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Elitism and Stochastic Dominance

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  • Stephen BAZEN
  • Patrick MOYES

Abstract

Stochastic dominance has been typically used with a special emphasis on risk and in-equality reduction something captured by the concavity of the utility function in the expected utility model. We claim that the applicability of the stochastic dominance ap-proach goes far beyond risk and inequality measurement provided suitable adaptations be made. We apply in the paper the stochastic dominance approach to the measurement of elitism which may be considered the opposite of egalitarianism. While the usual stochastic dominance quasi-orderings attach more value to more equal and more effi-cient distributions, our criteria ensure that, the more unequal and the more efficient the distribution, the higher it is ranked. Two instances are provided by (i) comparisons of scientific performance across institutions like universities or departments, and (ii) com-parisons of affluence as opposed to poverty between countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen BAZEN & Patrick MOYES, 2011. "Elitism and Stochastic Dominance," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2011-08, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
  • Handle: RePEc:grt:wpegrt:2011-08
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    File URL: http://cahiersdugretha.u-bordeaux.fr/2011/2011-08.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Koen Decancq, 2020. "Measuring cumulative deprivation and affluence based on the diagonal dependence diagram," METRON, Springer;Sapienza Università di Roma, vol. 78(2), pages 103-117, August.
    2. Peichl, Andreas & Pestel, Nico, 2010. "Multidimensional Measurement of Richness: Theory and an Application to Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 4825, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Nicolas CARAYOL & Agenor LAHATTE, 2014. "Dominance relations and ranking when quantity and quality both matter: Applications to US universities and econ. departments worldwide," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2014-14, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    4. Sarkar, Sandip & Dash, Bharatee Bhusana, 2023. "On the measurement of electoral volatility," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 119-128.
    5. Stephen Bazen & Patrick Moyes, 2012. "Elitism and stochastic dominance," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 39(1), pages 207-251, June.
    6. Paul Makdissi & Myra Yazbeck, 2015. "On the measurement of plutonomy," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 44(4), pages 703-717, April.
    7. Bouyssou, Denis & Marchant, Thierry, 2014. "An axiomatic approach to bibliometric rankings and indices," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 449-477.
    8. Nicolas CARAYOL & Agenor LAHATTE, 2011. "Dominance relations when both quantity and quality matter, and applications to the\r\ncomparison of US research universities and worldwide top departments in economics," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2011-22, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    9. Alejandro Corvalan, 2018. "How to rank rankings? Group performance in multiple-prize contests," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 51(2), pages 361-380, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Decumulative Distribution Functions; Stochastic Dominance; Regressive Transfers; Elitism; Scientific Performance; Affluence;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement

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