Subgroup Decomposability is a very useful property in an inequality measure, and level-sensitivity, which requires a given level of inequality to acquire a greater significance the poorer a population is, is a distributionally appealing axiom for an inequality index to satisfy. In this paper,...

This paper uses pseudo panel techniques and a fixed effects estimator to analyse the determinants of preferences for redistribution in 34 European countries over the period 2002-2012. The data is drawn from the six available waves of the European Social Survey. The main result is that changes in...

A strong association between incomes across generations - with children from poor families likely to be poor as adults - is frequently considered an indicator of insufficient equality of opportunity. Studies of such "intergenerational persistence," or lack of intergenerational mobility, are...

Inequality, bi-polarization and polarization are related but distinct concepts aiming at analysing the income distribution. This paper first recalls the main differences between these three notions of inequality, bipolarization and polarization and then suggests using the so-called Shapley...

Using a large panel microdata set for the time period 1992 to 2014, the paper analyses the long-run trends in German wage inequality for full-time workers. The approach differentiates by gender and region. The analysis confirms the result of other studies that show a sharp increase in wage...

In Deutschland sind die Einkommen vor Steuern und Transfers ungleichmäßiger verteilt als in der OECD im Durchschnitt. Erst durch die staatliche Umverteilung stellt sich die Verteilungssituation besser dar. Marcel Fratzscher hält dies für ein Armutszeugnis für die soziale Marktwirtschaft,...

Despite the formal rigour that attends social and economic measurement, the substantive meaning of particular measures could be compromised in the absence of a clear and coherent conceptualization of the phenomenon being measured. A case in point is afforded by the status of a "focus-axiom" in...

Two conversion schemes may be employed for assessing income inequality from household equivalent incomes: to weight household units by size or by needs. Using data from the Luxembourg Income Study, we show the sensitivity of country inequality rankings to conversion schemes and explain the...

This article provides a tool to study over time the distributions of income in a population, regardless the irregular distribution of data. We even approach Lorenz curves at the times when we lack the required data. Finally we apply the present technique to a European country where inequalities...

We apply a variation of Bourguignon, Meléndez and Ferreira (2005) methodology to examine the extent to which income inequality is associated with the inequality of observed exogenous circumstances of origin that determine individuals' "opportunities" to pursue their chosen life plans. We find...