We show that it is possible to reconcile the utilitarian and welfarist principles under the\r\nrequirement of unanimity provided that the set of profiles over which the consensus is\r\nattained is rich enough. More precisely, we identify a closedness condition which, if satisfied\r\nby a class...

The generalised Lorenz criterion is widely used for making welfare comparisons within and across countries on the basis of their income distributions. Experimental studies have challenged this way of proceeding by showing that the principle of transfers, which underlies the generalised Lorenz...

We provide foundations for robust normative evaluation of distributions of two attributes,\r\none of which is cardinally measurable and transferable between individuals and the other is\r\nordinal and non-transferable. The result that we establish takes the form of an analogue to the standard...

Distributive analysis typically involves comparisons of heterogeneous distributions where\r\nindividuals differ in more than just one attribute. In the particular case where there are two\r\nattributes and where the distribution of one of these two attributes is fixed, one can appeal\r\nto...

We give in this note an overview of the way income inequality is approached in economics.\r\nWe first recall the basic properties that any inequality index is required to possess and\r\nwe insist on the distinction between the indices of relative inequality and the indices of\r\nabsolute...

We investigate the normative foundations of two empirically implementable dominance criteria for comparing distributions of two attributes, where the first one is cardinal while the second is ordinal. The criteria we consider are Atkinson and Bourguignon\'s (1982) first quasi-ordering and a...

This paper gives an overview of the way the issue of poverty measurement is typically addressed in economics. After having briefly defined what is meant by poverty in economics, I examine successively the unidimensional approach to poverty based on the income or expenses, and the...

We provide a characterization of the generalised satisfaction -- in our terminology non-deprivation -- quasi-ordering introduced by S.R. Chakravarty (Keio Economic Studies 34 (1997), 17--32) for making welfare comparisons based on the absence of deprivation. We show that the non-deprivation...

Distributive analysis typically involves comparisons of distributions where individuals differ in more than just one attribute. In the particular case where there are two attributes and where the distribution of one of these two attributes is fixed, one can appeal to sequential rank order...

We are interested in the comparisons of standard-of-living across societies when observations of both income and household structure are available. We generalise the approach of Atkinson and Bourguignon (1987) to the case where the marginal distributions of needs can vary across the household...