"Covid-19 and Income Inequality in OECD Countries:" A Methodological Comment

Arbeitspapier

Wildman (2021), who identifies "a clear association between income inequality [measured by the Gini coefficient] and COVID-19 cases and deaths," concludes that "a goal of government should be to reduce [income] inequalities and [thereby] improve [the COVID-19 outcomes /] underlying health of their populations." In this Comment, we argue that reducing the Gini coefficient of the income distribution of a population need not weaken the population's social stress. It is this stress which is a source of adverse health outcomes of the population. Because a measure of this stress is a component of the Gini coefficient, reducing the coefficient can leave the measure as is, or even increase the measure.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 16264

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles ; Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement ; Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making‡ ; Health: General ; Health and Inequality ; General Welfare; Well-Being ; Cultural Economics: Public Policy
• Subject: social stress ; Gini coefficient ; income inequality ; forming public health policy

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Stark, Oded
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2023

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/278962
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET