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Book part
Publication date: 30 September 2014

Joachim Merz and Bettina Scherg

A growing polarization of society accompanied by an erosion of the middle class is receiving increasing attention in recent German economic and social policy discussion. Our study…

Abstract

A growing polarization of society accompanied by an erosion of the middle class is receiving increasing attention in recent German economic and social policy discussion. Our study contributes to this discussion in two ways: First, on a theoretical level we propose extended multidimensional polarization indices based on a constant elasticity of substitution (CES)-type well-being function and present a new measure to multidimensional polarization, the mean minimum polarization gap, 2DGAP. This polarization intensity measure provides transparency with regard to each single attribute, which is important for targeted policies, while at the same time respecting their interdependent relations. Second, in an empirical application, time is incorporated, in addition to the traditional income measure, as a fundamental resource for any activity. In particular, genuine personal leisure time will account for social participation in the sense of social inclusion/exclusion and Amartya Sen’s capability approach.

Instead of arbitrarily choosing the attribute parameters in the CES well-being function, the interdependent relations of time and income are evaluated by the German population. With the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) and detailed time use diary data from the German Time Use Surveys (GTUSs) 1991/1992 and 2001/2002, we quantify available and extended multidimensional polarization measures as well as our new approach to measuring the polarization of the working poor and affluent in Germany.

There are three prominent empirical results: Genuine personal leisure time in addition to income is an important and significant polarization attribute. Compensation is of economic and statistical significance. The new minimum 2DGAP approach reveals that multidimensional polarization increased in the 1990s in Germany.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 2 January 2024

Kasimu Sendawula, Shamirah Najjinda, Marion Nanyanzi, Saadat Nakyejwe Lubowa Kimuli and Ahmad Walugembe

The purpose of this study is to explore how the personal traits of the informal entrepreneurs influence their formalization decisions.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore how the personal traits of the informal entrepreneurs influence their formalization decisions.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopted a qualitative approach using a multicase design in which 28 informal entrepreneurs situated in Kampala district, Uganda, were engaged. An interview guide, recorders and note books were used in data collection.

Findings

The results indicate that the traits of informal and semiformal entrepreneurs are distinct. Informal entrepreneurs have been noted to be more courageous and resilient, while their semiformal counterparts have greater passion for their businesses. It is thus observed that the formalization prospects are higher for the semiformal entrepreneurs than for their informal counterparts. Entrepreneurs that would be willing to formalize their businesses are discouraged by distance, technology and the cost of involving middlemen. Whereas the resilient entrepreneurs are noted to work through these challenges, the passive ones in both the informal and semiformal categories will not formalize their businesses by giving such excuses.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the extant literature on informal entrepreneurship by providing initial empirical evidence on how the personal traits of the entrepreneurs influence their formalization decisions specifically.

Details

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2574-8904

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 April 2012

Hillary Shaw

This paper aims to investigate the statistical and geographical links between the prevalence of obesity and a range of socio‐economic indicators in a major UK city

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the statistical and geographical links between the prevalence of obesity and a range of socio‐economic indicators in a major UK city

Design/methodology/approach

The geographical pattern of fresh fruit and vegetable retailing was mapped across Birmingham (UK), and this data was combined with UK census data from Neighbourhood Statistics to investigate possible correlations between obesity and the social geography of this city. To further elicit the varying underlying links between obesity and social conditions, a methodology of partial correlations was used to create “social transects” across Birmingham so the operational effects of social conditions upon poor diet could be investigated across a range of Birmingham neighbourhood types.

Findings

Across Birmingham as a whole, people whose ethnic or social make‐up did not fit the dominant group in their neighbourhood were more likely to be obese than those of the majority socio‐ethnic group for that area. The level of qualifications was the dominant influencer on obesity and diet. Particularly, less wealthy people in the more affluent areas of Birmingham were likely to suffer financial difficulties in eating healthily. However, in less affluent areas, being in (low‐paid) work actually increased the chances of being obese, as compared to being unemployed in these districts.

Research limitations/implications

Changes in the pattern of retailing or changes in individual's social status over the period of this research may confound the results; however the research may be regarded as a snapshot of conditions in Birmingham in ca.2006. The areal analysis may be confounded by the MAUP problem, although as distance to shops does not emerge as a major predictor of obesity, the results are still valid. The research applies to only one city (Birmingham), although a wide range of neighbourhood types typical of other British cities are covered.

