significantly higher among women from non-poor (rich) households than those from other households (poor and middle). For Zimbabwe and Kenya, women from poor households are more likely to have ever experienced spousal violence than those from non-poor households. In the remaining two countries- Nigeria and Cameroun, women from the middle class are more likely to have ever suffered abuse from husband/partner than those from the poor and rich households. Our results thus show that similar measurements of household poverty-wealth have produced varying relationships with respect to experience of spousal violence in six sub-Saharan African countries. In other words, experience of violence cuts across all household poverty-wealth statuses and therefore may not provide enough explanations on whether household-poverty necessarily serves to

Nuclear power: renaissance or relapse? Global climate change and long-term Three Mile Island activists' narratives.

Science.gov (United States)

Culley, Marci R; Angelique, Holly

2010-06-01

Community narratives are increasingly important as people move towards an ecologically sustainable society. Global climate change is a multi-faceted problem with multiple stakeholders. The voices of affected communities must be heard as we make decisions of global significance. We document the narratives of long-term anti-nuclear activists near the Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear power plant who speak out in the dawn of a nuclear renaissance/relapse. While nuclear power is marketed as a "green" solution to global warming, their narratives reveal three areas for consideration; (1) significant problems with nuclear technology, (2) lessons "not" learned from the TMI disaster, and (3) hopes for a sustainable future. Nuclear waste, untrustworthy officials and economic issues were among the problems cited. Deceptive shaping of public opinion, nuclear illiteracy, and an aging anti-nuclear movement were reasons cited for the lessons not learned. However, many remain optimistic and envision increased participation to create an ecologically-balanced world.

The Relation Between Financial and Housing Wealth: Evidence from Dutch Households

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hochguertel, S.; van Soest, A.

2001-01-01

We analyze households' joint investment decisions for financial wealth and homes. We use a bivariate censored regression model with endogenous switching. Fixed costs or transaction costs are captured by an unobserved nonzero censoring threshold. The model allows for spillover effects of a binding

Local distributions of wealth to describe health inequalities in India: a new approach for analyzing nationally representative household survey data, 1992-2008.

Science.gov (United States)

Bassani, Diego G; Corsi, Daniel J; Gaffey, Michelle F; Barros, Aluisio J D

2014-01-01

Worse health outcomes including higher morbidity and mortality are most often observed among the poorest fractions of a population. In this paper we present and validate national, regional and state-level distributions of national wealth index scores, for urban and rural populations, derived from household asset data collected in six survey rounds in India between 1992-3 and 2007-8. These new indices and their sub-national distributions allow for comparative analyses of a standardized measure of wealth across time and at various levels of population aggregation in India. Indices were derived through principal components analysis (PCA) performed using standardized variables from a correlation matrix to minimize differences in variance. Valid and simple indices were constructed with the minimum number of assets needed to produce scores with enough variability to allow definition of unique decile cut-off points in each urban and rural area of all states. For all indices, the first PCA components explained between 36% and 43% of the variance in household assets. Using sub-national distributions of national wealth index scores, mean height-for-age z-scores increased from the poorest to the richest wealth quintiles for all surveys, and stunting prevalence was higher among the poorest and lower among the wealthiest. Urban and rural decile cut-off values for India, for the six regions and for the 24 major states revealed large variability in wealth by geographical area and level, and rural wealth score gaps exceeded those observed in urban areas. The large variability in sub-national distributions of national wealth index scores indicates the importance of accounting for such variation when constructing wealth indices and deriving score distribution cut-off points. Such an approach allows for proper within-sample economic classification, resulting in scores that are valid indicators of wealth and correlate well with health outcomes, and enables wealth-related analyses at

Local distributions of wealth to describe health inequalities in India: a new approach for analyzing nationally representative household survey data, 1992-2008.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diego G Bassani

Full Text Available Worse health outcomes including higher morbidity and mortality are most often observed among the poorest fractions of a population. In this paper we present and validate national, regional and state-level distributions of national wealth index scores, for urban and rural populations, derived from household asset data collected in six survey rounds in India between 1992-3 and 2007-8. These new indices and their sub-national distributions allow for comparative analyses of a standardized measure of wealth across time and at various levels of population aggregation in India.Indices were derived through principal components analysis (PCA performed using standardized variables from a correlation matrix to minimize differences in variance. Valid and simple indices were constructed with the minimum number of assets needed to produce scores with enough variability to allow definition of unique decile cut-off points in each urban and rural area of all states.For all indices, the first PCA components explained between 36% and 43% of the variance in household assets. Using sub-national distributions of national wealth index scores, mean height-for-age z-scores increased from the poorest to the richest wealth quintiles for all surveys, and stunting prevalence was higher among the poorest and lower among the wealthiest. Urban and rural decile cut-off values for India, for the six regions and for the 24 major states revealed large variability in wealth by geographical area and level, and rural wealth score gaps exceeded those observed in urban areas.The large variability in sub-national distributions of national wealth index scores indicates the importance of accounting for such variation when constructing wealth indices and deriving score distribution cut-off points. Such an approach allows for proper within-sample economic classification, resulting in scores that are valid indicators of wealth and correlate well with health outcomes, and enables wealth