Why Are We Worried About Income? Nearly Everything that Matters is Converging

Kenny, Charles

doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2004.06.016

Cited by 116 publications

(113 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…In order to evaluate these elements of well-being or standard of living, Sen (1987) claims that the selection of indicators should consider two issues: the actual outcome of peoples' decisions, and their capabilities (the opportunities they have). Researchers have used variables such as GDP, per capita income and unemployment to measure capabilities and life expectancy at birth, infant mortality rates, literacy rates and educational enrolment, telephone, television and Internet availability to evaluate actual outcomes (Hobijn and Franses, 2001;Neumayer, 2003;Dowrick et al, 2003;Kenny, 2005).…”

Section: Data Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…All variables are defined positively (i.e., the higher, the better). Although the results of convergence analysis may change according to whether a variable or its complement is used (Micklewright and Stewart, 1999), the positive definition is preferred and here we adhere to Kenny's (2005) arguments: measurements of convergence toward zero are more sensitive to very small changes close to zero than very large changes further from zero. Besides, he claims that convergence towards a positive value is standard in the literature.…”

Section: Data Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Improving GDP has been shown to increase life expectancy, provide better access to basic education, etc. As Kenny (2005) argues, "it appears that improving incomes will improve whatever your chosen [quality of life] measure happens to be" (Kenny, 2005, p 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, some studies (Easterly, 1999) conclude that many of the improvements in quality of life variables are often not correlated with economic growth rates. Indeed, if some studies fail to find economic convergence at international level - Ram (1992) and others find weighted income convergence but unweighted stagnation, mainly due to major changes in large countries such as China and India -others (Kenny, 2005;Crafts, 2000;Ram, 1992) find convergence in well-being indicators.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Economic and Social Convergence in Colombia

Royuela

García²

2013

Regional Studies

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GDP has usually been used as a proxy for human well-being. Nevertheless, other social aspects should also be considered, such as life expectancy, infant mortality, educational enrolment and crime issues. This paper investigates economic and social convergence Convergencia económica y social en Colombia Resumen (ESPAÑOL)El PIB se usa habitualmente como aproximación al bienestar de las personas. Sin embargo otros aspectos sociales deben ser a su vez considerados, como la esperanza de vida, la mortalidad infantil, la educación y la criminalidad. Este trabajo investiga ña convergencia económica y social en regiones de Colombia en el período 1975-2005. Los principales resultados confirman que existe convergencia en Colombia en variables sociales clave, aunque no en la clásica variable económica, el PIB per capita. También se encuentra que la autocorrelación espacial refuerza los procesos de convergencia a través de la profundización de los factores sociales y de mercado, mientras que el aislamiento condena a las regiones a la no convergencia.

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Section: Data Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Data Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Economic and Social Convergence in Colombia

Royuela

García²

2013

Regional Studies

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“…One obvious example of 'more facts' for economists relates to measurement of living standards where putting together historical estimates of the Human Development Index (HDI) as in Crafts (2002) highlights the progress made by developing countries during the twentieth century as was subsequently recognized by Kenny (2005). Better facts abound in demographic history as epitomized by the work of the Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure on English parish registers (Wrigley et al, 1997) which is a rich source indeed for those seeking to investigate the claims of unified growth theory (Galor, 2004).…”

Section: Why Do Economics and Economic History Need Each Other?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic History Matters

Crafts

2012

Economic History of Developing Regions

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This paper considers the future of economic history in the context of its relationship with economics. It is argued that there are strong synergies between the two disciplines and that awareness of the economic past is an important resource for today's economists. Examples are given that illustrate these points. It is clear that the past has useful economics but the potential value of economic history to economics will only be realized if economic historians are fluent in economics and organize the presentation of their research findings with a view to addressing questions that matter from a policy perspective.

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The Obligation to Participate in Biomedical Research

Schaefer

Emanuel²,

Wertheimer³

2009

JAMA

133

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The prevailing view is that participation in biomedical research is above and beyond the call of duty. While some commentators have offered reasons against this, we propose a novel public goods argument for an obligation to participate in biomedical research. Biomedical knowledge is a public good, available to any individual even if that individual does not contribute to it. Participation in research is a critical way to support that important public good. Consequently, we all have a duty to participate. The current social norm is that people participate only if they have a good reason to do so. The public goods argument implies that people should participate unless they have a good reason not to. Such a shift would be of great aid to the progress of biomedical research, eventually making our society significantly healthier and longer-lived.We defend the obligation view. We do so not to make a philosophical point, but to stimulate support for a major cultural shift in the way physicians, researchers, patients, and society at large think about participation in research. The Standard ViewAccording to the standard view, participation in research is akin to giving blood or donating to charity. [1][2][3][4][5] Participation that benefits society is supererogatory -while participants who put themselves at risk or inconvenience deserve praise, people who refuse to participate in research are not acting wrongly or unethically.

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Why Are We Worried About Income? Nearly Everything that Matters is Converging

Cited by 116 publications

References 42 publications

Economic and Social Convergence in Colombia

Economic and Social Convergence in Colombia

Economic History Matters

The Obligation to Participate in Biomedical Research

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