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Calculating a Standard Error for the Gini Coefficient: Some Further Results

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  • David E. A. Giles

Abstract

Several authors have suggested using the jackknife technique to approximate a standard error for the Gini coefficient. It has also been shown that the Gini measure can be obtained simply from an artificial ordinary least square (OLS) regression based on the data and their ranks. We show that obtaining an exact analytical expression for the standard error is actually a trivial matter. Further, by extending the regression framework to one involving seemingly unrelated regressions (SUR), several interesting hypotheses regarding the sensitivity of the Gini coefficient to changes in the data are readily tested in a formal manner.

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  • David E. A. Giles, 2004. "Calculating a Standard Error for the Gini Coefficient: Some Further Results," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 66(3), pages 425-433, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:obuest:v:66:y:2004:i:3:p:425-433
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0084.2004.00086.x
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    Cited by:

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    2. Karoly, Lynn & Schröder, Carsten, 2015. "Fast methods for jackknifing inequality indices," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 37(1), pages 125-138.
    3. Lubrano, Michel & Ndoye, Abdoul Aziz Junior, 2016. "Income inequality decomposition using a finite mixture of log-normal distributions: A Bayesian approach," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 830-846.
    4. Parola, Francesco & Veenstra, Albert W., 2008. "The spatial coverage of shipping lines and container terminal operators," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 292-299.
    5. Davidson, Russell, 2009. "Reliable inference for the Gini index," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 150(1), pages 30-40, May.
    6. El-Osta, Hisham S. & Morehart, Mitchell J., 2009. "Welfare Decomposition in the Context of the Life Cycle of Farm Operators: What Does a National Survey Reveal?," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 38(2), pages 1-17, October.
    7. Gordon Anderson & Maria Grazia Pittau & Roberto Zelli & Jasmin Thomas, 2018. "Income Inequality, Cohesiveness and Commonality in the Euro Area: A Semi-Parametric Boundary-Free Analysis," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-20, March.
    8. Wang, Dongliang & Zhao, Yichuan & Gilmore, Dirk W., 2016. "Jackknife empirical likelihood confidence interval for the Gini index," Statistics & Probability Letters, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 289-295.
    9. David (David Patrick) Madden, 2012. "Methods for studying dominance and inequality in population health," Working Papers 201205, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    10. Yu, Jian & Shi, Xunpeng & Cheong, Tsun Se, 2021. "Distribution dynamics of China's household consumption upgrading," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 193-203.
    11. Oriol Aspachs & Ruben Durante & Alberto Graziano & Josep Mestres & Marta Reynal-Querol & Jose G Montalvo, 2021. "Tracking the impact of COVID-19 on economic inequality at high frequency," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-14, March.
    12. Bowden, Roger J., 2016. "Giving Gini direction: An asymmetry metric for economic disadvantage," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 96-99.
    13. Shirmohammadli, Abdolmatin & Louen, Conny & Vallée, Dirk, 2016. "Exploring mobility equity in a society undergoing changes in travel behavior: A case study of Aachen, Germany," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 32-39.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C3 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables
    • C43 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Index Numbers and Aggregation
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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