Comparing latent inequality with ordinal data

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Kaplan, David M., Zhao, Wei
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Kaplan, David M.
Zhao, Wei
author_facet Kaplan, David M.
Zhao, Wei
contents We propose new ways to compare two latent distributions when only ordinal data are available and without imposing parametric assumptions on the underlying continuous distributions. First, we contribute identification results. We show how certain ordinal conditions provide evidence of between-group inequality, quantified by particular quantiles being higher in one latent distribution than in the other. We also show how other ordinal conditions provide evidence of higher within-group inequality in one distribution than in the other, quantified by particular interquantile ranges being wider in one latent distribution than in the other. Second, we propose an "inner" confidence set for the quantiles that are higher for the first latent distribution. We also describe frequentist and Bayesian inference on features of the ordinal distributions relevant to our identification results. Our contributions are illustrated by empirical examples with mental health and general health.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_05338
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Comparing latent inequality with ordinal data
Kaplan, David M.
Zhao, Wei
Econometrics
Statistics Theory
Methodology
We propose new ways to compare two latent distributions when only ordinal data are available and without imposing parametric assumptions on the underlying continuous distributions. First, we contribute identification results. We show how certain ordinal conditions provide evidence of between-group inequality, quantified by particular quantiles being higher in one latent distribution than in the other. We also show how other ordinal conditions provide evidence of higher within-group inequality in one distribution than in the other, quantified by particular interquantile ranges being wider in one latent distribution than in the other. Second, we propose an "inner" confidence set for the quantiles that are higher for the first latent distribution. We also describe frequentist and Bayesian inference on features of the ordinal distributions relevant to our identification results. Our contributions are illustrated by empirical examples with mental health and general health.
title Comparing latent inequality with ordinal data
topic Econometrics
Statistics Theory
Methodology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.05338