Rich cities, poor countryside? Social structure of the poor and poverty risks in urban and rural places in an affluent country
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Author (Corporation)
Publication date
2022
Typ of student thesis
Course of study
Type
01A - Journal article
Editors
Editor (Corporation)
Supervisor
Parent work
Local Economy
Special issue
DOI of the original publication
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Series
Series number
Volume
37
Issue / Number
3
Pages / Duration
169-193
Patent number
Publisher / Publishing institution
SAGE
Place of publication / Event location
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Programming language
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Abstract
This paper contributes to the field of regional poverty literature by using linked tax data to examine poverty in a large district in Switzerland with one million inhabitants and rural and urban parts. We measure poverty using income and asset-based approaches. Our regional comparison of the social structure of the poor shows that poor people in rural areas are more likely to be of retirement age. Among the workforce, the share of poor is larger for those who work in agriculture compared to those working in industry or the service sector. In urban areas, the poor are more often freelancers and people of foreign origin. Despite where they live, people with little education, single parents, and people working in gastronomy/tourism are disproportionately often poor. We then use a random forest based variable importance assessment to clarify whether the importance of poverty risks factors differs in urban and rural locations. It shows little regional differences among the major poverty risk factors, and it demonstrates that the opportunity structure, like density of workplaces or aggravated access in mountain areas, seem to be of minor importance compared to risk factors that relate to the immediate social situation.
Keywords
Admin-data, Poverty, Random forest
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ISBN
ISSN
0269-0942
1470-9325
1470-9325
Language
English
Created during FHNW affiliation
No
Strategic action fields FHNW
Publication status
Published
Review
Peer review of the complete publication
Open access category
Hybrid
License
Citation
Hümbelin, O., Hobi, L., & Fluder, R. (2022). Rich cities, poor countryside? Social structure of the poor and poverty risks in urban and rural places in an affluent country. Local Economy, 37(3), 169–193. https://doi.org/10.1177/02690942221104774