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Horizontal and Vertical Equity

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Abstract

This article describes the concepts of vertical and horizontal equity and provides some normative and positive justifications for them. It then outlines a few of the measures that have been proposed to assess whether government policies, and tax and transfer systems in particular, are vertically and horizontally equitable. It also points to useful references in the literature.

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Duclos, JY. (2018). Horizontal and Vertical Equity. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_1961

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