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Inequality and Social Welfare

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  • Wodon, Quentin
  • Yitzhaki, Shlomo

Abstract

This paper provides a review of part of the literature on inequality and social welfare, with a special focus on the Gini index. The paper first presents the extended Gini index used for measuring inequality, as well as the source decomposition of the Gini used to analyze how changes in income and consumption sources affect overall inequality. The paper then provides a wide range of policy applications of the source decomposition of the extended Gini index, including techniques for analyzing the impact on inequality of the targeting of programs as opposed to the rules for the allocation of benefits among program participants.

Suggested Citation

  • Wodon, Quentin & Yitzhaki, Shlomo, 2002. "Inequality and Social Welfare," MPRA Paper 12298, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:12298
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Woden, Q.T. & Ayres, W. & Barenstein, M. & Hicks, N. & Lee, K. & Maloney, W. & Peeters, P. & Siaens, C. & Yitzjaki, S., 2000. "Poverty and Policy in Latin America and Caribeean," Papers 467, World Bank - Technical Papers.
    2. Shlomo Yitzhaki, 2001. "A Public Finance Approach to Assessing Poverty Alleviation," NBER Working Papers 8062, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    4. Robert I. Lerman & Shlomo Yitzhaki, 1994. "Effect of Marginal Changes in Income Sources On U.S. Income Inequality," Public Finance Review, , vol. 22(4), pages 403-417, October.
    5. Shlomo Yitzhaki, 1979. "Relative Deprivation and the Gini Coefficient," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 93(2), pages 321-324.
    6. Atkinson, Anthony B., 1970. "On the measurement of inequality," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 244-263, September.
    7. Lerman, Robert I & Yitzhaki, Shlomo, 1985. "Income Inequality Effects by Income," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 67(1), pages 151-156, February.
    8. Quentin Wodon & Shlomo Yitzhaki, 2002. "Evaluating the Impact of Government Programs on Social Welfare: The Role of Targeting and the Allocation Rules Among Program Beneficiaries," Public Finance Review, , vol. 30(2), pages 102-123, March.
    9. Stark, Oded & Taylor, J Edward & Yitzhaki, Shlomo, 1986. "Remittances and Inequality," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 96(383), pages 722-740, September.
    10. Donaldson, David & Weymark, John A., 1983. "Ethically flexible gini indices for income distributions in the continuum," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 353-358, April.
    11. Yitzhaki, Shlomo, 1982. "Relative deprivation and economic welfare," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 99-113.
    12. Garner, Thesia I, 1993. "Consumer Expenditures and Inequality: An Analysis Based on Decomposition of the Gini Coefficient," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 75(1), pages 134-138, February.
    13. Sen, Amartya, 1973. "On Economic Inequality," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198281931.
    14. Wodon, Quentin & Velez, Eduardo, 2001. "Poverty and Inequality," MPRA Paper 12307, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Louise Cord & Quentin Wodon, 2001. "Do Agricultural Programs in Mexico Alleviate Poverty? Evidence from the Ejido Sector," Latin American Journal of Economics-formerly Cuadernos de Economía, Instituto de Economía. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile., vol. 38(114), pages 239-256.
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    Cited by:

