Robust International Comparisons of Distributions of Disposable Income and Regional Public Goods

Nicolas Gravel (), Patrick Moyes and Benoit Tarroux ()

Economica, 2009, vol. 76, issue 303, pages 432-461

Abstract: The paper provides robust normative comparisons of 12 OECD countries based on their distributions of disposable income and access to two regional public goods: infant mortality and pupil-teacher ratios at public schools. Comparisons are performed using two and three-dimensional dominance criteria that coincide with the unanimity of utilitarian judgments taken over specific classes of utility functions. The criteria succeed in ranking conclusively about 30% of all possible comparisons in the two-dimensional case, compared with 67% for one-dimensional income-based comparisons and 6% for three-dimensional ones. Introducing local public goods seems to worsen the relative standing of Anglo-Saxon countries. Copyright (c) The London School of Economics and Political Science 2008.

Date: 2009
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