PERCEIVED AND DESIRED IMAGES OF SOCIETY: HOW (UN)EQUAL IS SOCIETY?

Algis KRUPAVIČIUS

Professor, Mykolas Romeris University, Institute of Political Sciences, Faculty of Public Governance

algis.krupavicius@mruni.eu

Ligita ŠARKUTĖ

Associate Professor, Vytautas Magnus University, Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy, Kaunas, Lithuania

ligita.sarkute@vdu.lt

Armand KRASNIQI

Professor, Faculty of Law, University “Haxhi Zeka” Peja, Kosovo.

armand.krasniqi@unhz.eu

(Corresponding Author)

Christos Ap. LADIAS

Professor, Regional Science Inquiry Journal

ladias@rsijournal.eu

Abstract

In the contemporary world, it is very important to understand                     how people see and perceive our societies themselves. The main research objective of this article is to study imagined – perceived and desired – types of society using comparative analysis. The target group is composed of the 23 countries which participated in social inequality studies of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) in 2009 and 2019. Among the questions to answer in this study are: What is the gap between the assessment of perceived and desired types of society? How are the perceived images of society related to different macro socioeconomic and political conditions? How are individual assessments influenced by sociodemographic and attitudinal characteristics? The shortage of studies on topics relating to these questions justifies the importance of this article. A novelty of this study is not only in the cross-national comparison of images of society, but also in the linking of this concept to human and social capital, well-being, and subjective identities. The research results show that contemporary societies are perceived as socially unequal in most countries; however, the majority of populations still expect to live in more just societies in future.

Keywords: Images of society, inequality, subjective social class, International Social Survey Program.

JEL classification:

 pp. 55-70

read more

HOUSEHOLD IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC FROM A DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS PERSPECTIVE – A REVIEW

Bekhzod EGAMBERDIEV

PhD student, Agricultural Markets, Marketing and World Agricultural Trade (Agricultural Markets), Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), Halle (Saale), Germany

egamberdiev@iamo.de

Abstract

In terms of the socio-economic crisis, the ravages of a pandemic shock indicate that people from developing countries are likely to be more vulnerable. The same direction of impact could be expected in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic; however, both scale and speed of this pandemic differ from others in the past. Therefore, we can expect causes to be different from those of past crises. Although emerging studies are available, the existing literature offers no systematic analysis of household vulnerability in the prism of development economics. Especially the interlinkages of causes and the relative importance of effects and coping strategies are not yet summarized. Therefore, this study aims to provide a systemic assessment of household effects of COVID-19 and tries to identify casual effects of the consequences, to which it adds policy recommendations. The systematic analysis undertaken in this study is based on a cluster analysis of 150 articles and reports provided in international literature. This study shows that two distinct impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic concern food security and market imbalance, together with socio-economic consequences, which a large number of studies identify as the core of a pandemic. Similarly, risk mitigation strategies such as strengthening farm support, food system resilience, and social protection need to be particularly promoted under COVID-19 conditions. The study also identifies research gaps especially in particularities of health outcomes in different food systems and on different economic development levels.

Keywords: Food security, resilience, pandemic, income, poverty, inequality

JEL classification: Q10, Q11, Q13, Q18

read more

DOES TRADE OPENNESS AND FISCAL POLICY AFFECT INEQUALITY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH? A STUDY IN INDONESIA

Mohammad KHUSAINI

Dr. in Economics, Faculty of Economic and Business, Brawijaya University-INDONESIA

mohkhusaini@yahoo.com

Setyo TRI WAHYUDI

Ph.D in Economics, Faculty of Economic and Business, Brawijaya University-INDONESIA

Setyo81@gmail.com

Zamrud SISWA UTAMA

Master of Economics Student at Faculty of Economic and Business, Brawijaya University-INDONESIA

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of trade openness and Indonesia’s fiscal policy on income inequality and economic growth. The error correction model approach was used to analyze the effect during the period 1980 to 2015. The results show that trade openness can improve inequality but at the same time impede growth. The effect of fiscal policy on reducing inequality is only generated by tax collection but is temporary. Meanwhile, government spending on infrastructure and health proved to encourage growth. On the other hand, education sector spending and tax collection can actually hamper growth.

Keywords: Trade Openness, Inequality, Growth, Fiscal Policy

JEL classification: E62, F63, H50, O40
read more