Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between measures of ethnic and religious heterogeneity on the one hand and measures of inequality and redistribution on the other, using state-level US data. Design/methodology/approach – The relationship between...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between measures of ethnic and religious heterogeneity on the one hand and measures of inequality and redistribution on the other, using state‐level US data. Design/methodology/approach – The relationship between...

In Okun's (1975) extended essay “Equality and Efficiency — The Big Trade‐Off”, reference is made to the leaky bucket experiment in the context of tax and transfer programmes. Money is carried from the rich to the poor in a bucket which leaks. This idea gives eloquent expression to the...