Practical implications

Time limitations emerge as a significant factor in diet, especially in the less‐affluent areas of Birmingham. The significance of a range of social indicators upon diet is greatly affected by the range of neighbourhood types sampled. Factors barring access to a healthy diet can vary upon very small scales, even down to the individual household. Distance to shops has an effect upon diet, but only as a “moderating factor” acting in conjunction with a wider range of economic and social factors.

Social implications

The effects of poverty, and especially unemployment, have very different effects upon diet and obesity in poor as compared to affluent areas; and in poorer areas, time limitations upon households operate so as to worsen the diet of those in low‐paid work. This implies that dietary improvement initiatives aimed at the less well off should aim for a compromise between health and convenience; otherwise such initiatives will merely widen health inequalities. Minority groups in all areas, whether a minority by ethnicity, age, or wealth, need special attention by dietary investigators.

Originality/value

The use of partial correlations to elicit the different responses to socio‐economic conditions as regards diet has not been applied before to a major UK city. The distance to shops for all residential areas for a major UK city has not been previously mapped.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 114 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1981

Margaret Grieco

The affluent worker study has held sway as one of the most important works, if not the most important work in British sociology over the last decade. Its findings remain…

Abstract

The affluent worker study has held sway as one of the most important works, if not the most important work in British sociology over the last decade. Its findings remain unchallenged in the literature to date. Many analyses of industrial behaviour, political behaviour, family behaviour and “community” behaviour take the findings as the starting point of their investigation. For British sociology the findings of the Affluent Worker have foundation status. This paper sets out to fault the claims of prototypicality and typicality made for the affluent workers of Luton by the study team.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 1 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Book part
Publication date: 25 April 2011

Kevin T. Leicht and David Brady

Purpose – David Gordon (1996) contended that the size of the managerial/administrative class has expanded in recent decades and that this has contributed to growing earnings…

Abstract

Purpose – David Gordon (1996) contended that the size of the managerial/administrative class has expanded in recent decades and that this has contributed to growing earnings inequality. This argument, however, has received insufficient attention despite its potential to explain some of the growth of earnings inequality in recent decades. We assess whether managerial intensity contributes to earnings inequality in affluent democracies, and thus evaluate his argument and extend it with a comparative perspective.

Methodology/approach – Our analyses are based on panel analyses of 17 affluent democracies from 1973 to 2004. Utilizing random- and fixed-effects models, we include three different measures of earnings inequality and an original measure of managerial intensity.

Findings: We show that managerial intensity is positively associated with all three measures of earnings inequality in random-effects models. As well, managerial intensity is positively associated with earnings inequality in the fixed-effects models for the 90/50 ratio of earnings inequality, but is not significant for the other two measures.

Originality/value – This study provides one of the few tests of Gordon's argument. We demonstrate that growing managerial intensity has contributed to rising earnings inequality in affluent democracies. In contrast to previous research, we argue that much of the rise of earnings inequality is due to political/institutional factors rather than labor market and demographic change. One of the reasons for Europe's relatively lower level of and slower increase in earnings inequality is its lower managerial intensity.

Details

Comparing European Workers Part A
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-947-3

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 2 December 2021

Joaquín Prieto

The author proposes analyzing the dynamics of income positions using dynamic panel ordered probit models. The author disentangles, simultaneously, the roles of state dependence and

Abstract

The author proposes analyzing the dynamics of income positions using dynamic panel ordered probit models. The author disentangles, simultaneously, the roles of state dependence and heterogeneity (observed and non-observed) in explaining income position persistence, such as poverty persistence and affluence persistence. The author applies the approach to Chile exploiting longitudinal data from the P-CASEN 2006–2009. First, the author finds that income position mobility at the bottom and the top of the income distribution is much higher than expected, showing signs that income mobility in the case of Chile might be connected to economic insecurity. Second, the observable individual characteristics have a much stronger impact than true state dependence to explain individuals’ current income position in the income distribution extremes.

