Dividing a cake (or) Distributional values in the measurement of economic inequality: an expository note

‘Distributional judgments’—judgments on the extent of inequality in the distribution of income and wealth—are routinely made by economists in exercises aimed at comparing inequalities in alternative situations. Yet the measurement of inequality is informed by certain nuances, which it wo...

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Autor principal: S. Subramanian
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Publicado: Editura ASE Bucuresti 2014
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/d5963103b6d0409fa79f7bba6cee587a
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:d5963103b6d0409fa79f7bba6cee587a2021-12-02T02:01:09ZDividing a cake (or) Distributional values in the measurement of economic inequality: an expository note1843-22981844-8208https://doaj.org/article/d5963103b6d0409fa79f7bba6cee587a2014-05-01T00:00:00Z http://jpe.ro/pdf.php?id=6302 https://doaj.org/toc/1843-2298https://doaj.org/toc/1844-8208‘Distributional judgments’—judgments on the extent of inequality in the distribution of income and wealth—are routinely made by economists in exercises aimed at comparing inequalities in alternative situations. Yet the measurement of inequality is informed by certain nuances, which it would do well to be attentive to. In particular, the values underlying measurement protocols are not always made explicit, which tends to lend a somewhat misleading semblance of ‘value-neutrality’ to the activity of measurement. It is argued, with specific reference to the problem of inequality measurement, that such an orientation can compromise the possibility of accurate diagnosis and appropriate policy prescription. There is little that is original in this article, and much that is owed to the pioneering contributions of Serge-Chritophe Kolm. The emphasis throughout is on explicating an important issue through a deliberate effort at achieving simplicity in both argument and expressionS. SubramanianEditura ASE Bucurestiarticlerelative inequality measureabsolute measurecentrist measureKolmEconomics as a scienceHB71-74DEENFRJournal of Philosophical Economics, Vol VII, Iss 2, Pp 2-19 (2014)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language DE
EN
FR
topic relative inequality measure
absolute measure
centrist measure
Kolm
Economics as a science
HB71-74
spellingShingle relative inequality measure
absolute measure
centrist measure
Kolm
Economics as a science
HB71-74
S. Subramanian
Dividing a cake (or) Distributional values in the measurement of economic inequality: an expository note
description ‘Distributional judgments’—judgments on the extent of inequality in the distribution of income and wealth—are routinely made by economists in exercises aimed at comparing inequalities in alternative situations. Yet the measurement of inequality is informed by certain nuances, which it would do well to be attentive to. In particular, the values underlying measurement protocols are not always made explicit, which tends to lend a somewhat misleading semblance of ‘value-neutrality’ to the activity of measurement. It is argued, with specific reference to the problem of inequality measurement, that such an orientation can compromise the possibility of accurate diagnosis and appropriate policy prescription. There is little that is original in this article, and much that is owed to the pioneering contributions of Serge-Chritophe Kolm. The emphasis throughout is on explicating an important issue through a deliberate effort at achieving simplicity in both argument and expression
format article
author S. Subramanian
author_facet S. Subramanian
author_sort S. Subramanian
title Dividing a cake (or) Distributional values in the measurement of economic inequality: an expository note
title_short Dividing a cake (or) Distributional values in the measurement of economic inequality: an expository note
title_full Dividing a cake (or) Distributional values in the measurement of economic inequality: an expository note
title_fullStr Dividing a cake (or) Distributional values in the measurement of economic inequality: an expository note
title_full_unstemmed Dividing a cake (or) Distributional values in the measurement of economic inequality: an expository note
title_sort dividing a cake (or) distributional values in the measurement of economic inequality: an expository note
publisher Editura ASE Bucuresti
publishDate 2014
url https://doaj.org/article/d5963103b6d0409fa79f7bba6cee587a
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