Mental health is likely to be influenced by contextual variables that emerge only at the level of the group. We studied the effect of two such group-level variables, within-state income inequality and alcohol tax policy, on symptoms of current depression and alcohol dependence in a US national sample, controlling for state-level and individual characteristics. A cross-sectional US national prob...

STUDY OBJECTIVE To investigate whether neighbourhood characteristics are related to dietary patterns independently of individual level variables. DESIGN A cross sectional analysis of the relation between neighbourhood median household income and food and nutrient intakes, before and after adjustment for individual level variables. SETTING Four United States communities (Washington Co, MD; S...

A basic problem facing most labor markets is that workers can neither commit to long-term wage contracts nor can they self …nance the costs of production. I study the e¤ects of these imperfections when talent is industry-speci…c, it can only be revealed on the job, and once learned becomes public information. I show that …rms bid excessively for the pool of incumbent workers at the expense of t...

A growth model is used in the context of Sala-i-Martin’s definition of conditional convergence to assess the household income dynamics in segmented groups at the provincial level in the Philippines. There is a direct relationship between spending efficiency and income growth convergence across income groups. The lower income convergence rate among low income households can be attributed to thei...

Standard policy prescriptions for improving public health in less developed countries (LDCs) prioritise raising average income levels over redistributive policies since it is widely accepted that 'wealthier is healthier'. It is argued that income inequality becomes a significant predictor of public health only after the 'epidemiological transition'. This paper tests this theory in India, where ...

STUDY OBJECTIVE To determine the association of regional income inequality within New Zealand with mortality among 25-64 year olds. DESIGN Individual census and mortality records were linked over the 1991-94 period. Income inequality (Gini coefficients) and average household income variables were calculated for 35 regions. "Individual level" variables were sex, age, ethnicity, household incom...

BACKGROUND Common mental disorders are more prevalent in areas of high neighbourhood socioeconomic deprivation but whether the prevalence varies with neighbourhood income inequality is not known. AIMS To investigate the hypothesis that the interaction between small-area income deprivation and income inequality was associated with individual mental health. METHOD Multilevel analysis of popul...

As the struggle continues to explain the relatively high rates of infant mortality (IMR) exhibited in the United States, a renewed emphasis is being placed on the role of possible 'contextual' determinants. Cross-sectional and short time-series studies have found that higher income inequality is associated with higher IMR at the state level. Yet, descriptively, the longer-term trends in income ...

We develop and illustrate a general method for describing in detail the joint distribution of race and income among neighborhoods. The approach we describe provides estimates of the average income distribution and racial composition of the neighborhoods of households of a given racial category and specific income level. We illustrate the method using 2007-2011 tract-level data from the American...