Author: Gordon L. Clark
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198755600
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 977
Book Description
The first fifteen years of the 21st century have thrown into sharp relief the challenges of growth, equity, stability, and sustainability facing the world economy. In addition, they have exposed the inadequacies of mainstream economics in providing answers to these challenges. This volume gathers over 50 leading scholars from around the world to offer a forward-looking perspective of economic geography to understanding the various building blocks, relationships, and trajectories in the world economy. The perspective is at the same time grounded in theory and in the experiences of particular places. Reviewing state-of-the-art of economic geography, setting agendas, and with illustrations and empirical evidence from all over the world, the book should be an essential reference for students, researchers, as well as strategists and policy makers. Building on the success of the first edition, this volume offers a radically revised, updated, and broader approach to economic geography. With the backdrop of the global financial crisis, finance is investigated in chapters on financial stability, financial innovation, global financial networks, the global map of savings and investments, and financialization. Environmental challenges are addressed in chapters on resource economies, vulnerability of regions to climate change, carbon markets, and energy transitions. Distribution and consumption feature alongside more established topics on the firm, innovation, and work. The handbook also captures the theoretical and conceptual innovations of the last fifteen years, including evolutionary economic geography and the global production networks approach. Addressing the dangers of inequality, instability, and environmental crisis head-on, the volume concludes with strategies for growth and new ways of envisioning the spatiality of economy for the future.
The New Oxford Handbook of Economic Geography
Author: Gordon L. Clark
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198755600
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 977
Book Description
The first fifteen years of the 21st century have thrown into sharp relief the challenges of growth, equity, stability, and sustainability facing the world economy. In addition, they have exposed the inadequacies of mainstream economics in providing answers to these challenges. This volume gathers over 50 leading scholars from around the world to offer a forward-looking perspective of economic geography to understanding the various building blocks, relationships, and trajectories in the world economy. The perspective is at the same time grounded in theory and in the experiences of particular places. Reviewing state-of-the-art of economic geography, setting agendas, and with illustrations and empirical evidence from all over the world, the book should be an essential reference for students, researchers, as well as strategists and policy makers. Building on the success of the first edition, this volume offers a radically revised, updated, and broader approach to economic geography. With the backdrop of the global financial crisis, finance is investigated in chapters on financial stability, financial innovation, global financial networks, the global map of savings and investments, and financialization. Environmental challenges are addressed in chapters on resource economies, vulnerability of regions to climate change, carbon markets, and energy transitions. Distribution and consumption feature alongside more established topics on the firm, innovation, and work. The handbook also captures the theoretical and conceptual innovations of the last fifteen years, including evolutionary economic geography and the global production networks approach. Addressing the dangers of inequality, instability, and environmental crisis head-on, the volume concludes with strategies for growth and new ways of envisioning the spatiality of economy for the future.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198755600
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 977
Book Description
The first fifteen years of the 21st century have thrown into sharp relief the challenges of growth, equity, stability, and sustainability facing the world economy. In addition, they have exposed the inadequacies of mainstream economics in providing answers to these challenges. This volume gathers over 50 leading scholars from around the world to offer a forward-looking perspective of economic geography to understanding the various building blocks, relationships, and trajectories in the world economy. The perspective is at the same time grounded in theory and in the experiences of particular places. Reviewing state-of-the-art of economic geography, setting agendas, and with illustrations and empirical evidence from all over the world, the book should be an essential reference for students, researchers, as well as strategists and policy makers. Building on the success of the first edition, this volume offers a radically revised, updated, and broader approach to economic geography. With the backdrop of the global financial crisis, finance is investigated in chapters on financial stability, financial innovation, global financial networks, the global map of savings and investments, and financialization. Environmental challenges are addressed in chapters on resource economies, vulnerability of regions to climate change, carbon markets, and energy transitions. Distribution and consumption feature alongside more established topics on the firm, innovation, and work. The handbook also captures the theoretical and conceptual innovations of the last fifteen years, including evolutionary economic geography and the global production networks approach. Addressing the dangers of inequality, instability, and environmental crisis head-on, the volume concludes with strategies for growth and new ways of envisioning the spatiality of economy for the future.
