Communities in Action

Communities in Action

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2017-04-27

Total Pages: 583

ISBN-13: 0309452961

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In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.


Equity Index Construction and Research on Wealth Gap

Equity Index Construction and Research on Wealth Gap

Author: Xiaohuang Zhu

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-08-09

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13: 9811395543

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This book constructs a Chinese Social Equality Index–the Mongoose Social Equality Index–with the wealth gap index as its core, and the legal equality index, the socio-cultural equality index, and the financial equality index as its supplement. The book focuses on the influence of the wealth gap on economic and social issues. Empirical research shows that there are three turning points in the influence of the wealth gap index on economic growth: discrepancy turning point, golden turning point and destructive turning point. Based on the latest data,the current expected wealth gap index in China has surpassed the destructive point. This means that wealth brought about by economic growth will largely go to the rich, which aggravates inequality and even brings forth a potential economic recession. Meanwhile, the index also indicates that, as the Chinese economy develops, social equality has been on a noticeable decline. This book will be of interest to economists, China watchers, and political scientists


The Distribution of Wealth – Growing Inequality?

The Distribution of Wealth – Growing Inequality?

Author: Michael Schneider

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2016-11-25

Total Pages: 229

ISBN-13: 1783476443

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This book answers a number of important questions about the distribution of wealth among people and the way that this distribution has changed over time. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the personal distribution of wealth from many dimensions: economic, statistical, ethical, political, sociological and legal. Using data from 21 countries, this book demonstrates how inequality in the distribution of wealth varies between different parts of the world and how it evolves, with particular emphasis on the claim that there has been a long-term and continued increase in inequality since the 1970s in most countries. It discusses alternative ways of measuring the degree of inequality, analyses Thomas Piketty's claim that society has become more unequal in recent decades, and assesses the relative importance of the various determinants of the distribution of wealth. The authors explain why the distribution of wealth is unequal, and discuss how it could be changed with alternative policies and the possible consequences of these policies for economic efficiency. The authors also compare the different distributions of wealth that are implied by alternative views of society. This is a valuable resource for students and academics in economics, political science and sociology seeking a state-of-the-art account of the theory and evidence surrounding inequality in the distribution of wealth.