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International Bank for Reconetruction and Development Development Research Center Diecuesion Papers No. 10 EFFICIENT ESTIMTi3N OF THE LORENZ CURVE .WD ASSOCIATED INEQUALITY MEASURES FROM GROUPED OBSET;'?ATIONS N.C. Kakwani and N. Podder October 1974 NOTE: Discussion Papers are preliminary materials circulated to stimulate discuaeion and critical comment. References in public&tion to Dis- cusaion Papere should be cleared with the author(e) to protect the tentative character of these papers. Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized

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Page 1: World Bank Documentdocuments.worldbank.org/curated/en/... · by making uqe of the following - relationship.- 4 / C i See Pearoon and Johnson [9 1. 4' In order to find the derivatives

I n t e r n a t i o n a l Bank f o r Reconetruct ion and Development

Development Research Center

Diecuesion Papers

No. 10

EFFICIENT ESTIMTi3N OF THE LORENZ CURVE .WD

ASSOCIATED INEQUALITY MEASURES FROM GROUPED OBSET;'?ATIONS

N.C. Kakwani and N . Podder

October 1974

NOTE: Discussion Papers a r e pre l iminary m a t e r i a l s c i r c u l a t e d t o s t i m u l a t e discuaeion and c r i t i c a l comment. References i n publ ic&t ion t o D i s - cusaion Papere should be c leared wi th t h e au thor (e ) t o p ro t ec t t h e t e n t a t i v e cha rac t e r of t he se papers .

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EFFICIENT ESTLXATION OF THE LORENZ CURVE AM) ASSOCIATED INEQUALITY MEASURES FROM

GROUPED OBSERVATIONS

-

by N.C. Kalmani and N. Podder Development Research Center, The World Sank

The Universi ty of New South Wales

I. INTRODUCTION

The Lorenz curve is widely used t o represent and analyee the o i z e

d i s t r i b u t i o n of income and wealth. The curve r e l a t e s the crmnrlativla propor-

t i o n of lncome ur,ite t o the cumulative proport ion of income received when

u n i t e a r e arranged i n ascending order of t h e i r income.

The equat ion of t he Lorenz cu:rva can be derived from the dens i ty

funcrion of the inccme d i s t r i b u t i o n . I n p r a c t i c e , t h e d e m i t y funct ion i e

not h am and eo f a r the approach Fa8 been t o f i t some re11 known denai tp

func t ion , f o r example, t h e Pareto o r t h e Lognormal. The shortcoming of

such nn approach is t h a t t he well-known d e n s i t y funct ion hard ly givks a

reasonably good f i t t o a c t u a l d a t a . An a l t e r n a t i v e approach i e t o f ind a n

equation o t the Lorenz curve which would f i t a c t u a l da t a reasonably well. ' f

The Lorenz-curve has a number of p rope r t i e s which can be e f f e c t i v e l y - - *

uc i l i zed t e s p e c i f y such an equation. S m -

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' R e purpose of t h i s paper i e t o i n t roduce a new coo rd ina t e system

For rlle I.orenz curve. P a r t i c u l a r a t t e n t i o n ie paid t o a s p e c i a l c a s e of

wide emp i r i c a l v a l i d i t y . Four a l t e r n a t i v e methods have been used t o

e s t i m a t e t h e proposed Lorenz cu rve from t h e grouped obse rva t i ons . The wel l -

'mown i n e q u 3 l i t y measures a r e ob ta ined as t h e f u n c t i o n of t h e e s t i n a t e d

paraxr.eters of t h e Lorenz curve . The procedure of e s t ima t i ng t h e asympto t ic

s t anda rd e r r o r s of t h e i n e q u a l i t y neaeures i s aLso provided. I n a d d i t i o n

the frequency d i s r r i b u t i o n is de r ived from t h e equa t ion of t h e Lorenz curve .

X new r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of t h e Lorenz cu rve is in t roduced i n t h e

next s e c t i o n . Sec t i on 3 prov ides t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between t h i s represen ta -

t i c n of the Lorenz curve and a number of convent iona l measures of income

i n e q u a l i t y . S e c t i o n 4 d e s c r i b e s a number of e s t ima t i on methoda. The l a a t

s e c t i o n r e p o r t s some e m p i r i c a l r e s u l t s based on t he d a t a from t h e A u s t r a l i a n

survey of Conaumer Expendi ture and Finances (1967-68) .

