Economic Inequality in the Arab Region

The paper uses harmonized household survey micro-data to assess the levels and determinants of economic inequality in 12 Arab countries. It focuses on the sources of rural-urban, as well as metropolitan-nonmetropolitan, inequalities and applies the unconditional quantile regression decomposition technique to analyze the welfare gaps across the entire distribution. The analysis finds moderate inequality levels, with the Gini coefficient for the distribution of household real per capita total expenditures ranging between 30.7 in Libya and 45 in Mauritania. Differences in households' endowments, such as demographic composition, human capital, and community characteristics, appear as the main sources of the urban-rural welfare gap. There is inequality between metropolitan and non-metropolitan regions in many countries, mainly because of differences in returns to households' characteristics and particularly returns to human capital.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	Hassine, Nadia Belhaj
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper biblioteca
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2014-06
Subjects:	ACCESS TO TRANSPORTATION, ACCOUNTING, ADVERSE EFFECTS, AVERAGE INCOME, AVERAGE INCOME LEVEL, AVERAGE INCOMES, BANK POLICY, BENCHMARK, BETWEEN-GROUP INEQUALITY, CAPITAL ACCUMULATION, CONSUMER PRICE INDICES, CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURE, CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURES, CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURES DISTRIBUTION, CONSUMPTION LEVELS, COUNTERFACTUAL, COUNTRY LEVEL, CROSS-COUNTRY DATA, CROSS-COUNTRY STUDIES, DATA QUALITY, DATA SET, DECISION MAKING, DECOMPOSITION RESULTS, DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DEVELOPING REGIONS, DEVELOPING WORLD, DEVELOPMENT BANK, DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS, DEVELOPMENT POLICIES, DEVELOPMENT POLICY, DISTRIBUTIONAL DYNAMICS, DISTRIBUTIONAL MEASURES, DUMMY VARIABLE, DURABLE, DURABLE GOODS, DURABLES, DYNAMIC ANALYSIS, ECONOMETRICS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC FACTORS, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC INEQUALITY, ECONOMIC OUTCOMES, ECONOMIC RESEARCH, ECONOMIC REVIEW, ECONOMIC SITUATION, EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS, EMPIRICAL LITERATURE, EMPIRICAL STUDIES, EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES, EMPLOYMENT STATUS, EXCHANGE RATE, EXPLANATORY POWER, EXTERNAL FACTORS, FAMILY MEMBERS, FOOD EXPENDITURE, FOOD EXPENDITURES, FOOD ITEMS, FOOD SUBSIDIES, FUTURE RESEARCH, GDP, GDP PER CAPITA, GEOGRAPHIC REGION, GEOGRAPHIC REGIONS, GEOGRAPHICAL REGIONS, GINI COEFFICIENT, GLOBALIZATION, GROUP INEQUALITIES, GROWTH PROSPECTS, GROWTH SPELLS, HIGH INEQUALITY, HIGHER INEQUALITY, HOUSEHOLD BUDGET, HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION, HOUSEHOLD HEAD, HOUSEHOLD INCOME, HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS, HOUSEHOLD SIZE, HOUSEHOLD SURVEY, HOUSEHOLD SURVEY MICRO-DATA, HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS, HOUSEHOLD WELFARE, HOUSING, HUMAN CAPITAL, HUMAN CAPITAL ENDOWMENTS, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, INCIDENCE OF POVERTY, INCOME, INCOME DIFFERENCES, INCOME DISPARITIES, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, INCOME INEQUALITY, INCOME LEVELS, INCOME SHARE, INDIVIDUAL COUNTRIES, INEQUALITY, INEQUALITY DATA, INEQUALITY DECOMPOSITION, INEQUALITY ESTIMATES, INEQUALITY INDICATORS, INEQUALITY LEVELS, INEQUALITY MEASURES, INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITIES, INSTRUMENT, INTERNATIONAL BANK, INTERNATIONAL STANDARD, LABOR FORCE, LABOR MARKET, LABOR PRODUCTIVITY, LAND OWNERSHIP, LINEAR REGRESSION, LIVING STANDARD, LIVING STANDARDS, LOW INCOME, MARKET ECONOMY, MEAN INCOMES, MEAN LOG DEVIATION, MEASURING INCOME INEQUALITY, MEDIUM INEQUALITY, MEDIUM LEVELS, METROPOLITAN REGIONS, MIDDLE CLASS, MONETARY FUND, MORTGAGES, OIL PRICES, PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION, PER CAPITA INCOME, PER CAPITA INCOME LEVEL, PER CAPITA INCOMES, PERMANENT INCOME, POLICY DISCUSSIONS, POLICY IMPLICATIONS, POLICY INTERVENTIONS, POLICY RESEARCH, POLITICAL ECONOMY, POLITICAL STABILITY, POOR, POOR HOUSEHOLDS, POORER HOUSEHOLDS, POPULATION SUB-GROUPS, POVERTY ALLEVIATION, POVERTY ALLEVIATION EFFORTS, POVERTY DYNAMICS, POVERTY HEADCOUNT, POVERTY LEVELS, POVERTY LINE, POVERTY MEASUREMENT, POVERTY REDUCTION, POWER PARITY, PRIVATE CONSUMPTION, PRIVATE SECTOR, PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT, PUBLIC INVESTMENTS, PUBLIC SECTOR, PURCHASING POWER, QUANTILE REGRESSIONS, REAL WAGES, REGIONAL AGGREGATES, REGIONAL DIFFERENCES, REGIONAL DIMENSION, REGIONAL DISPARITIES, REGIONAL DIVIDE, REGIONAL IMBALANCES, REGIONAL INCOME, REGIONAL INCOME DISPARITIES, REGIONAL INCOME INEQUALITIES, REGIONAL INEQUALITIES, REGIONAL INEQUALITY, REGIONAL LOCATION, REGIONAL WELFARE, REMITTANCES, REMOTE AREAS, REMOTE REGIONS, RETURN, RETURNS, RISING INEQUALITY, RURAL, RURAL AREAS, RURAL COMMUNITIES, RURAL COUNTERPARTS, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, RURAL HOUSEHOLDS, RURAL INEQUALITY, RURAL MARKETS, RURAL POOR, RURAL WELFARE, SCHOOLING, SHADOW PRICES, SPATIAL DIMENSIONS, TRANSITION COUNTRIES, UNEMPLOYMENT, UNEMPLOYMENT RATES, WEALTH, WELFARE DISTRIBUTION,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/06/19641016/economic-inequality-arab-region http://hdl.handle.net/10986/18769
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