The Gini Coefficient: Its Origins

Simone Pellegrino

No 86, Working papers from Department of Economics, Social Studies, Applied Mathematics and Statistics (Dipartimento di Scienze Economico-Sociali e Matematico-Statistiche), University of Torino

Abstract: This essay retraces the historical steps and analyses the theoretical motivation that influenced the definition of the Gini index G and its application today. In particular, it tries to link together the ‘purely statistical’ approach and the ‘contextual’ approach, related not only to the statistical methods discovered in the Gini’s period but also to the succession of these discoveries. Having discussed the ‘contextual’ approach of these events, the remainder of the essay focuses on the ‘purely statistical’ approach, by presenting the statistical methods discovered by Corrado Gini and Gaetano Pietra as they chronologically appear in the years 1912, 1914 and 1915. The concept of mean difference, proposed by Corrado Gini in 1912 for applications in statistics and economics, is discussed. Then the difference between the concentration ratio R Gini advanced in 1914 and the Gini index G, as it is usually used today, is highlighted in light of its geometrical interpretation with the Lorenz piecewise linear function proposed by Gaetano Pietra in 1915.

Keywords: Gini Coefficient; Lorenz Curve (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D63 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 31 pages
Date: 2024-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his and nep-hpe
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Related works:
Working Paper: The Gini Coefficient: Its Origins (2020)
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