2. A NEW CO-ORDINATE SYSTEM FQR,THE LOkENZ CURVE

I Suppose t h a t income X of a fami ly i s a random v a r i a b l e w i th

p r o b a b i l i t y d i s t r i b u t i o n func t i on F(x). F u r t h e r , I f lit i s assurcsd that * aeon v of t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n e x i r t o and X is def ined on ly f o r p o e i t i v e

value&', t he f i r s t moment d i s t r i b u t i o q f u n c c i o n of X is then given by

where g ( X ) is t h e d e n s i t y f unc t i on .

11 The i n c o c e X can be nega t i ve f o r some f a m i l i e s but i s assuned t o be always p o s i t i v e h e r e because of n o t a t i o n a l convenience.

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- 3 -

The Lorenz cu rve is t h e r e l a t i o n e h i p betveen F ( x ) and Fl(x).

The cu rve i e shovn i n F igu re 1. The eque t ion of t h e l i n e F1 - F ia

c a l l e d t h e e g a l i t a r i a n l i n e , which i n the diagram, is t h e diagonal th rough

t h e o r i g i n of t h e u n i t equare .

L , t

Let P be any p o i n t on t h e cu rve w i t h co -o rd ina t e s (F,FL).

1 '9 (F + F1) and n - fi (F - F1). = - 4 - - *

# * .. then rl w i l i be t h e l e n g t h of t h e o r d i n a t e from P on t h e e g a l i t a r i a n

l i n e and will be t h e d i e t a n c e of the o r d i n a t e from t h e o r i g i n a long

t he egalitarian l i n e . S ince t h e Lorenz cu rves l i e s below t h e

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< F which impl ies n 0 Fur the r , i f income is e g a l i t a r i a n l i n e , Fl - always poeic ive t he equa t ion (2.2) w i l l imply n t o be l e s s than o r equal

The equa t ion of t h e Lorenz curve i n terms of 7 and n can now

be w r i t t e n as:

where a v a r i e s from zero t o fi .

I f g(X) i s cont inuous, t he d e r i v a t i v e s of F(x) and F ~ ( X )

e x i s t ; d~ I dF1 g(x) and - :i x dx

, Using these va lues i n (2.2) U

e ivcs t h e d ~ r i v a t i v e s of n wi th r e s p e c t t o a as :

Thus q w i l l b e maximum a t x - v .

2 1 I f t he Lorenz curve represented by t he equat ion (2 .3 ) is symmetric,-

. . thc vnlue of a t n and ( - 7) should be equal Eor a l l va lues of ?, - which impl ies I . 2 1 The s ~ e t r i c i t y of t he Lorenz curve is def ined with r e s p e c t -

t o the diagonal drawn perpendicular t o t he e g a l i t a r i a n l i n e .

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- 5 -

f ( n ) - f ( f i - n ) f o r a l l n

The cu rve w i l l be skeved toward8 (1, 1 ) i f £ (a ) > f ( f i - n) f o r

1 < fi and i t w i l l b e skewed tcrlards (0, 0 ) i f f (a) < (fi - a ) f o r

1 ;r < fi . f o r i n s t a n c e , assume t h a t t h e equa t ion of t h e curve is

n = a n a ( f i - a)', a > 0 , a > 0 and 0 > 0.

The r c ~ t r i c t i o n a > 0 impl ies t h a t n > 0 i.e. t h e Lorenz c u r v e - l i e s below the e g a l i t a r i a n l i n e . Fu r the r , a > 0 and 0 > 0 mean t h a t s

assuaes v a l u e ze ro when a - 0 o r r - fi . Using (2.6) i t is seen t h a t t h e

curve i s symmetric i f a = B , skewed towards (1 , 1 ) i f 0 > a and skewed

tounrds (0 , 0 ) o therwise . Fu r the r r e s t r i c t i o n s on t h e c o e f f i c i e n t s of (2.7)

cnn be imposed on t h e b a s i s of equa t ions (2.4) and (2.5). I f f l ( n ) s t a n d s

For t he f i r s t d e r i v a t i v e of f ( r ) w i th r e s p e c t t o r, t h e equa t ion (2.4)

i t . p l i e s t h a t Cot X > 0 , [ l - £ ' ( a ) ] and [ l + f ' ( n ) ] should be of t h e eame - s i g n $0 t h a t t h e i r r a t i o is always p o s i t i v e . The equa t ion (2.5) means t h a t

f o r a l l v ~ l u e s of X , t h e second d e r i v a t i v e £"(a) should be nega t ive .

