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A New Distribution Sensitive Index for Measuring Welfare, Poverty, and Inequality

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dc.contributor.authorKraay, Aart
dc.contributor.authorLakner, Christoph
dc.contributor.authorÖzler, Berk
dc.contributor.authorDecerf, Benoit
dc.contributor.authorJolliffe, Dean
dc.contributor.authorSterck, Olivier
dc.contributor.authorYonzan, Nishant
dc.date.accessioned2023-06-22T15:38:40Z
dc.date.available2023-06-22T15:38:40Z
dc.date.issued2023-06-22
dc.description.abstractSimple welfare indices such as mean income are ubiquitous but not distribution sensitive. In contrast, existing distribution sensitive welfare indices are rarely used, often because they are difficult to explain and/or lack intuitive units. This paper proposes a simple new distribution sensitive welfare index with intuitive units: the average factor by which individual incomes must be multiplied to attain a given reference level of income. This new index is subgroup decomposable with population weights and satisfies the three main definitions of distribution sensitivity in the literature. Variants on this index can be used as distribution sensitive poverty measures and as inequality measures, with the same simple intuitive units. The properties of the new index are illustrated using the global distribution of income across individuals between 1990 and 2019, as well as with selected country comparisons. Finally, the index can be used to define the “prosperity gap” as a proposed new measure of “shared prosperity,” one of the twin goals of the World Bank.en
dc.identifierhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099934305302318791/IDU0325015fc0a4d6046420afe405cb6b6a87b0b
dc.identifier.doi10.1596/1813-9450-10470
dc.identifier.urihttps://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/39913
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherWashington, DC: World Bank
dc.relation.ispartofseriesPolicy Research Working Paper; 10470
dc.rightsCC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holderWorld Bank
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/
dc.subjectWELFARE INDEX
dc.subjectPOVERTY INDEX
dc.subjectINEQUALITY INDEX
dc.subjectSHARED PROSPERITY
dc.subjectPOVERTY INFORMATICS
dc.titleA New Distribution Sensitive Index for Measuring Welfare, Poverty, and Inequalityen
dc.typeWorking Paper
dspace.entity.typePublication
okr.associatedcontenthttps://reproducibility.worldbank.org/index.php/catalog/7 Link to data and reproducibility package
okr.crossref.titleA New Distribution Sensitive Index for Measuring Welfare, Poverty, and Inequality
okr.date.disclosure2023-06-22
okr.date.doiregistration2025-04-07T08:25:39.768913Z
okr.date.doiregistration2025-04-08T16:12:17.452766Z
okr.date.doiregistration2025-04-09T03:06:48.266861Z
okr.date.lastmodified2023-06-01T00:00:00Zen
okr.doctypePolicy Research Working Paper
okr.doctypePublications & Research
okr.docurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099934305302318791/IDU0325015fc0a4d6046420afe405cb6b6a87b0b
okr.guid099934305302318791
okr.identifier.docmidIDU-325015fc-a4d6-4642-afe4-5cb6b6a87b0b
okr.identifier.doi10.1596/1813-9450-10470
okr.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-10470
okr.identifier.externaldocumentum34073258
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum34073258
okr.identifier.reportWPS10470
okr.import.id865
okr.importedtrueen
okr.language.supporteden
okr.pdfurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099934305302318791/pdf/IDU0325015fc0a4d6046420afe405cb6b6a87b0b.pdfen
okr.region.geographicalWorld
okr.topicPoverty Reduction::Achieving Shared Growth
okr.topicMacroeconomics and Economic Growth::Economic Theory & Research
okr.topicPoverty Reduction::Poverty Monitoring & Analysis
okr.unitDEC-Development Policy (DECDP)
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