The Oxford Handbook of Economic Geography
Author: Gordon L. Clark
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780199250837
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 780
Book Description
1 Economic Geography: Transition and Growth Gordon L Clark and Maryann Feldmann and Meric Gertler 2 Economic Geography: The Great Half Century Allen Scott Part I Conceptual Perspectives Section 1 Mapping the Territory 3 Where in the World is the 'New Economic Geography'? Paul Krugman 4 Doing Regulation Jamie Peck Section 2 Analytical Frameworks 5 The New Economics of Urban and Regional Growth Ed Glaeser 6 Geography or Economics? Conceptions of Space, Time, Interdependence, and Agency Eric Sheppard Part II Global Economic Integration Section 3 Investment and Trade 7 The Geography of International Investment Tony Venables and Howard Shatz 8 Globalization, Localization, and Trade Michael Storpor Section 4 Development and Underdevelopment 9 Geography and Economic Development John Gallup and Andrew Mellinger and Jeffrey Sachs 10 The Great Tablecloth: Bread and Butter Politics and the Political Economy of Food and Poverty Michael Watts Section 5 Finance Capital 11 The Regulation of International Finance Risto Laulajainen 12 Finance and Localities Adam Tickell Part III Corporate Structure, Strategy, and Location Section 6 Competition, Location, and Strategy 13 Locations, Clusters, and Company Strategy Michael Porter 14 Places and Flows: Situating International Investment Peter Dicken 15 The Globalization of Retail Capital: Themes for Economic Geography Neil Wrigley Section 7 Remaking the Corporation 16 The Management of Time and Space Erica Schoenberger 17 Corporate Form and Spatial Form David B. Audretsch Part IV The Geography of Innovation Section 8 National and Localized Learning 18 National States and Economic Development: from National Systems of Production to National Systems of Knowledge Creation and Learning Bengt-Ake Lundvall and Peter Maskell 19 Location and Innovation: The New Economic Geography of Innovation, Spillover, and Agglomeration Maryann Feldman 20 Restructuring and Innovation in Long Term Regional Change Cristiano Antonelli Section 9 Districts and Regional Innovation Systems 21 Industrial Districts: The Contributions of Marshall and Beyond Bjorn Asheim 22 Innovation Networks, Regions, and Globalization Beat Hotz-Hart Part V Localities and Difference Section 10 Labour and Locality 23 Local Labour Markets: Their Nature, Performance, and Regulation Ron Martin 24 Firms, Workers, and the Geographic Concentration of Economic Activity Gordon Hanson Section 11 Gender, Race, and Place 25 Feminists Rethink the Economic: The Economics of Gender/the Gender of Economics Linda McDowelll 26 Racial and Economic Segregation in US Metropolitan Areas John Kain Section 12 Communities, Politics, and Power 27 Elite Power, Global Forces, and the Political Economy of Global Development Eric Swyngedouw 28 Economic Geography in Practice: Local Economic Development Policy Amy Glasmeier Part VI Global Transformations Section 13 Environment and Regulation 29 Markets and Environmental Quality R. Kerry Turner 30 Environmental Innovation and Regulation David Angel Section 14 Trade and Investment Blocs 31 Spontaneous Integration in Japan and East Asia: Development Crisis and Beyond Tetsuo Abo 32 Regional Economic Integration in North America John Holmes 33 The EU as more than a Triad Market for National Economic Spaces Ash Amin Part VII Coda 34 Pandora's Box? Cultural Geographies of Economies Nigel Thrift.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780199250837
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 780
Book Description
