The Measurement of Social Polarization in a Multi-group Context

Polarization indices presented up to now have only focused their attention on the distribution of income/wealth. However, in many circumstances income is not the only relevant dimension that might be the cause of social conflict, so it is very important to have a social polarization index able to cope with alternative dimensions. In this paper we present an axiomatic characterization of one of such indices: it has been obtained as an extension of the (income) polarization measure introduced in Duclos, Esteban and Ray (2004) to a wider domain. It turns out that the axiomatic structure introduced in that paper alone is not appropriate to obtain a fully satisfactory characterization of our measure, so additional axioms are proposed. As a byproduct, we present an alternative axiomatization of the aforementioned income polarization measure.

Why call it "equality" when it should be "achievement"? A proposal to un-correct the "corrected gender gaps" in the EU gender equality index

This study critically reviews the new Gender Equality Index (GEI) proposed by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) in 2013, arguing that the way in which it has been defined can be misleading for its potential users. The GEI is defined to ensure that good scores in the index are reflective of both low gender gaps and high levels of overall achievement. The study finds that the GEI values are largely driven by differences in overall achievement levels between countries rather than by gender differences within them, a disturbing issue that unduly penalizes low-income countries for factors that are not related to gender norms or discriminatory practices and which might lead to the elaboration of ill-targeted policies. In order to overcome this problem, we introduce a new version of the GEI that gets rid of its achievement component and which is much simpler to interpret

Avaluació dels indicadors per mesurar la pobresa multidimensional

Tradicionalment mesurat en base als ingressos, actualment el concepte de pobresa inclou altres dimensions rellevants per al benestar de les persones, com ara l'educació o la salut. Aquest article revisa les diferents propostes de mesura de pobresa multidimensional i mostra que, per a aquells individus classificats com a "pobres", si tenen atributs que estan per sobre del llindar de la pobresa, aquests no poden influir en l'avaluació global dels nivells de privació. L'autor conclou recomanant el disseny de nous indicadors per mesurar els nivells de pobresa que tinguin en compte aquest fet.Tradicionalmente medido en base a los ingresos, actualmente el concepto de pobreza incluye otras dimensiones relevantes para el bienestar de las personas, tales como la educación o la salud. Este artículo revisa las diferentes propuestas de medida de pobreza multidimensional y muestra que, para aquellos individuos clasificados como "pobres", si tienen atributos que están por encima del umbral de la pobreza, éstos no pueden influir en la evaluación global de los niveles de privación. El autor concluye recomendando el diseño de nuevos indicadores para medir los niveles de pobreza que tengan en cuenta este hecho

A new approach to length of life inequality measurement

The uncertainty around the limits of human lifespan has led researchers to implicitly treat that variable as unbounded. In this paper we categorize that variable as 'uncertainly bounded' and study the corresponding methodological and substantive implications for our understanding of lifespan variation. Being a bounded variable, the measurement of lifespan variability is affected by two problems: (i) the 'boundary effects' (the inequality of the distribution is related to the mean when the latter approaches the upper bound); and (ii) the '(in)consistency' problems (achievement and shortfall distributions can be inconsistently ranked by standard inequality measures). In this paper we propose new inequality indices overcoming such limitations. Applying the new measures to the Human Mortality Database we observe that the decline in overall lifespan variability typically associated with increases in longevity seems to stop and even reverse when life expectancy reaches a certain threshold. While our findings are influenced by the choice of the lifespan upper bound, they consistently point to the emergence of length of life inequality plateaus and trend reversals at higher longevity levels. This suggests the emergence of a worrying equality-efficiency dilemma, in which higher achievements in longevity would only be possible at the expense of higher lifespan variability

