The Corporate Gini Index (CGI) determinants and advantages: lessons from a multinational retail company case study

This article identifies and compares the determinants of CEO compensation to median employee earnings with those of the Corporate Gini Index (CGI). Using a multinational retail company, the article posits that the CGI is an advantageous corporate alternative pay inequality measure that concerns CEO pay multiples to median employee earnings, which regulators should consider using and disclosing in proxy statements. Although CGI and the official measure of multiples of CEO pay to median employee earnings share some of the challenges, the advantages of CGI as an alternative measure are greater. Our findings suggest that the CGI is a much better measure of corporate income inequality bringing clear benefits at both micro and macro levels of intervention.

Practical Modified Gini Index. ACES Working Papers, 2012

The Gini index is the most common method for estimating the level of income inequality in countries. In this paper we suggest a simple modification that takes into account the moderating effect of in-kind government benefits. Unlike other studies that use micro level data that is rarely available for many countries or over a period of time, the proposed modified Gini index could be calculated using just the regularly available data for each country. Such data includes the original Gini coefficient, government consumption expenditures, GDP and total tax revenue as a percentage of GDP. This modified version of the Gini index allows us to calculate the level of inequality more precisely, and make better comparisons between countries and over time.

Economic globalization, inequality and body mass index:a cross-national analysis of 127 countries

This article investigates to what extent the worldwide increase in body mass index (BMI) has been affected by economic globalization and inequality. We used time-series and longitudinal cross-national analysis of 127 countries from 1980 to 2008. Data on mean adult BMI were obtained from the Global Burden of Metabolic Risk Factors of Chronic Diseases Collaborating Group. Globalization was measured using the Swiss Economic Institute (KOF) index of economic globalization. Economic inequality between countries was measured with the mean difference in gross domestic product per capita purchasing power parity in international dollars. Economic inequality within countries was measured using the Gini index from the Standardized World Income Inequality Database. Other covariates including poverty, population size, urban population, openness to trade and foreign direct investment were taken from the World Development Indicators (WDI) database. Time-series regression analyses showed that the global increase in BMI is positively associated with both the index of economic globalization and inequality between countries, after adjustment for covariates. Longitudinal panel data analyses showed that the association between economic globalization and BMI is robust after controlling for all covariates and using different estimators. The association between economic inequality within countries and BMI, however, was significant only among high-income nations. More research is needed to study the pathways between economic globalization and BMI. These findings, however, contribute to explaining how contemporary globalization can be reformed to promote better health and control the global obesity epidemic. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Statistical inference for testing Gini coefficients: an application for Colombia

This paper uses Colombian household survey data collected over the period 1984-2005 to estimate Gini coe¢ cients along with their corresponding standard errors. We Önd a statistically signiÖcant increase in wage income inequality following the adoption of the liberalisation measures of the early 1990s, and mixed evidence during the recovery years that followed the economic recession of the late 1990s. We also Önd that in several cases the observed di§erences in the Gini coe¢ cients across cities have not been statistically signiÖcant.

Medida de concentración de Gini : Observaciones sobre las fórmulas de cálculo y el Principio de Población de Dalton. Propuesta de un factor de corrección

En la primera parte del presente trabajo se investigan diferentes formas de cálculo de la razón de concentración conocida como Coeficiente o Índice de Gini, y el no cumplimiento del axioma conocido como de "invariancia a la replicación" o "Principio de Población de Dalton" en algunas de ellas. El alcance de las conclusiones se limita al comportamiento de las fórmulas sometidas a prueba (se encuentran entre las más conocidas) cuando son aplicadas a distribuciones de datos desagregados. En la segunda parte se propone un factor de corrección para las fórmulas de cálculo analizadas, de manera que satisfagan el Principio de Población.

Medida de concentración de Gini : Observaciones sobre las fórmulas de cálculo y el Principio de Población de Dalton. Propuesta de un factor de corrección

En la primera parte del presente trabajo se investigan diferentes formas de cálculo de la razón de concentración conocida como Coeficiente o Índice de Gini, y el no cumplimiento del axioma conocido como de "invariancia a la replicación" o "Principio de Población de Dalton" en algunas de ellas. El alcance de las conclusiones se limita al comportamiento de las fórmulas sometidas a prueba (se encuentran entre las más conocidas) cuando son aplicadas a distribuciones de datos desagregados. En la segunda parte se propone un factor de corrección para las fórmulas de cálculo analizadas, de manera que satisfagan el Principio de Población.