1 Economic Geography: Transition and Growth Gordon L Clark and Maryann Feldmann and Meric Gertler 2 Economic Geography: The Great Half Century Allen Scott Part I Conceptual Perspectives Section 1 Mapping the Territory 3 Where in the World is the 'New Economic Geography'? Paul Krugman 4 Doing Regulation Jamie Peck Section 2 Analytical Frameworks 5 The New Economics of Urban and Regional Growth Ed Glaeser 6 Geography or Economics? Conceptions of Space, Time, Interdependence, and Agency Eric Sheppard Part II Global Economic Integration Section 3 Investment and Trade 7 The Geography of International Investment Tony Venables and Howard Shatz 8 Globalization, Localization, and Trade Michael Storpor Section 4 Development and Underdevelopment 9 Geography and Economic Development John Gallup and Andrew Mellinger and Jeffrey Sachs 10 The Great Tablecloth: Bread and Butter Politics and the Political Economy of Food and Poverty Michael Watts Section 5 Finance Capital 11 The Regulation of International Finance Risto Laulajainen 12 Finance and Localities Adam Tickell Part III Corporate Structure, Strategy, and Location Section 6 Competition, Location, and Strategy 13 Locations, Clusters, and Company Strategy Michael Porter 14 Places and Flows: Situating International Investment Peter Dicken 15 The Globalization of Retail Capital: Themes for Economic Geography Neil Wrigley Section 7 Remaking the Corporation 16 The Management of Time and Space Erica Schoenberger 17 Corporate Form and Spatial Form David B. Audretsch Part IV The Geography of Innovation Section 8 National and Localized Learning 18 National States and Economic Development: from National Systems of Production to National Systems of Knowledge Creation and Learning Bengt-Ake Lundvall and Peter Maskell 19 Location and Innovation: The New Economic Geography of Innovation, Spillover, and Agglomeration Maryann Feldman 20 Restructuring and Innovation in Long Term Regional Change Cristiano Antonelli Section 9 Districts and Regional Innovation Systems 21 Industrial Districts: The Contributions of Marshall and Beyond Bjorn Asheim 22 Innovation Networks, Regions, and Globalization Beat Hotz-Hart Part V Localities and Difference Section 10 Labour and Locality 23 Local Labour Markets: Their Nature, Performance, and Regulation Ron Martin 24 Firms, Workers, and the Geographic Concentration of Economic Activity Gordon Hanson Section 11 Gender, Race, and Place 25 Feminists Rethink the Economic: The Economics of Gender/the Gender of Economics Linda McDowelll 26 Racial and Economic Segregation in US Metropolitan Areas John Kain Section 12 Communities, Politics, and Power 27 Elite Power, Global Forces, and the Political Economy of Global Development Eric Swyngedouw 28 Economic Geography in Practice: Local Economic Development Policy Amy Glasmeier Part VI Global Transformations Section 13 Environment and Regulation 29 Markets and Environmental Quality R. Kerry Turner 30 Environmental Innovation and Regulation David Angel Section 14 Trade and Investment Blocs 31 Spontaneous Integration in Japan and East Asia: Development Crisis and Beyond Tetsuo Abo 32 Regional Economic Integration in North America John Holmes 33 The EU as more than a Triad Market for National Economic Spaces Ash Amin Part VII Coda 34 Pandora's Box? Cultural Geographies of Economies Nigel Thrift.
The Oxford Handbook of Political Economy
Author: Barry R. Weingast
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199548471
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 1112
Book Description
Over its lifetime, 'political economy' has had different meanings. This handbook views political economy as a synthesis of the various strands of social science, treating it as the methodology of economics applied to the analysis of political behaviour and institutions.
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199548471
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 1112
Book Description
Over its lifetime, 'political economy' has had different meanings. This handbook views political economy as a synthesis of the various strands of social science, treating it as the methodology of economics applied to the analysis of political behaviour and institutions.
