FAO.org

This analytical tool illustrates one of the most popular welfare-based measures of inequality, the Atkinson Index . In particular, it discusses the foundations of this Index, in terms of social welfare specifications, and the concept of equally distributed equivalent income on which the measure is based. The use of this measure is then exemplified in a step-by-step procedure and in a numerical example.

For further information, see also:

• Impacts of Policies on Poverty: Distributional Poverty Measures
• Poverty Analysis: Poverty and Dominance
• Social Welfare Analysis of Income Distributions: Social Welfare, Social Welfare Functions and Inequality Aversion

This paper is part of the FAO Policy series: EASYPol-Resources for policy making (in agriculture, rural development and food security). To find other EASYPol series' resources, go to the Policy Support and Governance website>Resources and type "EASYPol" in the free text search.