Measuring inequality

2019/01/01 by Thomas McGregor, Brock Smith, Samuel Wills · 1 citation
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Social Sciences · #Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth #Income, Poverty, and Inequality #Social and Economic Development in India

paper · doi:10.1093/oxrep/grz015

openalex publication_date 2019/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25

Abstract

Abstract Inequality is important, both for its own sake and for its political, social, and economic implications. However, measuring inequality is not straightforward, as it requires decisions to be made on the variable, population, and distributional characteristics of interest. These decisions will naturally influence the conclusions that are drawn so they must be closely linked to an underlying purpose, which is ultimately defined by a social welfare function. This paper outlines important considerations when making each of these decisions, before surveying recent advances in measuring inequality and suggesting avenues for future work.

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Cited by

• Monitoring privilege for health equity: building consensus on indicators to monitor socioeconomic advantage through a modified Delphi survey

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