Lorenz Surfaces Based on the Sarmanov-Lee Distribution with Applications to Multidimensional Inequality in Well-Being

The purpose of this paper is to derive analytic expressions for the multivariate Lorenz surface for a relevant type of models based on the class of distributions with given marginals described by Sarmanov and Lee. The expression of the bivariate Lorenz surface can be conveniently interpreted as the convex linear combination of products of classical and concentrated univariate Lorenz curves. Thus, the generalized Gini index associated with this surface is expressed as a function of marginal Gini indices and concentration indices. This measure is additively decomposable in two factors, corresponding to inequality within and between variables. We present different parametric models using several marginal distributions including the classical Beta, the GB1, the Gamma, the lognormal distributions and others. We illustrate the use of these models to measure multidimensional inequality using data on two dimensions of well-being, wealth and health, in five developing countries.This research was partly funded by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, grant number PID2019-105986GB-C2

What works to mitigate and reduce relative (and absolute) inequality? A systematic review

Over the past two decades, research on the impacts of a diverse range of public policies and income inequality has seen rapid growth. Despite the large number of publications to date, there remain important lacunae in our understanding of how policy interventions might help to reduce income inequality. This paper aims to fill this void by providing a systematic literature review of 270 publications that examine four key policy areas: (1) tax policy, (2) social benefits, (3) labour market interventions, and (4) education policy. We describe patterns of empirical findings and implications drawn from the reviewed publications. The strengths and weaknesses of the existing literature are also discussed, along with potential future research avenues.This publication was supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation Grant NNF19SA006007

Multidimensional inequality in global well-being using generalized entropy indices

En este trabajo se abordan las tres metodologías propuestas en la literatura para evaluar la desigualdad en el bienestar a nivel mundial concebido como un proceso multidimensional. Para ello se considera el Índice de Desarrollo Humano (IDH), que representa el bienestar en términos de renta, salud y educación, para el periodo 1980- 2011. Partiendo de un análisis de desigualdad dimensión por dimensión, se concluye que en todas ellas se ha producido una disminución durante el periodo objeto de estudio, aunque las respectivas evoluciones son muy dispares. La desigualdad del IDH se ha reducido considerablemente en las últimas décadas, lo que se pone de manifiesto a partir de medidas unidimensionales y multidimensionales de entropía generalizada. Adicionalmente se lleva a cabo una descomposición de estas medidas en sus componentes interregional e intrarregional considerando las regiones del PNUD, resultados que reflejan cómo la disminución de la desigualdad en el bienestar es debida principalmente a la disminución de la desigualdad intrarregionalIn this work inequality in well-being in the world, as a multidimensional process, is assessed under three different approaches. To that end, we consider the Human Development Index, which measures well-being in terms of income, health and education, for the period 1980-2011. As a starting point, we propose a dimension-bydimension approach which reveals that the three dimensions have reduced their inequality over the study period although different patterns are concluded. Using unidimensional and multidimensional generalized entropy measures, we conclude that inequality in well-being has been remarkably reduced in the last decades. Decomposition of these measures in two components, between regions and within regions, which are determined by UNDP, has also been calculated. The results point out that the fall of inequality is mainly due to the decrease of within componen

New Estimates on Educational Attainment Using a Continuous Approach (1970-2010)

In this paper we introduce a new set of estimates on educational attainment and inequality measures of education for 142 countries over the period 1970?2010. Most of the previous attempts to measure educational attainment have treated education as a categorical variable, whose mean is computed as a weighted average of the official duration of each cycle and attainment rates, thus omitting differences in educational achievement within levels of education. This aggregation into different groups may result in a loss of information, introducing, therefore, a potential source of measurement error. We explore here a more nuanced alternative to estimate educational attainment, which considers the continuous nature of education. This "continuous approach" allows us to impose more plausible assumptions about the distribution of years of schooling within each level of education, and to take into account the right censoring of the data in the estimation, thus leading to more accurate estimates of educational attainment and education inequality. These improved estimates may help to better understand the role of education on different aspects of development

Modeling Bivariate Lorenz Curves with Applications to Multidimensional Inequality in Well-Being

Abstract The extension of the univariate Lorenz curve to higher dimensions is not an obvious task. The three existing definitions were proposed by Taguchi (1972a,b)

Do neighbourhood renewal programs reduce crime rates? Evidence from England

ABSTRACT: Neighbourhood renewal programs have transformed crime reduction strategies in many developed countries. These place-based initiatives emphasise the preventative value of multi-agency work to enhance community safety and social inclusion. The purpose of this paper is to present empirical evidence on the effectiveness of neighbourhood renewal programs by estimating the impact of the UK's Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF) program on crime rates across England between 2000 and 2007. Because the NRF was only made available to the most deprived local areas in England, we are able to estimate its effects using a Differences-in-Differences (DiD) approach and a Regression Discontinuity (RD) design. Our DiD estimates indicate that the NRF led to improvements in the rates of property and violent crime of between 10-25%, with analysis of treatment intensity effects suggesting that for every £1 per capita of NRF monies, crime rates improved by 0.3-0.6%. Our RD estimates reveal that these improvements are especially strong around the threshold for program eligibility - a finding that is particularly robust for reductions in property crime. Furthermore, using a spatial DiD, we identify the diffusion of crime prevention benefits from areas receiving NRF funding to neighbouring areas that did not receive funding. Our results therefore suggest that neighbourhood renewal programs are effective strategies for reducing crime

Global inequality in length of life, 1950–2015

This paper provides a broad picture of national, regional and global trends of inequality in length of life over the period 1950–2015. We use data on life tables from World Population Prospects to develop a comprehensive database of a battery of inequality measures for 201 countries at five-year intervals over the period under analysis. We estimate both absolute and relative inequality measures which have the property of being additively decomposable. This property makes the database remarkably flexible because overall inequality can be computed for any group of countries using only the information included in our database. The decomposition analysis reveals that differences in life expectancy between countries account for a very small portion of the observed changes in global inequality in length of life, evolution of which is large driven by within-country variation. Our estimates indicate that inequality in length of life has decreased sharply since 1950, a reduction that can be largely attributed to the substantial progress made in reducing child mortality worldwide. We also observe a degree of heterogeneity in the distributional patters of inequality in length of life across world regions