Skip to main content
Log in

Analyzing the impact of indirect tax reforms on rank-dependent social welfare functions: a positional dominance approach

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Social Choice and Welfare Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A new approach is developed to identify marginal tax reforms for pairs of commodities and to test for the robustness of their impacts on Yaari’s dual social welfare functions. The rank-dependent social evaluation approach gives rise to a new device, the s-concentration curve, which is a generalization of the standard concentration curve. The s-concentration curves are provided for every order of positional dominance and an illustration is performed using Canadian data.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aaberge R (2000) Characterizations of Lorenz curves and income distributions. Soc Choice Welf 17:639–653

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aaberge R (2004) Ranking intersecting Lorenz curves. Working Paper No. 45, CEIS Tor Vergata Research Paper Series

  • Atkinson AB (1970) On the measurement of inequality. J Econ Theory 2:244–263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Besley T, Kanbur R (1988) Food subsidies and poverty alleviation. Econo J 98:701–719

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chateauneuf A, Gajdos T, Wilthien P-H (2002) The principle of strong diminishing transfer. J Econ Theory 103:311–333

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dalton H (1920) The measurement of the inequality of incomes. Econ J 30:348–361

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson R, Duclos J-Y (2000) Statistical inference for stochastic dominance and for the measurement of poverty and inequality. Econometrica 68(6):1435–1464

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donaldson D, Weymark JA (1980), A single parameter generalization of the Gini indices of inequality. J Econ Theory 22:67–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duclos J-Y, Makdissi P (2004) Restricted and unrestricted dominance for welfare, inequality and poverty Orderings. J. Public Econ Theory 6(1):145–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duclos J-Y, Makdissi P, Wodon Q (2004) Socially-improving tax reforms. Mimeo

  • Duclos J-Y, Makdissi P, Wodon Q (2005) Poverty-dominant transfer programs: the role of targeting and allocation rules. J Develop Econ 77:53–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fishburn PC, Willig RD (1984) Transfer principles in income redistribution. J Public Econ 25:323–328

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gajdos T (2002) Measuring inequalities without linearity in envy: Choquet integrals for symmetric capacities. J Econ Theory 106:190–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hardy GH, Littlewood JE, Polya G (1929) Some simple inequalities satisfied by convex functions. Messeng Math 58:145–152

    Google Scholar 

  • Kakwani NC (1980) On a class of poverty measures. Econometrica 48:437–446

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King MA (1983) Welfare analysis of tax reforms using household data. J Public Econ 21:183–214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolm SC (1976a) Unequal inequlities I. J Econ Theory 12:416–442

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolm SC (1976b) Unequal inequlities II. J Econ Theory 13:82–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lambert PJ (2001) The distribution and redistribution of income, 3rd edn. Manchester University Press, Manchester

    Google Scholar 

  • Makdissi P, Wodon Q (2002) Consumption dominance curves: testing for the impact of indirect tax reforms on poverty. Econ Lett 75:227–235

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayshar J, Yitzhaki S (1995) Dalton-improving tax reforms. Ame Econ Rev 85(4):793–807

    Google Scholar 

  • Mehran F (1976) Linear measures of income inequality. Econometrica 44:805–809

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pen J (1971) Income distribution: facts, theories, policies. Preaeger, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Pigou AC (1912) Wealth and welfare. Macmillan, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Wildasin DE (1984) On public good provision with distortionary taxation. Econ Inquiry 22:227–243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yaari ME (1987) The dual theory of choice under risk. Econometrica 55:99–115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yaari ME (1988) A controversial proposal concerning inequality measurement. J Econ Theory 44:381–397

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yitzhaki S, Slemrod J (1991) Welfare dominance: an application to commodity taxation. Am Econ Rev 81:480–496

    Google Scholar 

  • Yitzhaki S, Thirsk W (1990) Welfare dominance and the design of excise taxation in the Côte d’Ivoire. J Develo Econ 33:1–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul Makdissi.

Additional information

We thank Jean-Yves Duclos, Peter Lambert, and an anonymous referee for insightful comments and suggestions. This paper was funded through the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of the Government of Canada and the Fonds Québécois de la Recherche sur la Société et la Culture of the Government of Quebec.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Makdissi, P., Mussard, S. Analyzing the impact of indirect tax reforms on rank-dependent social welfare functions: a positional dominance approach. Soc Choice Welfare 30, 385–399 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00355-007-0237-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00355-007-0237-0

Keywords

Navigation