Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Some Applications

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Multilateral Wellbeing Comparison in a Many Dimensioned World

Part of the book series: Global Perspectives on Wealth and Distribution ((GPWD))

  • 126 Accesses

Abstract

The need to compare a collection of distributions multilaterally can arise in a variety of situations. Here in studies of distributional differences, the diversity of application in the literature is illustrated in univariate and multivariate paradigms. Five examples are reported: studies covering differences in income levels in Canadian Aboriginal–non-Aboriginal and gender based groupings; the effects of German education reforms on the educational attainments of students; investment portfolio performance comparisons; land allocation and crop returns in Sub Saharan Africa irrigation schemes; and a trivariate national income-education-health comparison.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Shorrocks (1978) seeks indices mobility (equality of opportunity) indices M for square transition matrices which possess four primary properties of normalization (0 ≤ M ≤ 1), Monotonicity (increasing with independence), Immobility (M = 0 when dependence is complete) and Perfect Mobility (M = 1 independence is complete) DISGINI can be shown to satisfy these requirements for any square or non-square transition matrix.

  2. 2.

    Income is taken in logarithms “in order to reflect the diminishing returns to transforming income to human capabilities” (Anand and Sen 1994, p.10; see also Brandolini 2008).

References

  • Anand, S., & Sen, A. (1994, July). Sustainable Human Development: Concepts and Priorities. UNDP Human Development Report Office, Occasional Paper No. 12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, G., & Leo, T. W. (2014). Ranking Alternative Non-Combinable Prospects: A Stochastic Dominance Based Route to the Second Best Solution (Working Paper 520, 2014-10-20). University of Toronto, Department of Economics

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, G., & Manero, A. (2019). Crop Based Incomes and Access to Land in Sub Saharan Africa Agricultural Irrigation Schemes: Assessing Equality of Opportunity Using Multilateral Distributional Comparison Techniques. Mimeo University of Toronto.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, G., & Thomas, J. (2019). Measuring Multi-Group Polarization, Segmentation and Ambiguity: Increasingly Unequal Yet Similar Constituent Canadian Income Distributions. Social Indicators Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-019-02121-z.

  • Anderson, G. J., Linton, O., & Whang, Y.-J. (2012). Nonparametric Estimation and Inference About the Overlap of Two Distributions” Oliver Linton and Yoon-Jae Whang. Journal of Econometrics, 171(1), 1–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, G. J., Post, T., & Whang, Y.-J. (2018). Somewhere Between Utopia and Dystopia: Choosing From Multiple Incomparable Prospects. Journal of Business and Economic Statistics. https://doi.org/10.1080/07350015.2018.1515765.

  • Anderson, G., Farcomeni, A., Pittau, M.G., & Zelli, R. (2019a). Multidimensional Nation Wellbeing, More Equal Yet More Polarized: An Analysis of the Progress of Human Development Since 1990. Forthcoming Journal of Economic Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, G., Pittau, M. G., Zelli, R., & Fruehauf, T. (2019b). Educational Reform and Equal Opportunity in Capability Acquisition in 21st Century Germany: New Tools for Quantifying Distributional Differences in the Absence of Cardinal Comparability. Mimeo University of Toronto.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, G., Linton, O., Pittauz, M. G., Whangx, Y.-J., & Zelliz, R. (2019). Segmentation or Convergence in European Household Income Distributions? New Tools for Analyzing Multilateral Differentness in Collections of Distributions. University of Toronto, Economics Department. Mimeo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson, A. B. (2012). Public Economics After the Idea of Justice. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 13(4), 521–536.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Banz, R. W. (1981). The Relationship Between Return and Market Value of Common Stocks. Journal of Financial Economics, 9, 3–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Basu, S. (1983). The Relationship Between Earnings’ Yield, Market Value and Return for NYSE Common Stocks: Further Evidence. Journal of Financial Economics, 12, 129–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Battistin, E., Blundell, R., & Lewbel, A. (2009). Why Is Consumption More Log Normal Than Income? Gibrat’s Law Revisited. Journal of Political Economy, 117(6), 1140–1154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bjornlund, H., van Rooyen, A., & Stirzaker, R. (2017). Profitability and Productivity Barriers and Opportunities in Small-Scale Irrigation Schemes. International Journal of Water Resources Development, 33(5), 685–689.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bjornlund, H., Zuo, A., Wheeler, S. A., Parry, K., Pittock, J., Mdemu, M., & Moyo, M. (2019). The Dynamics of the Relationship Between Household Decision-Making and Farm Household Income in Small-Scale Irrigation Schemes in Southern Africa. Agricultural Water Management, 213(1), 135–145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blundell, R., & Preston, I. (1998). Consumption Inequality and Income Uncertainty. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 113(2), 603–640.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brandolini, A. (2008, April). On Applying Synthetic Indices of Multidimensional Well-Being: Health and Income Inequalities in Selected EU Countries. Banca d’Italia, Temi di discussione (Working Papers No. 668).