Medida de concentración de Gini : Observaciones sobre las fórmulas de cálculo y el Principio de Población de Dalton. Propuesta de un factor de corrección

En la primera parte del presente trabajo se investigan diferentes formas de cálculo de la razón de concentración conocida como Coeficiente o Índice de Gini, y el no cumplimiento del axioma conocido como de "invariancia a la replicación" o "Principio de Población de Dalton" en algunas de ellas. El alcance de las conclusiones se limita al comportamiento de las fórmulas sometidas a prueba (se encuentran entre las más conocidas) cuando son aplicadas a distribuciones de datos desagregados. En la segunda parte se propone un factor de corrección para las fórmulas de cálculo analizadas, de manera que satisfagan el Principio de Población.

Medida de concentración de Gini : Observaciones sobre las fórmulas de cálculo y el Principio de Población de Dalton. Propuesta de un factor de corrección

En la primera parte del presente trabajo se investigan diferentes formas de cálculo de la razón de concentración conocida como Coeficiente o Índice de Gini, y el no cumplimiento del axioma conocido como de "invariancia a la replicación" o "Principio de Población de Dalton" en algunas de ellas. El alcance de las conclusiones se limita al comportamiento de las fórmulas sometidas a prueba (se encuentran entre las más conocidas) cuando son aplicadas a distribuciones de datos desagregados. En la segunda parte se propone un factor de corrección para las fórmulas de cálculo analizadas, de manera que satisfagan el Principio de Población.

Decision support system for age-related macular degeneration using discrete wavelet transform

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) affects the central vision and subsequently may lead to visual loss in people over 60 years of age. There is no permanent cure for AMD, but early detection and successive treatment may improve the visual acuity. AMD is mainly classified into dry and wet type; however, dry AMD is more common in aging population. AMD is characterized by drusen, yellow pigmentation, and neovascularization. These lesions are examined through visual inspection of retinal fundus images by ophthalmologists. It is laborious, time-consuming, and resource-intensive. Hence, in this study, we have proposed an automated AMD detection system using discrete wavelet transform (DWT) and feature ranking strategies. The first four-order statistical moments (mean, variance, skewness, and kurtosis), energy, entropy, and Gini index-based features are extracted from DWT coefficients. We have used five (t test, Kullback–Lieber Divergence (KLD), Chernoff Bound and Bhattacharyya Distance, receiver operating characteristics curve-based, and Wilcoxon) feature ranking strategies to identify optimal feature set. A set of supervised classifiers namely support vector machine (SVM), decision tree, k -nearest neighbor ( k -NN), Naive Bayes, and probabilistic neural network were used to evaluate the highest performance measure using minimum number of features in classifying normal and dry AMD classes. The proposed framework obtained an average accuracy of 93.70 %, sensitivity of 91.11 %, and specificity of 96.30 % using KLD ranking and SVM classifier. We have also formulated an AMD Risk Index using selected features to classify the normal and dry AMD classes using one number. The proposed system can be used to assist the clinicians and also for mass AMD screening programs.

Income inequality in the process of economic development : An empirical approach

This thesis studies the effect of income inequality on economic growth. This is done by analyzing panel data from several countries with both short and long time dimensions of the data. Two of the chapters study the direct effect of inequality on growth, and one chapter also looks at the possible indirect effect of inequality on growth by assessing the effect of inequality on savings. In Chapter two, the effect of inequality on growth is studied by using a panel of 70 countries and a new EHII2008 inequality measure. Chapter contributes on two problems that panel econometric studies on the economic effect of inequality have recently encountered: the comparability problem associated with the commonly used Deininger and Squire s Gini index, and the problem relating to the estimation of group-related elasticities in panel data. In this study, a simple way to 'bypass' vagueness related to the use of parametric methods to estimate group-related parameters is presented. The idea is to estimate the group-related elasticities implicitly using a set of group-related instrumental variables. The estimation results with new data and method indicate that the relationship between income inequality and growth is likely to be non-linear. Chapter three incorporates the EHII2.1 inequality measure and a panel with annual time series observations from 38 countries to test the existence of long-run equilibrium relation(s) between inequality and the level of GDP. Panel unit root tests indicate that both the logarithmic EHII2.1 inequality measure and the logarithmic GDP per capita series are I(1) nonstationary processes. They are also found to be cointegrated of order one, which implies that there is a long-run equilibrium relation between them. The long-run growth elasticity of inequality is found to be negative in the middle-income and rich economies, but the results for poor economies are inconclusive. In the fourth Chapter, macroeconomic data on nine developed economies spanning across four decades starting from the year 1960 is used to study the effect of the changes in the top income share to national and private savings. The income share of the top 1 % of population is used as proxy for the distribution of income. The effect of inequality on private savings is found to be positive in the Nordic and Central-European countries, but for the Anglo-Saxon countries the direction of the effect (positive vs. negative) remains somewhat ambiguous. Inequality is found to have an effect national savings only in the Nordic countries, where it is positive.

