Apportionments with minimum Gini index of disproportionality: a Quadratic Knapsack approach

Daniele Pretolani ()

Annals of Operations Research, 2014, vol. 215, issue 1, 257-267

Abstract: The ultimate goal of proportional apportionment methods is the minimization of disproportionality, i.e., unequal distribution of political representation among voters, or citizens. The Gini index is a well known tool for measuring inequality. In this work we propose a quotient method that minimizes the Gini index of disproportionality. Our method reduces the rounding of quotas to an instance of quadratic knapsack, a widely studied combinatorial optimization problem. Preliminary computational results, including real cases from the EU Parliament and the US House of Representatives, show that the method is effective, since the instances to solve are rather easy. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Keywords: Proportional methods; Gini index; Quadratic Knapsack (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1007/s10479-013-1383-7

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