The Normative Approach to the Measurement of Multidimensional Inequality
Working Paper No. 03-W14R
John A. Weymark
ABSTRACT [article]
This article provides an introduction to the normative approach
to multidimensional inequality measurement. Multivariate generalizations
of the procedures used to construct univariate inequality indices from
social evaluation orderings are described. Axiomatizations of multivariate
Atkinson, Kolm-Pollak, and generalized Gini indices are discussed. Maasoumi's
[Econometrica (1986)] two-stage procedure for constructing a
multivariate inequality index is critically examined. A dominance
criterion proposed by Tsui [Social Choice and Welfare (1999)] that takes
account of the dependence between the individual distributions of the
attributes is also considered.
Keywords and Phrases: Multidimensional inequality, inequality indices, multivariate inequality measurement, multivariate majorization
JEL Classification Number: D63