On the Economic Content of the Gini Coefficient

Semih TÜMEN

Makale detayları

On the Economic Content of the Gini Coefficient

Yazarlar:

Semih TÜMEN

Yayıncı:

Türkiye Ekonomi Kurumu Vakfı

Ana Başlıklar:

Ekonomi ve Maliye

Dergi:

Ekonomi-tek 2012 Vol.1 Issue 1, pp.97-110

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

1/2012

Belge Dili:

İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.):

2000406305

eISSN:

2791-7991

pISSN:

2146-6173

Özet:

 

This paper argues that the canonical assignment model, which is widely used in the study of wage determination, provides natural links to the standardized tools of inequality analysis, such as the Lorenz curve and the Gini coefficient. I show that an intuitive formula for the Gini coefficient of earnings can be derived using a standard assignment model. Such a model is useful in understanding the potential sources of earnings inequality, since it formulates the Gini coefficient as a function of the dispersion of worker skills, the distribution of firm productivities, and the strength of complementarities in production between capital and labor. The Gini coefficient increases with the dispersion of skills, the dispersion of productivities, and the labor share.

 

This paper argues that the canonical assignment model, which is widely used in the study of wage determination, provides natural links to the standardized tools of inequality analysis, such as the Lorenz curve and the Gini coefficient. I show that an intuitive formula for the Gini coefficient of earnings can be derived using a standard assignment model. Such a model is useful in understanding the potential sources of earnings inequality, since it formulates the Gini coefficient as a function of the dispersion of worker skills, the distribution of firm productivities, and the strength of complementarities in production between capital and labor. The Gini coefficient increases with the dispersion of skills, the dispersion of productivities, and the labor share.

Makale detayları

On the Economic Content of the Gini Coefficient

Yazarlar: Semih TÜMEN

Yayıncı: Türkiye Ekonomi Kurumu Vakfı

Ana Başlıklar: Ekonomi ve Maliye

Dergi: Ekonomi-tek 2012 Vol.1 Issue 1, pp.97-110

Belge Tipi: Makale

Yayın Tarihi: 1/2012

Belge Dili: İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.): 2000406305

eISSN: 2791-7991

pISSN: 2146-6173

Sayı

Yazarlar:

Semih TÜMEN

Yayıncı:

Türkiye Ekonomi Kurumu Vakfı

Ana Başlıklar:

Ekonomi ve Maliye

Dergi:

Ekonomi-tek 2012 Vol.1 Issue 1, pp.97-110

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

1/2012

Belge Dili:

İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.):

2000406305

eISSN:

2791-7991

pISSN:

2146-6173