Gini index, inequality comparisons and maximin axiom: a paradox

Louis de Mesnard

No 9902, LATEC - Document de travail - Economie (1991-2003) from LATEC, Laboratoire d'Analyse et des Techniques EConomiques, CNRS UMR 5118, Université de Bourgogne

Abstract: Inequality is appreciated only through a relevant measure, traditionally the Gini index, but this one presents a weakness that prevents to consider it as valid: to a same Gini may correspond many distributions. For the most simple case, a concentration curve with two linear segments, a criterion is proposed, based on the maximin: beside curves with same Gini, the more egalitarian is those in which each poor has the higher revenue. However, this does not allow to decide for two curves with different Gini: two indeterminate zones appear. This is extended to curves with three linear segments and two kinks. Keywords : Gini; maximin; Lorenz; concentration; inequality

JEL-codes: C43 D63 I32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 14 pages
Date: 1999-03
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:lat:lateco:1999-02

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