The Oxford Handbook of Health Economics
Author: Sherry Glied
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191667161
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 992
Book Description
The Oxford Handbook of Health Economics provides an accessible and authoritative guide to health economics, intended for scholars and students in the field, as well as those in adjacent disciplines including health policy and clinical medicine. The chapters stress the direct impact of health economics reasoning on policy and practice, offering readers an introduction to the potential reach of the discipline. Contributions come from internationally-recognized leaders in health economics and reflect the worldwide reach of the discipline. Authoritative, but non-technical, the chapters place great emphasis on the connections between theory and policy-making, and develop the contributions of health economics to problems arising in a variety of institutional contexts, from primary care to the operations of health insurers. The volume addresses policy concerns relevant to health systems in both developed and developing countries. It takes a broad perspective, with relevance to systems with single or multi-payer health insurance arrangements, and to those relying predominantly on user charges; contributions are also included that focus both on medical care and on non-medical factors that affect health. Each chapter provides a succinct summary of the current state of economic thinking in a given area, as well as the author's unique perspective on issues that remain open to debate. The volume presents a view of health economics as a vibrant and continually advancing field, highlighting ongoing challenges and pointing to new directions for further progress.
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191667161
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 992
Book Description
The Oxford Handbook of Health Economics provides an accessible and authoritative guide to health economics, intended for scholars and students in the field, as well as those in adjacent disciplines including health policy and clinical medicine. The chapters stress the direct impact of health economics reasoning on policy and practice, offering readers an introduction to the potential reach of the discipline. Contributions come from internationally-recognized leaders in health economics and reflect the worldwide reach of the discipline. Authoritative, but non-technical, the chapters place great emphasis on the connections between theory and policy-making, and develop the contributions of health economics to problems arising in a variety of institutional contexts, from primary care to the operations of health insurers. The volume addresses policy concerns relevant to health systems in both developed and developing countries. It takes a broad perspective, with relevance to systems with single or multi-payer health insurance arrangements, and to those relying predominantly on user charges; contributions are also included that focus both on medical care and on non-medical factors that affect health. Each chapter provides a succinct summary of the current state of economic thinking in a given area, as well as the author's unique perspective on issues that remain open to debate. The volume presents a view of health economics as a vibrant and continually advancing field, highlighting ongoing challenges and pointing to new directions for further progress.
The Oxford Handbook of Economic Inequality
Author: Wiemer Salverda
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199231370
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 759
Book Description
Comprehensive analysis of economic inequality in developed countries. The contributors give their view on the state-of-the-art scientific research in their fields and add their own visions of future research.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199231370
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 759
Book Description
Comprehensive analysis of economic inequality in developed countries. The contributors give their view on the state-of-the-art scientific research in their fields and add their own visions of future research.
The Oxford Handbook of the Russian Economy
Author: Michael Alexeev
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199344132
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 864
Book Description
By 1999, Russia's economy was growing at almost 7% per year, and by 2008 reached 11th place in the world GDP rankings. Russia is now the world's second largest producer and exporter of oil, the largest producer and exporter of natural gas, and as a result has the third largest stock of foreign exchange reserves in the world, behind only China and Japan. But while this impressive economic growth has raised the average standard of living and put a number of wealthy Russians on the Forbes billionaires list, it has failed to solve the country's deep economic and social problems inherited from the Soviet times. Russia continues to suffer from a distorted economic structure, with its low labor productivity, heavy reliance on natural resource extraction, low life expectancy, high income inequality, and weak institutions. While a voluminous amount of literature has studied various individual aspects of the Russian economy, in the West there has been no comprehensive and systematic analysis of the socialist legacies, the current state, and future prospects of the Russian economy gathered in one book. The Oxford Handbook of the Russian Economy fills this gap by offering a broad range of topics written by the best Western and Russian scholars of the Russian economy. While the book's focus is the current state of the Russian economy, the first part of the book also addresses the legacy of the Soviet command economy and offers an analysis of institutional aspects of Russia's economic development over the last decade. The second part covers the most important sectors of the economy. The third part examines the economic challenges created by the gigantic magnitude of regional, geographic, ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity of Russia. The fourth part covers various social issues, including health, education, and demographic challenges. It will also examine broad policy challenges, including the tax system, rule of law, as well as corruption and the underground economy. Michael Alexeev and Shlomo Weber provide for the first time in one volume a complete, well-rounded, and essential look at the complex, emerging Russian economy.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199344132