F o r c h i equa t i on (2.7). t h e s e t h i e e q u a n t i t i e s a r e ob ta ined a s

and

s 1 F ) + 1 -

+ - I

1 + ( T I ) = an (2.9)

(fi - a) ?r

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where uea has been made of (2.2). It is t h u s obvious t h a t t h e s u f f i c i e n t I

I

condi t iona f o r equa t ione (2.4) and (2.5) t o b e s a t i s f i e d a r e 0 < a 51'

and 0 < 6 5 1. These s u f f i c i e n t cond i t i ons r u l e ou t p o s s i b i l i t y of p o i n t s

of i n f l e x i o n on t h e cu rve which a r e , of cou r se , no t p e d s s a b l e i n t h e ,

Lorenz curve.

Aa a l t e r n a t i v e c l a a s o f equa t ione of t h e Lorenz cu rve which ~ look s i m i l a r t o t h e well-known CES produc t ion func t i on proposed by &r&

Chenery, Minhaa and Solow [ I ] i a g iven b;*

vhcre t h e parameters a , 6, p and v a r e a l l g r e a t e r t han ze ro . ~ e a r r a d ~ i n ~ I

t h e equa t i on (2.11) w e o b t a i n

I

which =] .ear ly ohowa t h a t n a ~ ~ s u m e e va lue ze ro when n - 0 and n = I

h e curve i s s p m e t r i c i f 6 -+, skewed towards (1. 1 ) i f 6 > 1 and ~ 2 I

skewed towards (0, 0 ) i f 6 < f: k u r t h e r , t h e l i m i t of ( 2 . l i ) a s p ~ I

approaches ze ro becomes

- I

e is t h e same c h s s of equa t ione a s (2 .7) wi th a = 6v and 8 - v ( l - 6 ) .

1

F i n a l l y , the s u f f i c i e n t c o n d i t i o n s t h a t t h e equa t i ons (2 .4 ) and (2.5) a r e

always s a t i s f i e d f o r t h i a c l a a s of equa t ione 1 . e . (2.11) a r e 0 < 6 < 1 and

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The income d e n s i t y f unc t i on u n d r r l y i n g t h e Lorenz cun r r (2.3)

is ob t a ined a s

xhere use h a s been made of equa t i ons (2.2) and (2.4).

The equa t i on (2.4) w r i t t e n he

v - x f ' ( n ) - U - x , (2.15)

g ives t he r e l a t i o n e h i p between n and x. Under t h e e u f f i c i e n t condi-

t i o n s diacueaed above, f " (n ) < 0 , which impl iee t h a t f ' ( n ) is a mno-

t o n i c a l l y dec r ea s ing f u n c t i o n of n and, t h e r e f o r e , t h e equa t i on (2.16)

can alwaye be so lved f o r n i n terms of x. S u b s t i t u t i n g t h e va lue o f n

f o r n given va lue of x i n (2.2) g i v e s t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n func t i ons P(x)

and Fy(x) . D i f f e r e n t i a t i n g (2.15) w i th r e s p e c t t o n g i v e s

* I t

d a which impl iee t h a t > 0 i . e . n i n c r ea see ae x inc reasee . Uaing

dn the va lue of. n so lved from (2.15) i n t o (2.16) ; we o b t a i n t h e v a l u e of - . . 'J

i dx

' in terms of x, which on s u b s t i t u t i n g i n ( 2 . 1 4 t g i v e s the d e n e i t y f u n c t i m

b * . g ( x ) Thue, i f t h e cond i t i on t h a t f " (7) < 0 3s s a t i t l f i e d f o r t h e given

e q u a t i o n for t h e Lorenz curve i t is alwaye p o s s i b l e t o d e r i v e t h e income

d e n s i t y f u n c t i o n under ly ing tyie equa t ion of t h e Lorenz curve.

