The Lorenz criterion of preferable distributions fails to distinguish adequately between convergence to the global mean and clustering around local means. This concern has motivated independent work by Wolfson, and Esteban and Ray on the notion of polarization. In this paper I build on this...

This paper develops an axiomatic approach to the measurement of social exclusion. At the individual level, social exclusion is viewed in terms of deprivation of the person concerned with respect to different functionings in the society. At the aggregate level we treat social exclusion as a...

This paper considers an intermediate notion of polarization which is defined as a convex mix of relative and absolute concepts of polarization. While absolute polarization indices remain unchanged under equal absolute augmentation in all incomes, relative indices do not change under...

We estimate the distribution of economic insecurity in Italy and the U.S. using data from 1994 to 2010. Economic insecurity for each individual is assumed to depend on both current wealth and the changes in wealth that have been experienced in the past. The first element plays the role of the...