An income inequality measure satisfies the Pigou-Dalton transfer principle if progressive transfers decrease income inequality. When transfers cause transaction costs, one can trace out the maximum leakage such that the transfer pays at the margin. An income inequality measure is leaky-bucket...

An income inequality measure satisfies the Pigou-Dalton transfer principle if progressive transfers decrease income inequality. When transfers cause transaction costs, one can trace out the maximum leakage such that the transfer pays at the margin. An income inequality measure is leaky-bucket...

Measuring the extent to which distribution is polarized has recently attracted some attention from economists. Polarization, though related to inequality, is a different concept and implies a tendency towards clustering of observations into groups. It is of interest because it may be related to...

In several economic fields, such as those related to health or education, the individuals’ characteristics are measured by bounded variables. Accordingly, these characteristics may be indistinctly represented by achievements or shortfalls. A difficulty arises when inequality needs to be...

We provide a simple proof of Foster's (1983) characterization of the Theil inequality index.

This paper emphasizes the properties of a family of inequality measures which extends the Atkinson indices and is axiomatically characterized by a multiplicative decomposition property where the withingroup component is a generalized weighted mean with weights summing exactly to 1. This family...

This paper identifies a multiplicative decomposition for the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke poverty indices as a product of the three components which should be involved in every poverty index: the incidence of poverty, measured by the headcount ratio, the intensity of poverty, measured by the aggregate...

We consider the classical inequality measures due to Gini, Bonferroni, and De Vergottini and we present a brief review of the three inequality indices and the associated welfare functions, in the correspondence scheme introduced by Blackorby and Donaldson, and Weymark. The three classical...

We consider the classical inequality measures due to Gini, Bonferroni, and De Vergottini and we present a brief review of the three inequality indices and the associated welfare functions, in the correspondence scheme introduced by Blackorby and Donaldson, and Weymark. The three classical...