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3. INEQUALITY MEASURES AND THEIR DERIVATION

Anor,g a l l t h e measures, t h e w e t wide iy used is G i n i ' s concen t ra t ion

r a t i o which is e q u a l t o twice t h s a r e a between t h e Lorenz curve and t h e ega-

l i t a r i a n l i n e . Thus i f t h e ~ o r e n z curve is fom.ulated i n terms of IT and 0 ,

t h e concen t r a t i on r a t i o becomes

K C R d 3 1 f ( n ) d ~ (3.1)

0

which f o r t h e s p e c i f i c curve (2.7) is

3 / where B(l+a, 1+B) is t h e Beta f unc t i on which ha s been widely tabulated.-

The p a r t i a l d e r i v a t i v e of CR w i th r e s p e c t t o a , a and 0 are eva lua ted a s

a (CR) CR I, - (3.3)

aa a

= [ l u g If-+ Y(1 + 0) - Y(?+ ca + B)](CR) 3 0

where Y(l + a ) is t h e E n t e r ' s p s i func t ion which can ?-s numer ica l ly comp6ted ' C L

4 / by making uqe of t he fo l lowing r e l a t i onsh ip .- - C i

S e e Pearoon and Johnson [9 1. 4' In o r d e r t o f i n d t h e d e r i v a t i v e s and , ve r e q u i r e t h e

aa as p a r t i a l d e r i v a t i v e a of B(l+a,l+B) w i th respec t t o a and 0 . Formula 4-2531 of Gradshteyn and Ryekik [ 4 ] i s used t o e v a l u a t e t h e i n t e g r a l ob ta ined a f t e r d i f f e r e n t i a t i n g p a r t i a l l y t h e Beta func t ion .

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Using these p a r t i a l de r iva t ive , t h e aeymptotic var iance of CR can

nov be obtained from t h e est imated var iances and covari.ances or' t h e pata-

C 51 ~ e t e r estizzatee a, a and 0.-

Another important measure of i nequa l i ty vhich is we l l knovn in t h e -

l i t e r a t u r e is r e l a t i v e mean d e v b t i o n . This meaoure is defined a8

whore xi l a t h e income of t h e i t h family.

It can b e a h d l t h a t T 1. aqua1 Lo the -bun discrepancy bet-

vcen F ( x ) and El (x), which is a l s o equal t o & t h e e the m u W value of s.

I n order t o ob ta in t h e maximum value of rl, equat ion (2.3) is t o be d i f fe ren-

t i a t e d with reepect t o n and equated t o zero. Than so lv ing f o r n, t h e maxiram

value of n can be obtained from the equat ion of t he Lorenz curva. For in s t auce ,

if the equat ion of t h e Lorenz cr3rve i r (2.7). equating its de r iva t ive t o zero ,

rm ob ta in

3 IL a a ~ - l ( ~ - n)' - n6na(h - nlB-' - o d r c

(3- 8)

.dhich givae ,n - 4% a + 6 and, tharafora , t h e r e l a t i v e mean dev ia t ion vill be

5 -' See Xakwani and Poddar 161.

61 c. f . Gestwlrch [ 3 ] .

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Again iC t h e v a r i a n c e s and c o v a r i a n c e s o f 8 6 and 0 a r e known, i t

19 p o s e i b l e t o compute t h e asympto t ic v a i r o n c c of T.

E l t e t o and Fr igyee [2 ] have r e c e n t l y proposed a e e t o f t h r e e new

F n e q c a l i t y measures which can b e e a s i l y cornputea from t h e e q u a t i o n of t h e -

Lorenz c u r v e (2.3) bv c s i n g t h e v a l u e of n a t which q i s maximum. It is

thuo obvious t h a t t h e d e r i v a t i o n o f E l t e t o and F r i g y e s 121 measures a r e

y i n i l a r t o t h e r e l a t i v e mean d e v i a t i o n . Recen t ly , Kondor [ 7 ] has shown

t h a t thecie measures do n o t corlvey much more in format ion t h a n t h e r e l a t i v e

ncnn cic?vi.ition and it is , t h e r e f o r e , unnecessary t o d i s c u s s t h e i r d e r i v a t i o n

here . However, t h e numerical v a l u e e o f t h e s e measures d o n 3 w i t h t h e i r asymp-

t o t i c s t a n d a r d e r r o r s have t e e n computed u s i n g A u s t r a l i a n d a t a i n S e c t i o n 5 .

F u r t h e r , t h e e s t i m a t e d Lorenz curve (2-3) can be used t o o b t a i n zny

p e r c e n t i l e of t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n . To i l l u e t r e t e t h i s p o i n t t h e e s t i m a t e d

s h a r e s o f income going t o t h e p o o r e s t and r i c h e s t 5 and 15% have been compu-

t e d i n S e c t i o n 5.

