Horizontal Equity, Uncertainty, and Economic Well-being
Title | Horizontal Equity, Uncertainty, and Economic Well-being PDF eBook |
Author | Martin David |
Publisher | University of Chicago Press |
Pages | 536 |
Release | 2009-02-15 |
Genre | Political Science |
ISBN | 0226137287 |
The result of a National Bureau of Economic Research Income and Wealth conference held in December 1983, this volume looks at the concept of "economic well-being" and the ways that analysts have tried to measure it. In addition to income, economists have begun to consider such factors as pensions, wealth, health, and environment when measuring the well-being of a particular group. They have also begun to measure how consumers respond, successfully or unsuccessfully, to such economic uncertainties as inflation, divorce, and retirement. Using new data and techniques, the contributors to this book concentrate on issues of uncertainty and horizontal equity (the equal treatment of individuals within a defined group). Their work points to better ways of determining how various groups in a society are faring relative to other groups. Economists and policy analysts, therefore, will be in a better position to determine how government programs should be applied when well-being is used as a test.
Horizontal Equity, Uncertainty, and Economic Well-being
Title | Horizontal Equity, Uncertainty, and Economic Well-being PDF eBook |
Author | Martin David |
Publisher | University of Chicago Press |
Pages | 535 |
Release | 1985-09-01 |
Genre | Political Science |
ISBN | 9780226137261 |
The result of a National Bureau of Economic Research Income and Wealth conference held in December 1983, this volume looks at the concept of "economic well-being" and the ways that analysts have tried to measure it. In addition to income, economists have begun to consider such factors as pensions, wealth, health, and environment when measuring the well-being of a particular group. They have also begun to measure how consumers respond, successfully or unsuccessfully, to such economic uncertainties as inflation, divorce, and retirement. Using new data and techniques, the contributors to this book concentrate on issues of uncertainty and horizontal equity (the equal treatment of individuals within a defined group). Their work points to better ways of determining how various groups in a society are faring relative to other groups. Economists and policy analysts, therefore, will be in a better position to determine how government programs should be applied when well-being is used as a test.
A Comparison of Measures of Horizontal Inequity Using Alternative Measures of Well-being
Title | A Comparison of Measures of Horizontal Inequity Using Alternative Measures of Well-being PDF eBook |
Author | Robert D. Plotnick |
Publisher | |
Pages | 52 |
Release | 1984 |
Genre | Households |
ISBN |
A New Measure of Horizontal Equity
Title | A New Measure of Horizontal Equity PDF eBook |
Author | Kevin A. Hassett |
Publisher | |
Pages | 29 |
Release | 1999 |
Genre | Income distribution |
ISBN |
In this paper, we propose a new measure of horizontal equity that overcomes many of the shortcomings of previous proposed measures. Our starting point is the observation that a well-behaved social welfare function need not evaluate global' (vertical equity) differences in after-tax income using the same weights it applies to local' (horizontal equity) differences, even though this constraint has been applied in the past. Following work on the structure of individual preferences, we show that a social welfare function can imply different preferences toward horizontal and vertical equity. Adopting the general approach to the measurement of inequality developed by Atkinson (1970), we use such a social welfare function to derive measures of inequality that are decomposable into components naturally interpreted as indices of horizontal and vertical equity. In particular, the former index measures deviations from the fundamental principle that equals be treated equally. Finally, we apply our new measure to two tax-return data sets, evaluating the degree to which the horizontal equity of the US personal income tax has changed over time, and how horizontal equity would be altered by one version of recent proposals to do away with the so-called marriage penalty.'
Horizontal Equity
Title | Horizontal Equity PDF eBook |
Author | Louis Kaplow |
Publisher | |
Pages | 25 |
Release | 2000 |
Genre | Income distribution |
ISBN |
Alan Auerbach and Kevin Hassett offer a new measure of horizontal equity (HE) that is designed to overcome deficiencies in prior indexes. There is, however, a fundamental problem that their effort shares with their predecessors' attempts: the underlying rationale for pursuing HE at the expense of individuals' well-being is never stated. Moreover, as discussed here, it appears that no plausible rationale can be given because the essence of HE involves giving weight to morally arbitrary factors. Indeed, pursuing HE may even conflict with the Pareto principle. On reflection, it seems that the appeal of HE is specious: HE does not possess intrinsic value, but rather is a rough proxy concept that may signal various ways in which unequal treatment of individuals can lead to a loss in social welfare. Unfortunately, HE indexes are not very useful even with regard to HE's proxy role
Social Justice and Public Policy
Title | Social Justice and Public Policy PDF eBook |
Author | Anthony Barnes Atkinson |
Publisher | MIT Press |
Pages | 464 |
Release | 1983 |
Genre | Business & Economics |
ISBN | 9780262010672 |
This volume collects the core of A. B. Atkinson's contributions to the study of inequality and mobility, wealth and redistribution, taxation, and public policy issues.
A new measure of horizontal equity
Title | A new measure of horizontal equity PDF eBook |
Author | Antonia María Ruiz Jiménez |
Publisher | |
Pages | 27 |
Release | 1999 |
Genre | |
ISBN |