Desigualdad en la distribución de la renta en la Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco. Análisis por comarcas (2001-2011)

[Es] Éste trabajo estudia la desigualdad en la distribución de la renta en la Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco entre los años 2001 y 2011. Este periodo está dividido en dos sub-periodos, uno de bonanza económica entre 2001 y 2009 y otro de crisis económica y financiera entre 2009 y 2011. Se considera la renta disponible como variable y se toman los datos de UDALMAP y la encuesta de pobreza y desigualdades sociales (2012). Respaldado por un estudio teórico y referenciado de las herramientas para la medición de la desigualdad utilizadas en el trabajo, se analizan los estadísticos de los datos y se mide la distribución de la renta mediante el análisis de los principales y más reconocidos métodos para el estudio de la desigualdad como son la curva de Lorenz, el índice de Gini, la distribución inter-cuartil y el índice de Theil. Los resultados obtenidos indican que la desigualdad en la distribución de la renta en la CAPV (2001-2011) se ha reducido, si bien al analizar los sub-periodos no encontramos factores económicos o territoriales que expliquen con claridad las razones de la variación de la renta.

Incidencia redistributiva de la política fiscal en la República Dominicana, 2000-2014

[ES]El trabajo es un análisis de la incidencia de la política fiscal llevada a cabo en la República Dominicana a lo largo del periodo 2000-2014, orientado a evaluar la progresividad o regresividad del sistema tributario y el gasto público así como sus efectos en la distribución del ingreso de la población dominicana. Con objeto de evaluar la acción fiscal se compara la distribución del ingreso antes y después del pago de impuestos y de las actuaciones de gasto, utilizando los indicadores de medidas de desigualdad y concentración tales como el índice de Gini, Kakwani, Concentración y Reybolds-Smolensky. El estudio considera algunas propuestas de política fiscal para lograr una mejora en la distribución del ingreso disponible a partir de las actuaciones de gasto público y un sistema tributario más progresivo.

Power system parameters forecasting using Hilbert-Huang transform and machine learning

A novel hybrid data-driven approach is developed for forecasting power system parameters with the goal of increasing the efficiency of short-term forecasting studies for non-stationary time-series. The proposed approach is based on mode decomposition and a feature analysis of initial retrospective data using the Hilbert-Huang transform and machine learning algorithms. The random forests and gradient boosting trees learning techniques were examined. The decision tree techniques were used to rank the importance of variables employed in the forecasting models. The Mean Decrease Gini index is employed as an impurity function. The resulting hybrid forecasting models employ the radial basis function neural network and support vector regression. A part from introduction and references the paper is organized as follows. The second section presents the background and the review of several approaches for short-term forecasting of power system parameters. In the third section a hybrid machine learningbased algorithm using Hilbert-Huang transform is developed for short-term forecasting of power system parameters. Fourth section describes the decision tree learning algorithms used for the issue of variables importance. Finally in section six the experimental results in the following electric power problems are presented: active power flow forecasting, electricity price forecasting and for the wind speed and direction forecasting.

Nations' income inequality predicts ambivalence in stereotype content: How societies mind the gap

Income inequality undermines societies: The more inequality, the more health problems, social tensions, and the lower social mobility, trust, life expectancy. Given people's tendency to legitimate existing social arrangements, the stereotype content model (SCM) argues that ambivalence-perceiving many groups as either warm or competent, but not both-may help maintain socio-economic disparities. The association between stereotype ambivalence and income inequality in 37 cross-national samples from Europe, the Americas, Oceania, Asia, and Africa investigates how groups' overall warmth-competence, status-competence, and competition-warmth correlations vary across societies, and whether these variations associate with income inequality (Gini index). More unequal societies report more ambivalent stereotypes, whereas more equal ones dislike competitive groups and do not necessarily respect them as competent. Unequal societies may need ambivalence for system stability: Income inequality compensates groups with partially positive social images. © 2012 The British Psychological Society.