4 . ON THE ESTIMATION OF 'IXE LOREN2 CURVE

The e s t i m a t i o n o f t h e Lorenz curve from grouped o b s e r v a t i o n s i s con-

. ; idered h e r e . Suppose t h e r e a r e N f a m i l i e s which have been grouped i n t o 3 I *

(T+1) income c l a s s e s , v i z . , (0 t o x l ) , (xl t o x2) ,... , (xT t o x ~ + ~ ) . Let n t

be t h e number of f a m i l i e s e a r n i n g income i n t h e i n t e r v a l x ~ , ~ - and x t , then

'9 n - -& i s t h e relative frequency f t - 5 is e c o n s i s t e n t e s t i m a t o r of t h e ,t N t

- ~ o b a b i l i t y 4 t of a fami ly belonging t o t h e t - t h income g r o u p . l l * .

I f x: is t h e sample mean f o r t h e t - t h incone group, then t h e cons fs -

t e n t e s t i m a t e s o f F(x ) and Fl(x ) a r e t t

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W L I respec t ive ly . vhe rc t-1.2,. . . .T and Q - 1 $f i a the nesn +come of

Y-1 Y Y I

B, + Q Pp - 4,

t I and y t

4- d ' r B

a l l t h e f ami l i e s . Now using t h e equat ion (2,2), t h e consistent

of nt and qt a r e obtained a s

reepec t ive ly . (rt and y d i f f e r from nt snd qt by soma random d s turbance t P

es t ima to t a

t e r n . ) Then t h e equat ion of t h e Loranz curve (2.7) i n term8 of he observa-

t i o n s on rt and yt can ba w r i t t e n oo I e / of order i n probabi l i ty . -

In vhat fo l love , it w i l l be u r e f u l t o .nite t h e above

vec tor and m t r h n o t a t i o n s a s . L

l o g yt = a ' + a l o g rt + Blog (6- r t ) + wlt . where a ' - log a and wit i a the random dis turbance which can be

vherc Y1 is a Txl vedtor of T obeervatione on l o g yl, Xl i s a '3 L

T abserva t ione on t h e r ighthand a ide v a r i a b l e s of (4.3). wl i a *

r vector od T obeervat ibns on the d is turbance term and 6

c o m J ~ s t i n g of =he t h r ee elements a ' , a and 0. Then t h e

I (4 3) ~

rhovn t o be

8 - See Kakvani and Podder ( 61 ,

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vhich w i l l be r e f e red to a s ?lethod I i n subsequect d i s c ~ s s i o n s .

Following Kakwitni and Podder 161 i t can be shown t h a t 6 is a con-

s i s t e n t e s t ima to r of 6 and its asymptotic vairance - covariance matrix i s

given by

va r (2 ) ( X i X i rill X (X' X )-I

where

is t h e var iance and covariance matr ix of vl. However, t he a e m p t o t i c more

e f f i c i e n t es t imator o f 6 is

which con a l s o be shown t o be cons i s t en t and i t s asymptotic var iance -

covariance m ~ t r i x would be

This genera l ized leas t- squares m ~ + . h o b w i l l bz r e f e r r ed t o a s Method 11. 'a L

The information on incone ranges is a v a i l a b l e f o r most income d i s t r i b u t i o n s - - *

which can be e f f e c t i v e l y u t i l i z e d t o improveqhe p rec i s ion of the es t imates . I)

Tc show t h i s , we cons ide r the equation (2.4) which f o r t he Lorenz curve (2.7)

con be wr ic ten a s

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Substituting t h e ee t ima t e s of fi t , n t and u, t h e above equa t i on

becomes

where w is t h e random e r r o r which can a g a i n b e shown t o b e of o rder T ~ / ~ , 2 t

i n p r o b a b i l i t y .

Write (4.11) i n v e c t o r and mritrix n o t a t i o n s a8

where Y2 is a column v e c t o r of T o b s e ~ a t i o n s on t h e dependent v a r i a b l e i n

t h e equa t i on (4.11), X2 i s a Tx3 matrix, t h e f i r s t column of which c o n e i s t s

o f T obse rva t i on on t h e exp lana tory v a r i a b l e s ( - r ) and -rt of the e q u a t i o n

(4.111, and w2 is t h e v e c t o r o f s t o c h a s t i c d i s t u rbances .

The equa t i ons (4.4) and (4.12) c a n n w b e combined t oge the r ae

where

- w fa now t h e v e c t o r o f 2T d i s tu rbances w i th ze ro mean and covariances'*%atrix

The c o e f f i c i e n t v e c t o r 6 can now be e s t ima t ed from (4.13) by t h e

d i r e c t l e ae t - squa re s method which w i l l b e r e f e r r e d t o a s Hethod 111. How-

e v e r , t h e aeymptot ic more e f f i c i e n t e s t i m a t o r of 6 w i l l be

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w i t h i ts asympto t i c v a r i a n c e - c o v a r i a n c e m a t r i x

v a r (i*) - (x' h1 ~ 1 - l (4.17)

- 9 / 111e e s t i m a t o r $ w i l l b e r e f e r r e d t o as Method N.-

The above p rocedure o f e s t i m a t i n g t h e pa ramete r s by combining two

s t o c h a s t i c e q u a t i o n s h a s been e a r l i e r used by T h e i l [ I ] i n connec t ion w i t h

t h e n ixed e s t i m a t i o n and by Z e l l n e r [12] i n connec t ion w i t h t h e aeeu4ngly

u n r e l a t e d r e g r e s s i o n s . It can b e demonstra ted t h a t t h e est!mntors of t h e

c o e f f i c i e n t v e c t o r 6 o b t a i n e d from t h e combined e q u a t i o n would b e more e f f i -

c i e n c t l ~ n n from t h e i n d i v i d u a l e q u a t i o n (4.4).

5. SOME EMPIRICAL RESULTS

l < e s u l t s of t h e e s t i m a t i o n o f t h e Lorenz curve and a s s o c i a t e d inequa-

l i t y measurea a r e p r e s e n t e d in t h i s s e c t i o n . I h e s o u r c e o f d a t a used f o r

t h i s purpose is t h e A u s t r a l i a n Survey o f Consumer F inances and Expend i tu res ,

1967-68 c a r r i e d o u t by t h e Hacquar ie U n i v e r s i t y and t h e U n i v e r s i t y of Queens-

Land. The n a t u r e of t h e Survey h a s been e x t e n s i v e l y d i s c u s s e d e l sewhere [ 1 3 ] .

The d a t a were s u p p l i e d t o u s i n t h e form of a set of i n d i v i d u a l o b s e i v a t i o n s .

':'he Lnc&me considered h e r e i? n e t of t a x e s b u t doe8 n o t include&fmput,ed r e n t

frvm umer occupied housee. I n d i v i d u a l income f i g u r e s made i t p o s s i b l e LO

compute t h e a c t u a l v a l u e s o f t h e c o n c e n t r a t i o n r a t i o and o t h e r measuies which

were u s e f u l i n judg ing t h e d e g r e e of a c c u r a c y ?f t h e methods d i s c u s s e d i n t h i s

paper . The grouped d a t a a r e p r e s e n t e d f n ~ a b l ! I.

9/ TI-.! d e r i v ~ t i o n of t h e c o n s i s t e n t e s t i m a t o r of t h e c o v a r i a n c e m a t r f x 2 f o l l o w s a p a t t e r n s i m i l a r t o t h a t g iven i n t h e e a r l i e r work of t h e a u t h o r s [ 6 ] and, t h e r e f o r e , h a s been o m i t t e d h e r e .

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TABLE I

Income D i e t r i b u t i o n

Table I1 presen t6 t h e es t imated parametere of t h e Lorenz curve (2.7)

a long w i t h t h e d i f f e r e n t i n e q u a l i t y measures. The equa t i on h a s been es t imated

us ing f o u r a l t e r n a t i v e methods o f e s t i m a t i o n discueaed i n Sec t i on 4.

In t he t a l b e u ' , v' and w ' r ep reene t t h e t h r e e new i n e q u a l i t y measures

r

.046849

.I43297

.354601

.639493

.878343 1.061248 1.165696 1.246493 1.297084 1.346030 1.414213

proposed by E l t e t o and F r igyes (21. The latat row of t h e t a b l e p r e s e n t s t h e Q

* t

Y I 1

.03373

.080799

.I31280

.I56525

.I47471

.I22633 ,099813 .076730 .059415 .039588 - 0

P

.056?8

.I5846

.34357

.56287

.72536

.a3713

.a9485

.93566

.95919

.97978 1.00000

Mean Incame ($1

674.39 1426.10 2545.79 3469.35 4470.33 5446.60 6460.93 7459.14 8456.66 9788.38

15617.6909

Incoma range ($1

i el ow 1000 1000 - 1999 2000 - 2999 3000 - 3999 4000 - 4999 5000 - 5999 6000 - 6999 7000 - 7999 8000 - 8999 9000 -10999

11030 and over

a c t u a l v a l u e s of t h e i n e q u a l i t y measures computed on t h e b a s i s of t h e I n d i v i d u a l

q

.009274

.044193

.I57912

.341510

.516805

.663701

.753693

.a27147

.a75164

.923794 l.000000

Number of f a m i l i e e

310 552

1007 1193

884 608 314 222 128 112 110

~ J e e r v a t i o n e . I t is observed t h a t t h e i n e q u a l i t y measures computed by a l l f o u r - s t h o d s are very c l o s e t o t h e a c t u a l va luee and t h e i r a tandard e r r o r s a r e gene- - g l l y low. Method 4 g ivee t h e bee t rcmlt i n t h e s ense t h a t t h e a t a n d a d e r r o r e !e ..

a r e t h e lowes t and t h e ee t imated i n e q u a l i t y measures are c l o e e s t t o t h e i r a c t u a l

values .

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TABLE I1

Results of the Different Methods of ~ s t i r : a t i o n *

Inequality Measures Hethod of Coef f ic ient

* Figures i n brackets are the asymptotic standard errors.

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It should be pointed out t h a t various approximeions have been used

i n the pas t t o e r t ima te the concentrat ion r a t i o from grouped da ta . The most

common is the l l n e a r approximation which assunea t h a t wi th in each income

range the inequa l i tv i e z e r o . E 1 Therefore t h i s approximation,provides only

the lower l i m i t of the CR which i n t h e present case is ,3134. Gastwirth [3]

has r ecen t ly suggested t h e method of obta in ing the upper l i m i t of the CR which

has been computed a s .3223 i n our case. The CR computed i n Table I11 l ies w i t h i n

the lower and upper l i m i t f o r a l l four methods est imation.

The equation of t h e curve (4.3) was a l s o f i t t e d t o 20 income groups

e a r l i e r considered by t h e au thor s ( 6 ] using Method I of est imation. The

CR and T have been computed a s .3201 and .2241 respec t ive ly . Thus increasing

the number of income groups from 11 t o 20 iaprovee the accuracy of t he technique.

Table 111 presen t s t h e a c t u a l and est imated values of y using d i f f e r e n t

methoda of eet imation. It is obviour t h a t t he patimated values of y by a l l f o u r

methods a r e very c l o s e t o t h e a c t u a l values. Since the graphica l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s

of the est imated Lorenz curve8 could not be v i s u a l l y d is t inguished from t h e a c t u a l

one, i t is superf luous t o present them here.

- lo' See Morgan [ B ] .

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- 1 8 -

TABLE 111

I n o r d e r t o o b t a i n t h e es t imated f requence d i e t r i b u t i o n of t h

income we need t o s o l v e f o r n in tenne o f x from t h e f o l l o w i n g n o n - l i

equa t ion . I ~

where t h e estimates of a, a and B a r e given i n Table 11. The Newton- L

method vae uaed t o compute n f o r g iven v a l u e e of x . G / The e s t i m a t e d

quency d i a t r i b u t i u n f o r t h e family income.eo ob ta ined is g iven i n Tab

k " I t can be concluded from t h i s t a b l e t h a t t h e d e n s i t y f u n c t i o n u n d e r l y ng t h e

Lorenr c u r v e ( 2 . 7 ) p r o v i b s a reasonab ly good f i t t o t h e whole range o f t h 4 I I -

I

observed income d-iatr ibution. I

I

- "/ See H e n r i c i [ S ] .

