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Autori principali: Aymeric, Gaëlle, Magdalou, Brice
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
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Accesso online:https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.08601
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author Aymeric, Gaëlle
Magdalou, Brice
author_facet Aymeric, Gaëlle
Magdalou, Brice
contents This paper presents findings from a web-experiment on a representative sample of the French population. It examines the acceptability of the Pigou-Dalton principle of transfers, which posits that transferring income from an individual to a relatively poorer one, reduces overall inequality. While up to 60% of respondents reject standard transfers, the three alternative transfers we test receive more approval, especially those promoting solidarity among lower-income recipients. The study then models respondents' preferences with two types of social welfare functions, utilitarian and Extended Gini. The Extended Gini model aligns better with individual preferences. Nevertheless, Extended Gini-type social welfare functions that adhere to the principle of transfers (including the one underlying the Gini index) poorly capture preferences of each individual. However, quite surprisingly, the preferences of the median individual align almost perfectly with the Gini-based function, using either parametric or non-parametric estimates.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2411_08601
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Does the Gini index represent people's views on inequality?
Aymeric, Gaëlle
Magdalou, Brice
General Economics
Economics
This paper presents findings from a web-experiment on a representative sample of the French population. It examines the acceptability of the Pigou-Dalton principle of transfers, which posits that transferring income from an individual to a relatively poorer one, reduces overall inequality. While up to 60% of respondents reject standard transfers, the three alternative transfers we test receive more approval, especially those promoting solidarity among lower-income recipients. The study then models respondents' preferences with two types of social welfare functions, utilitarian and Extended Gini. The Extended Gini model aligns better with individual preferences. Nevertheless, Extended Gini-type social welfare functions that adhere to the principle of transfers (including the one underlying the Gini index) poorly capture preferences of each individual. However, quite surprisingly, the preferences of the median individual align almost perfectly with the Gini-based function, using either parametric or non-parametric estimates.
title Does the Gini index represent people's views on inequality?
topic General Economics
Economics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.08601