    Google Scholar 

  • Browning, M., & Lusardi, A. (1996). Household Saving: Micro Theories and Micro Facts. Journal of Economic literature, 34(4), 1797–1855.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carneiro, P., Hansen, K. T., & Heckman, J. J. (2003). 2001 Lawrence R. Klein Lecture Estimating Distributions of Treatment Effects with an Application to the Returns to Schooling and Measurement of the Effects of Uncertainty on College Choice. International Economic Review, 44, 361–422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Durlauf, S. (1996). A Theory of Persistent Income Inequality. Journal of Economic Growth, 1(1), 75–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Durlauf, S. N., & Quah, D. (2002). Chapter 4: The New Empirics of Economic Growth. In J. B. Taylor & M. Woodford (Eds.), Handbook of Macroeconomics. Amsterdam: North Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, L., & Lorie, J. (1970). Some Studies of the Variability of Returns on Investments in Common Stocks. Journal of Business, 43, 99–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fortin, N., Green, D. A., Lemieux, T., Milligan, K., & Riddell, W. C. (2012). Canadian Inequality: Recent Developments and Policy Options. Canadian Public Policy, 38(2), 121–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, M. (1957). A Theory of the Consumption Function. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Galor, O. (1996, July). Convergence? Inferences from Theoretical Models. The Economic Journal, 106(437), 1056–1069.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibrat, R. (1931). Les Inégalités Économiques. Paris: Librairie du Recueil Sirey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gini, C (1916). Il concetto di transvariazione e le sue prime applicazioni. In C. Gini (Eds.), (1959), Giornale degli Economisti e Rivista di Statistica (pp. 1–55).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gini, C. (1959). Transvariazione. Rome: Libreria Goliardica.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, D. A., Riddell, W. C., & St-Hilaire, F. (2016). Income Inequality in Canada: Driving Forces, Outcomes and Policy. Income Inequality: The Canadian Story (pp. 1–73). Montreal: Institute for Research on Public Policy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hahn, F. H., & Matthews, R. C. O. (1964). The Theory of Economic Growth: A Survey. Economic Journal, 74, 779–901.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, R. E. (1978). Stochastic Implications of the Life Cycle-Permanent Income Hypothesis: Theory and Evidence. Journal of Political Economy, 86(6), 971–987.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jegadeesh, N. (1990). Evidence of Predictable Behavior of Security Returns. Journal of Finance, 45, 881–898.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jegadeesh, N., & Titman, S. (1993). Returns to Buying Winners and Selling Losers: Implications for Stock Market Efficiency. Journal of Finance, 48(1), 65–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lefranc, A., Pistolesi, N., & Trannoy, A. (2009). Equality of Opportunity and Luck: Definitions and Testable Conditions, with an Application to Income in France. Journal of Public Economics, 93, 1189–1207.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manero, A. (2017). The Limitations of Negative Incomes in the Gini Coefficient Decomposition by Source. Applied Economics Letters, 24(14), 977–981.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mulligan, C. B. (1997). Parental Priorities and Economic Inequality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quah, D. (1996a). Convergence Empirics Across Countries with (Some) Capital Mobility. Journal of Economic Growth, 1, 95–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quah, D. T. (1996b). Twin Peaks: Growth and Convergence in Models of Distribution Dynamics. The Economic Journal, 106, 1045–1055.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quah, D. T. (1997). Empirics for Growth and Distribution: Stratification, Polarisation and Convergence Clubs. Journal of Economic Growth, 2, 27–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sen, A. K. (2009). The Idea of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Shalit, H. (2014). Portfolio Risk Management Using the Lorenz Curve. The Journal of Portfolio Management, 40, 152–159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shalit, H., & Yitzhaki, S. (1984). Mean Gini, Portfolio Theory and the Pricing of Risky Assets. Journal of Finance, 39, 1449–1468.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shorrocks, A. F. (1978). The Measurement of Mobility. Econometrica, 46, 1013–1024.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Solon, G. (1992). Intergenerational Income Mobility in the United States. American Economic Review, 82(3), 393–408.

    Google Scholar 

  • Solon, G. (2008). Intergenerational Income Mobility. In S. Durlauf & L. Blume (Eds.), The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics (2nd ed.). London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Solow, R. M. (1956). A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 70, 65–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stiglitz, J. E., Sen, A., & Fitoussi, J. P. (2010). Mis-measuring Our Lives: Why GDP Doesn’t Add Up. In The Report of the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress. New York/London: The New Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNPD. (2016). Human Development Report 2016. Washington DC: Communications Development Incorporated.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. (2017). https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/knowledgebase/articles/906519

  • Yitzhaki, S. (1982). Stochastic Dominance, Mean-Variance and Gini’s Mean Difference. American Economic Review, 72, 178–185.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Gordon Anderson

Authors
  1. Gordon Anderson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gordon Anderson .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Anderson, G. (2019). Some Applications. In: Multilateral Wellbeing Comparison in a Many Dimensioned World. Global Perspectives on Wealth and Distribution. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21130-1_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21130-1_7

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-21129-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-21130-1

  • eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation