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In a closed economy, income is created in production with the aid of factors such as land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship. Production takes place within different firms and government organizations, and, at the same time, income is created and distributed to income units. From this process, a pattern of distribution emerges that has been found to be stable over time and space. This feature of income distribution has provoked a number of alternative theories explaining the generation of income. The present study focuses on the following issues: (a) income distribution functions, (b) measurement of the degree of income inequality, (c) government policies affecting personal distribution of income, and (d) measurement of poverty.
Issues concerning economic inequality and poverty have become increasingly central to public debate over the past fifty years. The literature on measuring economic inequality and poverty has vastly expanded, developing many new methods, but also has generated many controversies. Economic Inequality and Poverty provides a systematic treatment of the development of inequality and poverty, focusing on how income inequality and poverty measurements have evolved in recent decades, and shows how to resolve some of the methodological and factual conflicts that have arisen. The book's primary focus is on the analysis of the relationships between individuals' or households' distributions of economic variables. These relationships are crucial in understanding many economic phenomena. Kakwani and Son employ household surveys to illustrate the application of their framework, showing how it can help in drawing evidence-based policy conclusions.
Nanak Kakwani and Hyun Hwa Son make use of social welfare functions to derive indicators of development relevant to specific social objectives, such as poverty- and inequality-reduction. Arguing that the measurement of development cannot be value-free, the authors assert that if indicators of development are to have policy relevance, they must be assessed on the basis of the social objectives in question. This study develops indicators that are sensitive to both the level and the distribution of individuals’ capabilities. The idea of the social welfare function, defined in income space, is extended to the concept of the social well-being function, defined in capability space. Through empirical analysis from selected developing countries, with a particular focus on Brazil, the authors shape techniques appropriate to the analysis of development in different dimensions. The focus of this evidence-based policy analysis is to evaluate alternative policies affecting the capacities of people to enjoy a better life.
The standard of living in Ukraine increased significantly in the 1980s, and income inequality declined. But in 1991-92 income inequality and poverty increased again, partly because government benefits went more to richer families than to those in need.Ukraine is now faced with economic crisis on an unprecedented scale. The government has to follow rigorous demand management policies, which entail lowering the population's standard of living. To design policies that protect the poorest and most vulnerable groups in the society, it is important to understand the nature of poverty and income inequality.Kakwani addresses the following questions: What is the extent of income inequality and is it ...