Computation and Econometrics of the Gini Coefficient

52 Pages Posted: 6 Jun 2024

See all articles by James Banks

James Banks

The University of Manchester

Thomas Glinnan

London School of Economics

Tatiana Komarova

Department of Economics, University of Manchester

Date Written: June 04, 2024

Abstract

Data on income and wealth may come in intervals, leading to the need to calculate bounds on the Gini coefficient from interval data. We propose a general methodology to calculate and perform inference on the sharp upper and lower bounds of the Gini coefficient, which can be easily adapted based on whatever data the researcher has access to. The estimates we produce are semi-parametric efficient, and can be calculated very quickly even when datasets are large. We demonstrate many of the ways that the core method can extended when additional information becomes available. Our application shows how we can combine data from different regions to obtain sharp bounds on overall inequality.

Keywords: Gini inequality, interval data, income brackets, wealth brackets, data combination JEL Classification : C6

Suggested Citation

Banks, James and Glinnan, Thomas and Komarova, Tatiana, Computation and Econometrics of the Gini Coefficient (June 04, 2024). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4853761 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4853761

James Banks

The University of Manchester ( email )

Oxford Road
Manchester, N/A M13 9PL
United Kingdom

Thomas Glinnan

London School of Economics ( email )

Tatiana Komarova (Contact Author)

Department of Economics, University of Manchester ( email )

Arthur Lewis Building
Oxford Road
Manchester, M13 9PL
United Kingdom

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
44
Abstract Views
152
PlumX Metrics