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 864
Book Description
By 1999, Russia's economy was growing at almost 7% per year, and by 2008 reached 11th place in the world GDP rankings. Russia is now the world's second largest producer and exporter of oil, the largest producer and exporter of natural gas, and as a result has the third largest stock of foreign exchange reserves in the world, behind only China and Japan. But while this impressive economic growth has raised the average standard of living and put a number of wealthy Russians on the Forbes billionaires list, it has failed to solve the country's deep economic and social problems inherited from the Soviet times. Russia continues to suffer from a distorted economic structure, with its low labor productivity, heavy reliance on natural resource extraction, low life expectancy, high income inequality, and weak institutions. While a voluminous amount of literature has studied various individual aspects of the Russian economy, in the West there has been no comprehensive and systematic analysis of the socialist legacies, the current state, and future prospects of the Russian economy gathered in one book. The Oxford Handbook of the Russian Economy fills this gap by offering a broad range of topics written by the best Western and Russian scholars of the Russian economy. While the book's focus is the current state of the Russian economy, the first part of the book also addresses the legacy of the Soviet command economy and offers an analysis of institutional aspects of Russia's economic development over the last decade. The second part covers the most important sectors of the economy. The third part examines the economic challenges created by the gigantic magnitude of regional, geographic, ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity of Russia. The fourth part covers various social issues, including health, education, and demographic challenges. It will also examine broad policy challenges, including the tax system, rule of law, as well as corruption and the underground economy. Michael Alexeev and Shlomo Weber provide for the first time in one volume a complete, well-rounded, and essential look at the complex, emerging Russian economy.
The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Economics
Author: Harold Kincaid
Publisher: Oxford Handbooks Online
ISBN: 0195189256
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 689
Book Description
This volume is the first comprehensive, cohesive, and accessible reference source to the philosophy of economics, presenting important new scholarship by top scholars.
Publisher: Oxford Handbooks Online
ISBN: 0195189256
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 689
Book Description
This volume is the first comprehensive, cohesive, and accessible reference source to the philosophy of economics, presenting important new scholarship by top scholars.
The Oxford Handbook of Urban Economics and Planning
Author: Nancy Brooks
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195380622
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 1027
Book Description
This volume embodies a problem-driven and theoretically informed approach to bridging frontier research in urban economics and urban/regional planning. The authors focus on the interface between these two subdisciplines that have historically had an uneasy relationship. Although economists were among the early contributors to the literature on urban planning, many economists have been dismissive of a discipline whose leading scholars frequently favor regulations over market institutions, equity over efficiency, and normative prescriptions over positive analysis. Planners, meanwhile, even as they draw upon economic principles, often view the work of economists as abstract, not sensitive to institutional contexts, and communicated in a formal language spoken by few with decision making authority. Not surprisingly, papers in the leading economic journals rarely cite clearly pertinent papers in planning journals, and vice versa. Despite the historical divergence in perspectives and methods, urban economics and urban planning share an intense interest in many topic areas: the nature of cities, the prosperity of urban economies, the efficient provision of urban services, efficient systems of transportation, and the proper allocation of land between urban and environmental uses. In bridging this gap, the book highlights the best scholarship in planning and economics that address the most pressing urban problems of our day and stimulates further dialog between scholars in urban planning and urban economics.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195380622
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 1027
Book Description
This volume embodies a problem-driven and theoretically informed approach to bridging frontier research in urban economics and urban/regional planning. The authors focus on the interface between these two subdisciplines that have historically had an uneasy relationship. Although economists were among the early contributors to the literature on urban planning, many economists have been dismissive of a discipline whose leading scholars frequently favor regulations over market institutions, equity over efficiency, and normative prescriptions over positive analysis. Planners, meanwhile, even as they draw upon economic principles, often view the work of economists as abstract, not sensitive to institutional contexts, and communicated in a formal language spoken by few with decision making authority. Not surprisingly, papers in the leading economic journals rarely cite clearly pertinent papers in planning journals, and vice versa. Despite the historical divergence in perspectives and methods, urban economics and urban planning share an intense interest in many topic areas: the nature of cities, the prosperity of urban economies, the efficient provision of urban services, efficient systems of transportation, and the proper allocation of land between urban and environmental uses. In bridging this gap, the book highlights the best scholarship in planning and economics that address the most pressing urban problems of our day and stimulates further dialog between scholars in urban planning and urban economics.
