Thinking about Inequality: Personal Judgment and Income Distributions

Yoram Amiel; Frank Cowell

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511492266

What is inequality? In the late 1990s there was an explosion of interest in the subject that yielded a substantial body of formal tools and results for income-distribution analysis. Nearly all of this is founded on a small set of core assumptions - such as the Principle of Transfers, scale independence, the population principle∑ - that are used to give meaning to specific concepts of inequality measurement, inequality ranking and, indeed, to inequality itself. But does the standard axiomatic structure coincide with public perceptions of inequality? Or is the economist's concept of inequality a thing apart, perpetuated through serial brainwashing in the way the subject is studied and taught? In this 1999 book, Amiel and Cowell examine the evidence from a large international questionnaire experiment using student respondents. Along with basic 'cake-sharing' issues, related questions involving social-welfare rankings, the relationship between inequality and overall income growth and the meaning of poverty comparisons are considered.

‘ … provides a neat and comprehensible introduction to the principles of the modern approach to inequality measurement.’

Source: Economic Journal

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-iv
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Contents
pp v-vii
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List of figures
pp viii-ix
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List of tables
pp x-xii
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Preface
pp xiii-xiv
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1 - Introduction
pp 1-7
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2 - What is inequality? The economists' view
pp 8-17
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3 - An investigative strategy
pp 18-30
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4 - What is inequality? The students' view
pp 31-48
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5 - Income and welfare
pp 49-68
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6 - Income change
pp 69-88
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7 - Poverty
pp 89-113
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8 - A cross-cultural perspective
pp 114-126
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9 - Thinking again about inequality
pp 127-135
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Appendix A - Inequality analysis: a summary of concepts and results
pp 136-142
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Appendix B - The questionnaires
pp 143-172
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References
pp 173-177
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Index
pp 178-181
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Thinking about Inequality

Personal Judgment and Income Distributions

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-iv

Contents
pp v-vii

List of figures
pp viii-ix

List of tables
pp x-xii

Preface
pp xiii-xiv

1 - Introduction
pp 1-7

2 - What is inequality? The economists' view
pp 8-17

3 - An investigative strategy
pp 18-30

4 - What is inequality? The students' view
pp 31-48

5 - Income and welfare
pp 49-68

6 - Income change
pp 69-88

7 - Poverty
pp 89-113

8 - A cross-cultural perspective
pp 114-126

9 - Thinking again about inequality
pp 127-135

Appendix A - Inequality analysis: a summary of concepts and results
pp 136-142

Appendix B - The questionnaires
pp 143-172

References
pp 173-177

Index
pp 178-181

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Thinking about Inequality

Personal Judgment and Income Distributions

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