Poverty, Inequality, Discrimination and Belonging

What is associated with reported discrimination? This paper examines the question through the Economics of Belonging, using an assembled database of 55 countries and individual World Risk Poll responses. The analysis first considers GDP per capita, economic growth, growth volatility, income inequality, and human development, and then examines institutional access, government care, neighbor care, and family and friend support. After controlling for freedom of expression, the economic and human-development indicators show weak associations with reported discrimination in the available samples of 51–53 countries. A doubling of GDP per capita is associated with a 1.35 percentage-point increase in reported discrimination, with a 95% confidence interval from −0.90 to 3.59. Within countries, relative economic position matters. Reported discrimination averages 28.86% in the lowest national income quintile and 23.80% in the remaining four quintiles. The average gap is 5.06 percentage points and is positive in 46 of 53 countries. Among the four positive dimensions of belonging, neighbor care is the only one with a statistically significant positive association with reported discrimination at the 5% level after controlling for expression in the common sample of 51 countries. Its partial correlation is 0.402. This finding is consistent with a compensatory interpretation in which exclusion increases the need for local support. Establishing the direction and effectiveness of compensation requires further evidence. The findings support measuring discrimination directly as a distinct dimension of belonging and distinguishing national prosperity from individuals’ economic position within society. The main assembled data are available in the replication package accompanying The Economics of Belonging: Measuring Economic and Social Achievement across Nations. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2360382 Supplementary materials include Within_Country_Replication.zip, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23997821, containing national estimation files and individual neighbor-care analyses, and Belonging_Correlations_Replication.zip, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23997703, containing the common-sample belonging correlations and analyses among respondents reporting discrimination.