Measuring poverty in multidimensional contexts

When measuring multidimensional poverty it is reasonable to expect that the trade-offs between variable pairs can differ depending on whether the concerned pairs are complements or substitutes. Yet, currently existing approaches based on deprivation count distributions unrealistically assume that all pairs of variables are related in the same way-an unfortunate circumstance that undermines the possibilities of identifying the poor, aggregating their poverty levels and modeling non-trivial interactions between variables in highly flexible ways. This paper, which aims at modeling non-trivial relational structures across variables both in the identification and aggregation steps, is a first contribution towards addressing these inadequacies. The approach has been axiomatically characterized to flesh out the normative foundations upon which it is based and has a vast potential for application

Measuring achievement and shortfall improvements in a consistent way

In measuring improvements over time of bounded variables, one can focus onachievements or shortfalls. However, rankings of alternative social states in terms of achievements and shortfalls do not necessarily mirror one another. We characterize axiomatically a family of achievement and shortfall improvement indices and present the necessary and sufcient conditions under which they rank social states in a consistent way. We also suggest collecting information at small levels of aggregation to uncover unobserved heterogeneity, therefore complementing traditional country-level analysis and taking into account the entire distribution of local-level improvements over time. Empirical illustrations using census data from ve African countries suggest that consistency between achievement and shortfall improvements in standards of living is not only a matter of theoretical import but it is also a problem that can be encountered in practice to a large extent

Book review of multidimensional poverty measurement and analysis

Obra ressenyada: Sabina ALKIRE, James FOSTER, Suman SETH, Maria Emma SANTOS, José Manuel ROCHE, Paola BALLÓN, Multidimensional Poverty Measurement and Analysis. Oxford University Press, 2015

The impact of population and economic growth on the achievement of the millennium development goals

Population Association of America (PAA). 2016 Annual Meeting. Washington D.C., 31 Març-2 Abri

Impacte de l'homogàmia educativa en els nivells d'analfabetisme aïllat

Es coneix com homogàmia educativa el grau amb què les persones tendeixen a buscar parelles de característiques semblants. Això genera situacions d'analfabetisme aïllat que comporten vulnerabilitat i un alt risc de patir pobresa o exclusió social. Per altra banda, l'augment de les taxes d'alfabetització ha ampliat les possibilitats que analfabets s'uneixin a persones alfabetitzades. Un recent estudi ha detectat que l'expansió educativa ha tingut un major impacte en els nivells d'analfabetisme aïllat que no pas les tendències cap a una major homogàmia educativa.Se conoce como homogamia educativa al grado en que las personas tienden a buscar parejas de características similares. Esto genera situaciones de analfabetismo aislado que conllevan vulnerabilidad y un alto riesgo de sufrir pobreza o exclusión social. Por otra parte, el aumento de las tasas de alfabetización ha ampliado las posibilidades de que analfabetos se unan a personas alfabetizadas. Un reciente estudio ha detectado que la expansión educativa ha tenido un mayor impacto en los niveles de analfabetismo aislado que las tendencias hacia una mayor homogamia educativa

Tendències globals en desigualtat i pobresa : relacions i implicacions

Nota d'Economia. Revista d'economia catalana i de sector public (Monogràfic: Anàlisi i eines per fer front a la pobresa i la desigualtat)En aquest article repassarem dues de les manifestacions més conegudes relacionades amb en la distribució de la riquesa mundial: la desigualtat i la pobresa. Mentre que l'estudi de la desigualtat intenta estimar el grau de concentració/dispersió de la riquesa entre diferents unitats d'anàlisi (regions, països o individus), l'estudi de la pobresa pretén identificar aquells sectors de la societat amb unes condicions de vida inacceptablement baixes. A més de mostrar a grans trets les tendències globals en pobresa i desigualtat econòmiques, en aquest article farem una ullada a la distribució mundial d'altres dimensions no pecuniàries del benestar (l'educació i la salut) que també han estat objecte de debat en l'estudi de les conseqüències de la globalització econòmica. Tot seguit, repassarem algunes de les idees principals que envolten el debat sobre la relació existent entre el creixement econòmic, la pobresa i la desigualtat. Finalment, conclourem el treball amb un breu repàs sobre les conseqüències que la darrera crisi financera ha tingut sobre la distribució de la renda als països rics