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TABLE I V

Ac tua l and Est imated Frequency D i s t r i b u t i o n of Family Income

Income Range R e l a t i v e Frequency

A c t u a l Est imated I

10% a r e p reuen ted i n Tab le V. I t is c l e a r from t h e t a b l e t h a t t h e e s t i m a t e d

Mean Iqcome

A c t u a l Es t ima ted I Under 1000 1000 - 1999 2000 - 2999 3000 - 3999 4000 - 4999 5000 - 5999 6000 - 6999 7000 - 7999 8000 - 8999 9000 - 10999

11000 +

incone a h a r e s a r e q u i t e c l o s e t o t h e a c t u a l based on t h e i n d i v i d u a l o b s e n - ? t i o n s .

The twenty income groups a g a i n p rov ide more a c c u r a t e r e s u l t s t h a n t e n groups .

The e s t i m a t e d s h a r e s of incomes going t o t h e p o o r e s t and r i c h e s t 5 a n d

TABLE V

S h a r e s of Incomee: The Poores t and Riches t 5 and 10% . . t *

.0569

. l o 1 5

. I 8 5 1

.2193

. I 6 2 5

. I118 ,0577 ,0408 .0235 .0206 .0203

SHARES OF INCOME

674.39 1426.10 2545.79 3469.35 4470.33 5446.60 6460.93 7459.14 8456.66 9788.38

15617.69

.0403

. I188

.2089

.2029

. I527

. l o 3 3 ,0661 .0406 .0245 .0236 .0183

380.47 1583'. 66 2515.38 3482.29 4469.68 5463.85 6451.13 74 71.49 8440.27 9808.39

15964.67 i

P o o r e s t 5%

Es t ima ted from 11 groups

Poores t 10% I 2.260 I 2.31A

-

Est imated from 20 groups

Riches t 5% I 14.200 I 14.380

Ac tua l from Individual

Observa t ions

Riches t 10% 1 23.600 23.780

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- 20 -

The above procedure can be used to o b t a i n t h e r e l a t i v e frequency

and the mean income of income rangee which could be made as emall a s one

wiehas. By d iv id ing t h a whole income range i n t o a l n r g e number of incone

groups i t i a thue pos s ib l e t o compute a c c u r a t e l y a number of Inequa l i t y mea-

eurea which could no t be othe-se obtained from group observations. I n

a d d i t i o n , t h e d e n s i t y functioal can be u s e f u l f o r o t h e r purpoeee which need

not be mentioned here.

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REFERENCES

f 1 1 Arrow, K.J., M.B. Chenery, B. S. Minhas and R.M. Solow, "Capital- Lnbour Sube t i tu t ion and Economic Eff ic iency , Reviev o f Economice and S t a t i s t i c s , X X X X I I I (1961). ~

:21 El te to , 0. , and Frigyes , "New Income Inequa l i ty Measurea ae E f f i c i e n t Tools f o r Causal Analysis and Planning", Eco ometrica, (1968), 383-396. -+- Gastv i r th , Joseph L., "The Estimation of t h e Lorenz Cu e and G I N 1 Index", The Review of Economics and S t a t i s t i c s , LIV, 1 72, 306-316.

Gradaheteyn, I.S. and Ryshik, I.M., Tables of I n t e g r a l S e r i e s and Products, (New York, Academic Press , 1965).

1 i

Henrici , P., Elements of Numerical Analysis, (New ~ o r k b John Wiley C Sons, 1967). I

I

Kakwani, N.C. s,:d N. Podder. "On t he Estimation of Curvee

Kondor, Y. "An Old-New Measure of Income Inequal i ty", hconometrica XXXIX, 1971, 1041-1042. ~ from Grouped Observations", In t e rna t iona l Economic Rev:.ew, (June, 1973), 276~291.

Morgan, Jameq, "The Anatomy of Income Dis t r ibut ion" , view of Economics and S t a t i s t i c e , XXXXIV (August, 1962), 270-2 +- 3.

X I V ,

Pearson, E.S., and N.I. Johnson, Tables of t h e Incornplire Beta- Function, (Cambrid8e: The Cambridge Univers i ty Press , $968).

Podder, N., " Diet r ibut ion of Household Income i n Austr lie", The Economic Record, XXXXVIII, (June, 1972). 181-201. 1

I Theil , H., "On t h e Use of Incomplete P r io r Information i n Regres- sion Analysis", Journa l of t h e American S t a t i s t i c a l As o c i a t i o n , Vol. LVIII, June, 1963, pp. 401-414.

I r I a

Zel lner , A., "An Eff i c i en t Method of Regressions and Teete f o r Aggregation S t a t i a t i c n l Associat ion, Vol. LVII, -

-? - -