An inequality decomposition method which minimizes equivalence scales contamination problems.

Decomposable measures are a useful tool to analyze the impact of households characteristics on income or expenditure inequality. However, the results are sensitive to the choice of equivalence scales in a heterogenous population. In this paper, we assume that equivalence scales depend only on the number of persons in the household. In this context, we suggest a method to free the decomposition analysis from the possible 'contamination' that will arise if we use an inappropiate equivalence scale. The method is applied to the evolution of the standard of living in Spain during the 80' s. We study the structure of Spanish inequality in 1980-81 and 1990-91, as well as the trend in overall inequality over time in terms of three factors: i) the change in within-group inequality, ii) the change in between-group inequality, and iii) the demographic change across partition subgroups.Inequatily decomposition; Inequality structure; Inequality trend; Equivalence scales;

Occupational and industrial segregation of female and male workers in Spain: An alternative approach

This paper aims to analyze occupational and industrial segregation in the Spanish labor market by using the alternative tools proposed by Alonso-Villar and Del Río (2007), along with some new extensions put forward here. In particular, two decompositions of their segregation curves are proposed. The approach followed in this article allows measuring segregation of women and men separately, since the distribution of each group of workers across occupations and industries is compared with the distribution of total employment. To analyze industrial segregation, an aggregated classification of industries in four large groups (agriculture-fishing, industry, construction and services) and another by branches of activity are considered while to study occupational segregation, several partitions of individuals and of occupations are included.Occupational and industrial segregation; Segregation curves; Gender

Intermediate inequality and welfare.

We introduce a new centrist or intermediate inequality concept, between the usual relative and absolute notions, which is shown to be a variant of the α-ray invariant inequality measures in Pfingsten and Seidl (1997). We say that distributions x and y have the same (x, π)-inequality if the total income difference between them is allocated among the individuals as follows: 100π% preserving income shares in x, and 100(1−π)% in equal absolute amounts. This notion can be made as operational as current standard methods in Shorrocks (1983).

Demographic trends and living standards the case of Spain during the 1980´s.

In this paper we study the evolution of the standard of living un Spain during the 1980' s for a population partitioned by the following individual characteristics: the age group, the 'relation to economic activity, and the result of the decision on whether to live in a household headed by someone else, or to live on one ' s own with or without dependents. Our results help to understand the decline ot inequality in Spain, wich has been formerly investigated only in terms of the household head' s characteristics. On the other hand, within the limits of our cross-section data, we provide sorne evidence on the economic rationale behind the individual decisions about early retirement, household formation, and the female participation in the labor market.Living arrangements; Individual characteristics; Inequality; Welfare;

Occupational segregation measures: A role for status

This paper extends recent local segregation measures by incorporating status differences across occupations. These new measures are intended to be used to assess, from a normative point of view, the segregation of a target group. They seem appropriate to complement, rather than substitute, other measures by quantifying how things change when taking into account the status of occupations. The usefulness of these tools is shown in the case of occupational segregation of immigrants and natives in Spain.Segregation measures, occupations, status.

Demographic trends and living standards : the case of Spain during the 1980s.

The main contribution of this paper is the study of the evolution of the standard of living in Spain during the 1980s for a population partitioned by the following individual characteristics: the age group, the relation to economic activity, and the result of the decision on whether to live in a household headed by someone else, or to live on one’s own with or without dependents. From the point of view of demographic studies, this paper is interesting because of the link established between demographic trends and an operational notion of an individual’s standard of living. This makes it possible to follow up the consequences of individual decisions by key subgroups, such as the early retired or women in general, as well as the consequences of household formation decisions by both the old and the young.En este trabajo se analiza la evolución del nivel de vida en España durante la década de los 80, a partir de diferentes particiones de la población construidas según las siguientes características individuales: edad, relación con la actividad económica, y el resultado de la decisión sobre los acuerdos de convivencia, ya sea como sustentador principal de un hogar, con o sin otros individuos dependientes, o como individuo dependiente en un hogar donde el sustentador principal es una persona distinta del propio individuo. Desde el punto de vista de los estudios de demografía económica, este trabajo es interesante debido al nexo que establece entre las tendencias demográficas, las decisiones sobre los acuerdos de convivencia entre los individuos y los niveles de vida alcanzados por los mismos. Esto permite extraer conclusiones sobre las consecuencias de las decisiones individuales adoptadas por subgrupos de especial interés como los retirados anticipadamente o las mujeres en general, así como las consecuencias de las decisiones de formación de hogares tanto en jóvenes como en mayores.Welfare; Inequality; Living arrangements; Demographic trends;

Rankings of Income Distributions: A Note on Intermediate Inequality Indices

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of several intermediate inequality measures, paying special attention to whether inequality rankings between income distributions are affected by the monetary units in which incomes are expressed.Income distribution; Intermediate inequality indices; Unit-consistency.

Occupational segregation of immigrant women in Spain

The aim of this paper is to analyze occupational segregation in the Spanish labor market from a gender and an immigration perspective. In doing so, several local and overall segregation measures are used. Our results suggest that immigrant women in Spain suffer a double segregation since segregation affects them to a greater extent than it does either native women or immigrant men. There are, however, remarkable discrepancies among the segregation of immigrant women depending on their region of origin. Thus, immigrant women from the European Union (EU) have the lowest occupational segregation, while segregation seems particularly intense in the group of women from European countries outside the EU bloc and Asia (the levels of which are higher than that of Latin American and African women).immigration; gender; occupational segregation; local segregation; overall segregation

The geographical concentration of unemployment: A male-female comparison in Spain

This paper aims at complementing the approach presented by Johnston et al. (2003) with tools from the literature on economic geography and income distribution in order to perform a thorough analysis of the spatial concentration of unemployment. Apart from using such empirical procedures in the field of labour economy, the paper shows the complementarities that both approaches have when trying to look into distributive issues from a spatial perspective. For that purpose, the paper analyses the spatial distribution of unemployment in Spain, with a thorough analysis of the differences between male and female patterns.unemployment; spatial concentration; municipalities.

An alternative proposal for measuring occupational segregation

This paper offers a general framework in which to study the occupational segregation of a target group when involving a categorization of individuals in two or more groups. For this purpose, it proposes to compare the distribution of the target group against the distribution of total employment across occupations. In doing so, this paper first presents an axiomatic set-up within which segregation measures can be evaluated and defines an alternative segregation curve. Next, a class of additive segregation indexes, related to the generalized entropy family and consistent with the above curves, is characterized. Finally, decompositions of these measures by subgroups of occupations and by subgroups of individuals are proposed.Occupational segregation; Segregation curves; Inequality measures; Gender