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Concentration Curves And Concentration Indexes Derived From Them

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Income and Wealth Distribution, Inequality and Poverty

Part of the book series: Studies in Contemporary Economics ((CONTEMPORARY))

Abstract

Many synthetic concentration measures are derived from concentration curves. The ordinate of the concentration curves may be utilized as point concentration measure (local concentration). In this paper, after having analysed the behaviour of the concentration curves derived from the Lorenz curve and the behaviour of the Z(p) curve, the formal requirements that must be fulfilled by point concentration measure have been specified. The first of these requirements states that a point concentration measure must not have a forced behaviour. Unfortunately, the widely utilized Lorenz curve has a forced behaviour. Consequently, it does not seem reasonable to use the ordinate of the Lorenz curve as point concentration measure. On the contrary, the Z(p) curve has not a forced behaviour and it has shown a great suitability for representing different real distributions as well as different distributive models. The Z(p) point measure satisfies also all the other requirements, so that it may be utilized as point concentration measure.

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Zenga, M. (1990). Concentration Curves And Concentration Indexes Derived From Them. In: Dagum, C., Zenga, M. (eds) Income and Wealth Distribution, Inequality and Poverty. Studies in Contemporary Economics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-84250-4_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-84250-4_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-52863-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-84250-4

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