Suchergebnisse

For equity, societies may wish to eliminate certain forms or manifestations of inequality. Horizontal equity and vertical equity in the income tax are topics which have interested me for some years. Although any shortfall from each of these objectives can be measured in terms of unwanted inequalities, equity per se is a different concept from equality. Equity relates to fairness, justice and other societal norms which give expression to the best aspirations of our collective social conscience. For example, equal access to health care for those in equal need is an accepted norm for horizontal equity in the health field. Vertical equity in this context means treating appropriately differently those who have different needs. The papers which are ultimately included in this volume are the ones, from among those offered, which survived a rigorous refereeing process. Each has its own take on the concept of equity, and its link with equality. Part of the Research on Economic Inequality series, it provides an international forum for all researchers interested in the study of economic inequality and related fields. It brings together a diversity of perspectives. This volume focuses on Equity

A widely accepted criterion for the pro-poorness of an income growth pattern is that it should reduce a (chosen) measure of poverty by \textit{more} than if all incomes were growing equi-proportionately. Inequality reduction is not generally seen as either necessary or sufficient for pro-poorness. As empirical income distributions fit well to the lognormal form, lognormality has sometimes been assumed in order to determine analytically the poverty effects of income growth. We show that in a lognormal world, growth is pro-poor in the above sense, if and only if it is inequality-reducing. It follows that lognormality may not be a good paradigm by means of which to examine pro-poorness issues. In contrast, some popular 3-parameter forms offer the ability to conduct nuanced investigation of the pro-poorness growth-inequality nexus.

In Okun's (1975) extended essay "Equality and Efficiency — The Big Trade‐Off", reference is made to the leaky bucket experiment in the context of tax and transfer programmes. Money is carried from the rich to the poor in a bucket which leaks. This idea gives eloquent expression to the concept of efficiency loss in the use of the fiscal system to reduce inequality.