Details

Research on Economic Inequality: Poverty, Inequality and Shocks
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80071-558-5

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 7 June 2007

Kelly Tian and Craig Thompson

Extending knowledge of the cultural shaping and variegating of white identity that occurs through the commercial diffusion of identity myths, we examine the reception of Southern…

Abstract

Extending knowledge of the cultural shaping and variegating of white identity that occurs through the commercial diffusion of identity myths, we examine the reception of Southern identity myths promoted in the oppositional narratives of New South commercial media. We characterize oppositional narratives as texts which operate by eliciting an interpretive reading that devalues rather than supports the surface narrative, and explain the duplicitous text as one intended to seduce a dominant power, while empowering and bolstering identity of a marginalized group. After elaborating how oppositional discourse can serve to reinforce the identity frame constructed by regional media producers, we report on a study examining how urban and rural Southerners read and respond to this discourse. Our findings highlight mediators in the relationship between individuals’ oppositional readings and their alignment of identity in a manner responsive to it.

Details

Consumer Culture Theory
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84855-984-4

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1997

Pierrette Hondagneu‐Sotelo

This article uses the case of paid domestic work in Los Angeles to argue that affluent and middle‐class members of U.S. society constitute important participants in the informal…

Abstract

This article uses the case of paid domestic work in Los Angeles to argue that affluent and middle‐class members of U.S. society constitute important participants in the informal economy. In‐depth, tape‐recorded interviews conducted with thirty‐five employers of nannies and house cleaners, and survey responses of 154 Latina house cleaners and nannies shows that compliance with government regulations, as indicated by payment of Social Security, Medicare and federal tax withholdings, are rare. Affluent citizens may not directly depend on informally generated income, but as employers of paid domestic workers and nannies, they do depend on informally organized and remunerated services. Employers of paid domestic workers rely on three major narrative strategies to distance themselves from the regulations, arguing that the standards should be followed by certain categories of people (attorneys, celebrities, the very wealthy), that the regulations apply only to those employing full‐time help, and that the regulations are illegitimate because both undocumented workers and the state lack legitimacy. These rationalizations allow them to simultaneously condemn Zoe Baird and yet follow the same practices. Upgrading the occupation requires state support and the education of employers. This process would lead to greater recognition of paid domestic work as an occupation, one that merits the protections and regulatory guidelines governing other jobs.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 17 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Article
Publication date: 5 June 2017

Colin C. Williams and Ioana A. Horodnic

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate who engages in informal work. The intention in doing so is to analyse whether important causal factors of social exclusion such as age…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate who engages in informal work. The intention in doing so is to analyse whether important causal factors of social exclusion such as age, education, gender and employment status influence participation in informal work in the European Union.

Design/methodology/approach

To do this, a 2013 Eurobarometer survey of who participates in undeclared work in 28 European member states is reported.

Findings

Using multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression analysis, the finding is that although some marginalised groups (the unemployed, those having difficulties paying their household bills, the working class and younger age groups) are significantly more likely to participate in the informal sector, others are not (those with less formal education and living in rural areas) and yet others (women and people in deprived European regions) are significantly less likely to participate.

Research limitations/implications

The outcome is a call for a nuanced and variegated understanding of the relationship between participation in the informal sector and social exclusion.

Practical implications

These results display the specific populations that need targeting when seeking to tackle informal work, revealing for example that the current the allocation of European funds for tackling informal work in poorer EU regions is mistaken, but that the targeting of the unemployed is not and current policy initiatives such as smoothing the transition from unemployment to self-employment worthwhile.

Originality/value

This is the first extensive evaluation of the relationship between participation in the informal sector and social exclusion at the level of the European Union

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 38 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 22 August 2006

Xue Lan Rong

This paper examines the effects of immigration, urban residency, poverty, and race/ethnicity on the education of students in K-12 school. Findings of this study critiques the gaps…

Abstract

This paper examines the effects of immigration, urban residency, poverty, and race/ethnicity on the education of students in K-12 school. Findings of this study critiques the gaps between NCLB policy and its implementations as well as the outcomes, and makes several recommendations. This chapter recommends multiple standards and assessment approaches for accountability. The author believes that accountability must be addressed along with, equality, and fiscal adequacy. Accountability can work in a pluralistic nation only when diversity is taken into serious consideration. Recognizing this diversity is critical in developing successful strategies and effective approaches for working with immigrant families and students. Education policy for disadvantaged families and communities should not be limited to conventional education policy alone. Socioeconomic policies that benefit lower-income families and communities also should be recognized as educational policies on behalf of children.

Details

No Child Left Behind and other Federal Programs for Urban School Districts
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-76231-299-3

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