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Two Types of Inequality

Author

Listed:
  • Guillermina Jasso

    (New York University, New York, gj1@nyu.edu)

  • Samuel Kotz

    (George Washington University, Washington, DC)

Abstract

This article analyzes the mathematical connections between two kinds of inequality: inequality between persons (e.g., income inequality) and inequality between subgroups (e.g., racial inequality). The authors define a general inequality parameter in two-parameter continuous distributions. This parameter governs all measures of personal inequality (e.g., the Gini coefficient) and governs as well the gap (difference or ratio) between the means of subdistributions. It is thus established that in the distributions analyzed here, as personal inequality increases, so does inequality between subgroups. This general inequality parameter also governs Lorenz dominance and all quantities in the decomposition of Theil's mean logarithmic deviation into between-subgroup and within-subgroup components in the Pareto case. Thus, the general inequality parameter captures the ``deep structure'' of inequality. Finally, a whole-distribution graphical tool is introduced for assessing personal and subgroup inequality. Substantively, this work suggests that in societies characterized by special income distributions, whenever inequality disrupts social cohesion, it attacks on two fronts, via subgroup inequality as well as personal inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Guillermina Jasso & Samuel Kotz, 2008. "Two Types of Inequality," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 37(1), pages 31-74, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:somere:v:37:y:2008:i:1:p:31-74
    DOI: 10.1177/0049124108318971
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Guillermina Jasso, 2009. "A New Model of Wage Determination and Wage Inequality," Rationality and Society, , vol. 21(1), pages 113-168, February.
    2. Guillermina Jasso, 2020. "Anything Lorenz Curves Can Do, Top Shares Can Do: Assessing the TopBot Family of Inequality Measures," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 49(4), pages 947-981, November.
    3. Jasso, Guillermina, 2016. "(In)Equality and (In)Justice," IZA Discussion Papers 10125, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Chiang, Yen-Sheng, 2015. "Inequality measures perform differently in global and local assessments: An exploratory computational experiment," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 437(C), pages 1-11.

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