    1. Johannes König & Carsten Schröder, 2018. "Inequality-minimization with a given public budget," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 16(4), pages 607-629, December.
    2. C. Mark Blackden & Quentin Wodon, 2006. "Gender, Time Use, and Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7214.
    3. Wodon, Quentin & Yitzhaki, Shlomo, 2003. "The effect of using grouped data on the estimation of the Gini income elasticity," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 78(2), pages 153-159, February.
    4. Mishra, Ashok & El-Osta, Hisham & Gillespie, Jeffrey M., 2009. "Effect of agricultural policy on regional income inequality among farm households," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 325-340, May.
    5. Alejandro López-Feldman, 2012. "Environmental Dependence of Mexican Rural Households: Exploring the Role of Income, Shocks, Rules and Roads," Working Papers DTE 528, CIDE, División de Economía.
    6. World Bank Group, 2017. "Republic of Congo Poverty Assessment Report," World Bank Publications - Reports 28302, The World Bank Group.
    7. Agobdji, Damien & Amouzouvi, Kokou & Bouare, Kname & Diagne, Idrissa & Kielem, Aristide, 2013. "Analyse de l'impact de la hausse mondiale des prix et des politiques de réponse du gouvernement sur la pauvreté," PEP Working Papers 160424, Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP).
    8. Wodon, Quentin & Lopez-Acevedo, Gladys & Siaens, Corinne, 2003. "Poverty in Mexico's Southern States," MPRA Paper 10578, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Damien Agobdji & Kokou Amouzouvi & Kname Bouare & Idrissa Diagne & Aristide Kielem, 2013. "Analyse de l’impact de la hausse mondiale des prix et des politiques de réponse du gouvernment sur la pauvreté," Working Papers PMMA 2013-10, PEP-PMMA.
    10. López-Feldman, Alejandro & Mora, Jorge & Taylor, J. Edward, 2007. "Does natural resource extraction mitigate poverty and inequality? Evidence from rural Mexico and a Lacandona Rainforest Community," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(2), pages 251-269, April.
    11. Zdeňka Malá & Gabriela Červená, 2012. "Relation And Development Of Expenditure Inequality And Income Inequality Of Czech Households," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 57(192), pages 55-78, January –.
    12. E. Schechtman & S. Yitzhaki, 2003. "A Family of Correlation Coefficients Based on the Extended Gini Index," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 1(2), pages 129-146, August.
    13. Ayal Kimhi & Moran Sandel, 2011. "Religious Schooling, Secular Schooling, and Household Income Inequality in Israel," Working Papers 29, AlmaLaurea Inter-University Consortium.
    14. Ajwad, Mohamed Ishan & Wodon, Quentin, 2002. "Who Benefits from Increased Access to Public Services at the Local Level? A Marginal Benefit Incidence Analysis for Education and Basic Infrastructure," MPRA Paper 12309, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Siaens, Corinne & Subbarao, K. & Wodon, Quentin, 2006. "Assessing the Welfare of Orphans in Rwanda: Poverty, Work, Schooling, and Health," MPRA Paper 11085, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. López-Feldman, Alejandro, 2014. "Shocks, Income and Wealth: Do They Affect the Extraction of Natural Resources by Rural Households?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(S1), pages 91-100.
    17. Wędrowska Ewa & Muszyńska Joanna, 2021. "The Impact of Family and Child-Allowances on Income Inequality in Poland. Gini Decomposition by Income Sources," Folia Oeconomica Stetinensia, Sciendo, vol. 21(1), pages 144-160, June.
    18. Wodon, Quentin & Velez, Eduardo, 2001. "Poverty and Inequality," MPRA Paper 12307, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Oscar J. Cárdenas-Rodríguez & Gabriel González-König & Diana Ojeda-Revah & Quentin Wodon, 2004. "Do indigenous peoples benefit from poverty programs? Evidence from Mexico´s 2000 census," Estudios Económicos, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos, vol. 19(1), pages 125-135.
    20. Wodon, Quentin & Estache, Antonio & Foster, Vivien, 2002. "Making infrastructure reform in Latin America work for the poor," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), December.
    21. Quentin Wodon, 2012. "Improving the Targeting of Social Programs in Ghana," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 13082.
    22. Wodon, Quentin, 2001. "Government Programs and Poverty," MPRA Paper 12308, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    23. Alderman, Harold & Behrman, Jere R. & Tasneem, Afia, 2015. "The contribution of increased equity to the estimated social benefits from a transfer program: An illustration from PROGRESA:," IFPRI discussion papers 1475, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inequality; Social welfare;

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

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