The Oxford Handbook of Land Economics
Author: JunJie Wu
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199393494
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 769
Book Description
What do economists know about land-and how they know? The Oxford Handbook of Land Economics describes the latest developments in the fields of economics that examine land, including natural resource economics, environmental economics, regional science, and urban economics. The handbook argues, first, that land is a theme that integrates these fields and second, that productive integration increasingly occurs not just within economics but also across disciplines. Greater recognition and integration stimulates cross-fertilization among the fields of land economics research. By providing a comprehensive survey of land-related work in several economics fields, this handbook provides the basic tools needed for economists to redefine the scope and focus of their work to better incorporate the contemporary thinking from other fields and to push out the frontiers of land economics. The first section presents recent advances in the analysis of major drivers of land use change, focusing on economic development and various land-use markets. The second section presents economic research on the environmental and socio-economic impacts of land use and land use change. The third section addresses six cutting-edge approaches for land economics research, including spatial econometric, simulation, and experimental methods. The section also includes a synthetic chapter critically reviewing methodological advances. The fourth section covers policy issues. Four chapters disentangle the economics of land conservation and preservation, while three chapters examine the economic analysis of the legal institutions of land use. These chapters focus on law and economic problems of permissible government control of land in the U.S. context.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199393494
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 769
Book Description
What do economists know about land-and how they know? The Oxford Handbook of Land Economics describes the latest developments in the fields of economics that examine land, including natural resource economics, environmental economics, regional science, and urban economics. The handbook argues, first, that land is a theme that integrates these fields and second, that productive integration increasingly occurs not just within economics but also across disciplines. Greater recognition and integration stimulates cross-fertilization among the fields of land economics research. By providing a comprehensive survey of land-related work in several economics fields, this handbook provides the basic tools needed for economists to redefine the scope and focus of their work to better incorporate the contemporary thinking from other fields and to push out the frontiers of land economics. The first section presents recent advances in the analysis of major drivers of land use change, focusing on economic development and various land-use markets. The second section presents economic research on the environmental and socio-economic impacts of land use and land use change. The third section addresses six cutting-edge approaches for land economics research, including spatial econometric, simulation, and experimental methods. The section also includes a synthetic chapter critically reviewing methodological advances. The fourth section covers policy issues. Four chapters disentangle the economics of land conservation and preservation, while three chapters examine the economic analysis of the legal institutions of land use. These chapters focus on law and economic problems of permissible government control of land in the U.S. context.
The Oxford Handbook of Economics and Human Biology
Author: John Komlos
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199389292
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 849
Book Description
The Oxford Handbook of Economics and Human Biology provides an extensive and insightful overview of how economic conditions affect human well-being and how human health influences economic outcomes. The book addresses both macro and micro factors, as well as their interaction, providing new understanding of complex relationships and developments in economic history and economic dynamics. Among the topics explored is how variation in height, whether over time, among different socioeconomic groups, or in different locations, is an important indicator of changes in economic growth and economic development, levels of economic inequality, and economic opportunities for individuals.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199389292
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 849
Book Description
The Oxford Handbook of Economics and Human Biology provides an extensive and insightful overview of how economic conditions affect human well-being and how human health influences economic outcomes. The book addresses both macro and micro factors, as well as their interaction, providing new understanding of complex relationships and developments in economic history and economic dynamics. Among the topics explored is how variation in height, whether over time, among different socioeconomic groups, or in different locations, is an important indicator of changes in economic growth and economic development, levels of economic inequality, and economic opportunities for individuals.