Ordinal Variables and the Measurement of Polarization

Alessio Fusco and Jacques Silber

No 2011-33, LISER Working Paper Series from Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER)

Abstract: This paper aims at proposing measures of polarization for the distribution of a variable when information on the latter is only ordinal. The measures proposed are borrowed from the recent literature on the measurement of segregation. An empirical illustration is given, based on the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) for the year 2008. The ordinal variable refers to the „ability to make ends meet? and polarization is measured between groups defined by the citizenship of the household member who answered the household questionnaire. Results show that Luxembourg and Estonia have the highest degree of polarization whereas Cyprus, Ireland and the United Kingdom display the lowest degree.

Keywords: polarization; ordinal information; EU-SILC; segregation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 D63 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32 pages
Date: 2011-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cwa and nep-eur
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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