Abstract
We characterize a class of envy measures. There are three key axioms. Decomposability requires that overall envy is the sum of the envy within and between subgroups. The other two axioms
deal with the two-individual setting and specify how the envy measure should react to simple changes in the individuals’ commodity bundles. The characterized class measures the envy of one
individual to another by the relative utility difference (using the envious’ utility function) between the bundle of the envied and the bundle of the envious. The particular utility representation to be used is fixed by the axioms. The class measures overall envy by the sum of these (transformed) relative utility differences. We discuss our results in the light of previous contributions to envy measurement and multidimensional inequality measurement.
deal with the two-individual setting and specify how the envy measure should react to simple changes in the individuals’ commodity bundles. The characterized class measures the envy of one
individual to another by the relative utility difference (using the envious’ utility function) between the bundle of the envied and the bundle of the envious. The particular utility representation to be used is fixed by the axioms. The class measures overall envy by the sum of these (transformed) relative utility differences. We discuss our results in the light of previous contributions to envy measurement and multidimensional inequality measurement.
| Original language | English |
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| Place of Publication | Maastricht |
| Publisher | Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2013 |
Publication series
| Series | GSBE Research Memoranda |
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| Number | 063 |