TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Stark, Oded
        TI  - Covid-19 and Income Inequality in OECD Countries: A Methodological Comment
        PY  - 2023/Jun/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 16264
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp16264
        AB  - Wildman (2021), who identifies "a clear association between income inequality [measured by the Gini coefficient] and COVID-19 cases and deaths," concludes that "a goal of government should be to reduce [income] inequalities and [thereby] improve [the COVID-19 outcomes /] underlying health of their populations." In this Comment, we argue that reducing the Gini coefficient of the income distribution of a population need not weaken the population's social stress. It is this stress which is a source of adverse health outcomes of the population. Because a measure of this stress is a component of the Gini coefficient, reducing the coefficient can leave the measure as is, or even increase the measure.

        KW  - forming public health policy
KW  - income inequality
KW  - Gini coefficient
KW  - social stress
        ER  -