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Income distribution and inequality measurement : the problem of extreme values

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Author Info
Frank A. Cowell (STICERD, London School of Economics)
Emmanuel Flachaire () (EUREQua)

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Abstract

We examine the statistical performance of inequality indices in the presence of extreme values in the data and show that these indices are very sensitive to the properties of the income distribution. Estimation and inference can be dramatically affected, especially when the tail of the income distribution is heavy, even when standard bootstrap methods are employed. However, use of appropriate methods for modelling the upper tail can greatly improve the performance of even those inequality indices that are normally considered particularly sensitive to extreme values.

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File URL: ftp://mse.univ-paris1.fr/pub/mse/cahiers2004/V04101.pdf
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1) in its series Cahiers de la Maison des Sciences Economiques with number v04101.

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Length: 25 pages
Date of creation: Jul 2004
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:mse:wpsorb:v04101

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Related research
Keywords: Inequality measures; statistical performance; robustness.;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
C1 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: General
D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Frank A Cowell & Maria-Pia Victoria-Feser, 2001. "Robust Lorenz Curves: A Semiparametric Approach," STICERD - Distributional Analysis Research Programme Papers 50, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  2. Chesher, Andrew & Schluter, Christian, 2002. "Welfare Measurement and Measurement Error," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 69(2), pages 357-78, April.
    Other versions:
  3. Peter Hall & Qiwei Yao, 2003. "Inference in Arch and Garch Models with Heavy--Tailed Errors," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(1), pages 285-317, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Cowell, Frank A., 1989. "Sampling variance and decomposable inequality measures," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 27-41, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Shorrocks, Anthony F & Foster, James E, 1987. "Transfer Sensitive Inequality Measures," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 54(3), pages 485-97, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Singh, S K & Maddala, G S, 1976. "A Function for Size Distribution of Incomes," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 44(5), pages 963-70, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Braulke, Michael, 1983. "An approximation to the Gini coefficient for a population based on sparse information for sub-groups," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(1-2), pages 75-81. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. McDonald, James B, 1984. "Some Generalized Functions for the Size Distribution of Income," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(3), pages 647-63, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Schluter, Christian & Trede, Mark, 2002. "Tails of Lorenz curves," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 109(1), pages 151-166, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Cowell, Frank A & Victoria-Feser, Maria-Pia, 1996. "Robustness Properties of Inequality Measures," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(1), pages 77-101, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Juan Rodríguez, 2008. "Partial equality-of-opportunity orderings," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 435-456, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Stephen P. Jenkins, 2007. "Inequality and the GB2 Income Distribution," IZA Discussion Papers 2831, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Olympia Bover, 2008. "Wealth inequality and household structure: US vs. Spain," Banco de España Working Papers 0804, Banco de España. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. repec:ese:iserwp: is not listed on IDEAS
  5. Juan Gabriel Rodríguez, 2007. "Partial and complete equality-of-opportunity orderings," Working Papers 70, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality. [Downloadable!]
  6. Gustavo A. Marrero & Juan G. Rodríguez, 2009. "Inequality of Opportunity and Growth," Working Papers 2009-24, FEDEA. [Downloadable!]
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