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Estimating the Lorenz curve and Gini index with right censored data: a Polya tree approach

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  • Chiara Gigliarano
  • Pietro Muliere

Abstract

In this paper we estimate income distributions, Lorenz curves and the related Gini index using a Bayesian nonparametric approach based on Polya tree priors. In particular, we propose an alternative approach for dealing with contaminated observations and extreme income values: avoiding the common practise that removes these critical data, we instead treat them as censored observations and apply a Polya tree model for incomplete data. The proposed method is illustrated through an empirical application based on the European Survey on Income Living Conditions data. Copyright Sapienza Università di Roma 2013

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  • Chiara Gigliarano & Pietro Muliere, 2013. "Estimating the Lorenz curve and Gini index with right censored data: a Polya tree approach," METRON, Springer;Sapienza Università di Roma, vol. 71(2), pages 105-122, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:metron:v:71:y:2013:i:2:p:105-122
    DOI: 10.1007/s40300-013-0009-9
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    9. Richard Burkhauser & Shuaizhang Feng & Stephen Jenkins & Jeff Larrimore, 2011. "Estimating trends in US income inequality using the Current Population Survey: the importance of controlling for censoring," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 9(3), pages 393-415, September.
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    2. Xiaofeng Lv & Gupeng Zhang & Guangyu Ren, 2017. "Gini index estimation for lifetime data," Lifetime Data Analysis: An International Journal Devoted to Statistical Methods and Applications for Time-to-Event Data, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 275-304, April.
    3. Lidia Ceriani & Paolo Verme, 2022. "Population Changes and the Measurement of Inequality," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 162(2), pages 549-575, July.

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