Income Inequality: Introducing the Resource Distribution Index (RDI)

Income Inequality: Introducing the Resource Distribution Index (RDI) | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Income Inequality: Introducing the Resource Distribution Index (RDI) Kausar Yasmeen This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6120244/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Develops the Resource Distribution Index (RDI), incorporating income and access to essential resources, for a comprehensive local-level inequality view. More this study aims to solve the issue of income inequality from micro to macro level. Uses secondary data from literature to construct RDI, comparing its scores with traditional measures like the Gini Coefficient and Palma Ratio. The RDI reveals significant disparities in access to essential resources, especially in areas where income measures alone suggest lower inequality. By integrating resource access with income, the RDI better identifies regions in need of targeted interventions, supporting more effective policy recommendations. The idea and findings of RDI is aligned with conventional theories and religious books. Relies on secondary data, which may lack local detail. Future research could incorporate primary data to refine the RDI further. For evaluating and resolving issue of inequality that goes beyond income, the RDI provides policymakers, urban planners, and community leaders with a useful guideline. By using it, communities can get advantage from more focused, socially significant interventions meant to increase resource distribution. globally applicable, the RDI is particularly suited to Australia’s goals for inclusivity and sustainability. This study contributes through introducing a holistic inequality measure that combines income and resource access, filling a research gap in existing studies and presents a more actionable index for local-level interventions on micro level leading to macro level. Income Inequality Resource Distribution Index Resource Access Social Policy Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6120244","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":423760684,"identity":"e00f3dec-7e50-45e0-b1f2-9645f7404400","order_by":0,"name":"Kausar Yasmeen","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA5UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBADOQYGxgYI8wCRWoxJ15LYAGcS0mJw/PjTDR8q7qRvuN3c/JmnhkGO70YC46Mb+LScyTG7OePMs9wNdw42GPMcYzCWvJHAbJyDT8uBHLbbvG2HczfcSGxIzmFjSNxwI4FNGq+W88+f3f7773C6AVDL4Zx/DPWEtdxIMLvN2HA4AailsTm3jQHIIKBF8sYbs5s9xw4bzryR2Mz8t0/CcOaZh814/cJ3Pv3ZjR81h+X5bqQ//jjjm4083/Hkg4/xaVE4gMqXYEDEKQ4gj196FIyCUTAKRgEQAACIk1sIwwJCiQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"University of Nizwa","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kausar","middleName":"","lastName":"Yasmeen","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-02-27 10:53:20","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6120244/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6120244/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":77869642,"identity":"cee03548-2728-497d-9789-137f8aaf14f2","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-03-06 10:02:14","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":512454,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"MusncriptV4.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6120244/v1_covered_b7e658a1-08bb-4be3-b242-0fa165be231d.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Income Inequality: Introducing the Resource Distribution Index (RDI)","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Income Inequality, Resource Distribution Index, Resource Access, Social Policy","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6120244/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6120244/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eDevelops the Resource Distribution Index (RDI), incorporating income and access to essential resources, for a comprehensive local-level inequality view. More this study aims to solve the issue of income inequality from micro to macro level. Uses secondary data from literature to construct RDI, comparing its scores with traditional measures like the Gini Coefficient and Palma Ratio. The RDI reveals significant disparities in access to essential resources, especially in areas where income measures alone suggest lower inequality. By integrating resource access with income, the RDI better identifies regions in need of targeted interventions, supporting more effective policy recommendations. The idea and findings of RDI is aligned with conventional theories and religious books. Relies on secondary data, which may lack local detail. Future research could incorporate primary data to refine the RDI further. For evaluating and resolving issue of inequality that goes beyond income, the RDI provides policymakers, urban planners, and community leaders with a useful guideline. By using it, communities can get advantage from more focused, socially significant interventions meant to increase resource distribution. globally applicable, the RDI is particularly suited to Australia’s goals for inclusivity and sustainability. This study contributes through introducing a holistic inequality measure that combines income and resource access, filling a research gap in existing studies and presents a more actionable index for local-level interventions on micro level leading to macro level.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Income Inequality: Introducing the Resource Distribution Index (RDI)","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-03-05 08:48:50","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6120244/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"3ed4a646-c991-4b87-8a7e-c557f82e7e44","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 5th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-03-06T09:53:51+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-03-05 08:48:50","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6120244","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6120244","identity":"rs-6120244","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}