The authors derive criteria for ranking income distributions where households differ in equity-relevant nonincome characteristics ('needs'), using methods that do not require cardinal specifications of equivalence scales. They consider comparisons for situations where the distributions of needs...

This study offers a longitudinal scrutiny of the development of pension policy in Finland and evaluates the impacts that the shift from a 'marginal' to an 'institutional' welfare state imposed on economic well-being among the elderly. The data that are used stem from household budget surveys...