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Inequalities and Their Measurement

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  • Heshmati, Almas

    (Jönköping University)

Abstract

This paper is a review of the recent advances in the measurement of inequality. Inequality can have several dimensions. Economists are mostly concerned with the income and consumption dimensions of inequality. Several inequality indices including the most widely used index of inequality namely the Gini coefficient is discussed. Non-income inequality includes inequality in skills, education, opportunities, happiness, health, wealth, and others. The direct and indirect effects of inequality in non-income factors on earnings and health are discussed. Results from review of the literature suggest relationship between inequality in income and non-income dimensions. This indicates that one should account for the interrelationship between the different dimensions in the measurement and analyses of inequalities.

Suggested Citation

  • Heshmati, Almas, 2004. "Inequalities and Their Measurement," IZA Discussion Papers 1219, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1219
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    Cited by:

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    2. D'ANGELO Emanuela & LILLA Marco, 2007. "Is there more than one linkage between Social Network and Inequality?," IRISS Working Paper Series 2007-12, IRISS at CEPS/INSTEAD.
    3. Kim, Yunhee & Lee, Jeong-Dong & Heshmati, Almas, 2008. "Analysis of Pay Inequality and its Impacts on Growth and Performance in the Korean Manufacturing Industry," IZA Discussion Papers 3774, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Eleni Karagiannaki, 2017. "The empirical relationship between income poverty and income inequality in rich and middle income countries," CASE Papers /206, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    5. Richard Bernknopf & Paul Amos, 2014. "Measuring earthquake risk concentration for hazard mitigation," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 74(3), pages 2163-2192, December.
    6. Salvatore Morelli & Timothy Smeeding & Jeffrey Thompson, 2014. "Post-1970 Trends in Within-Country Inequality and Poverty: Rich and Middle Income Countries," CSEF Working Papers 356, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy.
    7. Heshmati, Almas, 2004. "A Review of Decomposition of Income Inequality," IZA Discussion Papers 1221, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Sergey A. Belozyorov & Olena V. Sokolovska, 2018. "Personal income taxation and income inequality in Asia-Pacific: a cross-country analysis," Journal of Tax Reform, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Ural Federal University, vol. 4(3), pages 236-249.
    9. Heshmati, Almas, 2004. "Data Issues and Databases Used in Analysis of Growth, Poverty and Economic Inequality," IZA Discussion Papers 1263, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Fiedler, Ingo & Kairouz, Sylvia & Costes, Jean-Michel & Weißmüller, Kristina S., 2019. "Gambling spending and its concentration on problem gamblers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 82-91.
    11. Heshmati, Almas, 2004. "The World Distribution of Income and Income Inequality," IZA Discussion Papers 1267, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Karagiannaki, Eleni, 2017. "The empirical relationship between income poverty and income inequality in rich and middle income countries," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 86917, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. Odozi, John C., 2012. "Socio economic gender inequality in Nigeria: A review of theory and measurements," MPRA Paper 41826, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    inequality indices; income distribution; income inequality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General
    • N30 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - General, International, or Comparative

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