Mobility, Inequality, and Horizontal Equity

Abstract

Mobility implies initial and final distributions and a transition process linking the observations of these two distributions. An inequality index describes properties of the intitial or final distribution. A mobility index describes the transition. In most cases, mobility indices have been developed using properties of transition matrices independently of the concepts of inequality and equity that may also be used in the analysis. This paper presents a new tool - the Gini index of mobility - that provides an overall consistent framework for the analysis of mobility, inequality, and horizontal equity. The theoretical concepts are illustrated empirically using panel data from rural Mexico.

Keywords: mobility, inequality, horizontal equity

JEL Classification: D31, D63, O15