We discuss and compare five measures of individual well-being, namely income, an objective composite well-being index, a measure of subjective well-being, equivalent income, and a well-being measure based on the von Neumann-Morgenstern utilities of the individuals. After examining the...

We argue that normative indices of multidimensional inequality do not only measure a distribution’s extent of inequity (i.e., the gaps between the better-off and the worse-off), but also its extent of inefficiency (i.e., the non-realized mutually beneficial exchanges of goods). We provide a...

For two independent principles of intergenerational equity, the implied discount rate equals the growth rate of real per-capita income, say 2%, thus falling right into the range suggested by the U.S. Offce of Management and Budget. To prove this, we develop a simple tool to evaluate small policy...

According to Chateauneuf (1996), we compare some inequality criteria. We investigate their properties and characteristics. Then, following the approach that links different levels of deprivation with alternative values of social welfare, we look for a functional that evaluates the well-being of...

We endow individuals that differ in skill levels and tastes for working with altruistic preferences for redistribution in a voting model where a unidimensional redistributive parameter is chosen by majority voting in a direct democracy. When altruistic preferences are desert-sensitive, i.e. when...

The absolute differentials ordering (ADO) and the relative differentials ordering (RDO) have been introduced as suitable alternative inequality criteria to Lorenz ordering (LO). We provide two new alternative proofs that ADO and RDO are sub-orderings of LO. Furthermore, we point out some...

The absolute differentials ordering (ADO)and the elative differentials ordering (RDO)have been introduced as suitable alternative inequality criteria to Lorenz ordering (LO).We provide two new alternative proofs that ADO and RDO are sub-orderings of LO.Furthermore, we point out some "paradoxical...

This paper examines the impact on old age poverty and the fiscal cost of universal minimum old age pensions in Latin America using recent household survey data for 18 countries. Alleviating old age poverty requires different approach from other age groups and a minimum pension is likely to be...

When future human capital cannot be alienated, households are allowed to borrow up to the point where it is in their own interest not to default. In such a framework, endogenous borrowing limits arise as the outcome of individual rationality constraint. In a model where education is the engine...

This paper studies the incidence of tax-transfer policy in a growth model wherein individuals differ according to their level of intergenerational altruism and have an endogenous labor supply. The main results is that public debt is neutral at the macro level but redistributes resources from...