This paper offers the first analytical framework to tackle the concept of aporophobia (rejection of the poor), as introduced by Cortina's ground-breaking work. It can be considered a first step towards a fully-fledged theory of aporophobia. More specifically, i) it provides a conceptual analysis...

This paper explains how to build Lorenz Curves for income distributions and discusses their use for inequality measurement. A short conceptual background, a step-by-step procedure and a simple numerical example illustrate how to calculate and draw Lorenz Curves. A discussion on the use of Lorenz...

This paper illustrates how Lorenz Curves can be used to identify the best income distribution on social welfare grounds, within a set of alternative income distributions generated by different policy options. After highlighting some drawbacks of using specific functional forms of the Social...

This paper illustrates how Crossing Generalised Lorenz (GL) curves can be used to identify the best income distribution on social welfare grounds within a set of alternative income distributions generated by different policy options. It starts by illustrating two alternative income distributions...

The aim of this article is to synthesize the various views of gender inequality and various indicators used to measure it. It argues that women lag behind men in most indicators of socio-economic development and they constitute the majority of the poor, the unemployed and the socially...

Concerns over rising inequality have heightened in the years following the 2007-09 global financial crisis and, more recently, with the COVID-19 pandemic. This staff discussion paper reviews the historical facts regarding income inequality in Canada, comparing Canada with the United States and...

We assess whether the value of humanity (or global social welfare) has improved in the last decades despite (or because of ) the substantial increase in global population sizes. We use for this purpose a relatively unknown but simple and attractive social evaluation approach based on...

We assess whether the value of humanity (or global social welfare) has improved in the last decades despite (or because of ) the substantial increase in global population sizes. We use for this purpose a relatively unknown but simple and attractive social evaluation approach based on...

The measurement of well-being in its multidimensional aspects has become ever more prominent in monitoring development over the last three decades. This note discusses some of the properties of a recent multidimensional index proposed by the UNDP. Unlike most of its predecessors, UNDP's...

This paper explores some of the dimensions related to poverty and exclusion, by defining a Relational Capability Index (RCI) which focuses on the quality of relationships among people and on their level of relational empowerment. This index is rooted in a relational anthropology; it insists on...