Abstract
Since measurement is intimately linked to mathematics, there is a frequent tendency to treat measures of inequality as unambiguously accurate and satisfactory indicators of the phenomenon they are supposed to measure. However, and as this chapter argues, social measurement cannot be dissociated from underlying normative considerations of what constitutes the subject of measurement. Specifically, inequality measures, in the end, can only be as convincing as the ethical axiomatics on which they are founded—a proposition that is explored and explained in this chapter.
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© 2019 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
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Subramanian, S. (2019). The Measurement of Economic Inequality. In: Inequality and Poverty. SpringerBriefs in Economics. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8185-0_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8185-0_12
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Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
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Online ISBN: 978-981-13-8185-0
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