This paper presents, within a framework of the Solow model, evidence that there should be two different reasons for convergence. One is due to diminishing returns to capital and the other is due to technological diffusion. This paper shows that OECD and low income countries follow a pattern of conditional convergence but middle income countries do not. This seems to imply that technological dif...

Approaching three years into the recovery from the 2007-2009 recession, the unemployment rate remains over 8%. The persistent difficulty of many of the workers who lost jobs to find reemployment has meant reduced incomes for them and their families. An historically slow rebound in the labor market appears to be partly responsible for some groups' focus on the distribution of the benefits of eco...

Bringing Financial Literacy and Education to Low and Middle Income Countries: The Need to Review, Adjust, and Extend Current Wisdom This paper presents a World Bank led and Russia trust fund financed work program to measure financial capability and the effectiveness of financial education in low and middle income countries. The two activities and their staging have been motivated by the lessons...

This study evaluates the household food demand patterns among different income sorts in urban and rural areas of Pakistan and estimation of food expenditure and household size elasticities. The different income sorts are the Lower Income Group(≤ 8000), Lower-middle Income Group(800112000), Middle Income Group(12001-18000),Upper-middle Income Group (18001-35000) and Upper Income Group (35000+) P...

BACKGROUND The CD4 cell count or percent (CD4%) at the start of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) is an important prognostic factor in children starting therapy and an important indicator of program performance. We describe trends and determinants of CD4 measures at cART initiation in children from low-, middle-, and high-income countries. METHODS We included children aged <16 years f...

The British Industrial Revolution triggered a reversal in the social order whereby the landed elite was replaced by industrial capitalists rising from the middle classes as the economically dominant group. Many observers have linked this transformation to the contrast in values between a hard-working and thrifty middle class and an upper class imbued with disdain for work. We propose an economi...

This article examines how Blacks and Whites living in neighborhoods with divergent racial and income profiles differed in early onset (by age 14 years) and adolescent lifetime prevalence (by age 18 years) of substance use, with longitudinal data from 473 high-risk boys (58% Black). A latent profile analysis identified four neighborhood classes: Black, lower-income; racially mixed, middle-income...

Background Intersectionality has received increased interest within population health research in recent years, as a concept and framework to understand entangled dimensions of health inequalities, such as gender and socioeconomic inequalities in health. However, little attention has been paid to the intersectional middle groups, referring to those occupying positions of mixed advantage and dis...