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Income and Wealth Inequality and Obesity

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The Economics of Obesity

Abstract

Many developing countries have experienced a sharp rise in income inequality in the last four decades. Scholars have disputed the reasons for this rise of income inequality. One explanation is that social norms and practices surrounding pay have shifted, due to various potential factors such as lower tax rates on top incomes, the evolution of technology, globalization, stagnant wages, and industry landscapes wherein a small number of large consolidated firms increasingly dominate their sectors. Across the United States, the degree of income and wealth inequality is associated with wider range of factors that may influence health. In this chapter, we focus on the question: Does the unequal distribution of income and wealth in a society pose an additional threat to the health of the individuals, in terms of obesity, who live in that society?

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Hojjat, T.A. (2021). Income and Wealth Inequality and Obesity. In: The Economics of Obesity. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78487-4_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78487-4_6

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