Do we value mobility? Amiel, Yoram; Bernasconi, Michele; Cowell, Frank A ...
Social choice and welfare,
02/2015, Letnik:
44, Številka:
2
Journal Article
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Is there a trade-off between people's preference for income equality and income mobility? Testing for the existence of such a trade-off is difficult because mobility is a multifaceted concept. We ...analyse results from a questionnaire experiment based on simple precise concepts of income inequality and income mobility. We find no direct trade-off in preference between mobility and equality, but an indirect tradeoff, applying when more income mobility can only be obtained at the expense of some income inequality. Mobility preference—but not equality preference—appears to be driven by personal experience of mobility.
We investigate a general problem of comparing pairs of distributions which includes approaches to inequality measurement, the evaluation of “unfair” income inequality, evaluation of inequality ...relative to norm incomes, and goodness of fit. We show how to represent the generic problem simply using (1) a class of divergence measures derived from a parsimonious set of axioms and (2) alternative types of “reference distributions.” The problems of appropriate statistical implementation are discussed and empirical illustrations of the technique are provided using a variety of reference distributions.
According to standard theory founded on Harsanyi (J Polit Econ 61: 434-435, 1953; 63: 309-321, 1955) a social welfare function can be appropriately based on the individual's approach to choice under ...uncertainty. We investigate how people really do rank distributions in terms of welfare. According to Harsanyi, the evaluation can be done from the standpoint of an uninvolved external judge, a public official, for example, or by a person who knows that she holds one of the positions in society, with an equal chance for any of the available positions. Are these two structures to be viewed differently? We use a questionnaire experiment to focus on the two different interpretations of the Harsanyi approach. There are important, systematic differences that transcend the cultural background of respondents.
Microeconomics develops core microeconomic principles to a high level using a clear and carefully constructed learning framework. The book will give readers a solid foundation in microeconomic ...analysis, using mathematical techniques where appropriate, and will enable them to apply these analytical techniques to a range of economic problems. It compounds the student's understanding of principles and techniques by re-using them throughout the text after each has been covered. The book is designed to assist the student's learning in every way possible and contains comprehensive sets of problems and exercises at all stages. ONLINE RESOURCE CENTRE For lecturers: worked solutions to selected exercises in the book, figures from the book, PowerPoint presentations, solutions manual and figures to accompany the solutions manual
Although measures of sensitivity to inequality are important in judging the welfare effects of health-care programmes, it is far from straightforward how to elicit them and apply them in health-care ...decision-making. This paper provides an overview of the literature on the measurement of inequality aversion, examines some of the features specific of the health domain that depart from the income domain, and discusses its implementation in health-system priority-setting decisions. We find evidence that individuals exhibit a preference for more equitable health distribution, but inequality aversion estimates from the literature are unclear. Unlike the income-inequality literature, standard approaches in the health economics do not follow a ‘veil-of-ignorance’ approach and elicit mostly bivariate (income-related health) inequality aversion estimates. We suggest some ideas to reduce the disconnect between the income inequality and health economics literature.
We examine individuals’ distributional orderings in a number of contexts. This is done by using a questionnaire-experiment that is presented to respondents in any one of seven “flavors” or ...interpretations of the basic distributional problem. The flavors include inequality, risk, social welfare and justice.
Tax scams involving the rich and famous make eye-catching news copy. They also are part of a significant and growing economic problem - the "shadow economy" that defrauds the government. Frank Cowell ...is one of the worlds leading contributors to the theoretical economic analysis of tax evasion. In this book he systematically studies the underground economy to examine how certain types of economic analysis can be applied to tax evaders. He also recommends measures that can be taken to counteract the problem. Cowell's investigation raises questions that go to the heart of public economics and reveals the shortcomings of applying standard economic models of crime to tax evasion. He develops an analytical framework that shows how the underground economy grows and suggests simple economic mechanisms that will induce the behavior that leads to tax evasion. Having laid the analytical groundwork, Cowell turns to policy. He observes that standard welfare-based arguments against cheating are "decidedly flaccid" and points toward an enforcement policy that is informed by economic analysis, particularly in terms of scope and practicality. Frank A. Cowell is Reader in Economics at the London School of Economics and the author of Measuring Inequality and Microeconomic Principles.
Abstract
It is well known that taxes on the transfer of wealth typically raise very little revenue. However, this does not mean that they are ineffective as tools for redistribution. In this chapter, ...we show how important such taxes can be in the long-run distribution of wealth, reducing equilibrium inequality (the “predistribution” effect) by a much larger amount than what is apparent in terms of the immediate impact of the tax (the “redistribution” effect).
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